The month of May brought two significant milestones for Arden.

On May 17 she reached the eagerly-awaited glorious milestone of her 5th birthday! That same day, she graduated from preschool—Class of 2019! She is continuing to do well, despite the limitations of her Spica cast. She even scoots herself around on the floor and remains pretty chipper, considering. So we have a lot to celebrate.

But a third May milestone has been eventful in a way we didn’t expect.

We were moving steadily forward to May 28 and the removal of Arden’s Spica cast and recasting in a less restrictive Spica cast. Then late last Friday, Arden’s surgeon phoned to say they were postponing her recasting. Seattle Children’s Hospital has temporarily closed their operating rooms due to air quality problems. Thankfully, just days earlier, a relative who lives in the Seattle area alerted us that this might happen. See “Fungus Scare Closes Operating Rooms at Seattle Children’s Hospital.” Still, we hoped.

Now we are waiting to hear when Arden’s recasting is rescheduled—could be as early as next week or as late as the second week in June. Three more weeks in this first Spica may change the game plan in other ways if everything looks good with the reconstruction and healing of her hip.

I arrived in Anchorage the day after Arden’s birthday (thanks to two days of cancelled flights out of Philly) to celebrate her birthday again and help support Alli with Arden’s care. The plan was for me to remain in Anchorage with Avery while Alli and Arden traveled to Seattle for the recasting. Obviously, those plans are changing too, and other family members will pick up where I leave off. Good thing we have teamwork going.

We can’t thank you enough for your support, words of encouragement, and for praying for Arden. We hope and pray we’re on the home stretch!

We’ll keep you posted. Please keep her in your prayers.