Another week has gone by with lots to be thankful for. Josh has completed 13 radiation treatments with 20 more to go. He’s continued to handle both the radiation and the chemo amazingly well. The routine we have established for the meds seems to be working and he appears to be sleeping better as well. Of course the Benadryl he takes to combat nausea is helping the sleep too. His Week 2 bloodwork was better than last week so no transfusion needed. We are hoping the same can be said this week.
Therapies are continuing to be successful and he’s making a lot of progress. He’s still having some problems communicating and with short term memory but he is making great strides forward. He even uttered a 5 word sentence today without skipping a beat.
Walking is getting better all the time, but he still gets tired easily. He’s continuing to use a one point cane and they’ve been working on having him go longer distances and practice walking in “tight” spaces. He’s also been able to stand for longer periods as well with us just being contact guards. Yesterday he even shot some hoops while standing up and today on our walk outside he wanted to show off his standing skills in various places. He’s still a bit unsteady at times but from where he was 2 – 2 1/2 months ago to where he is now is remarkable.
Discharge is starting to become more of a reality. Right now the plan is to have him graduate from MFB as soon as this round of chemo and radiation treatments have been completed. Temporarily on the books that’s listed as 6/29. Hopefully he continues to do well with meds and therapy so we can keep that date as a possibility!
We have lots of things to do to get ready for his homecoming but we are so excited at the prospect of bringing him home. We’ll learn a lot in the next few weeks about what adaptations we’ll need to make to the house and what equipment they think he’ll need. Well also begin working to plan for his outpatient therapy. Our team at MFB will make sure all of the pieces are in place or as many of them that can be before he leaves.
Visits with friends have really been helping his morale.His friends Alex and Olivia visited on Memorial Day and Noah and Louie made a surprise drop by on Friday. And then Alex was back today. It truly makes a difference!
We had another excursion this weekend and Josh and I went to the movies and finally saw Avengers: End Game. It was an icky stormy day, but the movie and the time away from the hospital were such a needed relief. Hopefully we can do something again next weekend.
Jon and I switched places again today so that I can finish out the year with my kindergarteners and see Elijah complete his last days of school this year as well. It’s rough to be split up this way but fingers crossed by the beginning of July we’ll be ready to all be home again. The journey will be far from over but it will be an amazing step forward.
You’re doing great, Josh! Keep it up! We are all rooting for you!!