Yesterday Darell had his 3rd Chemo which marked the halfway point. Hurray. He is having a good day today. He is a little tired but doing great compared to the previous 2.
David had a great day of food class yesterday. He ate cheese. Anyone who knows David knows this was a big deal. He also ate a grill cheese sandwich. Wow, way to go Nana.
Is it spring yet? We have had snow for the last 3 days. Luckily it hasn't caused problems on the roads. Kind of strange to see blooming trees covered with snow.
May 29th will be here before we know it. That is Darell last chemo treatment. Then he will have a test to see if they killed it all. For now we wait.
Friday, March 28, 2008
Sunday, March 23, 2008
Saturday, March 22, 2008
Never Easy Saying Goodbye...
It is never easy to say goodbye. In our house at the moment we are saying goodbye to diapers. Oh boy is our little boy not very happy about this. He is more then ready for the next step but likes his diapers. Mind you David is a big boy being 3’ 2” tall and 35lbs and almost 3. It is time. Well today we had our first success at using the toilet. He held it for 2 days before he was willing to use the toilet. Finally in desperation he told me he would like to use the potty. We think he was scared to use it but now I think it might be ok. Since he likes his diaper, I don’t think the pull-ups will be a good thing. We put him in big boy underwear and he likes them. He is very proud of himself as he walks around the house. I took a leap of faith and put him down for a nap in his big boy underwear. We’ll see if this was a good thing when he gets up. He has been waking up dry lately so I am hoping it’s good. Let’s hope he catches onto using the toilet quickly and won’t grieve the diapers very long. Honestly I think he is going to enjoy being a big boy.
Thursday, March 20, 2008
Happy Easter
Happy Easter, Easter is a time renewal and new beginnings. In our house we aren’t starting any new beginning but we are working on a renewal of Darell’s life.
Darell had 2 doctor’s appointments this week. His eye is much better. It still has a way to go but better. Today he went for an oncology post chemo follow-up. His blood work was in the normal range but not perfect. He is tolerating chemo pretty well. Next week is chemo #3.
Today I was really reflecting on my life with Darell and my love for him. Darell has been in my life since I was 13. He completes me and I can’t imagine life without him so he better get better.
Not sure what we are doing for Easter besides going to church. The weather is rainy so we’ll see.
Blessings!
Darell had 2 doctor’s appointments this week. His eye is much better. It still has a way to go but better. Today he went for an oncology post chemo follow-up. His blood work was in the normal range but not perfect. He is tolerating chemo pretty well. Next week is chemo #3.
Today I was really reflecting on my life with Darell and my love for him. Darell has been in my life since I was 13. He completes me and I can’t imagine life without him so he better get better.
Not sure what we are doing for Easter besides going to church. The weather is rainy so we’ll see.
Blessings!
Monday, March 10, 2008
The Come Back Kid...
Darell had his second chemo treatment Thursday. He did real well. He completed the treatment 1 hour quicker then the first time. I think this last time will be more about the time it will take to get it done. He walked about much better this time and had some energy till about 5 O clock. That is when he was done. He turns white as a sheet which is kind of scary and become exhausted.
Friday Darell slept most of the day and David spent the day with Nana so daddy could have some quiet. David got to have is first sleep over and loved it. He spent Friday night with his God parents. He ate pizza for them and ice cream which is amazing. They took him swimming and he warmed up to it.
By Sunday Darell had cabin fever and was ready to get out. He played in the backyard with David for awhile. Then we went for a drive or as we tell David an adventure. We drove to a new nearby neighborhood and looked at new houses. We enjoy looking. Don’t worry we aren’t serious. Grandma and Grandpa would like the new concepts of these homes. They had 1 bedroom with bathroom that was separated for house guests. Nothing stood out to us like wow we have to have that. We saw things in different houses that we liked. Next we got some ice cream and went to the park. This was David’s favorite part of the adventure. Overall a relaxing afternoon. My mom had come over about noon and went with us. She has been helping me try and get my weeds in the yard under control.
