Vampdaddy-Hunters

Sorry for the "sounds of silence" these past few days...I know that many have been asking, "Where is Vampdaddy?" Well, here I am, and without the red and white striped "Waldo" attire. Trust me, I don't look good in horizontal stripes. Although I'd probably be cute in the hat...

But I digress. Truth is, the last few days have been extremely busy, and the urge to log on and scribble has eluded me in favor of connections with friends and family, a little Vampmommy photo project, and some personal maintenance for mental and physical health in preparation for what is to come. Oh, and Vampbaby has continued his new habit of picking up things and throwing them across the room -- with wonderfully breakable results!

What has come this week thus far is tweaking of Vampbaby's treatment schedule. Rather then entering the hospital today as planned, there was another day of visits -- this time to meet with the various doctors, techs, nurses and other folk who will be coordinating the surgery to insert the access lines in his head and chest for chemo. This surgery has been pushed to Wednesday, and an additional day-trip to the city has been scheduled for Tuesday to test his bone marrow.

Today we also met with the Doctor who will be coordinating the treatment, to go over the protocol in every gory detail. Any lingering thought that we may pass through this with only the hair loss to deal with quickly evaporated in favor of more unpleasant side effects that occupy our thoughts and fears at the moment: permanent sterility (an almost guarantee - since our future children will enter our world through adoption, this news constitutes the end of "The Vampdaddy Line" from a genetic standpoint), mouth sores (making it too painful to eat or drink anything), heart weakness (possibly permanent) - need I go on? Of course, none of this includes the potential side effects from any radiation therapy he may receive on top of his chemo -- although the specific decisions on that plan are yet to be determined. Given the alternative, we accept these and other side effects without any hesitation. But as parents, it is difficult to fathom the price we are asking our little one to pay at a time when he can neither understand nor participate in these choices.

So, a couple more days to wade through before the real work begins. In the meantime, we are preparing for our first chemo-related hospital stay, putting our house in order (literally and figuratively), and once again sitting in stunned amazement at the generosity of the community that is supporting us into this difficult time.

On a lighter note...Readers new to the site should be aware that I began this blog to muse on fatherhood -- prior to this new twist on parenting ("The NEW Vampdaddy -- now with CANCER!"). While I hope (and plan) to return to posts that allow me to pontificate on the joys of Dadness-Without-Disease, the current situation has me clearly in another realm. So, I encourage you to check out my links to other parenting blogs by some of the greatest guys on the net. It is these dads that inspired me to set up my own page, and their blogs are full of wit and brilliance. You'll also find links to other ephemera...if you dare...