The Boy is watching Sesame Street. He was listening to the theme song and trying to sing along, as he has watched the theme song so many times. Earlier, he was reciting the words to "Jesse Bear, What Will You Wear" which he has only heard a few times and is just now trying to sing along with "C is for Cookie."
Not sure how long he'll be able to do that.
Today, we found out that he has mild hearing loss as a result of chemotherapy. The drug in question is, once again, Carboplatin. Currently, his hearing is that of your average middle-aged man. Were it to hold steady at that level of damage, it wouldn't be such a big deal, but likely, by the end of the treatment, he'll have a lot of hearing loss. Furthermore, they won't even talk about giving him hearing aids until he is off treatment for 18 months.
We have some memories of The Boy showing musical aptitude as a baby. Making faces at out-of-tune barbershop tags, singing notes at choir rehearsal, and clapping and conducting in rhythm. Certainly the hearing aid technology is great these days, but once again, this is one of those things that we'll always wonder about. What type of gifts might he have otherwise had that are being taken away by the treatment for this horrible disease?
How tall might he have been without radiation? How tall should he be now, if it weren't for chemo slowing him down? When would he have walked and talked?
Today The Boy was in a video. The topic is "when I grow up" and since he can't say, I decided I'd say he might be a writer. Maybe he'd write comic books. I'm excited to see it.
5 comments:
I know words can't provide too much comfort--especially those of a stranger--but I'm so sorry. I could feel the pain radiating off your post. Although David may suffer from this terrible disease, G-d has taken care to provide him with the most wonderful, compassionate, caring parents who love him unconditionally and will care for him in ways that no other could. I say prayers every single day for your family and hope that you all have peace and joy and each other for many, many years to come. Again, I hope this doesn't seem trite, but I wish there were some way I could alleviate the pain.
Alison (mumin2008 on webmd)
I can feel your pain and I wish I could be there to give your family some additional love and support. The Boy is in my thoughts and prayers every day.
I think about you guys all the time and I pray that The Boy makes the best recovery possible...it breaks my heart to see him in any pain; the port access video really pulled on my heartstrings, and I'm sure he's been in more pain than that.
I hope, by some miracle, that the hearing loss slows down.
Oh yeah, and cancer really sucks.
So sorry. I am worried about Summer too. She only gets one more carboplatin. How many has the boy had? And will he get? I know a little boy who had Neuroblastoma and he lost a lot of his hearing too. I pray our kids will have the best outcomes possibe. Wish I could give you a big hug right now!
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