Sunday morning I had to shave Darell’s hair. It was very thin and blotchy. Now it’s mostly gone but what is left is short. Hopefully he gets in the routine of putting sunscreen on everymorning.
Darell had energy all day and his spirits were good. Today is preschool. I hope he feels good so he can go with us. So overall he did extremely well.
Friday Darell slept most of the day and David spent the day with Nana so daddy could have some quiet. David got to have is first sleep over and loved it. He spent Friday night with his God parents. He ate pizza for them and ice cream which is amazing. They took him swimming and he warmed up to it.
By Sunday Darell had cabin fever and was ready to get out. He played in the backyard with David for awhile. Then we went for a drive or as we tell David an adventure. We drove to a new nearby neighborhood and looked at new houses. We enjoy looking. Don’t worry we aren’t serious. Grandma and Grandpa would like the new concepts of these homes. They had 1 bedroom with bathroom that was separated for house guests. Nothing stood out to us like wow we have to have that. We saw things in different houses that we liked. Next we got some ice cream and went to the park. This was David’s favorite part of the adventure. Overall a relaxing afternoon. My mom had come over about noon and went with us. She has been helping me try and get my weeds in the yard under control.
Sunday morning I had to shave Darell’s hair. It was very thin and blotchy. Now it’s mostly gone but what is left is short. Hopefully he gets in the routine of putting sunscreen on everymorning.
Darell had energy all day and his spirits were good. Today is preschool. I hope he feels good so he can go with us. So overall he did extremely well.
Wednesday, March 5, 2008
Thursday is Chemo #2
Well Darell has his second chemo treatment in the morning. He is feeling good tonight. We had sunshine this afternoon so my boys went outside to play.
Darell's hair is really thinning now. I called our neighbor the cuts both my hair and David's to see if she would re trim his hair. It is starting to patch so by keeping it really short it helps conceal it.
I pray that Darell handles this next treatment like he did the first one. He bounced back quickly last time and I hope he can again. It is hard to see him down when he really doesn't want to be down. He will lay low this weekend and with God's grace will be mostly himself by the end of the weekend. Well maybe a little less hair.
Blessings
Darell's hair is really thinning now. I called our neighbor the cuts both my hair and David's to see if she would re trim his hair. It is starting to patch so by keeping it really short it helps conceal it.
I pray that Darell handles this next treatment like he did the first one. He bounced back quickly last time and I hope he can again. It is hard to see him down when he really doesn't want to be down. He will lay low this weekend and with God's grace will be mostly himself by the end of the weekend. Well maybe a little less hair.
Blessings
Creative Parenting...
Sometimes as a parent you do whatever it takes. Here was our latest creative resolution to bad dreams.
Monday morning David woke up from a bad dream about 4:10. Since Darell’s alarm was going to go off in 5 minutes he went in to get him. Well David was very upset and would not settle down. Darell brought him into our room and into bed with me. I tried to ask David what was wrong and he told me the bugs where going round and round. He was very serious. Darell got dressed for work and brought David’s favorite blanket into our room for him. Well this triggered David again. He did not want his blanket which is so out of character. He told me the bugs and bad dream were in his blanket so we quickly took it out of our room. After quite some time of hearing him breathing heavily he fell back to sleep with me.
So yesterday morning David and I put his blanket in the wash machine to wash away the bad dream. This mostly worked. When I put him down for is nap he was glad to see his blue blanket but continued to tell me about the bugs on the wall behind his crib. He did not want to settle down for his nap. So trying to think outside the box I saw the can of Lysol on his dresser. So I got him down with me and together we sprayed the bad dreams and bugs away. It must have work since he took a nap.
Bedtime last night was a repeat of spraying the bugs and dreams. It worked again. Everyone had a full nights sleep.
Monday morning David woke up from a bad dream about 4:10. Since Darell’s alarm was going to go off in 5 minutes he went in to get him. Well David was very upset and would not settle down. Darell brought him into our room and into bed with me. I tried to ask David what was wrong and he told me the bugs where going round and round. He was very serious. Darell got dressed for work and brought David’s favorite blanket into our room for him. Well this triggered David again. He did not want his blanket which is so out of character. He told me the bugs and bad dream were in his blanket so we quickly took it out of our room. After quite some time of hearing him breathing heavily he fell back to sleep with me.
