February 2024

February 1st Scene: A typical calm, educational, and civil (not) homeschool lunch break

6-year-old: Mama, can I have a cup of milk, please?

Mom: Sure, honey. (Pours milk)

6-year-old: That is the wrong cup! I want the big cup!

(Argument ensues about how said child deserves the 16-ounce cup instead of the 8-ounce cup)

THUMP!

6-year-old: Oooops. I spilled my milk. All of it. Everywhere. 

Scene ends with Mom laughing hysterically at her instantly being proven right, but her now having a mess to contend with.

February 2: Mom's Birthday!

Thank you for all the kind wishes today! I had a wonderful birthday!

John (17) drove early this morning to pick up doughnuts for us (with a gift certificate to me from my friend!) and he went to a second coffee shop to buy me a special coffee. 

At CCE, everyone sang Happy Birthday to me and I brought homemade muffins to share. 

Chris got home from another week on the road, and then the family took me out to dinner. 

They all gave me delightful gifts and now Chris is putting the boys to bed for me so that I can watch the new Kevin James comedy special with the teens. You know, because if I try to start a movie after 9:00 p.m., I’m just going to fall asleep right away . . . .

Sweet gift from my 6-year-old

February 3: Homemade Waffles

Store-bought frozen waffles = fairly useless, simple carbs

Homemade waffles made with fresh-milled flour, cold-pressed olive oil, sour cream, Fairlife higher-protein milk =

Nutritional powerhouse for the family!

*One* waffle = 

130 calories

9 g fat

18 g carbs

1.5 g fiber

1 g sugar

5 g protein

February 5: READY FOR THE WEEK

February 6: Daily Fetch

Every day at noon, Nicky (who cannot read a clock, being a dog and all) comes to find me and indicate strongly that it is time to go outside for a game of fetch. He barks incessantly at me while running back and forth to his bin of balls.

Tilly could not care less about fetch, so she sits quietly outdoors during our game.

February 6: Homeschool Fun

I so rarely do "fun" schooling, but today I managed it! I had about 24 toilet paper rolls to distribute among three bathrooms, so I built them into a pyramid and got out my coach's timer. I would time each boy running with one roll to a certain bathroom and running back, and if he got back "in time," he did not have to answer a Memory Work question, but if he did not get back "in time," he had to answer a question. In that way, we reviewed a lot of Memory Work questions and the boys got out much physical energy. But they still weren't done and begged me to do some more exercising, so we worked on the balance board and did numerous rolls of the activity dice. Would that I did this often!

February 6: Happy birthday to me from my husband means new adventures in baking!

Febuary 7: Pet Therapy

For the first time ever, today Thomas got to play with a dog brought in as Pet Therapy. He missed all of those comforts because he went through his illness during the peak of COVID lockdowns. Thomas was overjoyed to meet Harper!

Thomas had two whole weeks without any medical appointments, but February should keep him and me hopping. Today Thomas had an appointment with labs. In the second week of Feb., he has an appointment one day, then an MRI under general anesthesia on another day; in the third week of Feb., he has an appointment one day, and then labs on another day; and in the fourth week of Feb., he has an appointment.

We hope for more pet therapy dogs in our future!

February 7: Feeding Tube Awareness Week

I don’t need it to be Feeding Tube Awareness Week (although it is!) to share fun info: Check out this article written by famous film critic Roger Ebert who lost the ability to eat normally due to cancer, but lived happily for seven more years with the help of his G tube.

February 8: Ladies' Night Out

What a wonderful Ladies’ Night Out! We prayed in the church, enjoyed drinks and delectable appetizers, and painted under the guidance of a woman who actually knows what she is doing. Loads of fun!

February 10: High-School Reunion Planning

I had finally adjusted mentally to the fact that I had graduated high-school “about 20 years ago” and now this: my 30-year anniversary in a few months!

February 10: David

Today David (6) and I began working on him learning his letters using modeling clay: he was so excited! Then he built a crucifix. He's a cutie.

