Distractions

We've been distracted around here for the past few weeks. Among other things, I have forgotten to:

*register the car with the DMV. Jay drove the Camry around and luckily didn't get a ticket for an expired registration. The form was sitting right where I normally put things that I need to do. It just didn't get done.
*do simple household tasks, like run the dishwasher. I load it and put the detergent in the little receptacle, but turning it on seems to escape my mind.
*sign checks. For the first time in all the years I've been paying bills, a check was returned to me because I forgot to sign it. Apparently that's kind of an important step.

As distracted as we've been, we've also been looking for fun things to do so pass the time. Jay took the boys to a Ute basketball game last weekend and took the kids to a matinee the weekend before that. Tomorrow we are escaping Cache Valley for a family birthday party for our nephew Colin.

Jay and I finally caved and sprang for the ultimate distraction - a Wii. Jay had American Express points that he could cash in, so we ordered one and it came today. I was prepared and bought Lego Star Wars ahead of time and the Wii came with Wii Sports so we've got a few games to play. I know that we're overcompensating for the stress of the past month but I don't care. Winter can be hard enough to get through but his winter has been harder than most for us and it only promises to get harder as we deal with Henry's cancer treatment over the coming weeks.

So, we're distracted. Some of it is good - yay Wii! Some of it is bad - hopefully I don't forget a child somewhere in the coming weeks. Maybe the good and bad distractions will balance each other out.

Rock Star

I told Henry the other day that he was a rock star. Not because he has any musical talent whatsoever, mind you. Because he is such a medical anomaly at this point that when I call people about him, I barely have to mention my name and they interrupt me with, "Oh, you're Henry's mom. What can I do for you?" It's happened several times this week, the most recent being last night. Jay took the boys down to Salt Lake City to see the University of Utah play Air Force in basketball. I was putting Tessa to bed and didn't hear the phone ring; when I checked our voicemail, there was a message from Henry's new doctor (a pediatric endocrinologist in SLC). He asked me to call him back through the switchboard at Primary Children's Medical Center. When I did, I had barely gotten my name out when the operator said, "You're Henry's mom, right? For Dr. Donaldson? Hold on, I'll get him." And in less than 30 seconds I was talking to him. About Henry's lab work. On a Saturday night. (It's all fine, by the way; we are just lowering his calcium supplements).

Rock star, indeed. I'll be glad when we can go back to medical anonymity. Someday.

Holding Pattern

We are in a holding pattern in regards to Henry's cancer treatment. He's feeling great (apart from the drama surrounding his blood draw today - my gosh, I hope he gets used to those at some point since he's in for a lifetime of periodic blood tests) and back to full activity in less than a week. His energy and appetite are good. He's back at school and Cub Scouts and basketball and church. Jay and I are waiting, waiting, waiting. We should hear from the Nuclear Medicine Department from the University of Utah next week regarding his radioactive iodine treatment. It looks like a long-haul type thing. Two weeks before the treatment he goes off his thyroid medication (leading to a not-feeling-so-great Henry) and on a low iodine diet (goodbye ice cream). Then he has a two day appointment with Nuclear Medicine, including a CT scan and the I-131 treatment. He'll be hospitalized in isolation for the first 24 hours or so - Jay and I will stay with him, but we'll have to keep our distance. Then we've got to keep him away from William and Tessa (away meaning they have to stay more than 5 feet away from him) for another few days. We're still figuring out the logistics of how all this is going to work; thank goodness we have a while to think about it. Honestly all of this makes my head hurt so it's probably good to take a deep breath right about now. If I could just stop thinking about it all, that is.

Since we're in a holding pattern, I think I'll spend my time vacuuming my house with my new vacuum. It's a Dyson and I'm in love. Seriously, this vacuum is amazing. My opinion may be skewed since our sad little vacuum has been limping along, barely sucking up any dirt for a year now. But my goodness do I love the Dyson. I love the little lines that it leaves on the carpet, signifying that I've been doing my part to keep the house clean. It makes a perfect companion to the Dyson handheld vacuum that Jay gave me for Christmas. I heart it. I use it primarily for the stairs in our house but I can't wait to attack the van with it. It's wonderful. If only Dyson made a machine that would magically clean bathrooms!

Finally, I want to show off the puzzle that our family completed:


It was a gift from Santa. Santa mistakenly thought the the kids (minus Tessa) would enjoy putting together a 500 piece puzzle. Instead, Nana and Aunt Laura spent Christmas afternoon working on the frame (and it took awhile since it was oddly shaped) and Henry and I worked on it off and on, finally transferring it to one of those puzzle mats that you can roll up and put away. This past Sunday afternoon Henry said, "Mom, let's work on the puzzle." Of course he was done with it before I had even gotten all the pieces out of the box and turned over but by then I was obsessed with completing it. Hours and hours later it was done. The kids helped, kind of. When they saw the progress I was making, they would ooh and ah over it, saying things like "wow, we're doing a good job on this puzzle" as they walked by on their way to another room.

Anyway, it's done. And it'll never be done again. I bought some of that glue that you can use to save the puzzle; maybe I'll make it into a poster for the boys room. Santa needs to seriously rethink his gift giving strategy to us next year.

Make A Wish

I've been overwhelmed by the generosity and love that people have shown our family over the past two weeks. People have been calling and/or dropping by on almost a daily basis to check on Henry and see how he and we are doing. He has been given books and puzzle books and games and treats and just about anything that anyone can think of to help ease an 8 year old's recovery from major surgery. Some members of the Sky View HS football team visited him in the hospital and brought him some gear, a tshirt, an autographed football and a pep talk. Last week he received an personally autographed basketball from members of the Utah Jazz. He has been invited over to friends houses to play and hang out; if you know Henry, you know how hard it is for him to stay home and rest. Lots of people have remembered William and Tessa as well, understanding that maybe they were feeling a bit left out with all the attention Henry has been receiving lately. We are so blessed to have so many people in our lives who care about our family.

