Spontaneously this morning, Henry said, "Yesterday at the soccer field, I fell over and couldn't stand up." 'Yesterday' and 'Tomorrow' are his 3-year old synonyms for past and future times. I was curious to see what he remembered and asked him what Mommy and Daddy did then.
"You took me to the doctor," came the reply.
Then what?
"I don't know."
I decided that this was an opportunity to explain a bit about his cancer. I told him that there was a ball in his head the doctors had to take out and then he could walk again.
"How big was it?"
I formed my thumb and index finger into a quarter sized circle. I told him that some of the ball came off and went to his head and back and that is why we were giving him medicine that 'eats' the pieces of the ball.
"How does the medicine eat the pieces?"
I told him that I didn't really know, but the doctors were taking care of it and that the medicine kept the pieces from getting bigger and took them out of him in his pee. (OK - so maybe not a perfect analogy...) He replied, "and the food makes me poop." That got a smile out of me.
"How does the ball make me not walk?"
Wow. I felt like we were verging on Biology 101 now. I picked up one of his nearby stuffed animals, told him where his brain was , that it helped him do all sorts of things like talk and eat, and told him the ball was pushing on the part that helps him walk.
"Can I watch Curious George now?"
Got it. That must have been enough. I just love his mental acuity. If he holds to form, I imagine this conversation will resurface more than once and will be completely intact. He just needs some time to process.
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5 comments:
Nice story. You gotta love a 3-year-old's questions. Not just why?, but the probing follow-up questions. It really puts the parents on the spot!
Glad to hear Henry is making the best of it.
Hope you all have a nice weekend.
-Roland
Thx for sharing Henry's questions...and your fantastic responses. Glad Curious George came to the rescue.
Love the gingerbread house, so creative.
Be safe, stay warm.
And here's to good pooping with that Vincristine
nance
Bryan,
You and Tara are amazing (and so are your kids). Thanks for sharing your site with us. We know we can't do much, but we think about you guys all the time.
-Tanya and Steve
You guys are all fantastic. Our prayers are with Henry and all of you.
Hugs to your mom, Linda, when you see her again for me.
Monica & Glenn in Colorado
(Former Kansans)
Love to hear about Henry! Thanks for the keeping us updated in the Blog.
With Love,
Cousin Susan H.
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