Cancer-FREE

Cancer-FREE

Tuesday, June 22, 2010

Home.

First thing this morning, Gideon and I woke up to headache-free splendor. We celebrated with quiet snuggles and "I Spy." He had to be sedated right away so that there could be another round of chemo in his spinal fluid and another bone marrow extraction. It was a full day of being a little one with cancer since he had Vincristine injected into his IV and another transfusion. My boy was wiped out, but when he found out he could go home, a little Gideon spark lit up in his eyes.

It is getting progressively more difficult to give Gideon his oral meds. The boy spits them out and I have to guess how much he got and how much I should redo. We are working on getting this down to a science and I think I found the secret weapon: chocolate milk. After each dose of medicine, he can chug some chocolate milk to get the nasty taste out of his mouth. He will refuse, refuse, refuse, but as soon as I say, "GIDEON! You have to take this medicine to fight the sharks!" his mouth opens like a baby bird. He knows.

I feel like he knows too much. He has grown up far too much in the last twelve days. I brought home a sixteen year old and an infant all at once today. He is too weak and shaky on his feet to tackle the stairs on his own, but he is beyond articulate with relaying his feelings and thoughts. He cries and whines less, and discusses more. This, of course, is only true when he is the GOOD Gideon. When he is the chemically altered Gideon, he talks with the fist and in ear-shattering screams. Clear the room and hide if you are around and this Gremlin decides to take over my precious' body.

When Gideon was 'roid raging, he took it out on Brody today. I had to stifle my laughter when Brody said, "Gideon! This is NOT fair. I can't fight back because you will BRUISE!" Brody is still having his mini-breakdowns. He stubs his toe and sobs. He can't find his blue marker and he sobs. It has been his outlet. Probably the most heart quaking breakdown was yesterday when Gideon was getting his MRI. Brody and I were drawing in the waiting room and I noticed he had drawn a picture of Gideon in his hospital bed. All on his own he drew his port in his chest, IV line, IV tree, ID bracelet, and curly, curly hair. I praised his creativity and realistic portrayal, and then he said to me, "I drew Gideon with lots and lots of curly hair. Know why, mommy? Because soon it will be all gone." And then he started to silently cry. Brody has never silently cried, and I held him as his little shoulders shook and he tried the best he could to wipe every rogue tear before its evidence was left on my shirt. Dear Lord, protect this baby's heart, as well. When we prayed tonight, he said, "God bless Gideon and make him better" about twelve times. He was repeating it as if reminding God of the massive importance of it. He added: "I really want to be able to play crash bikes, tackle, and wrestling with him again." Did I mention how much this boy takes my breath away? He does. All of the time.

I know I'm tired when I write something in my blog and then get writer's block since a song pops in my brain and I can't think of anything else. Top Gun's "Take my Breath Away" ballad is echoing again and again in my noggin. Now it is in yours. You're welcome.

Anyway, HAPPY! JOYOUS! EXTRAORDINARY News!
1. MRI = clear
2. Migraine medicine = working
3. Gideon has a molecular genetic abnormality found in his chromosomes. That sounds bad, but it is truly fabulous! It is the "tel-aml gene" which is one that is even MORE conducive to treatment and remission. I have no doubt that this was a God thing.
4. WE ARE HOME! We ate Merideth's delicious chicken cashew casserole (Thanks, Mer!) and all of the laundry is put away (thank you, laundry fairies!)

Now..... I will sleep with an ear open and a puke bowl in one hand. But I will do it gladly because I am so thankful. Home feels like home, but different. It is another dimension of home. I don't view things the same way as I did when I left here, and my life has been drastically altered, but my heart feels at ease and I am certain we will come out of all of this better than when we started. Like I said, I can tangibly feel God's presence and I have never experienced this in a constant way like I do now. He is in control, so I'm not scared of this.

7 comments:

  1. Thank you, God, house fairies, laundry fairies and cooking fairies... and EVERYONE who is still praying for this terrific, beautiful family! We're still adding our thoughts, prayers and wishes throughout the days. I'm so very glad to hear that you're at home and hoping (desperately) that things calm at least slightly for a while.

    God bless and keep you all in the palm of his hand, and may you have a relatively peaceful night!
    LOVE,
    ~~Aunt Nancy~~

    ReplyDelete
  2. So glad you are home!! Will lift up Brody in prayer too....you all need it in your own way! I'm praising God right now that Gideon's pain has lessened. Our God is an AWESOME God!! Thank you for taking the time to write all these posts...Jenelle

    ReplyDelete
  3. Thank you for another amazing, beautifully written post, Sweetie. What angels you and Tom are raising. I'm praying hard for a night of long uninterrupted peaceful sleep with zero pain or puke. I am picturing Jesus and all His angels standing guard over all your beds and the entire house tonight. Love you all, Aunt Bets

    ReplyDelete
  4. Bless you and your family. Again, you take MY breath away with your writing. I thank God every day for the good news you receive and pray to Him to help you through the difficult times ahead. Let me know if you need ANYTHING, I am really right around the corner from you. xo ~Deb

    ReplyDelete
  5. Oh, that was Debbie's meal but I am glad you are home and enjoying each minute.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Brody just took my breath away, too. Another Gregory girl is here to keep you and your family in her prayers. I am amazed by your strength and faith...

    ReplyDelete
  7. So happy to hear you are home and thriving! If he likes chocolate milk after his pills, maybe some chocolate or vanilla pudding would help take some of the taste away for the crushed pills? It works for adults sometimes, but we all know that kids are much wiser:) I've said it before, and I'll say it again, I can only hope to have kids as special as yours! I know that nap times will be tempting to get things done, but much like when you have a newborn, take those times to rest yourself! -Cate

    ReplyDelete