Day 84 – June 10, 2022

11:30 pm: We’ve taken a brief hiatus in site updates as it’s remained quiet around here. To be clear, not quiet as in “silent.” Medically quiet. Harvey has been doing well. He is now solidly in the second week of the second half of the second stage of cancer treatment. Easy to follow, right? 🙂 Simply put, he’s started his last 2-week round of daily chemotherapy. This is certainly the most serious stage of treatment given the quantity of chemotherapy he’s receiving. We’re blessed to report that he’s at home, feeling well, staying active, and eating enough to maintain his weight. This is all relative, of course. His energy is about half of what it was before leukemia, he’s lost a lot of strength, and his appetite is a fraction of what it was months ago. But he’s as talkative, inquisitive, and as much of a comedian as he’s ever been. And we’re at home, not in the hospital. We’re incredibly thankful!

Harvey was last in school on March 10th. He hasn’t seen his friends or teachers since. On Monday, June 6th, Harvey’s classmates, teachers, and school staff organized a drive-thru visit complete with smiles, signs, presents, and plenty of tears. Thank you so much to our Modern Montessori family for orchestrating this! We’ll forever cherish the memories from Monday. Here’s a glimpse of what it looked like from our point of view:

Yesterday, June 9th, would’ve officially been Harvey’s last day of school. But we’re not about to miss an opportunity for a “last day of school” photo!

Hattie & Henry have another 2 weeks of school (thankfully) before summer break begins. With much of our summer plans changing to keep us closer to home, we’ve been strategizing and looking for ways to keep the kids busy, active, learning, and happy. Under the active column, we now have a trampoline! I mentioned in a previous post that we were getting one, but it was a complete surprise for the kids. And surprised they were! The twins have their last tee-ball game this coming Sunday (they’ve LOVED it!), and Hattie will otherwise continue her Sunday morning swimming lessons and now soccer games in the evening. This girl is bottled lightning. After a full day of school, which included a field trip to Como Zoo and an evening school dance party, Hattie approached me in the kitchen and we had the following exchange:

Hattie: “Can you sign me up for kah-rait?”
Dad: “What’s kah-rait?”
Hattie: “It’s where you kick people and smash their head into the floor. I want to sign up for that!”
Dad: *Laughing hysterically* “It’s pronounced karate, Hattie! And you don’t smash people’s…”
Hattie: “Can you sign me up for karate, daddy??”

I can’t imagine my life without moments like this from the smaller, smarter, cuter versions of ourselves. Even in the most difficult of times, being a parent is immensely rewarding. But also tiring. On that note: It’s time for bed! Coming up, Harvey’s next big appointment is on Thursday, June 16th, where he’ll will receive another (hopefully his final) dose of pegaspargase. We. Hate. This. Chemotherapy. He had quite a reaction to it weeks ago and we expect more of the same this time. Timely updates will be posted here during his appointment. Otherwise, we anticipate a quiet week.

A parting request: Hattie & Henry had a classmate in the first grade unexpectedly pass away in his sleep recently. I’m heartbroken and honestly can’t process this. Please keep his family in your thoughts.