I have been reading a lot of PTRs and realized that I never explained Clints illness or anything. I think that is a fault of mine. He feels good so I try to act like nothing is wrong except for his nightly meds. Most of the time it works. I guess I shouldnt do that because then I am super anxious, no sleeping, panicky when something does go wrong. Ok here is the story of Clint:
Clint was born a very LARGE baby. He weighed 9 lbs and 8 ozs. He was born the day after his due date by emergency C-section after my blood pressure skyrocketed. He was very healthy during his infancy and toddlerhood.
I used to tell people that he was my healthy one because his big sister Meg had several surgeries by age three. She had pyloric stenosis as a baby and essentially was starving because her stomach had closed, that was horrible to send my seven week old baby off for surgery. She did great. She has a large scar on her tummy that she once (at age four) told someone she got runned over by a truck. Dont ask me where that came from. She also had tubes at age one and a half and tonsils/adenoids removed at 2 ½ yrs old. Now SHE is my healthy one.
I was in nursing school and had the summer off. I was working as a tech on an oncology floor for the summer. When hired the nurse manager asked me if I thought I could work with people that had cancer. My reply as long as its not kids. I couldnt handle that. I remember that conversation very clearly. Clint kept getting sick. He would run fevers. High fevers. We (my husband and I) would take him to the doctor. We would get a diagnosis of infected tonsils or ears. I think I took him at least eight times in June and July for fevers. We were at a friends house and the kids were playing and my friend said to me He looks really pale Mindy. And he did. I guess it took someone to point it out to me. I took him to the Dr again on Monday. They took blood. They said they would call with the results. Now I am really starting to worry.
They didnt have to call me I called them the next morning. They said there was something wrong with his lab work (they send out their labs), so we would need to go to the local hospital for another blood analysis. They asked me to come by the office to pick up the order on my way. They were very calm and nice so I felt a little better UNTIL I got to the Drs office. Mind you this Dr is very good and always keeps a FULL schedule. Clint and I get there to pick up the prescription and the Dr and Nurse Practitioner meet us in the lobby. He starts feeling his lymph nodes and checking him over right there!!! Then he says to go right away so we can find out what the labs say.
Still in my naïve little head I am thinking he has an infection! We go to the ER and have blood drawn. They have to hold him down while he is screaming for his dad to make them stop. Then they return later and tell me that something is off with his labs they will have to do it again. By this time it is about noon and our family Dr shows up in the ER and talks with me. I told him that I know something is wrong and as soon as I said that I knew it was leukemia. So I asked him that. He said we are hoping for a massive infection of some kind, but we cannot rule that out yet. I knew it. My husband had left to get Meg from school and I called my aunt to come. We still did not know anything firm yet. My mom was working in the same hospital upstairs kept calling and checking on us.
They told us regardless we would be staying so they moved us up to a room. That lasted about two hours until the Dr and a nurse came in wearing masks and told us it was Leukemia. It was HORRIBLE. My whole family was there by then. My mom, dad, Megan, Aunt and my sister. It was terrible. My husband then fell out on the floor with a seizure and had to be rushed to the ER. (Never had one before). Thirty minutes later an ambulance came for us. I got on the stretcher and Clint lay on top of me. We rode the whole two hours in the pouring rain in the back of that ambulance strapped down with each other.
Of course my family all arrived immediately. They did surgery the next morning to put in a port and start chemo. He was very close to death according to his lab work yet he was still playing. Looking back we realized he had stopped swimming which he loves and he was not walking as long as he used to but we always figured he was tired or something.
Clint has undergone so much since that time. It has been two and a half years and he has almost died a couple of times. He had an anaphylactic reaction to a chemo and was polka dotted for a week. He also had a broken leg. The tibia on his right leg just cracked one day. He told me it hurt and since he never says stuff like that I took him to the Oncs. They said it was neuropathy from the chemo. Well two weeks later he is crawling so I take him to our beloved local Dr. He then sends him for some MRIs and he has a broken leg!!!! He crawled and hopped around for weeks and hardly said a thing about it-- The thing is he doesnt complain about at all. He thinks most of this is normal so we dont tell him any different.
Megan has endured a lot also. She has had to stay next door with my parents every time Clint has been hospitalized. I have had to miss some of her events (rodeos, ball games etc) but someone from our family was always with her. She has never complained either. She is such a great kid.
They both have also dealt with my husband and me separating. I will not go into that too much except to say that some people handle extreme stress and hardship in very different ways.
Now Clint looks just like any other kid and I was believing it again. I even put him in kindergarten trying to keep him normal. It worked for a few months and then he got the chicken pox which can be VERY BAD for someone who is immunocompromised. Right now he is doing very well. It is heartbreaking watching kids at the clinic not beat this disease and always wonder if that will happen to us. But I try to look on the bright side because we will NOT let that happen and so far it is WORKING.
Clint is now on homebound teaching through the school. When the Onc Dr found out he got chicken pox at school they said he can go next yr but not this one. This fact makes Clint very happy. He liked kindergarten but not really. He loves not having to go. He is already trying to work his homebound teacher. The first week he kept acting like he was falling asleep and tired and it worked. I caught on to that and told her he is faking you out, he was!!!! He does that to the nurses at the hospital too.
The hospital sent in our MAW paperwork and they called a few weeks later. To me it was too soon. I wanted him to be able to remember it and have energy and fun. So we said how about for his sixth birthday. And two years later we are ready. He will still be getting treatments until 11/27/09 and on that day we will have a PARTY!!!! I have probably left out a ton of stuff but thats ok you get the whole idea. I know there is a lot more sadness I could write about but I keep moving forward to the happy!!!
Here are some pics:
Clint STILL loves spaghetti!!!
Clint at Mardi Gras (age 2):
Clint and Meg in the car before he got sick:
Clint in the hospital at the very beginning:
Clint after a month straight on steroids (1 month after previous pic)
Clint and Megan playing together (this is as big of a smile he could do with those cheeks!!):
Clint the muscle man about six months later: (you can see his port if you look close enough):
Megan and Clint together:
I think you all get the idea. Now you can see the new him and happier him. Thanks for reading all the drama!!!
. Finally we got home after Megan and she was already on the horse. So I had to call her on her cell phone (I know, I know
) and tell her there was a package. She arrived rather quickly unlike when I call her to do a chore or something 
. SO here is a picture of the excitement.
irate: 
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I also just wanted to post that Clint had his treatments on Monday (spinal with chemo, chemo in port and breathing treatments). He did great and it was the first time he didn't cry one little tiny bit when they stuck his port
. Anyway our next appt was for the day that we leave so I told them we would NOT be coming before our visit because Clint and steroids equal an awful situation. So they gladly moved our appointment to when we get back.
. Therefore in my budget the only thing I think will work is a Value Resort. Any suggestions??
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and I just figured out Crystal Palace has Eeyore there. Is he ever in the parks?? Anyway I am gonna try to get that today.
It can't hurt!
It can be hard to put it all in writing but a bit therapeutic too... Lots of 
