Courageous Kids Day

Every year, the American Cancer Society partners with our local amusement park, Great America, to host a special day called the Courageous Kids Day, for children fighting cancer (and their families).  Our social worker mentioned the event to me last week, since she has been helping us most recently on ideas to help Logan feel just as loved and included, as Callum, in the family (more on that later, but suffice to say, he's reacting normally, as any 6 year old would, to the changes in our lifestyle, and sometimes has trouble with receiving less attention than his brother).   She thought the day might be just as fun for Logan, as it would be for Callum.

As it turned out, it was much more fun for Logan than little Callum - mostly because, I think, Great America is still really too old for both the boys, but I think Callum was also feeling more crummy and just wasn't into going out at all today.

But, we did try to make the best of it!  It was Mother's Day after all!  Who wouldn't want to be walking around in the blazing sun, roller coasters buzzing overhead and kids high on sugar racing around and cutting you off as you walk through the park?!?

The boys rode on the carousel (a couple of times), when we first walked in.  I tried to capture a number of pics of Callum but he was too far away and hardly ever looked up to smile.  ;-)

Logan was VERY interested in the carnival-like booths that you'd pass every 10 feet, so we did a lot of observing and watching (and he begging to us to let him play).  I told him he could play one game out of the entire park, so to choose wisely.  He decided on a bowling ball game (because hey! surprise surprise, it looks easy) and lost every single time.  He was SO frustrated afterward - a tough lesson to learn, that these games were actually much harder than they looked, and designed that way, to take your money.  He still didn't quite understand why it was so hard, and he still asked to play a few more games after, but for the most part, he was okay with it.

Later, we got to the area that the American Cancer Society has roped off just for us families visiting (the park is actually open to the public) - and inside this area they had food and ice cream and soda galore.  Games and sand pits and balloon making clowns and musicians.  Logan ran up to me with a big ice cream cone, exclaiming, Mom!!  Here, all the food and games are FOR FREE!!  :)

Callum got pretty grumpy toward the tail end of our visit - and as suspected, he was in desperate need of a nap, and fell asleep in the stroller on the walk back to the car.  Logan was also pretty tired (we had stayed up late the night before visiting my parents and brothers for a nice family dinner) and conked out (most uncomfortably-looking I might add!) on the ride home.  

The boys got cool hats along with some other goody bags from the day's event.  I got a fun Courageous Mom corsage, so I thought I'd take a "selfie" to document it, when I got home.  ;-)

And finally, a couple more "selfies", taken by each of the boys, today:

 

Happy Mother's Day to all!!

Now you know all about me

Logan gave me a couple of gifts today, that he had made at school. My all time favorite was the "fill in the blank" form. I busted up laughing from the first line (and kept on laughing all the way through). :)

Hope everyone had a wonderful Mother's Day today!

False Alarm

I got another call from the same mom yesterday evening, who called about the chicken pox diagnosis.  Apparently the diagnosis from earlier this week was with the pediatrician on-call, but when their regular pediatrician heard about it, she thought something wasn't quite right and asked to bring him.

After examining him, she decided it was NOT a case of the chicken pox, but probably insect bites instead (if you've been vaccinated and get chicken pox, apparently the rash actually looks more like insect bites than the sores we - who've been through it as a kid - all know well).

Anyway, what great news!!

Although,... I have to admit, I'm still nervous and paranoid.  Who's to say this doctor isn't right either?!?  :(

But, I think it's just a lesson for me that this is one more thing to adjust to.  There will always be something that Logan (or Callum) is exposed to at school (or elsewhere).  We can't protect them from everything - which I've always known but given our new circumstances, I sure wish I could!  Thankfully, we have some really great friends who are all well aware of our situation and would warn us immediately if anything were to come up.  It's all we can ask for.

~~~~~

Callum and I have been hanging in there this week and keeping things pretty low keyed.  He has been feeling a little off this week - nauseous and clingy and slightly moody.  I suspect the moodiness is due to the steroids we had to start him back on this week (but, we're almost done!  this cycle was only for 7 days and then we get another break before we hit him with another cycle of steroids).

His nausea got the better of him last night and he actually woke up puking in bed.  :(  We were just going to bed ourselves so we got to him pretty quickly and comforted him while he threw up all of yesterday's food (which, by the way, is mostly hot dogs this time around).  Once his stomach finally settled down, he cuddled up between us in our bed for the rest of the night.

I thought for sure after throwing up his hot dog dinner, he'd be off hot dogs all day today, but he's doing a great job at proving me wrong, requesting hot dogs for breakfast, lunch and most likely, dinner tonight, I'm sure.  ;-)

Jon and I both slept lightly most of the night, jolting up at any little cough or gag.  And then wouldn't you know it, sometime just after dawn, Logan yelled for us from his bed - he had had an accident.  Ugh!  :(  One of the first in forever - I don't even know how long it's been.  He must've drank a gallon of water before bedtime since I don't know what else would've caused it.

The nice thing about being home though, is that I basically have all day to launder clothes, linens and clean/dry out his mattress.  ;-)

Chicken Pox Scare

This afternoon I received a call from the mom of one of Logan's friends, that knocked me down unexpectedly. Her son was just diagnosed with a case of chicken pox. He and Logan had just had a play date this last Saturday, which meant Logan was exposed.

My stomach dropped when I heard the news.

Logan's friend is vaccinated, as are both Logan and Callum (Callum has had his first dose; his second shot was due on his fourth birthday, but given his treatments, all vaccines are on hold right now). So, while Logan's friend was contagious, he would have been less so than if he hadn't been vaccinated, which at least is good.

Before, this wouldn't have been a big deal to me. But man, how life does change. Chicken pox is one of the scariest things that you can get when your immune system is compromised. And if Callum catches it, we will have a much bigger and more critical issue to deal with.

Logan came home just after the call, so I immediately moved him to his room, stripped him down buck naked, and examined every square inch of his body while quizzing him on how he was feeling. He seems to be ok, so far.

I also spoke to one of the on-call doctors who had called me back right away, thank goodness. He was pretty concerned until he heard that Callum hadn't been exposed directly, just Logan, at which point he relaxed a little bit.

He said at this point, all we can do is sit and wait and watch Logan closely for any signs or symptoms that might arise. We don't need to do anything now but if we notice a rash or cough develop, we should quarantine and contact them immediately. The incubation period for chicken pox is quite long, lasting a few weeks, so I'll be on edge more than usual, for awhile I guess. And unfortunately, all of this also means Logan won't be able to visit at the hospital for the next 3-4 weeks. :(

As stressed as I was (and still am), I didn't want the news to upset the boys, so I tried to make sure we still had some fun tonight, playing with some new Hot Wheels that Callum and I bought at the store, and taking "selfies" like the one above.

They say that married people tend to live longer, but once you have kids, your lifespan is reduced. I wonder what these last couple of months (and further crap like today) has done to my (and Jon's) lifespan. *sigh*

Time at the park

After our shopping escapade (where I tried to find ways to waste extra time while Callum napped in the cart), Callum wanted to go to a playground. We drove around for awhile because he had a specific playground he wanted to go to and I had no clue which one it was. I finally convinced him to check out this one near our house and after whining he warmed up to it and had a great time. :)

I'm hoping we can do more of these little excursions as he's feeling well.

Mom is boring

He was totally fine browsing the toy aisle but did not like Mom shopping for clothes for his brother. BORING.

Window Cling Art

Yesterday we made a few aliens for the boys' bedroom windows. Callum loved the activity so much we're working on more today. ;-)