The Mark of Manhood

On the way to the clinic the two older kids were quizzing Peyton about “what hurts” during her treatments. Yes, the needle pokes hurt…no, taking the needles out don’t hurt…no, it doesn’t hurt when the blood comes out….yes, it hurts when the tape comes off. And then Nathaniel said the thing that nearly made me drive off the road laughing.

“Well, at least you don’t have to put tape on your armpit, cause on me that’ll be hairy…that’ll be my MARK OF MANHOOD.” I’m not sure where he picked this up, but it cracked me up so bad I almost cried! Apparently he's never heard of French grooming habits. I’m just picturing him with his arm up to the mirror daily, checking for his first MARK to appear…I don’t know, should we get a cake or something when it does?

This morning at clinic we had a chance to spend a few minutes with our friends Nikki Hawkins and her mom Penny, and brothers Will and Jared. They are a fun crew and although I miss seeing them regularly, its awesome that the reason our visits are less frequent is because she is done with chemo and Peyton is in maintenance. The friendship we’ve built just grows and grows though and that’s truly a gift from God.

Peyton was white as a ghost and I wasn’t surprised in the least when her hemoglobin came back at 6.5…anything around 8 and lower is LOW…she immediately got her red bracelet and appointment for blood on Wednesday. The doctor and nurses watched her walk up and down the hallways and checked out her limp, but don’t appear too terribly concerned at this point. She isn’t experiencing any pain at this point and after checking her joints they don’t feel like it’s a problem with her hips (which I wasn’t aware was a possibility). We’ll just stay aware of the limp, watch for signs of pain, and plan for the physical therapy.

Other than that, her counts were good, her ANC was 1500 so we proceeded with her daily 6MP and her weekly 5 pill dose of Methotrexate today. She doesn’t go back for chemo in the clinic for two weeks! It’s been a long time since we’ve had a two week break from the clinic so we’re looking forward to it! I’m glad she’s getting the blood because that’ll have her all nice and perky for our trip this week!

I finally finished the laundry and pulled out the bags and started packing clothes and the girls were glued to my side, bringing me stuff they felt were essential…like hats they never wear, slippers I haven’t seen since Christmas, Peyton brought me 6 pairs of shoes…that’s my girl! I know those packed bags are going to drive the kids insane!

I had my first glimpse of exactly how expensive our future orthodontist bill will be. Rachael was showing me where her new tooth is coming in and I noticed her second permanent tooth coming in…stuck behind the baby tooth that has no intentions of coming out any time soon. At this rate she’s going to have a double row of teeth much like a shark. My only hope is that we make the definite arrangement for Peyton to marry Cody Bertoch, one of her favorite friends from the Children’s Cancer Center, who plans to be an orthodontist and pray for a family discount.

I should also share that Nathaniel, Rachael and Peyton are showing promising signs of musical ability….not with any instruments, but they proved tonight that they can all play a mean air guitar! It was hysterical and we enjoyed the show as much as they enjoyed performing. Now if Peyton can just grow some hair we can teach her to head bang and they can take their act on the road.

f.r.o.G…fully relying on God
–Anissa