Day +675:

The kids had to go to the pediatrician's office to get vaccinations today. Last time Isaac cried nonstop from the moment they walked into the office until they walked out the door. I guess he's getting to be a big boy, because Keri said he didn't cry until they actually gave him the shot! Mina of course didn't cry at all, "not a single, ingle dwop" as she puts it, even though the vaccinations hurt more than the blood draws that she gets from the "shot doctor", which is what Mina calls her phlebotomist. We got the official word today that Mina can stop taking aspirin, nearly a year after the stenosis issue first cropped up! Here is how Dr. Loh put it in her email:

I had a chance to review all of Mina's labs and case with Dr. Huang. We both agree that she can stop taking her aspirin. It is important for you to remember that she is a Factor 5 leiden heterozygote and an MTHFR homozygote, so she does have some risk factors for clots. That being said, her homocysteine has been normal (if high, that would be a reflection that her MTHFR status was having a clinical effect on her), she no longer has cancer, nor does she have a central line. So we think it is pretty safe to stop the aspirin.

So Mina will officially be off all meds starting March 6, 2007. Stopping the aspirin may be better for her father's heart, too; it may or may not be the aspirin, but Mina bruises very easily even with healthy platelet counts, and my stress level goes way up every time I see a black spot on her shin. She's had an awful lot of them lately, and I have to keep reminding myself that her platelet counts were perfect at her last blood test just three short weeks ago. Isaac has begun to notice; he was showing Mommie his bruise the other day and remarking on it.

She has been very energetic lately too, so that's a big comfort. It was really nice this weekend, so we went to the beach at Chrissy Field on Saturday. Mina ran all over the beach with her friend Bliss. She just ran and ran. She dances around the house whenever there is music on, and she loves showing how high she can jump. Keri and I think her running may be a little bit strained, as she holds one arm close to her body in a funny way. We'll mention it to her doctors next time and see if they want to follow up with the orthopedic surgeon from the avascular necrosis she had in summer 2005.

Auntie Teri was here from Wednesday to Saturday, and the kids barely left her side the entire time she was here. Mina was so excited for Teri's arrival that she could hardly sleep on Tuesday night and she didn't want to go to school on Wednesday. Keri and Isaac picked Teri up in the late morning and went straight to school, and the parent helper that day said she had never seen Mina so excited as when Anta came into the schoolroom.

Isaac is going to school now, and he's still not quite sure about it. Keri has been staying with him most of the time, but I couldn't do that when I dropped him off on Friday. He was pretty clingy, but he did move away from me and explore quite a bit, so about 10 AM when there was a quiet moment and Teacher Julie was not too occupied, I made my getaway. He was bawling his eyes out, but Julie said he settled down and had fun. When I asked him if he had fun at school, he said "Yes." But when I asked him if he wanted to go back, he said "No." We'll keep trying it and if it turns out to be just too traumatic, we'll pull him and wait until the fall. But I think he'll be OK after he gets used to it a bit.

Mina's friend Maddie came over last Thursday afternoon while Megan was here. Megan said it was really fun and interesting for her to observe Mina with her friend. It was the first time Maddie had been to our house, and the girls were so excited they didn't really settle down at all. They were both dressed up as princesses, and Megan said she had two princesses and a garbageman. Isaac of course still likes to play garbageman, pilot, bus driver, fireman, etc. On Saturday Keri was sleeping late, and Isaac came up to me and said "Mommy's sleeping on the garbage truck and I don't like it!"

Mina is getting more and more into princess things, and now she has started to pay attention to what she is wearing. She'll point out her outfits in old pictures and ask what she was wearing, and she's gotten very particular about what clothes she puts on. She won't wear pajamas anymore, only nightgowns, and stretch pants and a t-shirt if there isn't a nightgown clean. A couple of weeks ago when I was going to take the kids to the park, she refused to put on a coat that wasn't the one she wanted. We didn't have a lot of time before dinner, so I told her I was going to just take Isaac if she wouldn't put on a coat, and she still wouldn't do it. So just Isaac and I went to the park while Keri and Mina baked bread.

We've been in contact with Sean Rodriguez, Mina's donor, over the last couple of weeks. He's a really interesting person, and Mina loves the tiara and clip-on princess earrings he sent. We're trying to schedule a phone call one of these days, so I'll post more about him when that happens. He told us some great stories in his letters and emails and he said it was OK to share them on the blog.

I want to close with a story of how Mina feel asleep last night. She was very tired around 6:30, probably still from all the running and playing she did on Saturday. She's usually pretty good about going to bed when she's tired; she pretty much just hits the wall and stops functioning about 6:00, and she knows it. Last night I was playing a great CD, Miles Davis' Kind of Blue. I've owned it for about 15 years and I've always loved it, but I've recently been thinking it may be my favorite CD of all time. Beautiful, intricate sounds recorded in 1957 by Miles, John Coltrane, Bill Evans, and others. Anyway, we'd been listening and dancing to it all weekend, and it was playing when Mina and I went out to the living room to turn off the lights. I picked her up intending to dance softly with her a bit and she put her head down on my shoulder and didn't move. After about 15 minutes, I got tired and had to sit down. She shifted just enough to get comfortable, and that was it. Just Mina and me, sitting in our darkened living room, rocking back and forth and listening to Miles while she drifted off to sleep. It was a truly beautiful moment.