Chemotherapy & Corn Dogs

Today Tate received the chemo consisting of three injections given at the same time, as he will again Wednesday and Friday.  He said it hurts the same every time.  The blood test revealed his counts are too low to undergo a lumbar puncture tomorrow morning, so that has been postponed until next week to give him some time to build up his defenses.  Every time a lumbar puncture is performed, his spinal fluid cells are examined for the presence of blasts and he is given intrathecal chemotherapy (chemo into the spinal fluid).  His last several LPs have come back negative.

Tate spends a lot of time in this little room, either getting chemo or recovering from it.  He likes this room best because it’s quiet and the lights turn off all the way.

Stopping at Sonic on the way home from chemotherapy appointments has become a regular thing.  Tate says they have the best corn dogs.  The part of me that spends half my paycheck on organic food is silently protesting this new tradition, but just two weeks ago he weighed less than 130 pounds and was dangerously thin.  He’s looking pretty good these days; I think the corn dog diet agrees with him.

Things have been pretty quiet at our house with the exception of an enormous puppy that’s lonely without his favorite human.  Last week Greg received news that his father’s health is failing.  Greg has been in California for a few days to spend some time with his dad before he passes.  I am grateful things are stable enough at our house that Greg was able to travel to his dad, and I will be glad to have him back home tomorrow.

Simultaneous quiet and chaos pretty well sums up the atmosphere at our house.  We are trying to keep our home calm and serene but are also regularly confronted with noise, joy, hilarity, and destroyed dog toys.

I hope you are all doing great and enjoying the beginning of fall.  We can feel a shift of sorts, even though it’s still burning up out here.  The first thing I notice changing is how the light filters through the tress in the late afternoon; that’s when I know the summer is breaking.  Now more than ever I am grateful for every day, even the days that try my spirit in ways I didn’t know possible.