Yet again I am updating…
Honestly, I would love it if I could actually organize myself enough to post daily and yet it seems another week has escaped me.
So…to update my dear little Hannah was oblivious to how special a day yesterday was. She turned 3. I looked at her across the breakfast table and told her how well I remembered this day 3 years ago. Sadly, we then piled in the van and headed to the hospital. No cake, no cards, just a hug and a kiss and an I’ll see you soon. Can you feel the Mommy guilt? Oh we will celebrate her birthday this Sunday but I hate to see their special days go unnoticed.
This is Joel’s first of nine chemo cycles… I will be counting them down. His chemo is pretty tough, they reminded me it has to be so that it knocks it down for good. Once again they told me all of the grim statistics… kidney disease, hearing loss, other cancers etc. Isn’t it crazy that the poison we use to kill one cancer could cause another one down the road. I feel like we have been told that between radiation and chemo every major organ has a chance of being affected, some sooner then later.
Joel is on all sorts of meds to combat what the chemo is doing to him. One of the new drugs they have started him on is called Nabilone. So Nabilone is supposed to help with nausea and increase his appetite. Now what kind of drug gives a person the munchies??? Wait for it….Marijuana! Nabilone is chemically related to marijuana and belongs to the class of medications called cannabinoids. Yes, here I am telling my kids to not take drugs and my 4 YEAR OLD is on a derivative of MARIJUANA. I think it makes him really sleepy… but he is happy & all smiles, and so far no vomiting.
I think Joel and I will get to go home tomorrow late afternoon. So not to long of a hospital stay. We will be back on the next 2 Mondays for another small dose of chemo. Next Wednesday and Friday we will be back again for other appointments. Plus, we will have to get regular blood tests as they expect his counts to bottom out and then come back up. We may be stuck at home for awhile now until his counts are good again.
He is a tough little guy who constantly amazes me. Thanks for all of your continued prayers and support it means more then I can say!
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3 Comments
Savannah
praying for you still…glad to hear that so far Joel isn't have TOO hard a time with the chemo..I hope it stays relatively uneventful for you both.
El
Oh, Cheryl…I'll be counting down with you. I feel so terrible that Joel has to go through this. I hope this gets rid of his cancer for good with none of those horrible side effects. You all are in my prayers all the time.
Mommy2Four
Last year, as my son turned 4, I was nearly three hours away with my daughter having surgery. It's so hard, but luckily, when they are that little, it's harder on the parents to have to have a special day pass unnoticed than it is on them. With my son, we used the weekend before his birthday. He woke up, we told him "Happy Birthday" and celebrated, and he never questioned the date! So glad to read above the Joel is doing well! I've been following your story and praying for you since reading about you on the "shoulders" website. As far as the cannabinoid goes, I don't thin God creates anything without a positive purpose. It's man's abuse of those things that is the problem. Derivatives of marijuana are god sends for people with cancer or glaucoma. I know I don't want to have a tooth pulled without Novocaine, which is derived from cocaine…….nor do I want to have surgery without the miracle of painkillers (many derived from heroin!). So, don't feel too bad about it being that class of drugs :)So happy to read Joel is fairing well with the chemo. Here's to prayers this little guy breezes through all nine cycles! God bless you all!