Wednesday, August 2nd

Well, it's official! The sleep deprivation has deteriorated my mind. This is not Alex's last week at his school; a week from Friday will be, August 11th. I'm completely a week ahead of myself. I've been telling all the teachers that Friday is Alex's last day. I'm just glad I did figured this out before I showed up at school with cupcakes Friday!

I called Alex's new school to update his health record. They want the school nurse to evaluate Alex before school starts. Only hitch is, they don't know who the school nurse is or when he/she will be at the school. So we are in a holding pattern there.

Alex had an audiology appointment yesterday. The audiologist was very good and thorough. She found some interesting things with Alex's hearing. It seems that while both ears are physiologically fine and functioning his "hearing perception" on the right side is diminished below 65 decibels. I interpret that to mean his brain is not perceiving the sound his ears hear. This is very uncommon, but follows with his diagnosis. Alex could wear a hearing aid but instead I think we'll wait and see what has occurred after six months of chemo treatments (which may cause hearing loss). The audiologist agreed with this plan and also recommended that Alex have his speech and language evaluated. I'm pretty sure he'll need speech therapy. Alex's sweet, soft voice is the result of partial facial and vocal cord paralysis.

While we were walking to the car after the audiology appointment, Alex complained that his stomach hurt. He complained about his tummy the day before too, so I pushed on this stomach a few places and asked him if that hurt. He said "yes, a lot". So I called oncology and we went to see a nurse. She diagnosed Alex to be constipated and prescribed a stool softener. It seems that this is a common side effect of the chemo. As of this writing we are still waiting for things to pass, so to speak.

Well, it is late and bedtime. I asked Alex today, why he cries at night. He said, "Because I'm scared". When I asked him what he was scared of, he said, "that I need company". In the wee hours of the morn, Alex usually ends up in our bed between Steve and I. I'm too tired to fight the fight by this time and Steve just grunts and rolls over to make way. Alex seems to sleep very well in our bed; unfortunately, Steve and I don't sleep well with Alex in the bed. We are considering many options at this time to resolve this. When we do get past these night terrors, I think I'll write a book!!

Lastly,I returned to work today. I was anxious about my return but it went very well. Everyone was very kind and encouraging. My job responsibilities have changed so that I can handle them in a few hours a week. This is a blessing for our family. It has put a strain on my employer and my coworkers and I am so very grateful for everyone's willingness to make this happen. I am so blessed to be offered such flexibility.

Many blessings have come from this situation. We have learned about compassion, community, hope and significance. I pray that everyone's kindness (at work, home, blog community and school) is reciprocated threefold. Good night and God bless.

G