It’s been a hot minute since I’ve given an update. And it feels like so much yet somehow so little has happened since we last chatted! Mercer’s report showed the good results we’d been hoping and praying for! Induction (first cycle of treatment) is over, the steroids are mostly out of his little body, the cocktail of meds he’s on has a few less ingredients, and his blood counts have had a little while to recoup.
They wait to begin consolidation (the second cycle of treatment) until his body has had a chance to catch up and his blood cells recover from being pummelled. It takes a different amount of time for each kid, and Mercer was ready to begin yesterday! So tonight as I write this with a very-much-awake child hanging out with me, we are closing up day number 2 of a 28 day consolidation. He’ll have one IV drip, three lumbar punctures with chemo given into his spinal fluid, and a new oral daily medication that has fewer and easier side effects.
Fridays are still his clinic days, so yesterday was his biggest day with an LP and an IV drip. He was bouncing around on his way out, chipper and adorable and he picked a toy with his token happily and waved goodbye to everyone on his way out. He is just a little ray of goofy sunshine and it’s so wonderful to see 🌞
Our room feels more like home, the kitchen cupboards aren’t a mystery and I’ve watched families leave and return and some move out and some move in and babies be born and I am now the one who shows other people where the tongs go and I’ve learned which front desk staff are the nicest. Merce knows how to push the elevator buttons and knows where the stool is so he can work at the counter with me. I’ve got rhythms and routines that work and it feels as close to “normal” as we’re gonna get in this season.
This last week Mercer has finally had some energy. He even got out in the basketball court riding scooter and playing ball hockey!! He’s also been loving the art room. Each morning we go down and have breakfast and I make sure to fill my travel mug with fresh coffee (they have McDonald’s coffee and to be honest it’s quite good) and then we walk over to the front desk and Mercer asks for the key to the “paint room”. Off we trot to this beautiful classroom filled to the brim with every supply you could want — paints, chalk markers, felts, crayons, scissors, glue, stickers, paper, cardboard, bits and bobs, ribbon, beads, you name it. It’s there. Two large tables all set with chairs for kids. Everything is clean and orderly but also caked with tiny fragments of paint or glue that just won’t budge. A smattering of glitter that won’t fully disappear. Multiple colors in the drain plug, proof of happy artists before us. An entire wall with creations lovingly made by people of all ages, lit with fairy lights.
He painted rainbows, made beaded keychains, did scratch art, glued and taped and stuck stickers. Today’s project was a dollhouse inspired by some videos he’s watched of people recreating Gabby’s Dollhouse including the caterator. Aka the cat elevator. Yes, it has cat ears, yes I made it for him enthusiastically, yes the doors open. I knew art therapy was going to be good. That being surrounded by inspiration and having all the supplies at our finger tips would be beneficial. But I forgot how much I enjoy fiddling around with art! Crafts are so expensive and time consuming to mess about it when you’re a mom and have a finite amount of storage, space, and brain power.
It’s been a long while since I’ve created physical art and as he fussed over all his creations I found myself fiddling and doodling and eagerly going through all the cupboards. I didn’t want to meddle or interrupt his flow so I found my own things to busy my hands. I literally rewashed a bunch of gummed up paint brushes and reorganized the drying rack and I could feel my shoulders getting lighter and my breaths getting deeper as I did!
We’ve been building Lego, playing Snap, cooking up a storm in the playroom kitchen. We’ve been sauntering down the halls and stopping at the front desk to show them today’s creations from the art room. He helps me do the laundry and put away the compost. We’ve put keychains on bags, we’ve organized the toys again, and filled our days with very average things. He video chats his brothers with a smile and a wave. He eats popcorn and giggles every night. He wakes up happy and cheerful. He truly is a gem.
So we anticipate a good month, look forward to celebrating good numbers and good news and good progress, knowing we are covered in prayers and love from allllll over.
Let me be overt and loud in my HUGE gratitude and thanks to the many people who have contributed to us financially. There has been an outpouring of insane kindness from people we’ve known and many people we don’t. It’s been humbling and also so encouraging to know we’re looked after. There are so many less stressors in our journey directly because of you all. And to those who’ve been reading, caring, following, praying, and sending all the good vibes our way — thank you too. All of it blesses us. And we can feel it, are surrounded by it, and carried forward with it!
Mighty Mercer 
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