Uh - Nevermind...

Wow, what a weekend!!

So - minutes after the last blog post, the nurse at the hospital called and said that Home Health was not coming after all. They wouldn't be able to get someone out until after 5, and then there wouldn't be anyone at the hospital to analyze the results of the CBC. So instead, they asked us to come on up to the hospital.

Matthew cried through the whole visit. It was - not - fun! The poor kid just wanted to be home, sleeping. The nurses were so kind, though, and quick.

His red blood counts were fine, though. Actually, they were surprisingly high. He didn't need a transfusion. Most people's initial reaction to that is relief, but truthfully, it would probably have been better. A transfusion would have made him feel better sooner. But you don't want to do too many of them. I guess they become less effective over time - or something along those lines.

So. What was plaguing him? I bet most people could guess pretty quickly. It's been the subject matter of the blog for a few weeks now. It's the Doxorubicin. It hits its most horrible point 7-14 days after the administration of the drug. The nurse had a special word for it, but I can't remember it. Anyway, the day he got the Doxi this week, was day number 14 since the first dose, and day number 7 for the second. So, three doses were wreaking havoc at the same time, and it kicked his butt. He slept most of the time for a whole day, waking up only to eat, then he would be back to sleep within an hour.

So - that was Friday. After we left the hospital, I went to work. Friday night, Justin was sick all night with the stomach flu. Matthew was restless all night too. I got almost no sleep between the two of them. I felt awful - they were so miserable! Plus, I had to go back to work on Saturday, very early in the morning. Justin couldn't take care of Matthew - I didn't particularly want Justin anywhere near Matthew, to be honest. So, I woke Alaina up at 6:30 am to take care of him so that I could go to work. She's such a good kid. Not many 16 year old girls would give up their Saturdays that way. All three of them took turns taking care of Matthew so that Justin could rest. Finally, at around 1, Alaina called me on my cell phone. She said Matthew had been screaming and sobbing for me for 2 solid hours. I could hear him wailing, "Mommy!" in the background, but he didn't want to talk to me on the phone. He wanted me home.

So - even knowing that I am out of time off this year. Knowing that I may very well get written up for missing work, if my FMLA claim for it is denied, I left. I called it into the FMLA people on my way home, and I left. It'll eat at our Christmas budget, but I couldn't stand how much he was suffering. Alaina wanted me to text her if I was coming home, so I did. She said he stopped crying then, and cuddled with her by the front window while they watched and waited for me. When I got home, he came straight to me. I took off my coat, and we sat right there on the floor cuddling for at least half an hour, and he fell asleep. He hasn't let me out of his sight since then. This is the first time I've had a chance to update the blog.

He seemed perked up this morning, but still insisted that I do whatever he's doing. He doesn't like it when I go to sleep.

This afternoon, he's not feeling very well, but it does seem that improvement is coming. Thank heavens we don't have to do anymore treatments until December 13th.

At least we didn't have to struggle with Home Health. We'll figure it out in two weeks.

Thanks for all the inquiries, and prayers. It means a lot to know how many people are thinking of us. We're getting through it. He's a great kid, and tough as nails. We'll get through this. We expected this to be a hard time, and it has been, but we're halfway done now. At least there's that.