Needles and Nerves

Joshua is a hero! (not that you didn't already know that) I told him last Monday that after this last cycle of treatment they will schedule to remove his port. After that he will have to have regular IVs for MRIs ever couple of months. I just wanted to prepare him for the future but it is not for a while yet. Well he told me that night that when he got his blood draw this week he wanted to do it in his arm not his port. I was surprised but told him that was great. On Friday he came to the clinic with a smile on his face and fear in his heart. When they took him in the blood draw room he cried but he did not stop. He took a minute to calm himself and held out his arm. - You need to understand that the day he had his brain surgery they made him have an IV before they put him out and it blew. He was completely freaked out and 6 nurses held him down and put another one in. (they had to have a blood match before surgery in case they needed to give him blood) Since that day he panics at the thought of a needle in his arm and if more than 2 nurses are in his room he gets very frightened. For him to put his arm out voluntarily was truly an act of courage. He just doesn't stop amazing me. So many times he could be overwhelmed but he just catches his breath and goes on. I am so grateful to be his mom and so humbled too. His counts are good and he is feeling great. We have a small break and he goes into the hospital on the 13th for his last inpatient chemo.
We have been planning his big end of treatment party and I will be posting the information soon about that. Josh is very excited about this and is planning the menu. He wants grandma's purple salad (it is delicious) and is talking about punch. I have promised a fancy cake and lots of fun. Anyway, have a great week. Sorry this post took so long, homeschooling keeps me busy. All our love and prayers are for you and thanks for all your prayers for us.

I Win!!!!!!

This round is over! We have finished our last round of cisplatin --- yayaya! Joshua did so well, it was really hard but when he had to take the CCNU (which must be swallowed) he struggled but finally looked at it and said "I Win" and took it. He cried but I was so proud of him. He came home late last night and got up for church this morning. He is so tired but just never gives up. We still have several rounds of Vincristine, our outpatient chemo and a B cycle to go but this was a big hurtle. It feels so good to say this is the last time when we do things with Joshua. The last A cycle, the last cisplatin, the last whatever. Also his hearing test was great, a small drop but not enough to be concerned about. We are about 10 weeks from being done with chemo, can you believe it! Joshua is a miracle, and I can't wait to begin celebrating this milestone. There will be parties and we are hoping for a summer of fun! As always we go from prayer to prayer so thank you. I hope that everyone who reads this understands that you will be celebrating along with us in ten weeks, this is your victory too.