So as some of you have already probably seen, Katlyn got to go on a little adventure yesterday. We decided to allow her to have a little trip outside yesterday after careful consideration. Katlyn has almost spent a whole year trapped in a hospital room and yesterday she had the opportunity to go outside. We don't know when she may be able to go outside again so we decided to let her break free for an hour. We have no idea if Katlyn will send 1 months or six more months in the hospital and we knew that this wouldn't only do her a world of good, it would do us good too.
All I can say of the whole situation, as Katlyn's mother, is that yesterday was one of the most amazing days of our lives. It was a very nice gift to be able to give her. She has been through so much and still has such a long road ahead of her. It was a really nice little breaking and it was nice to have some normalcy for once.
All wasn't completely normal still. Katlyn had to wear a mask for protection and she wasn't allowed out of her stroller to wander, but it was a nice step in the right direction. Her doctors feel as though Katlyn does have enough protection that she would be able to go outside.
Katlyn wasn't scared at all. She seemed to just go with the flow and the thing she was most fascinated with was the trees. She was already familiar with trees somewhat because she has some just outside her window, so when we got outside it seemed as though it was the thing she noticed the most. She also got to see lots of flowers, including some roses. We were also able to show her some tomatoes, cars and a huge tractor.
I can't even put into words how yesterday was for us. It really was magical. To tell you the truth, it didn't even seem real. To have our little girl outside like a somewhat normal child, seems so insane I still don't know if it actually happened. Oh dear, I'm tearing up now. I just can't wait until Katlyn gets better and is able to live like a normal child as she deserves so much. The past year has been the most difficult time in my entire life and soon we'll be in the clear. She really is going to get through all this. I know it. I can feel it in my heart.
It really fascinates me looking at Katlyn and how little she has been affected by all this isolation. I know some parts of her life has been affected, but she still remains so happy and excels in all other areas. It's remarkable.
So the GCSF is working and it is looking like we will be coming back to Canada on Thursday. We are trying to remain neutral about the whole ordeal, because we don't want to be shattered again. So Katlyn may go back to the IWK on Thursday and if she does than that's fantastic. It will be nice to be back and I'm sure Johnathan is missing Haley very much. We will actually be able to try and get things ready for Katlyn to actually leave the hospital. From here we haven't been able to do anything. But at least there we can start getting my mother's house ready or finding a new apartment, whatever it may be. Besides that Katlyn is doing great. Right now she hiding behind the bed up to no good I'm sure. My little monkey.

Katlyn's First TIme outside in nearly a year

More Pics

More pictures of Katlyn's Canine visit.
Katlyn loves to press her whole face up against the window to see how far down the hall she can see.
Patty Cake. Katlyn does this all by herself now.
A nice family picture with Katlyn's face squished up against a window.
Daddy and his girl.
Katlyn's playing with Mrs. Potatoehead.
Stop bugging mom, can't you see I'm playing.
Okay, you got my attention. Now I want the camera.
Hi. Can I order some pizza.

Katlyn wearing the box that her plastic bottles come in on her head.
I swear that girl will wear anything on her head except what your suppose to.
This is Katlyn's Elmo balloon that she can't seem to keep a hold of.
I think she does it on purpose.
Once she got a hold of it she barely let the ballon out of her sight. Mind you I tied it around her wrist.


So on Friday night they gave Katlyn a dose of GCSF, this is used to stimulate her bone marrow to produce more cells. So anyway, yesterday morning Katlyn had her blood drawn and we expecting to see her numbers quite high and were surprised when Johnathan can back with a piece of paper in his hand that read neautrophils 464. I cannot even begin to describe how that made us feel. This was a sign that something very dangerous was going on with Katlyn. If the GCSF does not work, than there is a huge change that her bone marrow is not functioning properly. We were both lost. We were trying to find reason and make excuses. There is no other way to describe the situation other than it sucked.
So I wanted to take a look at all of Katlyn's numbers so at about 3 p.m. yesterday I strolled down to the nurses station and asked one of the nurses to print her numbers off. I swear my heart stopped when I looked down and saw that Katlyn's neautrophils were almost 7000. I could not believe it. I ran clear down the hall and barged into Katlyn's room and gave Johnathan and Katlyn the news. We were all jumping around and feeling much better. It was a mistake but apparently the nurse was very busy and wasn't paying much attention and gave us the wrong numbers. It could have been worse though, she could have been right.
So the G should wear off gradually of the next few days so we should see Katlyn's numbers coming down. Hopefully when she stops dropping, she stops at a safer level than she has been. So her doctor came in today and said everything is looking great and we should be a go for Tuesday. If all is the same, he will contact the IWK and let them know that we are ready to come back to Canada. So then we will just wait for the plane to come and get us.
Katlyn is doing great though. She is growing up so much. She produces several new words every day. I really am so fascinated with her. She can pretty much identify almost any animal and can count up to 12. She is a smarty pants. Right now we're in the process of switching Katlyn from lactose free formula to Regular whole milk and there hasn't been any problems. In fact, I'd say things look a lot better. Today we started her with a sippie cup and she learned to drink from a straw.
Honestly, Katlyn catches on to everything very quickly. She is a very smart little girl. I am so proud of you Katlyn, for everything.