Eli hasn't been back to school since October 1st, the day of our first appointment at the beginning of this cancer roller coaster that has been full of twists and turns and ups and downs. Sometimes the weeks seem to slow down and we enjoy a reprieve from the onslaught of appointments, pokes, treatments, nausea and waiting rooms but then we are whipped around a bend bracing for the unknown, holding on tight with a lump in our throats and a knot in the chest.
Eli's favorite thing about school is people and lunch and maybe a couple of classes. To say he misses the daily social interaction is the understatement of the year.
The day we left from the hospital, his high school dedicated the week's basketball games to him, selling #EliStrong t-shirts and wrist bands and spreading awareness for osteosarcoma. Eli wanted so badly to get on the road that morning so that he could go to the game, but we didn't get discharged until later that evening.
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| The baseball team's Fight Like a Wolf hoodie is one of my favorites. |
This journey has been, and will be, full of peaks and valleys and bumps and bruises. At this juncture, we can't get off of the ride yet. Sometimes it feels out of control and other times it feels like we are chugging along, like we've seen this road before. It has officially been a short two weeks since Eli's surgery and it feels like more time has passed. He's made so much progress in these short two weeks and I'm so proud of his efforts and recovery. I thought that it would be much worse, but so far, so good. His incision looks good enough to resume treatment tomorrow where we will start up with doxorubicin and cisplatin. Hopefully it's just a quick overnight stay and the nausea meds do the trick and he doesn't feel too out of sorts.
On Tuesday, Eli had a repeat ECHO to check his heart. Everything looks good and there haven't been any changes to his cardiac health. It was his first visit out of the house since we've been home from surgery. His hair has started to grow back in this short break from treatment.
On Wednesday he had a hearing test and I loaded up his rental wheel chair but he said that he could use his crutches and he did. He has gotten so much stronger on his crutches and has more stamina to go longer distances. His hearing is mostly pretty good, except he has some slight hearing loss at high frequency in his right ear, but nothing major. After the first two cycles of cisplatin he had some ringing in his ears. Fortunately, he only has two more cycles that include this drug.
He's pretty mobile around the house now. He can get in and out of bed and wheel himself around and he can get in and out of the shower just fine. He is able to bend his leg at a mostly 90 degree angle and can sit and play video games. He has also logged back into school this week and is trying to catch up on what he missed. Most impressive is that he is off all pain meds, except a couple of doses of Tylenol here and there, which is actually really surprising to me, considering how extensive this procedure was. His last dose of oxy was Tuesday morning.
He says that the metal feels weird in his leg, but he's able to move it a little bit and his muscles are getting stronger. He still has quite a bit of swelling around the knee and upper thigh. We will get another x-ray in six weeks to see how the bone is growing and everything is healing and he might be able to start some physical therapy. Chemo will slow down some of the bone growth but I have no doubt that Eli's body will continue to do what it needs to do, just as it has been doing every step of the way.
We will continue to hang on tight and hold him tight. Eventually this ride will stop and we will disembark the crazy ride with the sound of the bell ringing behind us and the hallways lined with everyone celebrating Eli being able to physically walk away from this cancer.
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