Lauren and Lauren

By the summer of 1993 Jessica had completed her intensive chemotherapy and was on to her maintenance therapy. She still received chemotherapy, just at a much lower dose which allowed her hair to grow back. It came back streaked with blond and as it got longer it became curly. People used to comment about how lovely her hair was and Sandra and I joked with our friends that for tens of thousands of dollars of chemotherapy, they could have hair like that too.

My hair was growing longer too. I suppose it was my way of rebelling. I was playing in a band with Spencer's nurse Connie and her husband John. Connie on drums, John on guitar and me on bass. I would go to their house twice a week to practice and we used to play gigs all over the area. It was fun, a good distraction from the reality we were faced with.

My girls.

Lauren was born in July at Chestnut Hill Hospital. Sandra's labor with her was more like Jessica's, long. We went in, Sandra did not appear to be progressing, so they sent us out to walk around Chestnut Hill. We eventually went back in and they set Sandra up in one of their new "birthing suites". The doctor delivered Lauren and I asked if I could cut the cord. I didn't get to cut Jessica's (I struggled not to pass out!), but the doctor who delivered Spencer introduced me to the idea. Anyway, this doctor said he wasn't sure as he had set up a "sterile field". Anyone who has witnessed a child being born knows there is not much sterile going on down there, I pointed that out to him and he agreed to let me do it. I got to cut James' umbilical cord too when he was born four years later.

We were still looking for houses and not getting much action on selling our house in Manayunk. We were nervous about bringing Lauren back to the house in Manayunk, but we really didn't have a choice. It was our house and we didn't have the money to rent somewhere else. We spent a lot of time that summer at the shore and Sandra recalls having to go back and forth as her brother Lauren was being hospitalized on a regular basis.