February 13: Happy Eve of St. Valentine’s Day and Shrove Tuesday!

February 13: Public Service Announcement

Be very careful about giving money to folks on streetcorners asking for donations for their child with cancer. It is my opinion that they are lying panhandlers who will have a special place in hell if they don't repent.

I have for four years now seen the same signs held up at Park Road and Fairview/Tyvola Roads . . . yet held by different beggers: these signs beg for money for the expense of treating their little girl with neuroblastoma--which I noted particularly since that is the same cancer Thomas had. Then what I saw today in front of Atrium's Pineville hospital (where neuroblastoma isn't even treated!) beat all: two people with signs asking for money to pay for the funeral of their child who died of (again) neuroblastoma. 

Could I swear on a stack of Bibles that these are liars and cheats? No, but other than that, I know they are. Just like I spot the scammers on the various online FB groups to which I belong that focus on specific health issues, such as neuroblastoma or tube-fed kids or chronic pancreatitis. Do you know how often a so-called parent posts that they had just recently purchased this X box (or iPad or other expensive electronic item) for her child, but then the child died of said dread disease, and now they would like to give it to another deserving family whose child might live . . . if only said family can pay shipping. They run this scam endlessly on repeat, earning twenty bucks in shipping every time, and the electronic gift never shows up to the suffering child waiting for it, their parents all a bit poorer.

The signs I see on the street typically use a photo of a bald headed kid, which means yet another victimization, their having stolen a photo online of a family's real, suffering (or deceased) child.

In America, those whose children have cancer have support: children with cancer have access to government health insurance and an army of oncology social workers who connect families with charities that go so far as paying the mortgage for months (or years) or buying a car for a family that doesn't have a working car. Many oncology families raise money through fundraisers, but in four years, I have yet to meet a legitimate cancer family that begged on the street.

Be very careful when you donate money: the more sorrowful the story, the more one needs to vet the situation to make sure it is legitimate. As for the liars and cheats, the lowest of the low, who prey on the vulnerable in the pediatric oncology world: I hope they change their ways before they face God!

February 14: Ash Wednesday 2024

February 15: Milestone alert! 

Mary has her Learner’s Permit now!

February 15: St. Jude's Relics

Please spare a moment and say a prayer to St. Jude's intercession for my friend Nancy who is undergoing surgery for cancer today. Nancy and her husband lost their firstborn Alexander to neuroblastoma and she has spent the subsequent decade+ pouring out love and money on those suffering from cancer. One cannot count the meals she has cooked on all the holidays for families inpatient at the children's hospital, or her gifts given, or her donations made. I was introduced to her when Thomas was diagnosed with cancer and dear Nancy has spent the last 3+ years praying for Thomas, sending him gifts, she knit him a blanket, and sending us gift cards. She is the soul of generosity.

Today I took Nancy's intentions to visit the holy relic (the forearm bone) of St. Jude, which is currently on display for veneration in Charlotte. I encourage anyone local to go visit (at St. Ann's parish), as it is open till 10:00 p.m. and VERY well organized.

St. Jude is very special to us, as we chose Benedict Jude as Thomas's Confirmation name when he had emergency Confirmation at age four. Benedict: because all we knew was that he had a tumor "on his kidney" and St. Benedict is the patron saint of kidneys. And Jude because childhood cancer requires a saint who deals with the toughest of the tough! We had no idea how much worse and more complicated Thomas's case would become compared to "just cancer." Not that one plays favorites with saints, but St. Jude became more important to us than we anticipated as Thomas's situation become more "impossible."

Today Thomas took his St. Jude statue and touched it to the glass case surrounding the real relic. 

Go check it out. And I beg of you prayers for Nancy!

February 15: Thomas's Secretin-Enhanced MRCP

We appreciate any prayers for Thomas (8 years old), who is having special imaging to evaluate his pancreas and liver on Friday morning Feb. 15. (Medical details are at the end for those who find it interesting.)

