First Round - February 2-3, 2009

We just got back from Durham where Isaiah received his first round of chemotherapy at the Duke University Children's Hospital. He's doing good. He's laying on the couch right now watching a movie, taking it easy. He got sick last night right after Monday's round and has taken it easy since then. Although it's posted below, Isaiah was given three chemotherapy drugs: vincristine, etopocide, and carboplatin. Days 4-7 (post chemo) will be his worst. He'll be the most immunocompromised from day 7-10. We'll probably shave our heads tonight. I'll go first and show Isaiah it's cool to look like a goofball.

Duke has a Day Hospital for their Pediatric Hematology/Oncology office. It has about -6 rooms on the outside with a bed, tv, and a couple chairs. these rooms are along the edge of the day hospital. There is a line of 'hospital lazy-boys' with rocking chairs posted in front of flat screen tv's to watch movies. Isaiah started off on Monday in a chair and then was moved to a room. Only one parent can be with their child when they're sitting in a chair, but both can go in the rooms. There was a guy walking around today with a guitar and playing music for kids. He stopped by and talked with Isaiah and then played a couple songs.

We also received a call from the Eye Center. They want to see Isaiah next friday for an EUA (Examination Under Anesthesia) to see how well his left eye is doing and make sure his right eye is normal. I believe he'll also be fitted for a prothesis during this time, but I'm not sure.

I'm starting to worry about how we'll fare over the next six months ... everything from how Isaiah will do, finances, time off from work, our other children. Right now we hope and pray our local hospital in Fayetteville will be able to draw blood from Isaiah's port. A lot of medical facilities won't draw blood from them because they're foreign and lack the equipment and know how. If we can't get his blood drawn locally, Erica or I will have to drive Isaiah up to Duke every Monday for it to be drawn. I would rather drive 2 hours one way to have his Oncologist's office draw the blood from his port, than have Isaiah get poked in his arm every week.

Isaiah got sick this evening. I cleaned him up and Erica ran to the pharmacy to pick up his Zofran - antinausea medicine. They messed up the order, so she had to sit there while it was filled. I am very grateful that our insurance covers the generic form of this drug.

I decided to add this portion - this past Sunday, Erica and I, kids in tow, went to the church where we enrolled Levi for preschool last year. Tonight a few people from the church stopped by to see how we were doing and prayed with us prior to leaving. This meant the world to Erica and I. We've visited a couple churches and found they weren't for us. Either their message on the particular Sunday we attended was "Give more money, we need more people" or the congregation gave a pretentious, arogant vibe. Our experience with the church we attended Sunday was great. It means a lot to have people from church stop by and see how we're doing ... much better than receiving a letter in the mail with the pastor's signature xeroxed at the bottom. I hope that we can continue to attend this church, grow a deeper relationship with Christ, and build a stronger foundation here in Fayetteville, both spiritual and physical.