LIFE REARRANGED…

Eli continues to have good and bad days.  Being able to be outdoors has done wonders for him, so we’re thankful for the nicer weather.  He has treatment every 10 days currently.  He’s been having issues with the iodine/alcohol they use to clean his port/lines the last few times but this past treatment the smell actually caused him to dry heave and then vomit;(  He cannot stand the smell anymore.  This week they’re going to try having him wear a mask coated with his choice of lipsmaker chap stick; they have fun flavors/smells like root beer, watermelon, etc so please join us in prayer over this.  It’s proving to be quite anxiety provoking for him to the point he doesn’t want to go to clinic.  The nurses said this is pretty common at this point in the process as the children associate the smell with pain;/  Ugh;(  It just makes my heart ache.

His appetite is still pretty low.. he’s hanging in around 33lbs.  He’s in a yogurt and toast with butter phase; wish it was more, but I’ll take what I can get right now.

Nurse Ann gave him a sucker after he threw up to give him a new taste in his mouth.

The lake is really mucky right now from all the leaves that blew in during the fall but Eli and Keaton (neighbor) were traipsing through it like bulldozers!  Ewww….!

I was able to catch a sweet moment between Lexie and Eli while sharing a snack in the hammock;-)  Despite there being seven years between them, they are two peas in a pod in MANY ways!

Eli was able to get some lovin’ in with his fav lil’ pup, Ella!  She’s pretty spastic but calms right down when Eli hops up in the reflexology chair and stays put during his treatment time.  They shared a snack of mixed nuts;-)  And the second pic is of me coning his ears.  The oncologist said his ears were full of wax so he was excited to get his lil’ ears coned.  It’s very relaxing to him;-)

Kind of surprising to me but his counts are showing he’s neutropenic still (low blood counts= staying away from public places).  So we’ve been making fun in the quiet places of our lives;-)  Our awesome neighbors, the Pikals, made Eli an indoor kinetic sand tub back in the fall and it’s one of his favorite inside activities.  And TRAINS- oh Mona!- does this kid LOVE trains!!!  Apparently, Papa read him a book about a grandpa building a train track over the kitchen sink so that’s exactly what they did!  Eli, of course, didn’t want to take it apart so there may have been some bribing involved….

Eli received THE MOST CREATIVE package in the mail last week from his fav, Mr. Henry Keating;-)  Seriously, Keatings… awesome idea!!  We’ve never received a ball through the mail before;-)!

I have two favorite pics this time…. I was able to capture this sweet moment between Ms. Lisa and Eli.  He wasn’t feeling all that great on this particular day, so Ms. Lisa was loving on him;-)

And this beauty from my oldest beauty… Lexie has quite an artistic eye with photography these days;-)  She and Eli were enjoying some sibling time, chalking up the driveway.

Emmy’s soccer season began so we comprise her cheerleading section along with some rockin’ friends and family… and a cowbell, of course!  Is any sporting event complete without one?!?!  Jody would say definitely not!!  Lexie and Eli seemingly ate their way through the game last week so I clearly need to pack some yummies for this weekend!

I’m specifically feeling very weary and defeated… fear’s been creeping in here and there.  I’m worrying…. about his anxiety, his organs, his brain, a reoccurrence, learning disabilities from the chemo, and on and on.  There’ve been days with tears and feelings of overwhelming grief as we struggle to participate in treating our son in ways that don’t always feel right to us but are out of our control.  We could use prayer in this area, please and thanks;-)

“Sometimes, real superheroes live in the hearts of small children fighting big battles.” ~Anonymous

“Now glory be to God!  By His mighty power at work within us, He is able to accomplish infinitely more than we would ever dare to ask or hope.” Eph 3:20