We survived the sleepover party with four of Cam’s buddies and actually had a great time taking them to Chic Fil A and the movies. They jumped around for a while after and then crashed for the night. We heard them up and going about 6:45am the next morning, but whatever…they all had fun.
Round 5 started yesterday, so he’s back to taking a LOT of pills every day, but he’s a champ at taking them at this point. He’s feeling pretty good, so that’s all that matters at this point.
We wanted to keep it relatively simple, so we had family up from Georgia, a few friends, and even Dr. G. to celebrate Cam’s 9th birthday and it was quite the gathering. He received some really cool presents and a great time was had by all. After we sang “Happy Birthday” to him, he made his wish out loud….”I want to stay nine forever!”. Oh man…I know he didn’t mean it like LeAnn and I took it, but wow…how that hit me and the thoughts of him being nine “forever” shook me to the core. Still, he was so excited and the party was going full steam, so you put it aside and keep going. The next adventure comes this weekend with a few of his buddies spending the night…what in the world have we gotten ourselves into with this one. ;-)
His next round is coming up, so we’ll all get geared up for the onslaught of pills which goes along with it. His appetite seemed to do better this last round, so hopefully we’ve got his weight more under control now…we’ll see.
To be honest, LeAnn and I weren’t sure if Cam would be able to enjoy either of these events, but God has blessed him and us with both! He was so excited about being a “big 3rd grader” now and was ready to head out the door this morning to start his new adventures. He’s also just a tad excited about turning NINE on Sunday and is going to have a few buddies over next weekend for a spend the night party…should be interesting, but cannot wait for it to happen.
He’s feeling pretty well overall and his hair is starting to grow back, so life is “good” for now…which is all we can ask at this point. The next MRI will be in August at some point, so we’ll just keep going along as is for now.
Cam has made it through another round of chemo and is still feeling pretty good. His hair is starting to come back and he’s had a great time with his cousins who are visiting from Georgia this week, so life for him has been as good as it can be at this point. He made a comment last night that he “was sick of taking these pills, but I know I have to so I can get rid of this yucky cancer in my back”…what an amazing kid. We’ve often wondered how much Cam really understood the things which are going on around him, but I guess he’s just shown us he knows everything he needs to know.
It’s been an emotional few days as one of the other children we’ve come to know during Cam’s journey has just passed away. As parents in a situation like this, LeAnn and I have had to face the thoughts of what might happen, but for it to hit you in the face like Nick’s passing has really stops you in your tracks. He was such a funny, sweet kid it really makes your heart hurt to see him go, but at the same time you have to be “happy” he no longer has to struggle in this world and is now free of any pain and suffering. While that’s not much consolation to parents grieving over such a tremendous loss, it’s the only thing I can cling to in order to keep me from losing my mind wondering if/when our time will come to face the same thing Nick’s parents are right now.
