September 20: Back to School

After 2 years of hospitals, clinics, and Ronald McDonald House playrooms, Tillery is starting school! Even though she’s on weekly chemo, her immune system has held strong and she’s healthy enough to be around other kids in a childcare environment. AND, we went through testing with the school system and Tillery qualifies for NO special services. She’s enrolled in a normal developing early PreK program and other than a few exceptions on the staircase and playground, Tillery will not require any different treatment than her peers!

As proud as Mommy and Daddy are about this moment, Tillery is definitely the most excited! She loves friends and playing and has been so anxious to get out on the school playground. She also picked out a backpack for school and is telling everyone about it!

Today is a day we have dreamed about. Nights on the plastic blue couch in the hospital and days spent in the oncology clinic, we would let our minds wonder what the future would be like. Would Tillery ever be able to fit in with kids her own age? Would she be able to catch up and keep up? Today, it’s happening. We dropped her off and set her loose on a new adventure and she will do it independent of us.

Being a normal kid. It’s every oncology parent’s dream and we are thrilled to be living it.

Not today, cancer. Today, she’s just a kid.

Update: Three hours after this post, the school nurse called. Tillery fell on the playground and hit her head and it was bleeding. After consulting her neurosurgery team in Cincinnati, it was decided to take Tillery to the ER for a head CT to make sure everything was ok. Everything was fine but this is just another example of how hard it is for a child with cancer (or any illness) to fit in with her peers. She will always be a little bit different.