As a Medical Mama, I find it poignant to see young kids who surely are traumatized working out their thoughts and emotions. Today I found this drawing Thomas made of his anticipated scan: You can see he is under general anesthesia with an IV, and he is going into the MRI machine (like a doughnut hole). You can ignore Gru (from "Minions") in the corner of the picture, as I am told by Thomas that Gru will not be present at the scan. 🙂

Little David was only three when Mama disappeared during Thomas's illness, so he never understood, and today he asked me with alarm "if they are cutting open Thomas's belly again"! David's main goal these days is to keep track of me. Tonight, he brought me a notebook and dictated to me everything that is planned for Friday. He wants to know step by step when I will leave, what he will do, and when I will return. He made me PROMISE I would wake him up before I leave the house: there were countless times during those traumatic months that his Mama wasn't home and then even his Daddy had to disappear in the middle of the night to rush to the hospital again. 

So, thank you for prayers all around!

FOR THE MEDICAL NERDS AMONG US: The imaging is called a secretin-enhanced MRCP (magnetic resonance cholangiopancreatography). Secretin is a hormone released by the duodenum when we eat food and it causes the pancreaticobiliary tree to release digestive enzymes. Thomas will be given secretin via IV to cause his body to release enzymes, which will light up on the MR imaging, giving us a good look at his pancreaticobiliary tree. Prior imaging of lesser quality has shown problems with those ducts, and we need to determine whether that requires intervention or can be left well enough alone. (That is a very professional sentence to disguise how scared Mama is.)

Other patients who had Thomas's imaging showing ductal problems would have immediately been booked for an ERCP (an endoscopic camera snaking its way into the pancreas), but Thomas's reconstructed anatomy does not allow that. That is why the pancreatitis specialist in Boston requested that we arrange an MRCP for Thomas. We were grateful to learn that it could be performed locally at Levine's, or we would have had to fly back to Boston Children's. We have been waiting nine months for this imaging.

February 19: Made waffles with fresh milled flour! 

Enough for today and two other mornings this week. Yum!

February 19: A Poll

The birthday sign has been up since one kid’s birthday 33 days ago. Do I finally take it down or leave it up since the next kid’s birthday is in 31 days? Difficult decisions for the tired mama.

February 23: Sourdough Pancakes

My best pancakes yet! Made with fresh milled soft white wheat and sourdough discard! Light, fluffy, and perfect on a cold, drizzly day.

February 24: Theater

What a wonderful, traditional production of Around the World in Eighty Days I got to enjoy today with a few of my kids! Well worth it if you can attend!

February 24: Bedtime Reading

Current bedtime reading with the younger boys: adventurous, gripping, character-building! 

February 24: Gone With the Wind

Finished! Mary and I gave each other “Gone with the Wind” for Epiphany, and I finished reading it about seven weeks later. Mary finished her copy much sooner! We have had the best mother-daughter time discussing the book.

February 25: Les Miserables upcoming!

Do you love Les Mis, but can't make it to a Broadway showing? Our very own son John will be performing in a production in May!

I'd like to invite our local friends to buy tickets to attend a production of Les Miserables by Eagles Wings Studios, which is an audition-only, high-school theater group for homeschoolers. They are doing a FANTASTIC job preparing and this will feel like a professional production! In fact, quite a few of these youth are going on to make singing and acting their professional careers.

If you purchase tickets, you will be asked to list a cast member, so the cast member gets credit: please list John.

February 26: Interview

Child Life Therapists are the best, and I recently got to share why for an article on the subject!

Click here: Child Life Specialists 101

February 28: Schiele Natural History Museum

I so much enjoyed taking the boys to Schiele Museum of Natural History today. I had not been there in probably a decade since taking my older kids at these ages. We met up with three families from co-op, toured the museum, ate a picnic lunch, explored the outdoor trails and exhibits, and attended a show at the planetarium. We had such a fun five hours that David (age 6) cried for the 35 minute-drive home “because we had to leave so soon.”