For anyone who may have missed Ethan's broad announcements, he turned 4 on Wednesday, February 26th and this has definitely been a looong week of birthday celebrations. He’s been anxiously waiting for this birthday since his last one, I think and has already told me that he wishes he was having his next party tomorrow. As soon as the countdown ends, it begins again.
Overall Ethan is doing terrific, although this cycle has been rockier than most. The initial infusion was rough because of the mood swings. Then when we got home, we found that we couldn’t control his vomiting for almost another week. Once he got over that hump, it was only a few days until he landed back in the hospital, where Ethan seldom eats unless the food is imported from outside INOVA. For such a great hospital, their food is astonishingly bad.
Anyway, within the first 2 weeks of February, he managed to loose about 10% of his body weight. For such a skin and bones guy, it was a bit alarming for all of us. Dr. Horn directed me to get mega-calories into him by any means necessary. I was adding cream to his milk, cooking with obscene amounts of butter and allowing him to have almost any treats that he wanted. That’s roughly when the week-long birthday celebrations began.
Last Friday Ethan’s counts bounced back up, which meant that we could discontinue the daily neupogen shots. This is a joyous occasion for all of us, that we always celebrate with a small cake and a rousing rendition of “High Blood Counts for You.”
Saturday, his Uncle Randy and Auntie Chaya stopped by with a pound cake decorated like a guitar since they would be out of town this week. Again, the cake was obscenely fattening and gone in 2 days.
Sunday was my birthday and I celebrated the way most Moms do… by doing what my kids wanted. Last year, I spent my birthday at Chuck E. Cheese, this year we spent it at the Rainforest Café. Ethan had a blast. Kyra had a heart attack. Albert and I did make it out to dinner alone, but went to bed exhausted from our earlier safari. Did I mention there was more cake?
Tuesday was Ethan’s doctor’s appointment, so of course I had to make his favorite strawberry cupcakes. He had a little party at the Doctor’s office but was disappointed that he ONLY had 2 cupcakes. Which brings me to Wednesday…
Wednesday was Ethan’s birthday and he bounced off the walls all day. For lunch, he really wanted to go to Chuck E. Cheese. I’ve been steering him away from there since he was diagnosed because it just strikes me as a huge germ farm. BUT, it was his birthday, his counts were high, Fairfax County schools were in session and it was snowing, which tends to keep people home in this area. It seemed like all of the stars were properly aligned to make this happen for him. We went and were one of just a few families there, and Ethan had a fabulous time (see picture for proof). Pizza, mozerella sticks, cotton candy. He also chose the menu for his birthday dinner that night: macaroni and cheese and of course, a new batch of strawberry cupcakes.
Thursday and Friday were days of rest. Maybe I was just out of ideas for really fattening food.
Today was Ethan’s big birthday party with all of his friends. His menu picks: Chicken nuggets, cheese and of course a HUGE CAKE from his favorite bakery (second picture). Ethan loved having all of his friends here. We arranged for the Life For Kids Gymnastics Bus to come and as soon as it left, Station 36 showed up with both fire trucks and the ambulance. They had a few surprises for Ethan, including a little fire truck with Fairfax County decals and their station number on it. They let all of kids come out and crawl in and out of the trucks and look around in the ambulance. Ethan’s favorite Fireman John even came in to share some of Ethan’s strawberry cake. On his way back out, they got a call and were off in an instant with sirens and horns blowing. The kids loved that.
I’m feeling a little green as I recall all of the sweets and junk food that have passed through him in the last week and am more than a little curious to see how much he weighs next week. I don’t know how long we’ll need to continue with the high calories but he hopes its forever. He’s really enjoying his new-found food freedom and keeps reminding me that “Dr. Horn said I should eat another piece of cake.” Four-year-olds think they’re so smart.
We plan to go in for a blood count check on Tuesday, with his next admission for Cycle 8 the following Monday, March 10th. Please send your good vibes our way, but keep any cake to yourself.
Warm Regards,
Kim.
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