Risk Benefit

Lately we've been having visitors popping over and I love getting company but some come from pretty far away (like over an hour...). The problem is...Nathan still can't really be around people. Sam and I LOVE having people over and so does Nathan, we really do but right now is really not a good time for it.

I'll explain a few things that I may not have explained before in this blog, I can't remember but I'm going to address them really strongly here. I'm going to tell you point blank as Nathan's doctor told us: "If Nathan gets a cold it could kill him." This is no joke or exaggeration. Something as minute as a cold can literally kill him.

Nathan's nurse describes it as a risk/benefit. Meaning it's a benefit to see people and to let Nathan be around those who love him but every single time ANYONE outside of his immediate family (me, Sam, and Peyton) is around him it's also a huge risk to his health.

With flu season just around the corner I really want to address this now because when that time comes we won't be permitting anyone in except his grandparents when they are well. Sam and I will be spending the upcoming holidays here alone with the children. Please don't feel sorry for us because we don't feel sorry for ourselves. God willing we'll be with family again for these holidays next year and in the years to come but to us it's a small sacrifice to keep Nathan safe and in our opinion it's not worth the risk especially knowing that the situation is temporary. Even when Nathan stops getting chemo and is considered to be in remission it's still going to take a little while for his body to recover so please don't make plans of visiting anytime soon after that.

As Nathan's treatment progresses his blood counts will continue to get knocked down and take longer to recover and that is happening to him now. When his blood counts are low it lowers his ability to fight off infections. When you or I get a fever, what do we do? We take Tylenol or some other antibiotic right? If Nathan gets a fever he CANNOT be treated at home he needs to be taken to the emergency room and it's VERY hard for his body to fight it off.

For those of you who've seen him lately, you've complimented how great he looks and he really does. I'm so thankful and happy for how happy he's been and how he's been playing and running and jumping etc. I'm agreeing with you now that he is doing very well for a little guy with such a rare form of cancer and I want that to continue. Nathan's nurse stresses over and over not to let how he looks deceive us and I don't want it to deceive you either. We're on the right path, things are going great but any infection can mean a major setback for him and if he gets sick the illness comes on QUICK. The last time Nathan had to be hospitalized with an infection he was outside playing and acting fine all day then around 7:00 pm he asked to lay down and within a half hour he had a fever and after that we were on the phone with the doctor and en route to the ER and admittance. It can come on that fast.

Please please please start calling before you come over. There are times (though they are very rare now) that he can have company and we will welcome you (as long as you're well) during those times. I just have to put this out here because as awkward as it is for you to receive the news that you can't come in it's also very awkward for us to have to tell you, especially if you drove a distance but you will leave us no choice, we cannot take the risk anymore.

Please try to understand we are not trying to be mean and we're not blowing anything out of proportion. This is still a SERIOUS situation and we're nearing the end of Nathan's treatment. Prayerfully if everything continues to go well he'll be done with his treatment around the beginning of December! The end is near and we're praying hard to hear cancer free and we just really don't want any infections if we can avoid it because he's so close.

There are rare times when Sam or myself will receive company but when we do this the other takes Nathan away so he's not around the person visiting, they'll go outside or Nathan will stay upstairs. But again we need you to call ahead (NOT when you're en route either) and let us know you want to come over so we can tell you if it's a good time or not.

Soon this will all be over and we'll be able to have visitors over and we'll welcome you with open arms believe me. I know everyone reading this blog have been praying and I can't tell you how much we appreciate it and I do know that everyone visits with only the best intentions and you all love Nathan very very much and we appreciate everything you do and have done for us so please join with as again and help Nathan by calling before you come.

God Bless

LaToya