Day #2

Playing with the surgeon's glasses


He loved bath time as usual but had a hard time keeping his IV dry.


Hangin out


Playing with Jackson - notice the line of blood as he was getting his transfusion. He thought it was pretty cool to show everyone.

Katherine really wanted to be with him.

Today went as good as could be expected. Joey woke up feeling great. We took him for a walk around the floor just to let him get out of bed, and he ended up running around. He took a bath and was as wild as ever. He said "I feel a lot better. I think I can play outside longer now." The blood transfusion really perked him up. While I washed his hair, I started to explain that he won't have to worry about washing it for a while. He was pretty excited about that.

We met his oncologist today. He is highly recommended and I like him already. He is very concerned with treating all of Joey. This includes making sure he gets as normal life as possible. I'm not sure what this means yet, but it's encouraging.

His friend, Jackson, came to visit. Some awesome people from work took up a collection for him and bought him lots of stuff to play with and his own DSi. He loves it. Even though he was getting another blood transfusion, he got down on the floor and played with Jackson.

We had some other visitors who helped us pass the first couple of hours of the afternoon. At about 3:00, they took him down for surgery to install a central line. His platelets are low, so they gave him more on his way down to ensure no bleeding issues. He was very brave when they took him into the OR without us. He gave me one scared look and then let go of my hand quietly. The surgery was a success. It took him a little while to wake up, but he slowly came back to being himself.

He had lots of visitors later in the evening after he woke up all of the way. They spoiled him with fun gifts. He said that his chest hurt a few times (the location of the central line), so he had a dose of morphine. He also go another blood transfusion.

Katherine wanted to stay with us so we decided to let her sleep here tonight. Her class made him a get well book that was very touching.

I continue to be amazed at the support we've received. Because of the wonderful people, Joey is actually enjoying himself most of the time.

I felt much more calm today, with only random bursts of panic. With all of the support, I almost start to forget why we're here and then I think, "Oh yeah, my son has cancer", which usually sets off the panic. I know that God is in control and that he loves Joey even more than we do. I know this is true, but I'm not sure that I completely understand it or remember it all of the time.