Chemotherapy Begins

We have been absent from our family blog for one month exactly as our son Thomas was diagnosed with cancer. We were publishing over at CaringBridge (https://www.caringbridge.org/visit/thomaslauer/), but are now going to try to bring the two together seamlessly in order to continue the family blog I have written for 14 years. This blog post is copied from CaringBridge and is being published retroactively. Please subscribe to our family blog to receive updates as I publish!

Chemotherapy Cycle #1 Day #1

Starting chemotherapy is a very strange milestone bringing a mix of emotions. On one hand, we were happy to be done with the waiting, but on the other hand, our sweet boy Thomas having cancer still feels like a dream and it is surreal to be sitting through informational meetings for hours, meeting many personnel, and learning about permanent, serious side effects for the rest of his life.

We employed two lovely babysitters covering 12 hours today. A sweet lady delivered to the house a feast for dinner. 

Another lovely lady in blue dropped off a beautiful Catholic statue to our children at home--without a card! If you are reading this, please let us know who you are so we can thank you!

Two philanthropic groups gave us gift bags of super useful stuff here at the hospital. 

We met the pediatric oncologist who is on the "survivorship team," so she takes over patient management two years after chemo ends. It was neat to see the other side of the coin, to get a long view of Thomas's life. Also, this oncologist has a degree in Integrative Medicine so she can help us maximize benefits of Western Medicine while availing ourselves of anything more natural that might be of aid (while sorting out what is silly stuff or even damaging stuff).

The social worker talked with us about emotional, social, and financial aid.

The dietician gave me a whole binder to read. I've already read fascinating info: apparently kids undergoing chemo need not just to eat their regular food but about 50% more protein and 20% more calories than typical. I will have a new part-time job!

The Child Life Specialist was amazing, as always. She and the RN were so helpful in the process of accessing Thomas's port for the first time, which involved some anxiety for him but turned out to be very manageable.

Thomas experienced some itching bad enough to cause him to cry, so I talked him through the Catholic practicing of "offering it up": uniting one's suffering with Jesus' suffering in order to strengthen prayer. Thomas offered up his terrible itching for a specific prayer request that had been given to us.

After getting settled into our hospital room, we met another stream of people. Thomas got to paint with the art therapist, so he was happy as a clam.

At one point, a nurse came in to do a baseline echocardiogram: This chemotherapy causes heart damage, so a cardiologist will keep an eye on him for life. Anyway, during the echocardiogram, Thomas was so relaxed, he drifted off to sleep and took a great nap.

This chemo also causes hearing loss due to a premature aging of hearing, so Thomas will be getting a baseline angiogram.

This chemo gives Thomas a 50-50 chance of maintaining his fertility, so he will be under the care of an endocrinologist at least all through his teenage years. I do not imagine our prayer warriors to be still praying for Thomas ten years from now, but our great God lives outside of time, so could I beg of you all a prayer as you read this that God will preserve Thomas's fertility?

Today was a day of learning all manner of things we did not even imagine about cancer and chemotherapy, and though we are just beginners, we know we have much more to learn.

Readers can imagine some overwhelming feelings.

My favorite quote of the day: "I am having such a great time at this hospital!"