I had meant to post on Thanksgiving, but I also knew we were just a couple days away from another follow-up appointment with CT scans. 6 months later, all clear. J took his last dose of antibiotics that he was taking as a precaution against certain infections until his body had recovered enough from the chemotherapy. He no longer takes any regular medications. He surprised us with the last doses by swallowing his pills with a drink of water. He has come so far from our crazy fights on how to get him to swallow pills.
I'm grateful he lives a normal life now. He is going on a campout this weekend with the scouts, although the leaders have admitted it is "comfort camping" in heated cabins, but hey, he's going. He is doing well in school with no obvious difficulties studying and learning. He auditioned for the school play. He wanted to be an oompa loompa in Willy Wonka, Jr. He loves playing video games. He gets mad at his little siblings (I said normal life, not perfect life). He isn't known as the kid with cancer or the sick kid. He keeps his own identity that includes having just recovered from treatment for lymphoma. He misses his friends that we left behind when we moved. He likes to stay up late reading and has trouble waking up in the morning.
Some things I am once again thankful for that this experience made me aware of.
The compassion in humanity and the opportunity to see the good in so many concerned friends, family, and strangers
Zofran and Morphine (without these J would have been far more miserable and it would have been harder to sit and watch a suffering child)
Brilliant people who developed chemotherapy
Medical Imaging
Antibioitics
Oncologists
Nurses who put up with people whose behavior may be at their worst (probably true of children and adults as patients and the family of patients)
The comforting power of prayer
The timing. We lived 5 minutes from the hospital and he was treated where I was working. We were around so many friends. Things would be much different here.
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