As we headed out the door for round 4 of Chemo, a sweet note was left on my windshield and the picture below was on my phone as my screen saver. Both of them were from the same sweet girl. Kelsie is so thoughtful and sweet. I appreciate her kind heart and loving ways. I am so lucky to have been blessed with such a wonderful daughter.
December 11, 2012
If you have to be in the hospital, December is a great time to be there. Every day Josh received some kind of gift or treat. He was given this stocking from the "Helping Kids with Cancer" organization. It was a very generous and thoughtful gift as it was filled with everything Josh loves. Really, I couldn't have put together a more personalized stocking for him myself. So if you need some ideas for stocking stuffers for a teenage boy, here are some ideas:
Rubiks cube, Axe spray, Laffy Taffy candy cane, sock monkey, beenie hat, nerf torpedo, Reeses snow man, M & M's, sticky hand and Toblerone.
Kyle came down on Thursday to be with us and take us home. It was so good to see him. He offered to sleep at the hospital that night, but I just didn't think he would fit on the bed.
Believe it or not, but all of the Gatorade seen in these pictures were consumed by Josh in just 1 night. Josh has Diabetes Insipidus meaning his body can't regulate his water intake and urine output on its own. Without his medication he drinks and drinks and drinks! And because of all of the drinking he.......well you get the idea. During Chemo they want him in this crazy drinking state to flush the chemo out of his system. One of his Chemo drugs is especially hard on the kidneys. On the last night, his sodium levels weren't coming up so they put him on a strict Gatorade diet. It did the trick and it let him work on his artistic skills..............
Once we got home Josh was headed back to the hospital for his first and hopefully last blood transfusion. His red blood cells were really low. He was given 2 units and had a mild reaction to it. His head broke out with the hives! Needless to say, we spent the entire day at the hospital, but it sure worked like magic. His cheeks were rosie again and he had more energy. I wanted to ask them to hook me up!
The Giving Tree
A few days before Christmas this adorable tree was delivered to our house by the Erickson family. It was decorated with encouraging quotes, gift cards, and a touching story of another "giving tree" given to Tyler Smith during his courageous fight with liver cancer. We were so touched by the generosity and love that this tree held. Tyler's motto was "F2TF" which stands for "Fight 2 The Finish." Josh is fighting Tyler!
