Ingram the Conqueror: Friday June 15th through Tuesday June 19th, 4 Nights and 5 Days Of Paradise!!

We had soooo much fun celebrating radiation being finished! We ended up leaving town and heading to the lake for the weekend with just our family. It was so nice to get away and spend some time with our little family (the five of us) and also with the rest of our family on the lake. Everyone we know who grew up on the water has always told us about weekends at the lake and how special they were. I totally get it now and am so grateful that we had this time away with each other.

We had been going non-stop since Tuesday April 3rd when all this started at Lebonheur then over at St. Jude just about every day. Outside of the hospital, we have been always rushing around here and there to get the girls to and from everywhere, getting the house taken care of, getting all the errands run, and everything else that goes into running a home. I'll admit that I was totally and completely exhausted and being at the lake this weekend was the first time that I just sat and relaxed and didn't have a thing that I absolutely had to do or somewhere I absolutely had to go. Not having to make the 45 minute drive to the hospital in rush hour traffic both ways was great in itself. Not having to distract Ingram from the push of the sleepy medicine was priceless!

We just had a regular weekend like we used to...but I just couldn't pack it up and leave Sunday so we ended up staying till we had to go to St. Jude Tuesday afternoon for a labs and our clinic check-up. During Ingram's last few weeks of Radiation, his counts had been dropping a significant amount each week and we had been placed on a few precautions, including no swimming in pool or lake water! Thankfully, his ANC has come up higher but is still in the low range; we're not on precautions anymore so that means that Ingram can get in the water now and he can't wait. He spent four days on the boat and didn't even get upset that he couldn't go swimming; he just told everyone that he doctors said he couldn't swim right now and went on about his business. He did a great job driving the boat and cheered for all of us while we were in the water. Of course, you know he had his watergun out and was shooting everyone!!!

We also celebrated Father's Day on the lake with our big family Saturday and then just us Sunday. The kids had so much fun pouncing Craig in the bed as they all piled in to give his his Father's Day hugs, kisses, and presents. We're so lucky to have Craig and I wouldn't trade him for anything!!

What's next for Ingram? As long as everything goes the way it should, he will have off the next 12 days then come back in for labs again and his appointment for his monthly visit to the medicine room for the Pneumonia antibiotic infusion. After that, another 8 days off then back to the hospital for clinic clearance appointment then his first set of scans since radiation began. After these scans, he will go inpatient for his first round of chemotherapy.

What about the girls? They are busy with their fundraising for St. Jude and Team Ingram. They are going to take a break and go to camp, then they'll be back out raising money for SJ! They have truly impressed me with how much compassion they have and how much they understand. I would have never asked to be in this situation, but God has truly put his arms around all five of us and is letting each of us have a real feeling of purpose during Ingram's journey. I just can't say how proud of my girls I am. They are truly a gift from God!