Flight Suit!!

Kelly Jensenius strikes AGAIN! First she gives my boys a world of solace that is their bedrooms, and now this. As you can see above, Gideon got his very own FLIGHT SUIT from Kelly. It is real... Gideon has said that over and over and over, "I have a REAL flight suit. It's REAL. And I will WEAR it. And I will FLY in it! When I'm big, I will!" That did it... the "When I'm big..." Talk about taking me out of my rut of stomach-churning heartache. When he said those three words, his whole "I won't be an old man" comment lost so much of its sting. The suit itself is truly incredible. It will have a place of honor hanging in Gideon's airplane room. Seeing Gideon's eyes dance with dreams of the future makes it invaluable. THANK YOU, Kelly! Gideon's full name looking all official on that uniform has my daydreams of the future tap dancing in my head, as well: GIDEON SCHRIPSEMA on sports jerseys, High Honors Certificates, a Grammy, an Oscar, all of it... So, with the flight suit came dreaming. I always will happily welcome that.

It was a difficult weekend, but once again the staff of KCMS Pediatrics Hematology/Oncology brightened up my perspective. I always wonder if I'm doing an okay job, if I could do better. It's the achiever in me. I judge myself harshly, and so there are many times when I feel like I don't handle all of this very well. Sure, there were the irrational monsters who tried to get the best of me, but there are also times when I think to myself, AMANDA! That was not the best way to handle that! You messed up! Thankfully, I can own my mess-ups and learn from them. I needed a good-ole fashioned "ATTA, girl!" The clinic nurses and Dr. Lobel did just that. They really made me feel like we can do this...Like Gideon is doing so very well and we are going to keep plugging away day-to-day until the battle is won. It feels achievable, once again. Hope is restored! I left there today with my spirits raised and with a happy (but hungry) little man fighting his sharks while pulling his chemo suitcase...singing.

Today Gideon received more NEMO CHEMO, and he waved happily and talked to his chemo tube as he was being infused. It was like a little pep-talk, and I just melted when I heard him say, "Hi, mommy and daddy and baby Nemos! GET THOSE SHARKS! You can do it!" (The "You can do it" was said in a Rob Schneider voice. Gideon does the voice better than me, and he has never actually seen Rob Schneider... He has a future in impersonation. YAY! Something else that will have his name on it. An impersonation trophy. I'm sure they are out there. There I go! Tangent. I'll end it with a parenthesis and get back on topic. Ready? Here we go.) Gideon also had Vincristine. He acted like his own sweet self today, only amped up. He had so much energy, and his numbers are looking gorgeous! He didn't need a transfusion today, but it's looking like he may need plasma by Thursday.

Gideon was feeling so fabulous, that he played pretty hard outside. He forgot he had chemo, I think. Then he barfed. A lot. Zofran to the rescue! We will be relying on that stuff like it is oxygen (just won't use it as much as oxygen...that wouldn't be the best idea).

All-in-all, Clinic today was a success! And we ended the day with dreams of flying. What can be better?