Third times the charm

On December 14th, Jake was admitted for his third chemotherapy treatment.  As I've said before, he doesn't like to go to the hospital anymore but I was ready for this and came with ammunition in the form of The Polar Express soundtrack.  Nothing can distract a 3-year-old like hearing "it's a magic carpet on a rail...never takes a rest...winding through the mountains and the snoooooooooooow" over and over for and hour and 15 minutes.  The song is 3 minutes and 23 seconds long.  You do the math.

Jake has taken a liking to the Child Life Specialist, Layne, and asked for her as soon as we arrived.  She is really good at her job and is working with him to help "normalize" his visits to the hospital.  She let him play with all of the real equipment (minus a needle) that is used to access his port.  He had a lot of fun pretending, but when the time came for his port to be accessed there were no more smiles.  Hopefully, that part will get better soon.  It's interesting, because I think that it has become normal for him to be attached to a pole.  He is conscious of the tubes and mindful of the pole being beside him at all times.  His anxiety is only surrounding the port. 

  We didn't have to wait too long to be transferred to his room, which was conveniently located across from the play room.  As we approached, we could see that there were a lot of people in the play room and not just any old people, but, Santa and his elves!  A charity called "For a Day Foundation" held a Christmas party and all of the children and families were invited for pictures with Santa, presents, crafts, and treats.  Jake sat on Santa's lap for about 5 minutes talking with him and Mrs. Claus, about nothing and everything.  He oooohed and ahhhhhed over the presents that they gave him and made everyone smile.  

The rest of his stay went very uneventfully and we were on our way home by 2:00pm on Saturday.  I doubt that all of his treatments will be this way, but it seems like after the 3rd one we are getting into a bit of a routine.  I am starting to anticipate his actions and moods and can better comfort and distract him.  He was feeling very good so we went ahead and took the kids to see Santa at Bass Pro Shop that night.  The manager, Jeff, made sure that we were able to see Santa since Jake wouldn't be able to come back next weekend since his blood counts will plummet starting on Thursday.  *hint hint- shop at Bass Pro Shop*

Even though it was raining cats and dogs on Sunday, we went to get our Christmas tree.  An incredibly generous and patient man named Brian waited for us to get to the tree lot, loaded the tree onto the roof of the van in the pouring rain, and then refused to take our money.  He said that he knew about our family and it was on him.  I continue to be amazed.  Now we have a beautiful tree in our living room, two happy little boys, and one very curious little girl.  On a side note, we made it through two children before having a kid who explores everything, including the light sockets.  Out came the outlet protectors!   I can't wait to see what kind of trouble she will get into with the tree and all of those twinkling lights.  After all the kiddos were asleep in their beds we got word that an article had been written about Jake in our local newspaper, The Walton Tribune.   Randy went straight out and bought several copies.  Needless to say, we were shocked that it was on the front page and the article itself was about a half page long. 

 

We live in an incredibly wonderful community, and we are really lucky to be a part of it.