He's doing well. He is ready to go back to school on Tuesday and, quite frankly, I'm ready for him to go back. He has another week on "light activity" - no recess or basketball or sledding or any of the things that make Henry's life worth living. Light saber battles with William seem to fall into the gray area - if I can catch them, I stop them; otherwise they seem to go on with no ill effects.

We meet with a pediatric endocrinologist next week to discuss future treatment on Henry's cancer. It's been a hard thing, trying to find an "expert" to treat our son. There aren't too many experts on pediatric thyroid cancer because it's so rare. But we have faith that we are on the right track to getting him cancer free this year.

As always, we ask for your continued prayers on Henry's behalf.

Big Love

I decided to stop neglecting my children in my quest to become the greatest living expert on pediatric thyroid cancer and actually, you know, pay attention to them. Oh, they're fine. A scheduling fluke has had everyone home from school so far this week and they've been pretty good about playing well together. They've watched a few movies. I've fed them. But I've been preoccupied. So today when Tessa started playing with her Disney Princess themed dolls (they are miniature, kind of like Polly Pockets) I sat down on the floor to help her get them all dressed.

She has three princesses - Cinderella, Snow White, and Ariel. She also has a prince, who came with the Cinderella set. The four of them seem to live together in the Fisher Price castle that she got for her birthday. She doesn't play too much with the Fisher Price people who came with the castle, but her princesses seem to enjoy it there.

So today she wanted me to dress Ariel in her "marry dress". I asked her if Ariel was going to marry the prince and she laughed. "No mama, she's already married to the prince. They all are."

Apparently polygamy is alive and well in the imagination of my three year old daughter.

Free at Last!

Henry is home. We were hoping for a Friday evening release from the hospital, but his calcium levels dropped (ask me anything about thyroid surgery and calcium levels - I'm an expert now) so they needed to keep him one more night. He was mad - furious really - and kept accusing me of lying to him. He got so upset that the Versed they used to relax him before taking out his surgical drain did nothing to him and the nurse suggested that I leave for a few minutes to let him calm down. That's me, alright - the one who gets my thyroid-less son so upset that enough drugs to put a grown man to sleep won't touch him. Go ahead and nominate me for Mother of the Year. Anyway, his levels were nice and high this morning so he's home now. He's tired and sore but it's so good to have him home, where he can sleep in his own bed and be annoyed with his siblings.

Our next doctor's appointment is on Friday with the surgeon and we'll discuss future treatment and get a referral to an endocrinologist at that point. I'm anxious about the cancer treatment, even though the success rate is good. For the next week, however, we're going to focus on getting Henry feeling well and healed.

Thanks again for all the good thoughts and prayers. He is doing really well and we attribute that to all the people pulling for him. Keep'em coming - we'll take them for as long as you can offer them!

One in a Million

It's 2:00 am and I'm sitting in a fairly comfortable chair watching Henry watch a movie. I don't typically allow movies in the middle of the night, but today (tonight?) felt like a good time to make an exception. This is the most awake he's been since his surgery ended yesterday afternoon and he said he didn't feel like sleeping. That makes two of us.

There is a one in a million chance that a child under age 10 will be diagnosed with thyroid cancer. Literally. Those are the odds. We always thought that Henry was a special kid and I guess he's proved us right again.

We have been told that if you are going to have cancer, thyroid cancer is the best kind to have. In the vast majority of cases it is a very curable disease, with about a 97 percent success rate. We are so grateful for that. But that doesn't change the fact that our 8 year old son's life has changed forever. I feel scared and sad for him. I wish I could change this. I wish it wasn't happening. I wish I could go back and change the past three weeks.

Instead I sit and watch my son watch "Angels in the Outfield" and pray that some of those angels will continue to watch over him. Unless they look like Christopher Lloyd. That's just creepy.

Thank you so much for your prayers and good wishes. If you don't mind, I'll ask for them to continue.

Prayer Request

This post is a shameless request for prayers for Henry. He is having surgery tomorrow on a growth (mass, tumor, nodule - whatever you want to call it) on his thyroid gland. They'll remove the part of his thyroid gland that contains the growth and have it tested while he is still under anesthesia. If it's benign, the surgery is over. If it's malignant, they'll remove the rest of his thyroid gland and some lymph nodes in his neck and have further treatment in the upcoming months. He'll probably be hospitalized a few days - we're hoping to get him home on Friday sometime.

If you have any spare good thoughts and prayers to send our way, we'll gladly take them. I'll post an update when I get a chance.

Belated New Years Wishes

Happy New Year! I don't know where the week after Christmas went - all of the sudden it's January 3rd and the kids go back to school tomorrow. We've had a busy week, though. Some highlights include:

*shopping with the Christmas money from Granny - I let the boys get new lightsabers and I regret it - lightsaber battles in our house typically end up in tears. Tessa bought a Princess and the Frog poster for her room, though, and absolutely loves it! Tiana is her new favorite.

*seeing Alvin and the Chipmunks at a matinee - Actually, this was my least favorite activity this week and my brain is still screaming from the insipidity of it all, but the kids liked it, especially Tessa.

*sledding with the Cub Scouts - They had a family activity on the 30th that involved a camp fire, doughnuts, hot chocolate, and sledding. The kids had a blast!

*attending Olivia's baptism - Our niece (and the kids cousin) Olivia was baptized on Saturday, so we drove down and had a fun day visiting with family.

We also had some treats and watched some football. Henry started work on his Pinewood Derby car for the Cub Scout activity in January. We read books and played games. It was a productive week.

We hope everyone is having a good 2010 so far.