So yesterday morning David and I put his blanket in the wash machine to wash away the bad dream. This mostly worked. When I put him down for is nap he was glad to see his blue blanket but continued to tell me about the bugs on the wall behind his crib. He did not want to settle down for his nap. So trying to think outside the box I saw the can of Lysol on his dresser. So I got him down with me and together we sprayed the bad dreams and bugs away. It must have work since he took a nap.
Bedtime last night was a repeat of spraying the bugs and dreams. It worked again. Everyone had a full nights sleep.
Saturday, March 1, 2008
Wanting to Raise the Flag...
The week was cruising along. All was what some would say normal.
Wednesday I took David to Mary Bridge for his last Neonatal follow up. For the first time they said he was right on track. Great! We are still working on some things but with a lot of love and patients he’ll be on track by kindergarten.
Anyway David and I got home and came into the house. Brrr. Something was definitely wrong. There was COLD air coming from the registers. Humm. So I check a few things and knew we had a problem. Hoping for an easy fix I asked if Jack could stop by on his way home and give things the once over. Well the system fired up and we had heat so he went home. About five minutes after he left the air was blowing cold again. I called Jack again but he thought at that point it was over his knowledge of furnaces.
To take another step back. 2 weekends ago Darell was driving down the road and got a rock chip in the car’s window. He wanted to get it fixed but was told State Farm doesn’t cover that anymore. Well this week we had nice weather and yep, crack. The chip cracked the windshield. Bummer.
Anyway back to the heater. Well Thursday was a very busy day. David had food class. I had to get David out to his Godparents house for a play date by 3:00 and Darell had a follow-up for his first chemo at the oncologist at 3:45. So how I had to find a repairman for the furnace. Well as luck has it my phone rang when I was in the middle of my shower. Standing in a cold bathroom talking to a repairman felt more like 20 minutes then 2. I arranged to have him come out mid morning Friday.
Darell’s follow up was great. Other then the usual long wait which we are getting use to Darell’s blood counts were back to normal showing he had recovered from his first chemo. Yahh. He has to have blood labs done next Tuesday and then his second chemo session on Tuesday.
For Christmas I a sign that says God doesn’t give us more then we can handle. This week I financially and emotionally wanted to raise the flag with the window and the heater. We have a lot of expenses as it is without those added to it. Besides it is a lot to juggle to deal with on top of all I already do. Things all worked out.
Well Friday morning came and David went to OT. When we got home I had 3 messages from the heater guy. He came when we were gone which really stressed me out since the house was 63 degrees for the 3rd day and I had told him I would be home till 10:30 and he said he would come mid morning. Luckily I got a hold of him and arranged for him to come back mid afternoon. He arrived earlier then he thought, good thing. He found that the name board in our furnace had failed. He was able to locate on in Tacoma and off he went to get it. When he returned with the part he told me the unit that failed was still under warranty from the manufacture. Wow what a break. We still have a labor bill but that will be welcomed compared to parts and labor. Heat is back on and it feels nice.
Today we did a few errands and had a low key day. We have a somewhat busy week again. Monday Darell and I are working parents for pre-school class. Tuesday night I have a work meeting. Darell has chemo Thursday. My mom is watching David and taking him to food class and on Friday his OT. Also on Friday my mom is taking Darell to get his post chemo shot. David is going to spend the weekend at his Godparents house. My mom and I are taking a class Friday night and all day Saturday to learn new techniques to help David and maybe myself to lessen my stress. We have a friend coming over Friday night to hang out with Darell so someone is with him if he has a reaction to the chemo. Saturday his brother is coming over to hang out for awhile as well. I hope to have a quiet Sunday to recover from the week. Darell is on sitting duty so he can function during the work week after chemo. This worked last time.
