Thankful!

I apologize for the lack of postings, but as the old adage goes, "no news is good news". Adam is doing well and the spots the doctor was concerned about, they have ruled out any current recurrence or relapse of the disease. They are going to do more tests in December and to watch him closely for any signs or symptoms. Other than that he is doing fantastic!

We may soon have word on his Make-a-Wish event and will be posting any news regarding that within the next few days.

It seems to hard to believe that a year ago next week this journey began and here we are today, healthy and happy. Yes, the fear is always there, but it is so different than last Thanksgiving. We are so thankful, words can not begin to describe...

Hurry Up & Wait

Radiation was supposed to start on Thursday, April 30th, however after further investigation the doctor's decided they wanted to send off his results for further observation and screening prior to doing radiation.  One of the benefits of doing a clinical trial is that we get state of the art medicines and new ideas, but a lot of hurry up and wait.  They need to make sure all their p's and q's are in place before they advance to the next staging of treatment.

So we are not complaining, as we want to make sure everything is in order and things are done correctly, but sometimes I am sure it get aggravating for Adam.

He has started back to school full time, and hopefully this will take his mind off of things and he can get back to doing the things he likes to do.  We will update once the radiation starts.  Keep praying!

Home Again

Well, Adam is back home and back doing the things he enjoys. hanging out with friends, working on cars, and being a teen age boy. His chemo session went well, and he came over to dad's for a few days and now we await his tests and scans that are scheduled on the 15th of April to show us what our next step is.

Chances are that they will schedule the radiation within a few weeks. We continue to pray that this is the last of the chemo.

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.

Still Being a Teen

Most parents will be able to relate to this post I am sure. Most teenagers do not understand the importance of keeping in touch with their parents when they are not at home. Even though we say "call me" that tends to get lost in the shuffle and the teens get caught up in their activity and mom and dad are the last thing on their minds.

When this happens, teenagers should understand that their parents are sitting there waiting and having these horrible visions run through their minds of their child being involved in an accident, or laying in a jail cell or worse. My mother was always afraid of things and always told me to make sure I had on clean underwear before leaving...in case something like that happened.

Most times, when a teen doesn't call in, one of these events have not taken place, it's just the fact that the teen really is not interested in stopping what he/she is doing to check in with the parents.

Well imagine if you will this scenario happening with Adam at this current time in his life. As parents we are focused on getting him better and making sure that he is doing everything he needs to do to make that happen. At the same time we don't want to muffle his teen experience and we want him to maintain his relationships even though he has cancer. It has been made very clear to us from all the experts that it is important to allow Adam to continue leading as normal as a life as possible.

I guess that means not calling when he is out with friends.

His mother began to get worried as she had not heard for him in some time, and of course his cell phone was left at home.

As a parent, panic sets in. Visions of horrible things begin to move across our minds. We try to remember..."Did he put on clean underwear??" Then they come home.

It is very difficult for us to remember that Adam is still a teenager, with all those teenage emotions, feelings and confusions. He also still needs his freedom and independence to continue to find out who he is and who he will become. Even though he is dealing with a disease that has changed all of our lives, it is not changed the fact that he is still a teenager.

So did he get in trouble for not checking in with mom?

He said he did, but I doubt it was as bad as he made it out to be. I mean, he is still a teenager.

Not Always About Adam

Since Adam's diagnosis a lot of attention has been given to him. That is natural for all parents, when one of their children is sick they tend to shower them with attention. Mainly to make sure they are doing okay, being worried and any number of things that go through a parents mind.

Unfortunately if there are other children in the family, they tend to get "left out in the cold". When a child is sick that can last for the entire time they are sick, so with Adam having Hodgkin's, a lot of attention will be showered upon him. That leaves me with the reason for this posting. Adam's brother Jordan.

Even though Jordan is 18, he still lives at home and he too needs the attention, so this post is about him. He made the comment that there were no posts about him, so today it's about Jordan.

Jordan and Adam are very close in age, as well as close to one another. They look out for each other and they also fight with one another as brothers do, but NEVER say anything bad about the other one or you will see just how close they are. For many years when you saw Adam, you saw Jordan. Now that they are older that is not always the case, but you can guarantee if Adam needs his brother, Jordan will be there and vice versa.

So this has been very hard on Jordan. But he has still been there and supporting Adam every step of the way, just as a brother should, and just as a BIG brother should. So Jordan, thanks! You know that mom and I love you and you know that Adam does too, even though he never tells you that. Hang in there, and know that we still think about you too and we still worry about you too. This will all soon be over and I am sure that during this time you will get all the attention you need. If not let us know...

I Just Want To Go Home (Day 14)

I think I heard those words about 30 times or more tonight. I am sure his mother heard them even more. The hospital made the mistake of telling Adam that he could go home today. However, they didn't realize when they tell a 15 year old who has been in the hospital for 14 days that he can go home, is that he expects to go home NOW.

Adam did go home, but after a very trying and impatient wait. It seems as though he is finally understanding the threat of his disease. As most kids, Adam is no different in believing that they are invincible and indestructible. Today I think he realized just how real this thing called cancer is. And how fragile we all are. He had sort of a meltdown today, and as he did, so did we all. Our nerves were raw, and our emotions have been ripped apart for two weeks and I think it all came to a head for all of us.

Unfortunately, this is something that we should not have experienced together. It would have been less painful and nerve exposing if we could have all experienced this at differant times.

But then it is not about us, it is about Adam and that is where the focus needs to remain, and from this point on it will be. Because he is too important, as any child would be in his situation.

To compound upon the emotional effects, Adam also is having to deal with the chemical effects. Not just of the chemotherapy but of the steroids that he HAS to take to strengthen his immunity. I know from my own experience with steroids, that you are constantly on edge and it feels as though you are going to crawl out of your skin. I was only on 5 milligrams, he is on 35 mil. twice a day. I am sure this is taking it's toll on him and is causing him to act out when otherwise he would not. That is not even taking into account; pain meds, anti nausea meds and the actual chemo. No wonder he is frazzled. He is allowed a meltdown once and a while. Actually I am surprised that it has taken him this long. But then he is a very strong-willed young man.

But finally we made it home. Adam's mom was able to sit down for a few minutes in her own living room, and Adam was finally able to relax and not deal with the confines of the hospital. Like he said when we got to the car. "Fresh air never felt so good Dad."

The first treatment is over. Several are still ahead with more curves and detours I am sure, but one thing is for certain, the road my be treacherous, but He will make it through this. The journey has just begun but he has a tremendous amount of support, love, faith and strength to help him through it.