BACK TO THE GRIND

The weekends are a nice escape, but today we were back at it to start Caleb’s first FULL week of radiation treatments. His appointment was early, which is great, but makes our mornings crazy because we also have to get Tyler to school. It was Caleb’s turn to have a sleepover with Grandma last night, so luckily Mom and Bruce were around to help him get ready and to help us drop Tyler off at school.

The way Caleb has adapted to his appointments everyday is amazing. It has become his new normal and he just accepts that every day we wake up, and he has an appointment to go to, and then we get to come home. He and daddy hung out in the waiting room play room and made me the sweetest card this morning!

Then it was time to begin his treatment. Since it is Monday his port had to be accessed today, meaning the needle will be inserted into the port, and the tubing will stay connected until Friday. I have talked many times about this, but here is an image I found that gives a better visual.

Caleb and Daddy wore matching masks, because when they access the port it is very important to keep germs away. 
We are pretty used to the treatment routine now, and all went well today. He woke up from anesthesia and came home to rest with mommy and Grandma. Once he was feeling a bit better Grandma did some activities with him… once a teacher, always a teacher!

It always amazes me how quickly Caleb recovers from anesthesia, and he spent the later part of the afternoon goofing around with Grandma!

We are starting to notice just some small side effects tonight. Caleb complained that his head hurt for a little while tonight, which may or may not have been related to the treatments. They also warned us that the skin at area of radiation (along his spine and neck) would start to turn pink or may get irritated. I started to notice just a little bit of that tonight so we put some cream on him to try to prevent any discomfort.

We had to say goodbye to Bruce today as he headed back to Florida, and mom leaves tomorrow so I know that will be a hard time for her! They have been such a huge help taking care of the kids the last 5 days and we are really going to miss them!