Andy & Jessica

32 down, just 1 to go!  We can hardly believe that the end of radiation has almost come.  It’s so exciting.  I’ve doing a ton of packing and cleaning since we are heading home to Minnesota right after treatment tomorrow.  It’s a 12 hour drive with no stops.  We’ll be back home on Wednesday and I’ll be back at work on Thursday.  While we will not miss the radiation treatments, there are several things we will miss about being here in Indiana as well as several things we won’t miss.

We will miss:

1.  All the friends we have made here.  Levi will especially miss Sofia (who he often calls “Fefi” and Mr. Masaki, a visiting doctor from Japan who is studying at the proton center).  Jude will especially miss the other Jude.  Asher will miss all the adults who admire him and talk about what a great baby he is.

2. Monday and Wednesday Panera nights

3.  Free toy on Fridays from the proton center

4.  Seeing Jude’s excitement about getting a Happy Meal once a week

 

I won’t miss:

1.  Waiting for the laundry machine to open up

2.  Sharing the dishwasher with lots of people but feeling like I am always the one to empty/load it (urgh!)

3.  Worrying about losing my kids in a 14,000 square foot house

4.  Sharing our bedroom with 3 restless boys

5.  Having to cook in front of an audience (I bet they are judging me and thinking “Macaroni and cheese again!?!” )

6.  Seeing signs posted all over the house and wondering if the sign is new and if I had violated the rule, prompting them to post it. 

7.  Slow/unreliable internet

8.  Having my laundry soap confiscated 2 times because it looked suspicious.  (Jude is allergic to anything by Dreft and Dreft is so expensive that Andy makes our laundry soap)

9.  Having to handwash all dishes before placing them in the dishwasher

 

When the @reply from Andy’s Twitter feed popped up on the iPad while he was playing a game on it, “Twitter stop bugging me.  I’m just  a 5 year old boy.” 

After I told him, “Jude, I love you so much.  You are so special to me” he just said, “I know, Mom.”

After I told him to throw away a half full can of pop, but then added, “pour it out first.”   He obediently went to the garbage can, poured the pop into the garbage can and then threw the empty can in too.  When I expressed my surprise at what he had done and told him I meant that he should first pour it out in the sink and then throw it away, he said he had wondered why I wanted him to do it like that and then laughed and said, “I was kind of like Amelia Bedelia.”

We had another busy weekend.  On Saturday, we traveled to northern Kentucky, near Cincinnati, to visit the Creation Museum. We were there 3 years ago with our friend from Germany when Jude was just 2 and the other boys didn’t exist. It is a great place to visit. I especially enjoyed visiting the petting zoo where I got to introduce my boys to my old friends, Zonkey (half zebra, half donkey) and Zorse (half zebra, half horse). Jude got to ride a camel with one hump and to hold a really long snake. Levi was terrified when he first saw the animatronic dinosaurs in the museum.  Later in the day he got braver and said, “bwoom, bwoom” while making shooting motions at the dinosaurs.  After the creation museum, we went to the hotel for some swimming.  Andy nailed it when he described Jude as “clingy” and Levi as  a “dare devil.”  Asher takes after Levi and loves the water.  I didn’t put him in his suit since he was sleeping in his car seat when we arrived at the pool, but he kept trying to jump in the pool, fully clothed, after waking up.

On Sunday we spent the day at the Cincinnati zoo.  It was supposed to one of the best in the nation.  It was nice, but not my favorite.  I enjoyed seeing 2 more manatees, but was pretty surprised by how small their tank was.  I wouldn’t want to be that big and crammed in a tank that small.  One of the highlights was watching a Looney Tunes 3D movie, complete with squirts of water, pokes from the back of our chairs and stuff thrown at us at the appropriate times in the movie.  Jude enjoyed it.  Levi was freaked out at first but calmed down and kept his 3D glass on when Andy held him.  Asher enjoyed it, but wouldn’t wear the glasses.

At returning back to Jill’s House, I went to work packing.  We’re so excited to be heading home soon! 

 

Our little Asher turned 1 today.  It’s so hard to believe that our little baby is already walking and practically talking toddler.  We have so many nicknames for him (Asher Basher, Ash, Bobo, Bobz, etc.) that the other day I actually had to stop and think for about a minute as to what his middle name is.  That’s right, he’s Asher Austin. 

I like to think that Asher is about the most loved little boy in the world.  Of course Andy and I are crazy about him (as we are about Jude and Levi), but what’s super special is that his brothers Jude and Levi are also crazy about him.  They are constantly hugging and kissing him and protecting him from himself.  So, he’s one blessed little baby.

Asher celebrated his birthday today by an afternoon trip to the Exotic Feline Rescue Center near Terra Heute, Indiana.  It is a non-profit center that rescues lions, tigers and other exotic felines.  There was just a chain link fence separating the 230 large cats from us.  We were told that Rule #1 is that if we touch the fence, we are kicked out.   It was pretty cool to get just inches away from the amazing felines.  We even had to dodge some tiger pee.  All the animals came with the sad stories of abuse or neglect at the hands of breeders, the circus or individuals who thought it would be cool to own a tiger cub, but then couldn’t take care of it when it got big. 

Now we’re off to pick out a cake or cupcakes for Asher’s birthday party tonight.  If Jude has anything to do with it (and I know he’ll have everything to do with it), Asher will get Angry Birds or super heros.  Jude also suggested that Asher likes what he (Jude) likes so Jude should pick him out something, like a Transformer.  Maybe we’ll let Jude and Levi pick out something small for Asher, but I think the oblivious little boy will just get a generous 529 Plan contribution from us this year.

