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| Finally, it's summer! |
So, some updates. Scroll and read what you'd like, skip what you don't.
Highlights from the end of the year at school
Kids say the darnedest things. This year, I had a group who was very real, and very aware of the way the world works around them. In general, I am pretty open with my kids. At some point it came up that I was on a diet (Weight Watchers...more on that later!) I don't remember how it came up--I think a sibling from another class brought me a birthday treat, and I slipped it to his sister, explaining that it was very thoughtful, but that I was watching what I eat. This was a great opportunity to have discussions about body image and self-esteem.
So fast forward a few weeks, day before the last day of school. It was Field Day at school. For a coworker's birthday, I had gotten her a few different candies, which she was eating out of her sweatshirt pocket while she ran one of the events--seriously, she's my kind of people! So I convinced her to share a single Swedish Fish, which I promptly popped into my mouth. One of my kiddos said something like, "Cheating on your diet, Mrs. Wilke?" And, sensing her teasing tone, I pretended to be really flabbergasted, but then we had a good laugh. I think I responded with something like, "Hey, I've lost 10lbs!" Then the sweetest thing came out of her mouth: "You never needed to lose weight, Mrs. Wilke." 😍 I hugged her, hard. This kid had been made fun of during the year, about her appearance. It was clear that she was struggling between the frustration of being made fun of and trying to really, truly not care what they said and be confident in herself. So I loved that she was using her voice to lift me up, girl to girl. I loved that she recognized the importance of that. It made me feel like she's going to be okay 😊
My room theme this year was Harry Potter. So naturally, for the end of the year, I made each of my little wizards and witches their own personal wand. They were super excited about them, which made me happy.
Now if you know me, you know that as much as I love making and giving gifts, I really hate opening gifts in front of people. In fact the only time I will do it without a fight is for my kiddos, because I know how excited they are to see me open what they got me. So after I gave the kiddos their wands, one of them was very insistent: "Mrs. Wilke, you HAVE to open my gift!"And I'm so glad I did. Because inside of his gift was...
A wand for me! It couldn't have worked out any better if we had planned it 😊
Now another kiddo created a gift for me that really made me laugh. I use an app called Class Dojo on my phone--for those of you not familiar, I use it to award kiddos with points for positive behaviors, as well as deduct points for negative behaviors. There is a sound for each kind of point, so often I will have my ringer turned on so that kids can hear points being awarded. Sometimes when I am teaching at the carpet, my phone will ding with a text message from its spot on the table behind me, which I handle by turning towards it, saying, "Shh, I'm teaching!" and then turning back to the kids to continue teaching.
So I really had to giggle when I opened the gift bag from this kiddo, to find this:
I got the back story from his mom later that day, the discussion they had about what they should get me, what I like (he knew I didn't like coffee), the decision to go with a water bottle, and the requirements: "Mom, it HAS TO say 'Shh, I'm teaching!'"
From another kiddo, one who challenged me
and helped grow me the most, these flowers →
along with some other sweet things.
One of the sweetest things by far, was not a gift at all, but this message from a parent:
This kiddo was probably the quietest kid in my class. I wasn't sure if I had made an impact, and if I had--what kind of impact would that be? It was a tough year, where I struggled a lot and felt as though I was barely holding it together most days. But this kid was able to say that I had a smile on my face every day. I guess I'm doing better than I thought!
As the kids left on the last day of school, I got lots of hugs, many from kiddos I did not expect. Lots from my boys. I got one "I love you, I'm going to miss you so much," and one, "I know I have to work on my mouth. I'm sorry for everything. I'll do better for my teachers next year." I was exhausted, nearly to the point of tears, but it was a good way to end the year.
Health Update
Okay, so this one is probably the one you've been waiting for. After my May 24th appointment, I started the chemo pill immediately. 5 days, low-dose. The only thing I felt was tired, but again, it was also the end of the school year, so that'll happen.
Bloodwork results for the following weeks were:
May 31st: 27
June 7th: 16
June 14th: 15
The one point drop was concerning to me. It had never been that little of a decrease. Did this mean it was going back up again? More appointments and tests? The doctor was also concerned, but was comfortable waiting another week to see what happened. If I wanted, I could have elected to do another round of chemo. But since doc was okay with waiting, I decided to trust her. This week's number came in at 10! Doctor was very excited about this, and is anticipating another two weeks or so. Keep your fingers crossed! The waiting is really starting to wear on me.
Another thing that was discovered during my May 24th appointment was a 6cm pericardial cyst, found on my chest CT. It was something the doctor wanted to follow up on. Apparently, the cyst had been seen in a previous scan, several years ago, and had grown slightly. So about a week ago I had an MRI, which has been my least favorite test so far. But the results came back fine--nothing to worry about. The results were sent to my primary physician, and I'm sure there will be some kind of follow up to watch it. But for now, we are okay.
So! After 11 days of summer (2 of which were spent in training) it's back to work today. I'm excited to spend time with 25 very special kiddos 😃 Stay tuned for details about our Tuesday lemonade stands!
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| Soaking up lots of snuggle time with my kittens |
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| Adventuring to Minneapolis and visiting the sculpture garden. |
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| It only took 9 years, but I finally made it out to Winona to visit this special lady :) |
