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| Thursday Morning |
Chemo at Primary Children’s yesterday was old hat. We parked in the usual place, played the same guessing game with which elevator would open first, and patiently endured the same procedures for cancer patients on the 4th floor of the hospital. After a routine CBC, Jace’s numbers looked better than they have all summer, and he received his usual dose of IV Vincristine.
It was ‘mostly’ old
hat…I should say…with the addition of mentioning his recent headaches to
the doctor. Jace has experienced headaches every day since Sunday. It is odd
for him to complain about anything, so we are definitely taking note and trying
to figure out exactly what is causing them. As you know, he started wearing a
football helmet recently, so this is probably the cause. (Though he hasn’t done
any tackling yet). Or it could be allergies…or a sinus infection. These are our best
physical explanations.
In the last two weeks Jace has also initiated two very
tender “Cancer Conversations.” This
first started with:
“So, is there a chance I could still die from cancer??...”
The second was:
“Can you get two kinds of cancer at once? Is there a chance
my headaches are caused from a brain tumor??...”
This insight to his worries is troublesome, but I’m glad he’s
communicating them to us. I’m not sure
we say the right things, but at least we can talk openly about these very real
fears.
Yesterday after his chemo treatment he pestered us the
entire way home from Salt Lake to “drive faster” so he could make it to
football practice.
“What if you don’t feel well enough to practice?” I asked
gently. “Are you sure you want to go? The coach said you have a great excuse to
miss…”
“MOTHER. Come on!” he replied. “Since when do I not go to
practice?”
We are working on inventing a “port protecting” contraption
to attach to his shoulder pads. They
will start “hitting’ in practice next week…
After driving straight from Primary Children’s hospital, we
arrived at the field. He grabbed his cleats, helmet, and water bottle. Then he
threw his hospital identification bracelet in my lap, and jumped out of the
car. As he walked away I read the back of the shirt he wore. It said:
“ALL IT TAKES, Is All You’ve GOT.”
--A fitting saying for our Iron Man, don’t you agree?
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| Thursday Night |
