Grandma Nicholson Passes at 84 years young

On an extremely sad note; last night my Grandmother passed away. Those who knew her, knew my Grandmother as the feistiest woman around. She was stubborn, proud and would never ask for help. She always had to do things herself and her way, hmm sound familiar.
I am still in disbelief that my Grandmother is no longer with us. My family was in no way shape or form the "Clevers." We were more like the "Adam's Family." But fights and all we were still our own kind of family; to us it was the norm.
I don't know what the arrangements are yet, I will post them as they come in. For now I am planning a trip down to North Carolina.
I actually bought my plane ticket for a surprise visit on her 85th birthday in January, she never knew I was coming to see her. Needless to say I am no longer a fan of surprises.
Sorry to bring such sad news this time of year.
On the upside the boys are getting psyched for Santa. Alec continues to get so strong. We visited his classmates today. Mrs. "B" had a pancake breakfast for them, and she makes one mean pancake :) Alec had a great time and even joined his friends for some quiet reading time on the carpet. He is loving his new friends and they are so kind and sweet to him. He is expected to rejoin his classmate in January.
Bye for now,
xoxo
-Amy

Ports Out, YAY!!

Well today went off without a hitch. This is a picture of Alec leaving the recovery room with Daddy port free :}
Dr. Glick successfully removed Alec's entire port. He asked me if I wanted to keep it; and of course I said yes. This little thing was his life line for a long time. It's pretty interesting looking and you can see the impressions from all the times he was accessed.
After surgery he was uncomfortable they gave him some phentonal, sorry not sure of spelling, and he is doing much better now.
Alec said to Mark when they were leaving, now we don't have to come back here anymore, Marks eyes filled up with the tears because he or I can't even say never, but we are in a good place right now with him. Alec is in a good place now. Everyday some more imporvements. He is eating peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, just regular sandwiches nothing mushed or watered down. And his favorite is fried eggs with ketchup he eats eggs praticlly everyday.
He continues to build strength, balance of course is a big issue but Dr. Atlas said if he has the stregnth it will help him with his balance.
On an educational note, a new nurse was hired and she is only available 3 days a weeks. Thats okay because as it turns out she is one of the awesome nurses from PICU at Stony Brook. We had 2 favorite nurses while we were there, Jason and Pat. So of course when she called I was jumping for joy. I feel soooo comfortable having him in her hands, I know he will get exacly what he needs, she is such an amazing person.
Well I hate to just throw this all at you but I am trying to fit as much in as I can in the short amount of time I have available.
Thanks for your continued prayers. And please pray for all those still fighting.
-Amy