Posted on 07/14/2014
It’s been quite the gap between updates for Nathaniel, and for that I apologize. Nathaniel’s surgery indeed has come and gone and all has been going well and as expected. The surgery went well, though I will confess, even though he’s had several operations, it never gets easier to see your baby on the operation table, being placed under the anesthesia, and then having to leave him. Leaving him is the hardest part. So badly I wish I could just stay in the same room, just to be near him so he knows I’m there, but unfortunately it’s never an option, and it’s always a difficult situation to deal with.
It’s amazing how well he dealt with everything after surgery. He started to move around the first day, and weaned himself off of the medication two days sooner than was recommended by doctors. He is a trooper who has so much strength, it’s hard to believe the determination that our child exhibits. We are so proud.
When we were able to come home and eventually remove the bandages, I could barely contain myself when I saw the scar. I wanted to just burst into tears and hold him in my arms, wishing I could shield him from any more pain. I just looked at the scar and realized that none of us really had a grasp of the severity of his surgery until those bandages were removed. I took a photo because of course, Nathaniel wanted to see, and when he saw it, he said to me, “mom, that looks like it really hurts”! And I then explained to him just how amazing he is. I debated on whether I should post a photo of his leg post-surgery, but figured since many of you have lived through this journey with us, you should see the extent of how cancer has affected our lives. A scar that you can see is one thing, it’s the scars that you cannot that seem to run deeper and have yet to heal.
It’s been nearly a month and a half since his surgery, and Nathaniel is now able to begin starting to put weight on his leg. He is being fitted for a “new leg”, and will begin physical therapy to start building muscle on his “robot leg”. It’s literally like starting over again from where we were a year ago. While I am completely patient with anything that involves Nathaniel’s development, you can’t imagine how badly I want to see my child running and walking and standing on two legs. I pray more than I’ve ever prayed in my life for this to be end of his cancer, and the beginning of the rest of his life, and our lives as well. There are signs of a healthier Nathaniel every day, more energy, more hair, and more plans for this family to experience. He too dreams of a cancer free future because he intends to do great things, and his mind, he isn’t anticipating anything getting in the way of that. He is truly inspirational!
Nathaniel’s next set of scans will be on August 28, and if those scans come back clean, it will be the furthest we’ve gotten with clean scans. As you can imagine, this next set of scans are one of the most important. We ask that you continue to keep our son in your prayers, and thank you for the continued love and support.
