Working through disappointments . . . and prayer requests!

After the thrill of our Christmas chemo break, we hit the ground running for these last to rounds of chemo before Limb Salvage Surgery, schedule for Friday the 29th of January.  These are all mini-goals we keep trying to tick off.  They aren't fun.  Chemo is pretty much everything BUT fun . . . but we have our moments where it try to make it bearable.

It's good to keep your humor . .  .

. . .  and smile if you can . . .

. .  . go to hospital school and keep up with your work . . .

. . . and always find time for practical jokes on your favorite 'Hawk-eye Fan' childlife specialist.  MacKale lost a bet that left him wearing Iowa apparel  . . .  it was painful . . . 

 . . . so to retaliate he and his hospital teacher took advantage of the winners' water bottle being left behind.  They left this ransom note:

If you ever want to see me again, you MUST wear an MSU hat for an entire workday and write a one-page paper on how great Michigan State is.  If it has any negativity towards State it won't count!  XOXOXO,  Your Water Bottle.

It makes the time go by a little faster!!!!

MacKale has been a champ through these last two stints in the hospital.  He has a routine down for this kind of chemo, Methotrexate.  It goes in for 24 hours to eat everything up like PacMan and then at the 24 hour mark, they send in the 'rescue drug' to hold it off.  Methotrexate has to be eliminated from your body before you can get your exit ticket to go home.  The best way to get rid of it is drinking and walking . . . walking is a challenge, but MacKale just crutches it. It's tough . . . but he does it.  . . making his rounds and flirting with the babies.

12-15 times around the unit a day is the goal.  (One time he went 18!!!! That's a mile and a half!)  And he usually clears at the 72 hour mark. For a kid without crutches, that's outstanding . . . This is where I get to boast a little about how great he is. . . so indulge me.

But this last weeks' round of Methotrexate, he had everything going against him.  He had his port go on strike.  It pooped out, and he had to finish out his treatment with an IV.  I was anticipating a very slow eliminating process due to all the setbacks.  I was sure that he wouldn't clear at his normal rate, but he surprised us all.  He cleared 12 hours early!!! He was motivated to get home, have a few days with his brothers, travel down to Lansing to watch his favorite Spartan beat Maryland, play with his Maya dog and sleep in his own bed.

But unfortunately . . . none of that happened.  Instead, he spiked a fever Friday afternoon and that
means and ER visit and, in this case, an ambulance ride to DeVos.

And that's where we've been ever since .  . .waiting for him to stop spiking fevers . . . trying to figure out why he has a fever and how we can get him healthy enough to stay on track for LSS (Limb Salvage Surgery) on Friday.  It's frustrating and aggravating and disappointing . . .

When you're a parent, it's almost worse when you know your child's disappointed and they don't show it . . . MacKale's been pretty stoic.  He knew as soon as we hit the ER room in Cadillac on Friday that a Saturday trip to MSU for basketball was out.  He said . . . 'it's ok.  I'll watch Matt on TV and cheer him on.  Maybe we can make it to a different home game later this spring.'  So then, he was just hoping to make it home Monday so he could spend some time with his brothers before surgery on Friday.  "It's just I'm sick of the food and video games get boring."  I'm with him.  I'm sick of the food and the video games too.  Thank goodness for Big Ten Network, ESPN, the Golf Channel and Animal Planet.  Between those four stations we can usually find something to watch . . . but it would be better to be home.

But it doesn't look like we will be coming home anytime soon.  Despite all his cultures coming back negative, MacKale still is spiking a fever off and on.  He has been on several antibiotics, but it looks like his port has to come out sooner rather than later to rule out an infection.  So that means, what would typically be outpatient, will be an extended stay in the hospital in hopes that by removing the port, his fever will subside and he will be ready for surgery on Friday.  Right now, that LSS surgery is a goal but not guaranteed.  If the fevers persist, they will not preform surgery.

So that's where we are . . . surgery to remove his port is scheduled for tomorrow.  And LSS is currently scheduled for Friday, but that could change depending on what does or doesn't happen.  So it's been a weekend of disappointments, but we are prevailing with visits from  card playing Papas, funny texts from friends, sports on TV and lots of Candy Crush.  We WILL turn these disappointments into something good . . . we are determined!  We may have to come up with a few new practical jokes to pass the time.

So that leads us to requests for prayers.    Specifically, we need prayers that his fevers will subside, we need prayers for a safe and successful port removal surgery for tomorrow and for MacKale to be healthy and ready for surgery as scheduled for Friday!  As always, we are so thankful for all of your support and prayers.  We have faith that God is holding MacKale safely in his hands and hears all our continued prayers.  And MacKale says, "Go Spartans. "

Yes!  MacKale did get to see Matt play Saturday night and I'm pretty sure we kept the floor awake with all our hooting and hollering.   It was great medicine for MacKale . . . the BEST medicine to see Matt do so well and see his Spartans win!   As soon as the game was over, he was out of bed and crutching around the floor making sure all the nurses and staff had the play by play and stats for the game . . . and to let them know how AMAZING Matt did, of course.  Is it any wonder why he is MacKale's favorite?