Aug 30

This week was all about moving forward and returning to “normal” life.

Ahead of the first day of school, Alex and Sarah met with Greta’s teachers, a 504 coordinator (the specialist for accessibility/accommodations), and other school leaders. The meeting went well, and they could be confident that the school was ready to support Greta’s return, and any physical or mental hiccups that may arise.

Greta’s first week at school went really well! She had a killer outfit (photo) on her first day, likes her teacher a lot, and was thrilled to be sat next to three of her besties in class. They played on the blacktop together at recess, and she made it the full half-day of classes. When her friends want to ask if they could push her wheelchair, they say, “Want to Uber?” She may have been running on adrenaline that first day: after getting home and eating lunch, she passed out from exhaustion.

School the rest of the week went well. Greta is so full of life with her return to some normalcy. She said her classroom is very peaceful so she isn’t feeling overstimulated by the sudden return to school after relative isolation these past months. By Thursday, the busy days were catching up with her, and she came home early from school. Everyone is glad that she is challenging herself, but still confident to ask for help/go home when she reaches her limits. There was no school today (Friday) for any students, so she has a four-day-weekend to rest up for next week.

Around the time of Greta’s diagnosis, doctors spotted a tiny nodule on one of her lungs. They carefully watched it with each follow-up - if it grew they would recommend surgical removal. The good news this week was that her care team all agreed that since there had been no growth, it is likely scar tissue from a previous cold. They will continue watching it with scan every three months, but no surgery!

With Pediatric Cancer Awareness month approaching (September), Greta has a few activities she’ll be participating in to commemorate. Today she interviews one of her doctors, the amazing Dr. Kaiser, for social media (photos). Greta had a chic new outfit for her role as interviewer - we’re sure she’ll grill Dr. Kaiser with some hard-hitting questions. Stay tuned for that post, and some other mystery activities we’ll share soon!