Cade had a blast at home! He got to enjoy the Thanksgiving holiday in his own home, which we were so grateful for. Even better was that he got to be home for the mounds of snow that were dumped on us in Illinois. He had so much fun playing out in the snow running around, riding the sled down our little hill in to the ditch, playing with his cousins. The morning of the snow he wasn’t even going to let his feeding stop him from going outside. We bundled him all up, put the feeding pump in the backpack, and out he went to help daddy snow blow the driveway and play. It was the cutest thing ever. He got to spend a lot of time with Rylan, which was great. We spent one day going through every single toy bin and reorganizing our toys while getting rid of a lot of toys to give to other kids who aren’t as fortunate. It was a long exhausting day, but it always feels so good to be organized. Let’s just hope it lasts! I keep reminding Rylan that he needs to put all his toys back where they live after he’s done. Haha. We also got to put away all of our fall decorations and decorate the house for Christmas, which I love doing. Cades favorite part was the tree. He kept asking when we were going to get it put up to decorate it and telling me I was taking to long. One of his favorite phrases these days. I was so excited when I remembered that I had found a beautiful fake Christmas tree last year on clearance after the holidays. Thank you Target! Otherwise I can honestly say I don’t know that we would have a tree up this year if it had to be a real one. This will be our first year for having a fake tree. I have always been a real tree kind of girl. But it’s such a process and I definitely didn’t have it in me this year to deal with it so it would have been up to Chris. Who I also don’t think had it in him by the excitement I got in response to reminding him I had bought the fake tree. Haha.
Tuesday we had a family day. We went out to breakfast at one of Cade’s favorite places- Brunch Cafe. Then we all went to Color Me Mine in Crystal Lake where they got to pick something to paint. Cade was really wanting to paint a Spider-Man mug so he could have his own just like brother. But go figure, they were all sold out. Guess that means we’ll just have to go back again 😉 They had fun though. Very short attention span, so thankfully they both picked something small seeing as Chris and I still had to help paint a lot since you need 3 coats on everything. It was a really nice day. Wednesday we had appointments back at the hospital for his kidney and hearing tests as well as his clinic visit for dressing change and labs. While running around the hospital he got to see a bunch of the Star Wars characters. So fun! Wednesday was the soonest they would admit him based on the timing of his last round. If you remember with the last round, we were home for over 2 weeks and had come to our clinic appointments three times before actually being admitted to stay and start due to his counts not being high enough. They were hopeful that since he got a larger amount of cells for his stem cell transplant with the second round, he would recover his counts a little quicker and better this time. And he definitely did. Monday his platelets were 33! Last time they never came up past 18. Wednesday when we came in his counts had dropped a little bit from Monday, but he was still admitted! I only had to pack up the car once this time, we were admitted on the first shot. So exciting! He knew we were staying to start his medicine again and he was excited to come back to the unit as he kept saying to me over and over again, “come on! Let’s go see all my friends!” When we walked over to the unit, he saw Miss Kiera and went running to her and gave her a big hug. It was the sweetest thing ever. Given that we have to be somewhere that no one ever wants to be, I am so grateful that he has so many faces he loves seeing and that he actually associates being here in a positive nature. It’s a blessing in the face of this storm.
His kidney and hearing tests are still both good thankfully, and yesterday he started chemo bright and early. He is still on isolation unfortunately as we only have 2 of the 3 negative MRSA swabs that are required. And then he’s still on it for the stupid enterovirus, which with his low immune system, he likely will not have cleared yet either. We are going to swab for it anyways when we do the last MRSA swab Monday, but if he is still positive for enterovirus, then it’s isolation for us again this entire round. As frustrating as it is, maybe it is for a reason. Maybe it’s supposed to be like this for his protection. Otherwise this kid would be roaming all over the entire hospital and during flu and sickness season. Thankfully, he has been tolerating the isolation very well. He keeps asking me “is I still in isolation?” Yes baby, you are. I’m sorry. And he just says ok and shrugs it off. We got another room we’ve never been in this round. And funny enough it is the first time that we have had a room that faces this way so everything is the opposite. I’m getting used to it, but it was weird at first. I had decided to change things up with our decor this round too, being so close to the holidays. I felt that we needed to decorate our room in Christmas decor. Makes it feel a little more homey and festive. The nurses all love it when they come in.
My mother in law sent me a text this morning with the following attachment and it couldn’t have come at a better time:
There’s no storm that God won’t carry you through.
No bridge that God won’t help you cross.
No battle that God won’t help you withstand.
No heartache that God won’t help you let go of.
He is so much bigger than anything you will face today.
Today leave everything in His hands
And embrace this day confidently knowing that He will take care of you.
Today is a very significant day in my heart. Cade is getting his second day of chemo for his third and final round. Which technically marks today as his LAST DAY OF CHEMO!!!!!!!!! God willing. I pray that this will be his last time he will ever have to get chemo and that we will never have to look back or re-live this horrific experience again 🙏🏼 🙏🏼 🙏🏼 After today, it is the same schedule as before. Two days of rest, then his stem cell transplant on Monday afternoon, and then the waiting game for his cells to come in and his blood counts to recover once they bottom out. All while praying that nothing happens fever/infection wise in the meantime. Fingers crossed!! I can’t even believe that we are finally here. His last round. One more step closer to the light at the end of the tunnel that I’ve been longing to see. We would not have been able to make it this far if it wasn’t for each and every one of you behind us as our support system holding us up, helping us get through. Helping us to make it to the end. Thank you! Thank you so much!! You are his prayer warriors, and all of your prayers and blessings you have sent have done wonders! Please continue to send your prayers that he will have an uneventful stay on this last and hopefully final round ever. 🙏🏼 ❤️
Our Warrior Journey 