Stronger

Friends and family that have known Jacob for years know that he’s more physically sensitive than your average six-year-old-boy. He’s never been really rough and tumble, doesn’t like his bath water very hot and seems to get hurt easily. Last year we were boating and over each bump of a wave he’d say, “ow!” That’s just my Jacob and it’s how he’s always been. Prior to his diagnosis Scott and I had had conversations about how to “toughen him up” (little did we know!)

But I have noticed things changing recently, especially over the last month. He suddenly loves wrestling. Loves it. He organizes wrestling matches with his cousins and friends frequently. And while part of this might be his age and normal growing up, I also think part of it is that his body is stronger than it has ever been.  The cancer is in remission and he has been in Maintenance for months now.  And it shows!

Climbing the slide at the park

This week I was cutting Jacob’s fingernails and—this may sound weird—but it didn’t hurt him. He has always disliked getting his fingernails trimmed; after each clip he’d always say “ow” (rather forcefully). I would try to be so careful and cut farther away from the skin or snip smaller pieces at a time, but he would always insist that it hurt him regardless of what I did. Until now. Really, I’m not exaggerating, this is the first time in his life that cutting his fingernails hasn’t hurt him. And when I was done I thought, “there really is a difference now.” It’s a wonderful blessing to see him so much stronger.

Haircut!

This week was a milestone: Jacob’s hair is long enough to cut!

    

It’s been three and a half months since his hair started growing back…

April 2012

   May 2012  

June 2012

Excited Much?

You’ll remember that in February we visited Utah’s Make A Wish Foundation for Jacob to declare his wish. At the time all that he wanted was more Star Wars Legos but we convinced him that perhaps a Disney World Trip could be really cool too. So in three weeks we’re off to Orlando, Florida, for a vacation that is probably more exciting to Mom than it is for anyone else.

It’s true. I am the most thrilled about this trip, but not because my kids aren’t excited, they just don’t fully know what to expect yet. They have never even been to Lagoon (Utah’s own little amusement park) so they don’t have any sort of roller-coaster reference point. I’ve shown them YouTube videos and the Disney World website which has generated a fair share of excitement, but I don’t think they lay awake anticipating it like I do…occasionally.

Honestly, there were times—back in February—when Jacob was just starting his more intense chemo that I would wake up in the morning and think, “We’ll watch some Disney World videos and that will get us through the day.” I would be exaggerating if I said that’s what got me out of bed, but…it was part of it. And now it’s almost here. I can’t wait for our own little dream vacation!

Pill-taking Post Part II

I may have jinxed myself with last weeks post about pill taking. I was praising Jacob for how well he takes his pills and the next two or three days were the worst ones yet. He’d already fallen asleep and it was so hard to wake him and he fought and fought…

Guess I spoke too soon.

But, we’ve tried to eat dinner a bit earlier, so that he can take his pill earlier, before he falls asleep and now things are much better.

Jacob-ism

Last week we were getting ready for Jacob's clinic appointment and I was making Jell-o. When he has a back poke he can’t eat solid food before the procedure but he can have Jell-o. So I was making the Jell-o the night before while we were cleaning up dinner. Scott asked Jacob to sweep the floor at the same moment I asked him what flavor he wanted.

When Jacob didn’t sweep the floor right away because he was debating Jell-o choices, Scott prodded him a little and Jacob responded: “Dad, what’s more important cleaning the kitchen or fighting cancer?”

As if making Jell-o really fought cancer, but it was hilarious and Scott and I laughed and laughed.

Pill-taking Post

Now that Jacob is in the maintenance stage of chemotherapy he takes a pill every night before bed. It’s a chemo med called 6MP—and it has another really long name—but we just call it 6MP. He also takes Methotrexate (another chemo) on Thursdays and Septra every Monday and Tuesday. Septra is an antibiotic to prevent pneumonia, as I understand it. It’s not that he’s really at risk for pneumonia right now, but it’s just pretty rough if he does happen to get it. So, it’s a preventative medication. Jacob also takes a steroid, Dexamethasone, for five days every four weeks.  
Anyway, it’s not as confusing or overwhelming as it may sound, each clinic visit I get a calendar with all his meds and when to take them. And, you know, it’s just part of the routine now. But the reason I’m even posting this is to tell you about Jacob’s pill-taking progress. He is awesome at taking pills now. Really, he is awesome.
Several months ago when he started taking lots of meds he mostly had liquids but some of those taste pretty nasty. So we’ve gradually moved to all pills. At first he would take them in a spoonful of pudding or raspberry jam but now he just pops ‘em like a pro—no pudding, no nothin’! Sometimes he doesn’t even need a drink of water, but we don’t recommend that.  I’m so proud of my little boy. I keep telling him that I didn’t learn to swallow pills until I was twelve and he’s six.

The other thing that I’m proud of is how responsible he is about his meds. He is good at remembering and even reminding us about his pills, if he doesn’t fall asleep first that is. The 6MP needs to be taken at night on an empty stomach so lately we’ve had to wake him up to take it—but he still takes the pill like a champ even when he's half-asleep. Like I said, it’s all part of the routine.

Several weeks ago Scott and I went out and left the kids with a babysitter. We told Jacob we’d give him his meds when we got home. When we got back we found that he’d written us a little note, just to help us remember. It was so cute.

“6MP; To Mom; Read this note, it is taped. To Mom and Dad”