Here we are 2 weeks out of the hospital from 2nd round of maintenance chemo. Several things come to mind that are drug related....1-Drugs are a good thing...2-Sometimes patients (my man in this case) need drug advocates (me, generally in every incidence involving drugs)...3-I wish I had listened to a couple of friends when they told me about the Sancuso Patch, it's a good thing! We may be a test subject for Trevor's oncologist because he didn't have a lot of experience with this drug. Just FYI, if you or a loved one is battling cancer and the chemo is causing violent retching (this was the case for Trevor) the Sancuso Patch is a "Miracle"!!!! It also goes by the name of Kitrel. I had mentioned to Trevor's doctor that we were interested in trying it. Trevor told me not to push the issue if Dr. Kaufman didn't want to use it. I told Trevor, I would push until he was able to muzzle me, I would push it as far as I could to get the best possible result/treatment for him.
Anyway, after a week in the hospital taking as much IV chemo his veins could carry and twice blowing veins at the end of the week, we got the prescription for the patch. Dr. Kaufman proceeded to tell me that our pharmacy didn't subscribe to this drug and it would have to be ordered...Sure would like to have known that bit of information before being admitted...So it's a Friday, our pharmacy doesn't carry it, no pharmacy carries it, this drug patch has to be ordered. Trevor is discharged on Friday morning really medicated, I mean really medicated...and I'm ordering a patch that is supposed to decrease/eliminate the nausea. My man was so medicated last weekend he was texting me asking when he ate last or when he could take his next round of meds or if he I had medicated him. I got the patch the Monday and slapped it on him after he awoke from a phenegran/adivan sleep stupor. He slept another few hours and as of now his nausea has been dramatically reduced. This time 4 weeks ago after his first round of chemo, he was still nauseous and violently sick. Nope, not this week! He is up talking, walking down the street, able to carry on a conversation without gagging in his mouth...This is a good thing! We are now awaiting the arrival of the nasty mouth sores, although we may avoid this side effect altogether and that would be superbulous! When he goes back for the 3rd and FINAL maintenance round of chemo, I'll follow the directions for the patch and apply it 24 hours before chemo begins, who know maybe he won't be nauseous every day and vomit at all.
But while Trevor's life stopped over the past 2 weeks, my babies and I have been doing our elementary life, projects and all. Eli had a Black History project on Martin Luther King, Jr. He was so bummed he got "stuck" with MLK, he wanted Bill Cosby. I tried to explain Cosby wouldn't have had the chance if Martin Luther King, Jr. didn't have a dream. This project was very informational for me, did you know that Martin Luther King, Jr's real name was Michael. His father changed his and his son's name after a trip to Germany where they learned more of Martin Luther and the Protestant Reformation. The tidbit of juicy history my boy took away from this Civil Right Leader was..."he was a lefty". Eli wanted to do his project on the basis that Martin Luther King, Jr. was left handed. MLK's dream didn't mean a whole lot but then again, Eli hasn't been raised the way I was or my parents so he doesn't see the impact this national figure has had on history. Or maybe, he isn't old enough to appreciate how far society has come OR maybe I'm naive about our racial cultures, I don't really know. I almost wish I had my son's mindset to see the simple things like MLK being left handed, not that he was killed for his beliefs in equality.
Eli's project was due last Friday, the day Trevor was discharged. We had all the info for the project but didn't actually do it until Thursday night after leaving the hospital visiting his daddy. Whereas Neely's project wasn't due until Thursday, Valentine's Day and she started last week. She had to make a shoe box into a Willy Wonka Valentine box. Give the girl some glue dots, a glue gun and candy and she will decorate until she runs out of something. You can see this project on my fb page. I remember Eli's box, it was Twizzlers and stuff just glued on. Neely had her Skittles and Valentine Heart candies in a pattern. OMGOODNESS, Neely and her patterns could do me in. I'm not really artsy fartsy, my daughter makes up enough for the both of us. She LOVES JoAnn's Fabrics!
During Trevor's drug induced week siesta, Eli decided not to play baseball this spring. Those of you that know me know that this is a big pill for me to swallow. He has played baseball since he was 4, that sounds like a really long time, in the scheme of life it's 7 years. I know the game of baseball, I love the sport. He has decided to play spring soccer. He told Trevor while he was in the hospital and Trevor didn't know if he heard him correctly so we discussed it again once he got home after his sedation wore off. Eli said he loves soccer and he understood he couldn't play baseball and spring soccer, he chose soccer. I don't understand soccer. I know the point is to score at the opposite end of the field. To my knowledge, I don't think there are any chants for soccer. For baseball you've got, "hey batter, batter, batter-SWWWING!", or "2 away", or "let's hit around!" or "rally on 3", or even the infamous "throw down your walker and RUN, old man!" In soccer, which Eli has also played since he was 4, there is nothing to chant but maybe, "score!" But this is the point in life he gets to choose what he wants to play...I almost think he's doing it so he doesn't have to listen to me holler. But as I explained to him before, every kid on the field deserves to have a cheerleader rooting for him. I guess I'm rooting for all 11 on the soccer field this spring...
And in the idea of trying to keep my kids life "normal", I will be entered to win coolest (or dumbest) Mom Of The Year...my babies "got" to bring home the elementary school science pets, Thunder and Lightening (hamsters) over the extended weekend, thanks Mrs. G! Conversation on the way home from school on Thursday when our weekend started went something like this: "MOM, you're going too fast!", this is going around the curve pulling out of the parking lot. "Mom, we can't put their cages close together because they don't get along and we don't want them to fight". So should I put my kids in cages apart from each other so they don't fight? "Mom, we have to clean their cages on Saturday." If you spy on my house, you will notice the hamster's cages are clean, are my kid's rooms? That would be a "NO"! My babies don't realize rodents live in filth and squall-er...kinda makes my kids look like rodents with the messes in their rooms. My babies rooms may not be clean but the hamster's cages are clean.
Thank you for your continued prayers and encouragement. We are blessed and have had to have several discussions this week about our blessings. My children think bad things don't happen if you're rich or famous. I had to point out Lindsey Lohan, to which Eli replied "she made bad choices". He commented this week he only wanted to see his dad smile. The fact of the matter is, the muscles in Trevor's mouth are sore. The lining in his mouth is thickening and sloughing out so his mouth is sore and raw, it hurt's for him to smile, talk and especially laugh. But as my children were twinkle toes-ing across the living room, Eli tripped over our thread bare carpet while saying "watch-me!" Trevor laughed out loud and Eli was so excited. Eli has thanked God several times for his dad's ability to smile and laugh, especially at him. God has been so good to us through all of this, from the Deer Stand Altercation to this Cancer Ordeal. It seems that I forget that when Trevor is gagging in the sink or when he gets up too fast and I have to catch him before he passes out. Then God will send me a love note, maybe in a friend's encouragement or even my man saying "Thank You", or my babies remaining germ free. God has continued to keep the nasty bugs out of our house, no strep, no flu, no nasty stomach bug...blessed I tell ya blessed!
angi
Numbers 6:24-26 "The Lord bless you and keep you, the Lord make His face shine upon you and be gracious to you; the Lord turn His face toward you and give you peace."
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