Quick Update

Nathan's all better! Thank you for praying. They agreed to give him this week off of chemo to let his body recover. I'm out of commission with the flu, but just wanted to give a quick update.

Pink Eye Is Not For Boys

It should be called Goober Eye for boys. I'm so glad the earache was short-lived, but now Nathan has pink eye, a cold, and he's still dealing with the stomach virus. His little immune system is being hit hard, but he's still in a fairly good mood. Please pray that he would get over this soon. He's so skinny after not eating much since Monday. It does make me sad and I wish I could make it all go away. I would like prayer for wisdom with how to care for him, and to have a good attitude (If mama ain't happy ain't nobody happy.). Lately it's been a challenge getting everything done. Not much time to post on the blog or anything extra. But this is a season, and I have God's grace for it . Thank you all for your love. :)

Garlic Oil To The Rescue Again

Nathan woke today with an earache, a cold, and feeling bad all over. We prayed, and then I got out a garlic clove and some olive oil. "But that's going to hurt when you put that in my ear."
"Oh, no, I'm not going to put a garlic clove in your ear, just some warm oil."
Less than two hours later, no more ear pain and he was up and around. This has always worked for earaches in our family.

GARLIC EAR OIL RECIPE

Crush a clove of garlic.

Put it in a little olive oil (1/8 cup).

Warm to body temp. (I put it in a stainless steel measuring cup and warm on the stove on very low heat.)

Strain thru fine mesh strainer or cloth you don't mind ruining.

Put two drops in ear and place a warm pad over the ear.

Keep the extra in a jar and rewarm a little in a spoon over low heat.

Your house will smell like a fine Italian restaurant, and it sure beats antibiotics.

No Reaction

What a relief that Nathan tolerated his chemo without a reaction today. Thank you, God! He was not at all chipper since he was getting over the stomach flu he came down with on Monday. (Most of us in the family have had something this past week.) The craft lady had some little wooden cars to paint, which he enjoyed. He normally fights naps, but his will was no match for benedryl and a tired body and he fell asleep during the last part of the treatment. I had to give him a wagon ride out of the hospital. That made me remember how three days after brain surgery he wanted to pull his own wagon of stuff out of the hospital.

MRI Results

The news is not much news. We drove to Children's Hospital listening to ragtime piano music, which Nathan says is "the best music I've ever heard in my life!" This helps lighten the mood when facing the great unknown. Nathan's tumor on film looked not much different from six weeks ago. The doctor said that there may be cells which have necrosed (died) but haven't been absorbed by the body yet, and that sometimes it takes months to see change with an MRI. We did see that the fluid is decreasing in the area where the cyst used to be.

We did get some clarity from the doctor regarding the chemo drugs. He thinks there's a fair chance Nathan could do fine for the remainder of the year with benedryl and cortizone to keep down his allergic reaction. But if he can't tolerate this then the drugs they would change to have a shown a small risk of causing leukemia. That's not a risk we want to take, so we are asking our heavenly Father that he might be able to remain on the chemo drugs he is on now.

These last few weeks his mood is improving, he is feeling just fine, and he is showing interest and willingness to learn how to read and write. I'm soaking this up because I don't know how he'll be once he starts the next four-week round of chemo treatments next week.

Time to go make popcorn for some hungry kiddos........

Enjoying The Break

Yesterday we were at the park at the time we're normally at Children's Hospital, and we enjoyed it. It has been a blessing this week for Nathan to be feeling good and acting normal and eating well.

This Would Have Been A Nice Picture.......

.....if only Dania's finger weren't in Nathan's ear! I think she was trying to make him smile for the camera, and it worked.

Overheard at bathtime: "Mommy, it says on the shampoo bottle that you can't use it to wash your bunny. "
Said Mommy: "Oh, that's interesting." (I didn't bother explaining what "cruelty-free" meant.)