It seemed as if Edison and I were fighting something new each week. By Week 4, it was vomiting spells! It was particularly frustrating for me, as I tried so hard to stick to the routine that I've set up for him beginning on Week 3. I was so proud of the progress that we've made: I've finally come to terms with us using the feeding tube four weeks earlier than anticipated. As long as we were able to maintain his schedule - Edison taking 8 cans of formula - then he'd be able to maintain his weight.
But just like everything else since we'd started the battle, we were yet again taken into a surprise minefield. The very first time he had to run to the sink and vomited what seemed like 2 whole cans of formula, I just about crumpled to the ground. For breastfeeding mothers, it's the equivalent of you watching 16 ounces of your precious breast milk that you've worked so hard to pump, accidentally getting knocked all over the kitchen floor! Just horrifying!
Watching Edison's suffering through Weeks 4 and 5 never got easier to bear. With a new strain of cold/cough, his gag reflex working against him when he uses the "magic mouthwash," and chemo side effects finally catching up to him, the vomiting spells just kept coming! You would think that after a while, I'd be able to tune out his helpless heaving. No. In a way, we really were in the same boat: he, having no control over his body, and I, wanting to do anything to make him feel better, but ending up feeling helpless just the same. "One day at a time," I would whisper to him often when days seemed to drag on longer, and the end was nowhere near in sight.
By the end of Week 5, Edison only had one more chemo session and 13 radiation sessions left. With our friends coming over that weekend, it truly felt like a 7th inning stretch! Almost there!!!
And when it rains, it pours... Since then, more blessings were showered upon us! Russell, my younger brother, who lives in Seattle, created, in support of Edison, a gofundme account, which generated a whole new set of well wishers - and from all over the world! It has definitely boosted Edison's morale!
Kuya Edsel, Edison's older brother, is also planning a local fundraiser in a couple of months. We are just truly overwhelmed by all this love! I am in awe with deep gratitude that even though we live far away from one another, we still have the spirit of bayanihan within us. ("Bayanihan" refers to the spirit of communal unity, work and cooperation to achieve a particular goal. - The Bayanihan Spirit)
We will forever be indebted to your love and kindness. Maraming salamat po! (Thank you very much!)#TeamThrive
Treatment Countdown:
Chemo sessions done for now - yay!
Radiation sessions: 28 down... 7 to go!
More prayers please!
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