I’ve heard before that the treatment for cancer is as brutal as the illness. The past week is making that more real.

The battle this past week has been abdominal cramping. The attacks come on suddenly and at any time of day or night. And they’re severe.

There’s no sugar-coating that those moments are very hard. On him. On me and Sara. There’s no fast fix. We can soothe, sing, offer warm drinks and blankets. He has to resist the urge to tense up and instead relax through it.

Des is a real trooper. It hurts but he works through it. Sara’s taught him some great breathing techniques that have helped with the pain and anxiety (and will only help when he plays a brass instrument later in life…)

We’re adjusting his stool-softening medication to dial it in. Too much or too little can cause belly pain. And of course…lots of fluids.

But right now he’s on the couch in Sara’s lap and calm. He’s not in pain and that makes this moment so sweet.

Now for some good news.

His ophthalmologist appointment yesterday confirmed that there is still zero evidence of cerebrospinal fluid pressure behind his eyes. This is after two weeks of reduced medication for the condition.

This is a huge answer to prayer.

We expect the “brain juice pressure” medication to continue to taper off and the neurology team will continue to keep an eye on him.

Des has also been having trouble walking and moving around for about a week. It’s probably due to a lot of things; steroids making him generally uninterested, chemo causing weakness/neuropathy, belly cramps, and you know…having cancer.

The nurse yesterday assured us that this is not unusual for kids in this final week of the induction phase. It’s hard. It’s part of it. And in a way, hearing that this is normal is kind of good news.

We’re trying some new medication for the neuropathy to see if that helps. It should start working in a day or two. He didn’t spring out of bed this morning ready to wrestle but I’ll let you know when that day comes.

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Matt