February has been an exiting month all the way around. Weather-wise, we had a couple of weeks of real deep-freeze, when we essentially did not leave the house for two weeks, making the cabin fever of the pandemic that much more intense. Thankfully that stretch of weather is behind us now, and we are actually having a much-needed midwinter thaw at the moment. Of course it is still just March and this is Wisconsin, so no doubt there will be another wintery stretch yet, but these warmer temperatures do give hope that we've almost made it through.
There are some major changes in the works with our learning pod, as our school district made the decision to reopen for in-person instruction later this month. There will be both in-person and fully virtual options, and as far as we can tell it looks like families in our district are splitting about 2/3 in-person and 1/3 virtual. We have decided to keep our boys home for the rest of the school year. After talking to Lemon's doctor, it really seemed like since we are fortunate enough to be able to keep him home for now, it is the safest thing for him. And, to be honest, Lemon is perfectly happy at home for now. Lime, on the other hand, yearns for friends his own age, to see his teachers in person, etc. It is hard to keep him out of school, but we are trying to bear in mind that it is really just for 10 or so weeks until the end of the school year, and with any luck things will be normal-ish in the fall and they can both go back.
The other two families in our learning pod have made the totally reasonable decision to send their kids back to school, which will be a big change for our kids, who will miss having some other people around during the day. But, they got through last summer as just the two of them so no doubt they will manage this extra time as well.
In CF news, Lemon had his second study visit for the hyperpolarized xenon study. This one went even more smoothly than the first. Lemon remembered everything he was supposed to do and flew through all the tests, even the tricky lung clearance index, so we got home hours before I had expected. He also had a video visit with his doctor this month (which turned into me having a phone call with the doctor when the video software failed). He's happy with how Lemon is doing, and we are set up to do an eye exam and some bloodwork later this month so that we will have all the boxes checked for the moment that Trikafta is approved. We have our next follow-up appointment in late May, and it is so exciting to think there's a chance Lemon could even be on Trikafta by the time that visit rolls around.
In vaccine news, Papa Bear is fully vaccinated thanks to his work at the VA hospital, and I was able to receive my first dose as the unpaid caregiver for someone with CF. And, Nona was able to get her first dose at last, so hopefully before too much longer we will be able to start doing stuff as an extended family again. In the mean time, we are doing all the things we have come up with to do over these many months, baking, making candy, building with Legos and other toys, art projects, origami, reading, and watching movies. As ever, we love and miss all of you and look forward to seeing you just as soon as we can. Stay safe and vigilant, and hopefully we will be on the other side of this soon.
