Almost Normal

The days since we've returned from Baltimore have been filled with adjustments. We have moved all of our things back from St. Casimir's. While we were happy to leave, there was some nostalgia regarding the time we spent there. My mother has shouldered the burden of maintaining our home life and we have begun to assume those responsibilities again. The girls are acclimating to having their parents back more or less full time. We are in full swing with soccer season, spring school activities and the ever-present yard work.

All of these purport a normal life. Things look like they're returning to their regularly occurring patterns. About the time we're feeling comfortable, there's a splinter in my brain about Henry's cancer. Sometimes it's noticing again that he still has no hair. A lot of times it's watching him playing juxtaposed against other neighborhood children or reviewing pre-diagnosis photos and movies of him at his 3rd birthday or just goofing around running, more steadily than he does now, in the back yard.

I'm grateful for where we stand now in the midst of this storm. The doctors have made it clear that Henry has successfully avoided many of the complications that occur during treatment. It's tempting to consider it complete, that we're through messing with this beast. Henry's chances have improved dramatically, but we've met too many families with recurrences to think that we're done. But our normal life habits are so comforting right now that it's nice to pretend for a while.

So we'll deal with the behavioral issues that catering to a three year old for six months have brought about. He's adjusting quicker that any of us expected. There are major tantrums but they're occurring less and less frequently. My mother returns home to Kansas next Tuesday when we'll also have a clinic appointment, fortunately both in Baltimore. We heard yesterday that Henry's follow up MRI will be next Thursday. It's not until late in the day and he won't be able to eat. It will be a challenging time, but nothing we've not done before. The hard part will be waiting for, and dealing with the results.