It's been about a month and once again, we have so many little updates. We are officially moving! We got multiple offers on our house in only a couple of days and everything is moving at warp speed. We are trying to get everything packed up and ready to go for the move. It's amazing how much stuff you actually have when it comes time to pack it all up. We are excited to be in our new house and to be done with this whole process haha. The boys are somewhere between excited and sad depending on the day. They like the house and they are excited to have their own rooms but they are sad to leave this house. It is a bit sadder than I expected. This was the first home we had as a family. Both our babies learned to walk here and talk here, and there are so many memories. We will miss our neighbors and our neighborhood, even though we will only be a little way up the road. The boys are both excited to be able to walk to school and sad not to take the bus. I think once we get settled, they will appreciate more space though! Transitions are tough. 


The rest of our August flew by. House stuff was busy. Bryce's parents came out for a visit, which was fun. We got to go camping at the coast for a couple of days with them and had the best weather and the most beautiful beach time. Tucker got to come this time too, which felt a little sentimental. It was also the first beach we ever took him to when we first got him. Our furry old man dog was pretty sore after all the running around and digging he did, but I think he enjoyed himself. 

We also got to celebrate Ronan turning 8! It felt pretty full circle from last year's birthday, which we had to hope so hard could even happen. He had a blast with his friends at the gymnastic center. He also likes his new bike we got him. He had long past outgrown his old one! He is getting so tall and he got his second haircut since a lot of his hair fell out this past winter. I had a teary moment when I saw that the last of the "chemo hair" he managed to hold on to during that phase had finally grown out enough to be cut off. His hair is back to the soft, wavy texture it had before he got sick. He looks so handsome and so much like himself before. Bryce and Jack got haircuts too and also look so handsome. Jack is looking far too old these days, which makes me equally happy, and sad. 


School started this past week, for everybody. Ronan is a big second grader. It has been a very tiring week for him, and it's basically like starting over as far as getting used to being on such a schedule and being "on" for so much of the day. He has been in "please don't ask me to do a thing when I get home except sit here and build my leggos" mode all week. Jack is really loving kindergarten already. He was a little uncertain on the first day. There were no tears but there was a little bit of "don't leave me" worry and we had to do our special hand shake from the pre-school days. The second day, we let them take the bus to school, and let me tell you, Jack has been waiting for two years to be able to board that bus with his big brother. He was absolutely tickled and didn't even look back! He truly seems to like school, and was disappointed it was the weekend. It's been strange to have them both gone part of the day (kindergarten just did half days this week.) I think it may feel more relaxing post-move! Everyone, Bryce included, has been exhausted after these long days this week. Even with some free time for myself, it's been a little draining getting back into such a busy routine. 


It's unfortunate timing but Ronan will likely miss much if not all of school this week. We are due to go back up to Portland for the beginning of Maintenance Cycle #2. Tomorrow morning, we are scheduled for a lumbar puncture with intrathecal chemo, IV chemo, and labs. Ronan will also start his "steroid pulse" tomorrow night which is really why he will be out much of the week. It's very likely he will need close blood sugar management, and insulin. Since things change so rapidly, it'd be very difficult to have the school manage any of it. Ronan's teacher was able to put some things together for him to work on at home, since this week will be mostly review. The LP also brings with it seizure watch and anxiety for us so I'd be lying if I said I wasn't dreading the week. We will be trying to make a somewhat enjoyable day of it though. I promised Ronan we could ride the tram this time since his appointment is earlier in the day. We are also going to grab some lunch at a little place near the bottom of the tram that Ronan loves to go to so he can watch it. A couple friends from nursing school are going to meet us and I'm looking forward to seeing them!
Maintenance is so strange after such intensive treatment and management all year. It's so much at home, and so "less" compared to what everything has been that sometimes things feel "normal." Then, you start worrying about a side effect that pops up out of the blue or you have to go get labs and need blood, or go to the ER for a fever, etc. and you are thrust back into this “cancer front and center” mode. Having it all be less routine, and more in the background makes it feel more jarring on days like tomorrow. I can tell Ronan is feeling it too because of how nervous he is to go up. There’s also this slow burn of nerves, always, that there will be signs of relapse. It’s been 3 months since his last LP, which is both amazing and terrifying.

He ended up being on a two-week chemo hold after his counts dropped so low earlier in August. Then we restarted and lo and behold, he started having random low blood sugars overnight again. So, we had to talk to his team, and to endocrinology.They made a weird suggestion of giving Ronan uncooked cornstarch in something before bed, as it is a slow to process starch that can keep blood sugars from dropping overnight. It has been a success! We had to do some experimenting with the best way to give said cornstarch because it was a lot (2 TBS) but have found that hot chocolate is our winner. We've been able to get similar effects with only 1 TBS which is great since constipation seems to be an unfortunate side effect of it. Take care of one side effect to manage another seems to often be the way it goes. This month marks a kind of milestone as we are one year away from finishing treatment. 1 year and 3 months down, and 1 year to go. It feels like a really long time still but treatment used to be even longer, so we try to keep that in mind and be thankful it isn’t. Please keep sending all your prayers, happy thoughts, positive, healing energy and luck our way as we keep trudging forward with leukemia treatment, and try to take care of his kidneys on the way. ❤️‍🩹 Here’s to hoping for a healthy and happy school year, and last year of treatment. 

"Hope is the thing with feathers that perches in the soul, and sings the tune without the words, and never stops at all." Emily Dickinson