Yes, another week gone bye ... Another week of schooling ... another week of house-keeping tasks and bill-paying and trips to the hospital and thrice-daily phone calls to hear updates on Emma ... another week of life.
School is going well. We have a routine, albeit not as structured as I would like due to circumstances, but it is resulting in work getting done and learning taking place. I have re instituted certain facets of the Latin-Centered Curriculum that had fallen to the way-side and things always seem to be better when I do that. Daily review, multum non multa, Latin getting its due ... We are doing well with our emphasis on Fine Arts, too. The girls are teaching themselves how to play the keyboard, and the guitar. The boys are heavily into drawing. Our weekly studies of composers with The History of Classical Music as our spine is going so well. The Beautiful Feet Books guide is such an easy syllabus to which to add - I love to tweak our studies, and never use guides as written. This one gives just enough to be complete in its own, yet leaves ample room for embellishment. It is a pleasure to use, and I am intending on researching their other offerings. I have already decided to use the History of Science next year for my oldest daughter before she begins the more formal study of science in eighth grade.
Emma is doing well again. It is wonderful to be able to walk into the nursery and pick her up from her crib. She is still on oxygen, albeit a very low amount. She still has a Broviac catheter in her chest. She is still on TPN, but her volume of feeds is being increased every few days, as tolerated. Any indication of distress on her part could be indicative of an intestinal stricture and would necessitate surgery. The pace of her recovery is excruciatingly slow ... most especially to me. And while it is wonderful to hear the praise of the doctors and nurses as to her progress, it is difficult to leave her in their care after spending a mere two to four hours with her, twice a week. They know her much better than I do. Money, time constraints, and other responsibilities prevent me from being with her more than that. Between gas, tolls, and parking fees, it costs $50 to go to the hospital. That is $100 per week, $400 per month for a family that was just making it prior to this ... situation. At this point, the best we can hope for is that Emma can be increased on her feeds, without further illness, and that she may come home in the near future. No small order for a child who has lived 140 plus days in a hospital, and is still only five very small pounds.
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