We have had one amazing week.
Saturday was Annakate's birthday. She had a lovely birthday party at the roller rink. There was plenty of little ones and plenty of spills, but I think everyone had a good time. Davis skated a bit as well. He wore his chest guard and bundled up. I am not sure why he bundled up, covering up with his sweatshirt and then a coat. My best guess is that he was providing himself a little padding in case he fell. Sunday and the rest of the week felt surprisingly normal. I have never been so grateful for routine and the mundane in my entire life. On Sunday, we managed to make it to both morning and evening services. The afternoon was devoted to homework. Pretty normal. The majority of the week followed suit. Davis made it to school - on time - the first three days of the week. He is nearly caught up on work from missing last week with the exception of band, I think. He managed to stay at school for the entire school days but did have to take naps periodically. His nap could be 20 minutes or 2 hours; it just depends on his body. I expressed a concern about the extreme fatigue to the nurse practitioner at the clinic, and she reassured me that extreme fatigue is a very common complaint. The chemo over time becomes very taxing on his body, and sleep is the way that his body copes and rebuilds.
Tuesday evening, Mrs. Marla Crouch, Oakland High School secretary, stopped over for a visit. She and her family have been a great source of inspiration and encouragement to us. Marla is a recent cancer survivor herself, and her youngest son Cameron is a living miracle. For those who don't know, Cameron was doing surveillance in a watch tower while on duty in Iraq when the tower floor gave way. He fell 70 feet to the ground. Although he sustained several life threatening injuries, he survived. With God's help and good old fashioned fight, he conquered the unfairness of the situation and came out on top. Just like Davis is going to do. Anyway, Marla's oldest son, Caleb, gathered backpacks full of goodies from the National Guard where he works. Davis and Annakate loved them. They were drawn to these coins especially. Marla explained that National Guardmen receive coins for accomplishments or exemplary character. She told Davis that he deserved them because he was so brave and strong. The kids couldn't wait to take the coins to school and show everyone. In addition to the goodie bag and coins, both Caleb and Cameron wrote Davis letters of support. It was emotionally indescribable to read such uplifting words from these soldier heroes to my little guy - my hero. Thank you, Crouch Family; you continue to inspire us.
We decided early on in the week to bring Annakate along for Davis' two day chemo treatment on Thursday and Friday. She hasn't been down to St. Louis with us in a couple of months, and we thought it would be a nice get-away, chemo aside. On Wednesday evening after Davis had his blood draw at Sarah Bush, we received a phone call that Davis' platelet count wasn't high enough for chemo. A general rule is that platelets have to be over 75 to guarantee the chemo doesn't wipe out his supply. Davis' platelets were 64. We were told that we would do the two-day chemo treatment on Tuesday and Wednesday of the next week given that his Monday CBC revealed that his platelets were up.
The kids were pretty disappointed when they had to get up and go to school on Thursday morning. Davis doesn't roll with the punches as well as we hope. He has to mentally prepare himself for everything. I dropped Annakate off at school and was headed to Charleston to drop Davis off when I received a phone call from the hem-occ clinic. Apparently, there was a mix up, and as long as Davis' platelets were over 50, he could still receive chemo, but the dosage wouldn't be increased. The chemo dosage would stay the same as it was ten days prior. (Davis is in the phase where he is given the same few chemo drugs, but each visit the dose is increased). The nurse asked us to hurry down and try to make our original 11:30 appointment. I turned around at Sturdi-Built and headed home to pack. Kyle left the farm, picked up Annakate from school, and met us at home. Luckily, over the last few months, I have become a speedy and efficient packer, and with Kyle's help, we were on the road in no time. Davis took his chemo and we were out of there relatively quickly which gave us the day to play. We ate at the kids' favorite restaurants and did a little shopping. Davis rested in the hotel room while Kyle took Annakate to the pool to swim. It was a restful and relaxing evening.
Friday morning was a different story. Davis started freaking out about the Peg shots he was scheduled to get. At first, he refused to leave the hotel room, but we managed to coax him into the car. Once we got to the hotel, he refused to go to the 9th floor, so we sat in the lobby on the first floor for quite some time. Luckily, we made it to the hospital early, so we had some time to kill. Finally, the combination of the anti-anxiety medication and common sense kicked in, and we headed up to the 9th floor. Davis took the shots like a man. The shots look like they would hurt, and judging by Davis' reaction, they must be very painful. But he did it. We had to then wait around the clinic for an hour to make sure he didn't have an allergic reaction, and he didn't. We mosied on home, taking our time making it back to Ashmore. The kids slept most of the way.
Davis weighed 55.2 pounds on Thursday. I was a little disappointed that Davis hadn't gained weight because he has really been eating consistently and eating the right things. The doctor reminded me that the bright side is that Davis didn't lose any weight over the past week. On Friday, Davis weighed 54.1 pounds. He lost a pound in 22 hours! The nurse talked to Davis about using protein and calcium supplements to offset some low reads from his CMP (complete metabolic panel). Davis isn't a fan on any of the chews, bars, drinks, and powders for protein and calcium on the market, and it feels like we have tried them all. The nurse and I had the familiar sometimes-you-have-to-do-stuff-you-aren't-going-to-like talk with Davis . . . again.
We are looking forward to having a full week without St. Louis. Davis is scheduled to head back for chemo in ten days. He will receive a spinal then. The break from LPs (lumbar punctures) has been very nice. He is looking forward to going to school provided that the kids in his classes are in good health. We can't wait for another blissful, uneventful week.
Every day we are reminded how good God is. I find myself thanking God for things I have never ever once thought of previously - things, I guess, that I just took for granted. I thank God that Davis is able to go to school for a whole day. I thank God that Davis eats chicken and gravy baskets from Dairy Queen. I thank God that Davis still has some hair. It is not that it mattered to me, but I know it matters to him, and having hair is one lessened reminder of what he has to go through every day. Thankful and blessed. My two words of choice. We are thankful that we have been blessed with such amazing family, friends, and a community that relentlessly support and encourage us. It will take us the rest of our natural lives to pay it forward. We will keep you posted.
I apologize for the shortage of pictures. I have taken many this week, but I have misplaced the USB chord that hooks my camera to my computer. I plan on getting another soon. I will catch up on pictures just as soon as I can get them off my camera. And I am sure that as soon as I purchase another chord, my missing chord will show up, and then I will have two.
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