Really Quick

Hi! I just wanted to give everyone an update on Nathan.

He finished his radiation on April 1st!!!!!! Yay! Now he's continuing on with his chemo which will last 43 weeks total. He hasn't been feeling too well, just because his skin is still burned from the radiation and his throat is still sore so he's still on pain medication around the clock, but thankfully he's done with such a hard part of his treatment and he made it through without having an extended hospital stay. He's gained a ton of weight. He was put on a steroid for the swelling in his throat and one of the many side effects is that his appetite increased tremendously and as a result there's been significant weight gain. Plus there's swelling of the stomach and face anyway which is a side effect from his radiation, so couple that with the weight gain and I'll say those of you who know and haven't seen Nathan in awhile would see he obviously looks very different. But you know what I'm very thankful for the weight gain, we were concerned about a significant weight loss which was possible but instead he gained and I'm not mad about it and neither is Sam, just more for us to hold and cuddle :-). In the future he still stands a chance of losing weight so hopefully he's gained enough to buffer that.

In about a month he'll get his first scans since he's started treatment. They're going to do MRI's and CT scans to see how the cancer is responding to treatment. If you look at him the lump that was under his ear isn't as visible as it was when this was first discovered and his eye is moving a lot better now. I asked his doctor what to expect when looking at these scans. I wanted to know if there was a possibility that the scans could already show no signs of the cancer and he said there's a possibility of course but it's unlikely it'll show cancer free so soon, but it should show how the tumor is responding. Even if the scans didn't show any cancer they'd continue with the 43 weeks of chemo to be on the safe side.

For fun Nathan still enjoys watching the wonder pets and he's really into hot wheel cars right now. He gets tired a lot so we all spend a ton of time reading to him and Peyton. Our good friends dropped off food for us today and also bought him a pack of hot wheel cars and he smiled sooooo big and immediately started playing with them. Peyton even got a toy too which she loves and also Nathan was kind enough to let her have one of his cars!

Dear Lord

We just thank you for Nathan and Peyton. Nathan's been able to spend time outside due to the nice weather and even in the midst of pain we've been seeing a few smiles here and there. Thank you for Peyton who keeps Nathan moving. Thank you for the fact she's too young to understand. Thank you for her personality, she brings so much laughter into our household and we're just happy to have her here.

Lord we're still trusting you. Things aren't where we want them to be and I'm honestly still fearful of what you're will is in this situation but Lord we're going to keep seeking you and trusting you.

Lord hold up Nathan, please give him comfort and ease his pain. Help him to sleep soundly. Please remove any fear he may be feeling. Lord he wants to be able to play again, I know he wants to run and jump but he's just so tired. Lord I know the day is coming and we all can't wait to see him as energetic as he once was. But for right now I pray that you carry him through this. Sam, Peyton and I will be with him every step of this journey and we have such wonderful friends and family who are praying to and have come alongside us. But for those times he's alone in his room I just want him to be at peace. We don't know how much of this makes sense to him so I'm just asking for peace for him as he's going through.

Thank you for blessing us with him. I don't like this whole cancer thing you got him going through but even still I'm so glad you saw fit to bless us with such a wonderful little boy.

In Jesus Name
Amen