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| 1st to 2nd for Ben |
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| Pre-Kindergarten to Kindergarten |
Nate turned 6 in early September and the 3 birthday parties he had proved to be as great as he is. Pool parties at home are always the best ones. He was flooded with love (and board games, of course!) from both sides of the family as well as his friends, which he loved every minute of. Most of the fall was filled with soccer games (for Ben and for my nephew Trevor at RPI), flag football, yoga, a new drumming class for Nate, and an unbelievable amount of time with my brother. So lucky!
We were also held hostage (metaphorically) by the blood drawing station at our local hospital for a week. Nate had an initial urinalysis (due to excessive thirst) done during his 6 year well check visit and the results came back abnormal, so blood work and further urinalysis ensued. The blood drawing station ended up getting the paperwork wrong 3 times, one of them being way too early on a Saturday morning. Ugh! But, the craziness was all worth the wait...everything checked out normal and it just seems as though Nate loves water. 100+ ounces a day to be exact. I, myself, finally went to the surgeon to check out my ankle. For those of you that don't know, I've had issues with my ankle since an injury that I had when I was a 14 year old kid playing soccer. The outcome of that appointment is the suggestion of an ankle fusion. I say suggestion because an ankle fusion would likely mean no bowling for me. And no bowling for me would equal one unhappy lady! So, I quickly decided on a cortisone shot (which has been holding up for almost 4 months now!) and passed on the surgery; for now anyway.
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| Happy 6th birthday! |
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| Ben playing soccer |
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| Ben playing flag football |
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| the boys bowling Mom's version! |
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| they messed up the blood work again?? |
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| the boys watching their cousin play |
September quickly turned into October and with that came the decision to get a puppy. Lincoln has been gone for almost a year and a half and I thought it was time. A high school friend had bred her boxer and it was basically fate that I saw it on my Facebook timeline. See, Facebook is good sometimes! ;) It felt like it took forever to name the little guy, but we decided on Kingston. He is currently proving to be quite the King of the house.
Between September and October, Nate tried 2 foods...a tater tot and a banana. Neither has been added to his diet (his words, not mine), but he is really trying to push past the anxiety to find a new food to add to his repertoire.
October finished off with the start of hockey for Ben (which I love because it's definitely one sport where you can witness improvement from practice to practice). Halloween was super fun; Ben decided to be a Stormtrooper and Nate was Catboy from PJ Masks. October was also the month of the best sleep ever for Nate. I held onto every night as he made some great strides. It may have been a jinx though, as his sleep as been a struggle since then.
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| trying the banana |
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| pumpkin picking |
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| Halloween |
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| baby Kingston |
We kicked off November with a challenge to our Team Nate the Great supporters. We decided to match every donation made in November and December, up to $3,000. It took off and we raised over $1,000 during the first week. Through those 2 months, we hit $3,000 and beyond! It's been an amazing year for our fundraising efforts and we couldn't be more thankful for our family, friends, and their children to help us in our fundraising efforts. We are currently at just over $79,000!!! I am speechless when I see that number. The people in our lives are beyond generous. You are making a difference in the pediatric brain tumor community. If you haven't checked out the page recently, please head on over to Team Nate the Great and take a look. It will make your heart smile.
We continued on with November and the start of basketball. Ben and Nate both decided to play this year so between hockey, basketball, and my new part time gig (I was given an opportunity I couldn't pass up!), we basically live at the Club. November was also MRI month. To say I was nervous was an understatement. It is hard, REALLY hard, to go an entire year without knowing what is exactly going on in that little (okay, it's not so little!) head of his. I can always hope that things are going well based on how he is acting and thriving, but damn, it's hard not to have little negative thoughts creep in; especially around scan time.
Before the scan, Nate had already decided that he did not want to use the mask for sedation prior to getting the IV. He and I had multiple conversations about it and I told him that he needed to stand up for himself when it came to the nurses and doctors. This was HIS life and there were choices he needed to make. I know that probably sounds a little crazy for a 6 year old, but we've been on this journey for almost 5 years (crazy, right?!) and he knows what to expect and what he doesn't like about the whole experience. Well, needless to say, he was a champion that day. He spoke up and told nurse "Kate" that he did NOT want the mask and what did he have to do to not do it. As she looked at me with furrowed brow, I told her that this was his decision and if he didn't want to do it, she had to tell him what was expected of him. She did and he quickly decided he was ready to just do the IV. We couldn't have been more proud of him! He handled the IV process like the brave boy he is and even watched the whole thing. He sailed through the MRI and we waited for him to wake up in recovery. As soon as he did, he asked me what his recovery nurse's name was. I asked him why and he responded, "I want to get out of here!" Ha! Her name was Molly and he summoned her over like she was his best friend. He's lucky he's a charmer. :)
Our next appointment that day was with his neurosurgeon. We were looking forward to seeing her as it was the first time we would have an actual appointment in her office and not at the Jimmy Clinic in a few years. Unfortunately, it didn't work out as planned since she had an emergency in the operating room. That was disappointing, but the news that followed was even more heartbreaking. Since she wasn't there, we were able to see her assistant. There was definitely a communication breakdown, as well as incomparable pictures, and we left there thinking that the tumor had grown. She had attempted to be positive about this growth, but as brain tumor parents can attest to, as soon as you hear the word growth, the world starts to crumble around you.
We took Nate for lunch before our last and final appointment at Dana Farber. The time seemed to drag as we were devastated with this news and we were anxious to meet with his neuro-oncology team to get their version of the scan. As soon as his doctor walked into the room, she sat down and said, "his scan looks great!" Based on our facial expressions, she asked why we didn't look happy. We explained to her what we had heard earlier and she was speechless. She showed us the scan and compared it to the a scan from each of the past 3 years and explained that although he has experienced growth since diagnosis, his tumor is currently considered stable. Again, hard words to hear and digest, but we have to trust in his team that they are the best the pediatric brain tumor world has to offer. She even gave us a high five as we left in an attempt to make the roller coaster ride a little less scary.
It took a few days to come off the emotions of that day. Scan days are never easy. The anticipation and anxiety can truly take over your life. It was also really hard to be happy over the results when getting there was so emotionally tiring. I pray it never goes that way again.
The rest of November was kind of blur. We had Thanksgiving in Connecticut that was followed by a hockey tournament that weekend for Ben. All good things to soak in and enjoy. We have so many things to be thankful for!
Onto December...it has basically come and gone! We enjoyed all of the things December has to offer...snowstorms, cold weather (okay, I'm not really enjoying it at all), Christmas decorating, parties, food, and best of all....Ben's 8th birthday!! I love the birthdays of the boys! He was so excited to turn 8. So old! :)
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