For those wonder about David. He is a wonderful little boy but having tactile issues can be hard on him as well was us. He has a lot of intelligence but fights with himself which gets in the way. We hear a lot about other kids and he will grow out of it but he needs therapies to help him out. He is doing well in OT but food class he does not care for. He recently got a special shirt which he wears like an undershirt. It has made a HUGE difference. He has settled down and has a lot more balance and control.
Well when you think you might be ready to raise the flag and call when, do what I do and just keep smiling.
Wednesday I took David to Mary Bridge for his last Neonatal follow up. For the first time they said he was right on track. Great! We are still working on some things but with a lot of love and patients he’ll be on track by kindergarten.
Anyway David and I got home and came into the house. Brrr. Something was definitely wrong. There was COLD air coming from the registers. Humm. So I check a few things and knew we had a problem. Hoping for an easy fix I asked if Jack could stop by on his way home and give things the once over. Well the system fired up and we had heat so he went home. About five minutes after he left the air was blowing cold again. I called Jack again but he thought at that point it was over his knowledge of furnaces.
To take another step back. 2 weekends ago Darell was driving down the road and got a rock chip in the car’s window. He wanted to get it fixed but was told State Farm doesn’t cover that anymore. Well this week we had nice weather and yep, crack. The chip cracked the windshield. Bummer.
Anyway back to the heater. Well Thursday was a very busy day. David had food class. I had to get David out to his Godparents house for a play date by 3:00 and Darell had a follow-up for his first chemo at the oncologist at 3:45. So how I had to find a repairman for the furnace. Well as luck has it my phone rang when I was in the middle of my shower. Standing in a cold bathroom talking to a repairman felt more like 20 minutes then 2. I arranged to have him come out mid morning Friday.
Darell’s follow up was great. Other then the usual long wait which we are getting use to Darell’s blood counts were back to normal showing he had recovered from his first chemo. Yahh. He has to have blood labs done next Tuesday and then his second chemo session on Tuesday.
For Christmas I a sign that says God doesn’t give us more then we can handle. This week I financially and emotionally wanted to raise the flag with the window and the heater. We have a lot of expenses as it is without those added to it. Besides it is a lot to juggle to deal with on top of all I already do. Things all worked out.
Well Friday morning came and David went to OT. When we got home I had 3 messages from the heater guy. He came when we were gone which really stressed me out since the house was 63 degrees for the 3rd day and I had told him I would be home till 10:30 and he said he would come mid morning. Luckily I got a hold of him and arranged for him to come back mid afternoon. He arrived earlier then he thought, good thing. He found that the name board in our furnace had failed. He was able to locate on in Tacoma and off he went to get it. When he returned with the part he told me the unit that failed was still under warranty from the manufacture. Wow what a break. We still have a labor bill but that will be welcomed compared to parts and labor. Heat is back on and it feels nice.
Today we did a few errands and had a low key day. We have a somewhat busy week again. Monday Darell and I are working parents for pre-school class. Tuesday night I have a work meeting. Darell has chemo Thursday. My mom is watching David and taking him to food class and on Friday his OT. Also on Friday my mom is taking Darell to get his post chemo shot. David is going to spend the weekend at his Godparents house. My mom and I are taking a class Friday night and all day Saturday to learn new techniques to help David and maybe myself to lessen my stress. We have a friend coming over Friday night to hang out with Darell so someone is with him if he has a reaction to the chemo. Saturday his brother is coming over to hang out for awhile as well. I hope to have a quiet Sunday to recover from the week. Darell is on sitting duty so he can function during the work week after chemo. This worked last time.
For those wonder about David. He is a wonderful little boy but having tactile issues can be hard on him as well was us. He has a lot of intelligence but fights with himself which gets in the way. We hear a lot about other kids and he will grow out of it but he needs therapies to help him out. He is doing well in OT but food class he does not care for. He recently got a special shirt which he wears like an undershirt. It has made a HUGE difference. He has settled down and has a lot more balance and control.
Well when you think you might be ready to raise the flag and call when, do what I do and just keep smiling.
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