7 chemo days down, one to go

I arrived back at the hospital early yesterday evening, after spending Friday, Saturday and Sunday night at home. Yancy came from work Friday afternoon to stay for the weekend. Lots of Connect 4 was played all weekend long between Daddy and Ethan. Ethan currently holds the Champion title, of course…what were you thinking Daddy, going up against Ethan!

Saturday was a relaxing day…Grandma Mary escaped to the mall for some “retail therapy”, and some well deserved “alone time”. Eliot took a much needed mid-afternoon siesta, so Emma and Mommy went out for a much needed coffee run. However, it turned out the a bit of “girl time” was needed over coffee, and we stopped for a quick pedicure, and Emma somehow squeezed in a manicure too. Clever, isn’t she? Chatting as our nails were drying, Emma says, “Mom, we should do this every week”. “Every week?”, I reply. “Okay, every other week”, Emma casually negotiates. The life of a seven year old…I didn’t tell her I was 24 when I got my first pedicure.

Yancy’s mom arrived in town late afternoon on Saturday. While Yancy was still at the hospital, we all enjoyed each others company at home. Sunday we all met up at the hospital and celebrated Yancy’s 35th birthday with presents, Bertucci’s and a Coldstone Creamery cake that Kate and Nick splurged on…yummy! Sunday night Grandma stayed over with Ethan at the hospital, so I could attend Emma’s Field Day picnic on Monday. Emma, Eliot and I were so tired Sunday night, we were all asleep by 8:00 pm.

Monday morning was only my second weekday morning at home in over a month. Emma’s morning routine quickly came back to me, and we managed to make it to the bus with time to spare. She was prepared for Field Day, and it looked like the weather would cooperate. Eliot and I arrived at the school at lunchtime…it was easier to be there this time, having been there once before. We caught up with Emma, ate and played. Emma watched out for Eliot on the crowded playground, and we all stuck together, enjoying each other, being together. I was able to talk to many people, and talking about Ethan was easy. I felt good about his condition, his progress, his future. That makes it so much easier. It’s hope…I have found hope. I have hope. Hope is powerful.

After school, the kids got to hang with Daddy at his office, and I headed back in to the hospital. Grandma Mary and Ethan had a great day, full of activities and crafts. It felt good to be back…

Today, Tuesday, is Ethan’s 7th, of 8 days, of chemotherapy. There is no comparison of this round, vs. last round (last month). I’m not sure if it’s that he’s getting low-dose ara-C, and last time he got high-dose ara-C, or if it’s that his body is now beating down the leukemia that tired him so one month ago. This round he has more energy, more spunk, more humor, more smiles, more glowing eyes…

While still managing the nausea and slight gagging, we ventured out for a couple hours. We visited an artist that was at the hospital for the day. He’s a quadriplegic who paints beautiful works of art with the wheels of his wheelchair. While he offered for Ethan to paint a tee-shirt with a wheelchair, Ethan opted to do hand prints on the tee instead. Ethan then insisted on doing our laundry that we had brought down with us…his new favorite activity. He buys the soap, loads the washer, loves to put the quarters in, then picks the correct button for the cycle, and starts it up. To pass the time while our clothes were washing, Ethan went to another area to make an Egyptian mask. Interns from the Museum of Fine Arts were around helping the kids make their mask creations. Ethan knew exactly what he wanted to make and how he was going to do it. He didn’t need my guidance at all. Great fun!

Heading back to the laundry room, Ethan loaded the dryer, and we set off for the playground. We had not yet been to this outdoor hospital playground while it was open…but today, we’re in luck. Ethan managed to cross the monkey bars four times, without help. He made his way up and down the ladders, stairs and slides. He has not done this level of physical activity for over a month. I was astounded to see what he could still do. These kids amaze me. I was however cringing at the thought of how many germs he was picking up with every new bar he grabbed, or place he touched. I just kept thinking that his ANC level (when ANC < 500, he has no bacteria infection fighting white-blood cells) is so close to 500, it was only 640 this morning…oh well…I had way too much fun watching him go. One more craft with the playground volunteers (there are crafts everywhere!!!), and then on to pick up our laundry. Then back to our room by 2pm to get meds and afternoon tube feeds.

We spent the afternoon visiting with a friend, watching a preschool video she dropped by of preschool graduation and end of year play yesterday. Ethan seemed a bit sad, realizing he missed his play, and getting his “diploma”, but did enjoy seeing the video of familiar faces of his friends that he misses so. We played Trouble, a favorite game of Ethan’s. It used to be my favorite when I was little too, but somehow doesn’t seem as exciting as I remember it…how does that happen? We passed the evening with Lincoln Logs, motorcycles, books, etc. He finally conked out around 9:30pm. His energy level and his stamina have definitely increased. Now, I just have to work on mine.