A New Life

Mom and J went to meet his new oncologist a week or two ago.  It is very interesting how God works in our lives.  Prior to the diagnosis we were contemplating switching jobs and moving.  I had already interviewed for the position and was given a job offer.  I signed the contract and Mom placed the contract in the mail the morning we found his mass.  I had already determined to start with the new job in mid-August.  Then we find the mass.  That's the kind of discovery that can destroy plans (and it did disrupt several plans).  But here is the beauty of how it worked, we were able to have J treated with his long inpatient treatments in a hospital that was two minutes from our house.  I worked at primarily at one hospital, the same where he was treated.  It wasn't an easy four months, but it ended up being only four months.  We were able to follow through with our fun summer plans, and add some new activities.  I was able to start work in August as planned.  It's hard to imagine coincidence working so beautifully.  We count it as blessings from God.


The new oncologist works in a children's hospital.  The hospital is 30 minutes from our home, and is downtown in the city where we now live.  We have lived in a very rural place for 7 of the last 8 years, and the thought of Mom taking him downtown to his appointment was daunting.  They arrived without incident and went into the hospital.  It's massive.  They went to the elevator only to discover they were supposed to check in at security and needed to have name badges everywhere they went.  They were on the 7th or 8th floor of the clinic portion of the hospital.  The appointment itself was fine.  The new oncologist had an interesting story to hear. 

The working plan now is to re-check all the labs and get CT scans and check a new echocardiogram to make sure his heart is still working as well as it should.

Adjusting to new schools, a new neighborhood, and a new church congregation is now the order of the day.  J has preferred to not be known as the kid with cancer and has not been open about his last 6 months.  We were at the park the other day with some new friends.  The father in the family had just had shoulder surgery and had a large brace with a big support pad (hard to hide that he had surgery).  J started to ask him about his surgery and then shared that he had surgery before.  He was asked what type of surgery.  J said, "I had my appendix out".  I was dying wanting to share the whole story, but this is now J's history and I will help make sure he is not known for reasons he doesn't want.  We've realized it's futile to completely keep it from becoming common knowledge.  J's younger sisters have a hard time understanding why he doesn't want everyone to know and have shared several times.  Mom had already made some friends in the area that followed along with the story. 

We have a trampoline, a basketball hoop, and swing set with our new home.  It has been nice to see J come in after playing with his siblings and the neighbors.  His hair is matted down, covered in sweat.  Just how kids should come in after playing.  When we were at the park, he played a game of ultimate Frisbee.  He was at the younger end of the group playing, but he still played well and played hard.  So happy to be at this point.  Definitely feels like a new life.