A promised update

This spring has been a difficult one full of challenges. School and sports for seven kids (No, they all don't participate in a sport but for the few that do it keeps us busy enough.) in a new community in the middle of the school year is just hard. I won't whine about the details but if you ever find yourself in this position, give me a call, I'd be glad to listen and say, "I totally get it!" Anyway, adding to the mix of all that was an unexpected opportunity for service.

Jason's cousin, Karen (Cagle) Reck, lives in the Seattle area with her husband, JP, son Zach (5) and son Ethan (3). Ethan was diagnosed in late January with a posterior fossa ependymoma, or in other words, a non-cancerous brain tumor. Ethan had surgery and chemotherapy in Seattle but required proton radiation for the final treatment of his tumor. That can only be found in a few select places in the US, including Houston. Ethan and Karen moved to Houston on April 1st. (Karen stayed in Ethan's room with him for the month of April except for the week he was in PICU. In May she was able to get an apartment near the hospital but stayed most nights with him except a few that I did.)

Two weeks after Karen and Ethan arrived, JP and Zach came to visit for a little over a week. Unfortunately, bills aren't paid on faith and wishes, money is needed for that, and JP had to return home. But Zach stayed with us from April 26th to June 5th. Sometimes he got to go and stay with his mom but sometimes she wasn't able to have him overnight so he was with us. This was hard on Zach but he was so glad to be near his mom and brother, which he hadn't been able to do prior to coming down here. Going from the oldest of two to the youngest of eight carried a steep learning curve but he survived our family. And we learned a lot from him.

Through this experience I have learned:
1. It is so difficult having a child with long-term health issues, it is best not to judge. Until you've done it, you just don't know.
2. "Living" in a hospital with your child is not really "living" because hospitals are not conducive to "living", they are about saving lives.
3. "Hospital" time is not the same as "real" time. You can be in there for hours and it feels like minutes and sometimes it's the other way around.
4. Family support is SO crucial.
5. Being able to give service is a blessing.
6. I saw a LOT and still want to be a nurse. (Good thing to know before applying to nursing school.)

Ethan was able to leave Texas Children's Hospital on June 8th and return to Seattle Children's Hospital. He went home to his own house on July 4th and is doing well, from all I've heard. We wish the Reck family all the best in the world as this cutie continues his personal battle and his mom, dad and brother learn to find their new "normal".

This is a series of pictures taken right after receiving this quilt and car from MD Anderson in late April. He has greatly improved since these pictures but while I enjoyed spending time with Ethan since that time I never took my camera out again. Kinda regretting that.