A Holding Pattern...

Thu, 16 Mar 2000

Hi all,

It's been awhile since I've sent out any updates. No news is good news, as they say! And, it is! Things are going well here. Phil has pretty much settled into final stretch of chemo, until June. The first few months were the hardest. Not much rest time, but now he gets a couple of weeks between treatments, so he gets to feel well and enjoy some fun times. Also, he gets to do school work....what a mean Mom I am! :)  His teacher works around whatever he has to be doing, so all goes well there.

Right now, we are waiting for his immunities to reach a certain level, then he can begin another round. He was tested yesterday to see if he could start today, as scheduled, but it's a no go. We'll test him again on Monday, and things should be good by then. No blood needed this time, so that's always good news. Immunities just have to come back on their own.

If he checks in on Monday, he will spend a minimum of 5 days in the hospital. It's so strange when you think about it. Usually, you check your child in because they are sick, but with this, he rolls his own wheelchair in, stacked with his things, backpack on his back, and gets into bed. When we leave, he slowly climbs out of bed and into the wheelchair, and we roll him out....sick. It's certainly a different view of what going into the hospital means. Phil has a Weird Al CD, and in one of the songs he sings, "I'm not sick, but I'm not really well either". We laugh about that line.

We are so happy to be into good weather. Phil and I just got back from a short walk with his dog, Dackel. He can't go far, but it's good to get in a little exercise when he can. When summer comes, he'll have a lot of rebuilding to do, but what a good time to do it! He can tan his head, while his hair slowly grows back in. Maybe it will come back blonder! That's what he is hoping for!

Last time it came in dark and with waves...not his favorite style! :)

This is a long road we walk, but God is with us every step of the way. Thank you for your prayers! Keep them going!!