Photos!

Today is pretty much a quiet day for Ellie. She had a difficult night. She threw up once in the middle of the night and had some severe leg pain. The nurse came in an gave Ellie something to help her sleep, so the rest of the night was un-eventful. Last night the realization hit us that one of the anti-nausea medications is a steriod which always makes Ellie extremely hyper. She appears to be doing great...until the crash at the end of the day. Still, the benefits outway the side-effects of this drug, so there's not much to do but be aware of it. It's very tricky because it's hard to keep her from overdoing it when she appears to feel so well. The energy is a false energy that tries to just burn up instead of going back into Ellie's body for healing. So today we had a little talk, and thankfully Ellie is a very reasonable and logical little girl. As we were talking, her legs were boucing and her hands were moving constantly. Of her own accord, Ellie began doing some deep breathing (the way that we do for pain control...also to help Ethan "get his control back") and her limbs became still. She really seemed to grasp the concept. Putting it into practice on a moment to moment basis all day long (when she's trying to zoom her IV pole up and down the hall) is a little tougher, however...

OK, now for the pictures I promised...

Ellie sleeping in her tent at home:



Ellie the spy...and Ethan shooting the spy (with a hammer, of course):



I couldn't resist taking this picture the other night:



Grandma Lois had a great visit with the kids...Ellie was roaring for some reason. Notice the lovely hair piece - Ellie's having fun experimenting with some different looks:



Shamu came to the hospital for a visit yesterday...and Ellie just so happend to have a stuffed whale from Sea World with her here. She showed it to Shamu.