First Chemo Day

As Aaron and I walked Nathan into Children's Hospital yesterday for his first dose of chemo, our hearts were broken, but we were trying to act cheerful and nonchalant for Nathan's sake. We were there 5 hours because they had to draw blood, do tests, explain things. The hour before they actually put in the I.V., nurses and "Child Life Specialists" would come in and offer movies, games, activities. But his whole attitude and demeanor said,"This isn't a game, so stop trying to make it seem like one. " We asked him if he just wanted to get the show on the road, and he said yes.
He didn't feel the needle poke into his mediport because we put numbing cream on him in the morning. For the hour of I.V. hydration he was free to walk around the hospital, so we took his I.V. on a rolling pole and went down to the cafeteria to have lunch at an outside table. We had a good laugh when he ate a cherry tomato and squirted it out all over me. For the 2nd hour of chemo we had to stay in the oncology clinic. Nathan was now up to playing. Someone brought him some Model Magic clay, and that was a winner. When it was done he got to pick a prize, then ran out of the clinic.
We were encouraged that he acted normal the rest of the day, so normal that I forgot to give him the anti-nausea pill I was supposed to give him. In the middle of the night he woke up mumbling about the bad medicine the doctors were giving him, then started crying and was very nauseous and sick. I gave him the pill, sat in the dark bathroom holding him, praying and thinking "what did we let them do to him?" Thankfully he was able to start feeling better and went back to sleep. In the morning he looked and acted totally normal.
This is going to be a long road. Please pray that Nathan would not experience bad side-effects from the chemo, and that he would not need to have it for a year like the doctor has said, and that we might bring honor to God through this time.