2 treatments left after today and we can’t be done soon enough.  I sometimes feel like I’m kind of a prisoner at the proton center.  They are always running so late and there is just nothing I can do about it.  It’s not like I can just take my business elsewhere or something.  And, other than that (and the little issue of them waking him up), we are super happy with their services.  Jude’s still holding up well.  The bald portion of his head is really tan and he was a bit nauseous after treatment today, but that’s it.  After treatment today, Jude got a $10 Target gift card, which he has not yet redeemed for a toy.

 

 

3 treatments left after today!  Today’s treatment went just fine but was quite delayed and Jude didn’t get in until noon.  I got a call this morning shortly before we were to leave for his 10:15 a.m. appointment that due to “a computer difficulty” they were running an hour behind.  I thanked them for the information, but was immediately skeptical and annoyed.  I figured they just gave our appointment away to the family that had requested an earlier appointment (when I wouldn’t voluntarily give up the earlier slot).  I soon learned from another Jill’s House resident that there really was a problem with the computer running the proton beam and that it delayed the treatment by an hour.  However, remained skeptical and I think rightly so, since Jude’s treatment was delayed by 1 hour and 45 minutes.  I noticed the proton center snuck a kid who is always immediately after Jude in front of him today, probably hoping I wouldn’t notice since they could hide behind the computer difficulty.  Can’t fool me since I can’t help but overanalyze everything (probably one of the side effects of being an attorney).  However, I didn’t make an issue out of it (except in my own mind).  At least Jude was able to hang out with the other Jude at the proton center while waiting for treatment so I never heard a word about him being hungry/thirsty.  Looking forward to the finish!

29 down, 4 treatments to go after this morning’s treatment. After my chat with the CFO of the proton center yesterday with my suggestion of them buying another bed so that Jude and other patients aren’t rushed out the door, I noticed they made extra efforts to let Jude sleep today. They had the lights half off and even shut the door while he was in the recovery room sleeping. So, Jude slept and slept. After the patient after him was wheeled into the adjacent recovery room, I knew they would be itching for Jude’s bed soon because the 2nd patient after him would need it shortly. The nurse came in Jude’s room several times to get stuff, making noise and probably hoping to wake him up. It didn’t work, to my secret delight. Finally, the nurse told me, “A few more minutes and then we will need the room.” (They only have 2 recovery rooms.)  So, eventually she woke Jude up and we were out of there.  After we were back at Jill’s House for awhile, I got a call from the proton center saying that the older patient scheduled behind Jude tomorrow asked if we would switch appointments with them since they had a physical therapy appointment to juggle.  Jude is scheduled at 10:15 tomorrow (which means 11) and they are scheduled at 11 (which means 12).  I didn’t want Jude to suffer from hunger/thrist any longer than he had to (and I didn’t want to listen to the whining) so I didn’t take the trade.  As my brother would say, I’m “making friends, making friends.”  Andy took the boys to art therapy class at the proton center this afternoon.  The boys had fun.  I’m hoping the boys have inherited their dad’s artistic talent since I have none.  Time will tell.

 

After today’s treatment, we are down to the final 5.  We’ll be done a week from today.  Today’s treatment was a little more interesting than normal.  I’ve been getting a little irritated that the nurses keep waking Jude up before he’s done sleeping that a few treatments ago, I asked why they do that.  The nurse said they needed the bed for the patient who was scheduled 2 patients behind Jude.  In other words, they only have 2 beds and they need to get it cleaned up and ready for the next patient.  Seemed ridiculous to me that they would wake up a kid who needs his rest while undergoing radiation treatments.  So, when I saw the CFO in the hallway today while waiting for Jude to wake up, I pulled him aside and said, “I have a suggestion for you.”  I went on to describe how they should consider investing in another bed so the kids can get the rest they need without getting rushed out the door.  I didn’t get the impression that they were very sympathetic to the circumstances.  It was inadequate explanation after inadequate explanation, but I pretended to be satisfied with the response since I really didn’t want to make waves.  I then saw and heard the CFO and our nurse in the next recovery room over talking about me.  There is a glass wall and glass door separating the 2 recovery rooms and the door was cracked open an inch or so.  The nurse said, “If it were my child or nephew, I wouldn’t want him to sleep more than 10 or 15 minutes.”  But, they didn’t wake him up this time.  Jude kept sleeping and sleeping (and I kept working and working at his bedside).  Then the CFO came in after Jude had been sleeping for about 1-1/2 hours.    Of course I was tempted to tell him in only half jest that while he was at it  to go ahead and order a thicker door to go along with new bed because I just heard what he and the nurse had been saying.  But, I exercised restraint and didn’t.  He said that they had never had a patient like Jude before.  He said that the patients normally wake right up and that they would schedule Jude for a longer appointment so that they don’t have to rush us out the door.  Not that it really matters for us at this point since all appointments have been scheduled for this week and we only have 2 appointments next week.  But, maybe it will help some kid down the road who is like Jude and wants to roll back over and go to bed after the nurse checks him over after getting out of treatment.

As usual we called the proton treatment center before treatment started today to see how they were running.  They said they were running on time, which  of course meant they were running a half hour late.  Not too bad.  After treatment, Jude got a Happy Meal.  27 down, 6 to go.

“Sometimes I make friends that I only play with for like one day.”  [My reaction — how sad is that?  Jude just lives to play with other kids.  It makes me wonder if we’re doing the wrong thing by homeschooling him since I know he’d love to be with kids.  At least he has his brothers.]

His reaction to a large chocolate race car that our friends from Germany sent: “Nummy.  I wish it wasn’t hollow.”

His reaction to learning that one of the parts of his shoe is called a “tongue”:  “Ha!  It’s licking my foot.”