Journey Out of Nowhere

It's been a little quiet since Vampboy's birthday around these parts. The daily trips for radiation therapy blur together the days and weeks, and suddenly all this time has past and I'm wondering what happened to it.

But, tomorrow will be a big day in the Vamp-house, as we travel into Boston for one last radiation dose. Afterwards, we "pick up where we left off" in the course of Vampboy's treatment schedule -- back into a less stressful schedule of lighter chemo doses, every three weeks, until the whole thing ends some time in September/October. Of course, it will still be a rough road, but compared to the first half of his treatment it almost feels like a vacation.

We've lucked out during the past 6 weeks on two factors that have kept Vampmommy and I from pulling our hair out. First, for some reason that will go into the "Yet Another Vampboy Mystery" category, the radiation and coinciding chemotherapy didn't knock out little guy down for the count like we thought. Granted, keeping him entertained daily is no easy task, but it can be seen as a better challenge than cleaning up gallons of vomit and dealing with a kid hopped up on morphine to manage pain.

The second thing is the team of "Vamp Helpers" that put in time to travel with Vampmommy and Boy to Boston every day, 5 days a week, for the past 6 weeks. Not only did this provide a valuable set of extra hands, but it opened up Vampboy to a world of wonderful people, some of whom he hadn't really gotten to know. It aslo allowed me to continue to "bring home the bacon" -- which is helpful on both the literal and figurative levels.

Strangely, the next 24 weeks (or so) will have its own unique challenges.Vampboy will hopefully continue to tolerate treatment, meaning that he can continue to catch up on some of his developmental delays caused by being in a morphine and fever-induced stupor for the past several months. But it also means that our little guy will return to a state of apparent boundless toddler-energy, but on many days not have the immune system that would allow us to send him to school, or out to play with friends. And, while he is curently obsessed with the new toy Dyson, I can't imagine that his quest for excellence in the custodial arts will continue to keep him enthralled. As sucky as this whole experience has been (and still is), the daily grind of appointments, treatments, illnesses, fevers and the like, have all replaced his time in daycare...How will he be without either?

For that matter, how will we be? I have my job to keep me occupied sometimes (that whole bacon thing again), but Vampmommy is full-time Cancer Warrior. We're already tired from the daily grind, but at least the daily trips into Boston were something "to do". This is complicated by our commitment to not allow Vampboy to watch TV until he's 3 (if then) -- there's no "babysitter in a box" in this house.

I guess we'll continue to benefit from the friends and family that have come to share time and energy over the past few weeks, and try as much as possible to keep Vampboy engaged in fun activities...We've got lots of time, so feel free to share your favorite!