Sunday, February 24, 2008

Sisters are the best medicine

I'm so proud of our boy.

Things are going much better than any of us expected. There are still several days in front of us where he is at risk for fevers, mouth sores, nausea, etc, but so far he has tolerated this chemo so well. It amazes me how much abuse his little body can take, and keep on moving and lovin' life!!

Bryan was on duty last night, and overheard Henry flirting with his nurse when she got him to eat part of a poptart. We figure we're getting 3-400 calories a day into him, which of course is not enough. We'll be talking to the rounding team tomorrow about resuming TPN, or IV nutrition. He did great on it last time he needed it, and hopefully he won't be on it for too long. Fortunately, he's still eating some, which helps his gut to stay as healthy as possible and will hopefully curtail some of the refeeding issues that young children get sometimes when they haven't eaten for a long time due to medical illness.

The girls and Henry's Grandma Linda and I came down in the late morning. Henry and Bryan met us at the front door of the hospital on Henry's motorcycle (a really cool trike). Amazingly, he has the energy to ride all over the hospital after barely getting out of bed for a week and having about half of the red blood count that he should. You can't keep a good man down! Currently, he gets "unhooked" from his IV two hours a day, and he really looks forward to it. He handles everything so well, I think I forget how abnormal it is to be hooked to an IV pole through a line in your chest. He only shows how it affects him when it comes off. He's liberated in every sense of the word.

We went back up to his room for a visit. He and Sophie immediately started playing, and within minutes they were running around the room screaming and jumping as a remote control Tow-mater chased them. It was so good to see them laughing together.

Henry and Bryan took apart the toy chain saw that hasn't responded to new batteries, found a loose wire, and fixed it up. Henry then cut off various limbs of his family members, and finally decided to use the chainsaw to give some My Little Ponies a hair cut. All boy.



The kids eventually settled down and bit, and Anna got in some snuggle time. It's a little hard for him after his sisters go home, but he really had a ball. We hope to get them down some next weekend too, maybe for a little longer. He had trouble eating today, but did end the evening with some ice cream that he really enjoyed. I told him that if he wanted some again for breakfast I'd get it for him. His eyes got very big and he said "That would be cool!"



Rocky Road, anyone?

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

Great pics! We're glad he's doing so well. He's a great kid and he has a wonderful family to help him through this. He couldn't do it alone....so we're proud of all of you as well. :)
Love ya, Debbie and Bob

Anonymous said...

Tara, thx so much for the great update. Can just see the rowdiness in the room with the remote control toy chasing the kids around. Laughter is so uplifting to hear.
Love the picture of "Henry the Barber"....you are so right-true boy.
Am sure you hope to keep the TPN away this hospital stay, so keep pushing those pop tarts and ice cream ---- I hear they are the new Breakfast of Champions.
nance

Anonymous said...

Henry - You are amazing! I had no idea you cut hair. I have an appt. tomorrow to get mine cut; should I wait until you are home so you can do it? xxxooo & :-) mab

Anonymous said...

What wonderful news! We are all so proud of Henry as well. Absolutely amazing - he truly is an inspiration. Glad the girls got to hang out with him for a bit. Love is a wonderful medicine in and of itself. Keep up the good work! Take care!

Love, Julie, Brad, Patrick, Andrew and Samantha

Anonymous said...

What an amazing boy! He looks great in these pictures! Thank you for the wonderful update. Keep 'em coming!

Cousin Susan H.