Matthew's been losing weight the last few weeks. The first week after the steroids, he lost 8 pounds out of the 18 he had gained. I will know more on Tuesday, but I can tell he's slowly losing more. His face is getting slimmer and less round. His clothes are fitting better around his belly. He's stronger, too. He can climb better every time we go to the playground, and he runs and plays now. I'm so grateful to watch him. You can tell he's feeling better than he has in months - even for months before his diagnosis.
I haven't seen his ANC for almost two weeks, so I'm getting a little more paranoid about germs. Yesterday, I left work with a very queasy stomach, and when I came home to rest, my number one concern was not spreading the germs to Matthew. This meant I couldn't hug or kiss him, or really take care of him at all. I was in tears for half the day because I was so afraid of spreading germs to him. It's a hard fact of cancer treatment. If someone in the house gets sick, we really have to step up the germ patrol.
So far, he seems okay, and my stomach bug seems to have been a 24 hour deal, so hopefully we will not have a visit to the hospital this week. I'll keep you all posted.
Matthew is happy, though. Full of energy, and spunk. He wants a nice, big variety of things to do every day, and has occasionally gotten so bored he's colored on the walls. It's funny when you can celebrate that. It's always made me so mad! Don't get me wrong, he got lectured about how naughty it is to color on the walls, but the fact that he's got enough energy to be that naughty makes me smile.
One thing we're combating right now that doesn't seem like a big deal, but is turning out to be is that Matthew has become a little bit spoiled. He has spent months in bed, eating and drinking there, and being waited on, hand and foot. He has been visited by so many people, and everyone brings him a present. He has special food. And pretty much any time he asks for something to eat, we find a way to make it happen, because we just want him to eat something.
What this has led to is him expecting to get everything he wants. We're struggling a bit right now to get him to understand that he can't make constant demands. He's also become a bit defiant. Not anything unusual for a 3 year old, just unexpected and new.
The thing that's hard about it is that it's really hard to punish a child who's SO sick! I don't blame him for being crabby - I would be too! I AM crabby half the time. So, I really don't blame him. That makes it really hard to punish him for it. We're working through it, though.
It's a good thing he's so darn cute!
In honor of Childhood Cancer Awareness Month, I'd like to leave you with another video today. This clip explains why I feel so passionate about it. There are 12 major types of childhood cancers, and they have to share 3% of the funding for research.
Thanks for reading and putting up with all my awareness!
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