Routine

Not that having Hodgkins is routine, but it seems as though we are getting into a routine schedule. Chemo at the hospital, labs, labs, clinic, labs and then Chemo again. This past week due to the massive snow and ice storm, clinic was cancelled, so it broke the routine somewhat.

Normally clinic is the day when they schedule as much into 8 hours at the hospital for outpatient related issues as possible. Blood work, tests, x-rays and then a check up with the oncologists. Labs are a routine visit to the nearby hospital for blood draws, which enables to see how Adam's counts are doing. We can pretty much tell anymore by his actions without even having to draw blood. If he is easily fatigued and just kind of laying around and/or nauseous, we can pretty well figure his counts are going to be down. Labs are usually drawn twice a week.

Of course chemo is an admission to the hospital and they administer the chemo drugs intravenously.

This has now been the routine for the past 3 1/2 months, every 21 days. Does not seem that long. However, this month is a little different. As I already said the winter storm kind of put a bump in the routine, but also on February 10th, Adam will be 16.

Even though it happens to all of us, every 12 months, birthdays are special and not just a routine. This birthday will be even more special. At least as parents it will be. I am sure his mother as well as myself will look back over the past 16 years and see what this young man has accomplished and how he has grown and matured. And then we will see where he is now and how strong he has become.

Yeah we all get into routines in everything we do in our lives. Regardless if it is just the mundane tasks or the schedule brought upon us by sickness or other outside influences. Routines are there to make it a little more bearable, I suppose.

But as I look towards Adam's birthday I realize that his routine has been altered significantly. As a routine, most 16 year old boys are getting their temporary driver's license and looking forward to getting their first car. Adam, even though these things are part of his routine, and he wants more than anything to have that first car and drive, Hodgkins is also now part of that routine. Along with the Chemo, the labs and clinic visits. I know it's not easy for him, and I know having to share your 16th birthday with this hanging over you has got to be difficult. So as the day approaches an Adam becomes one year closer to becoming a man I hope we can step out of this routine and celebrate life and not focus on our current routines.