Fall beauty

What a day Monday...we loved seeing all the beautiful fall foliage on our trek south. The colors were awesome on a bright, cloudless blue sky day. The beauty and serenity was interrupted with a huge thud sound. I guess that bird I saw out of the corner of my eye didn't quite clear the car windshield! Brayden wanted to know if the bird was okay. YIKES! Judging from the feather marks and smudges on our windshield combined with Daddy's speed of 78 mph, we're guessing it didn't make it. I guess you don't need an Engineering degree to figure out that one! We instantly said a prayer after being that shaken up! Thank goodness the windshield was okay. When you're traveling 500 miles per week for the best care for your sweet boy, you come to rely on your mode of transportation in a whole new way.

Daddy had to work this weekend but we were thrilled to get to watch a few minutes of cousin Caleb's football game from the car Saturday. Then we were so happy to get to go to the mini-pumpkin patch at Mrs. Linda's garden! Brayden was so thrilled and kept saying how nice it was of her to share her pumpkins with him. He was loving the cows, the farm, taking it all in. He loved picking his pumpkins out and the drive out there. Thank you so much to Heather too for the offer! What a wonderful gift! Oh, and another event for our weekend? Brayden's 5th haircut! Crazy, I know! He's so proud of that and it's a reminder of another blessing in all that he's had to endure.

We worked a lot on schoolwork this weekend and Monday Brayden bolted out of bed to get ready for the big trip. He was so energetic (after the week of steroids) and did SO AWESOME on school work on the way down. then about 30 minutes before arriving at ACH, he started getting nauseated. We're not sure if it was the anticipation, but we were really worried. Thankfully he got some IV meds going quickly. After a lot of foot rubs, we FINALLY got him to take a nap while in the hospital bed prepping for chemo. I was glad he could sleep and hopefully avoid the nausea. It was bad when he would wake up or turn over. I was so glad Bryan was there too. They pre-hydrated him for an hour AND post-hydrated him for 2 hours. He was pumped up on 2 anti-nausea meds with the hope of not sending him home sick. I was dreading that drive and kicking myself for not packing extra clothes just in case. We gave a Benadryl preventatively and were so glad he slept on the way home.

After last week, I was truly dreading today. Being at home alone today with a sick little boy (and needing to do a presentation via phone) was making me worry. I was so thankful when he woke up and within a few hours, was back to himself! He was a little yucky this morning, but nothing like last week! What a relief! Even though I hated him being sick yesterday from chemo, I was glad that if it had to happen, he was there where he could get other meds that work quicker and get it behind him for the rest of his week.

It was so sweet to hear his classmates cheering for him when he was able to join in on the webcam for this afternoon's session. That opportunity to participate has been SO good for him. We're very thankful for the gift to the school to allow him to stay involved and caught up as well as have a chance to socialize for a bit! We'll still be in isolation for 2-3 more weeks and then it could turn into more from the next chemo med that's coming. We're still doing mouth care to fend off the mouth sores. For now, we're just grateful he had a good day today and tomorrow is behind him. We enjoyed the beautiful sunshine again today and seeing all the leaves starting to fall and appreciating God's beauty and his creation. Oh...and buying more groceries. Did I mention he was back on steroids again?!?!