How do you prepare a 2-year-old for Chemo? How do you prepare yourself to put your child through Chemo especially when they do not understand what is going on? It seens impossible to prepare for....I don't know where to begin or how to approach this. Tomorrow we go to the hospital and Raylee will receive her 1st Chemo treatment. She will stay in the hospital for at least 3 days as the medical staff will monitor her closely. She will have some hearing tests and an echocardiograph prior to Chemo. This is because the medicines in the Chemo treatment have side effects that can cause hearing loss and heart problems. There is no question that Chemo has horrible side effects....I ask myself the question 'what is this going to do to my baby in the long-run?' However, when you weigh out the side effects to your daughter's life it seems like there is no other way. The oncologist said our plan is to attack and focus on the cancer first then on the side effects of treatment.
I am glad our family was able to have this weekend together prior to treatment. It was great to have Raylee home.....she had a good weekend. She acted like herself....she sometimes thinks she is a puppy and will crawl around on her hands and knees and try to lick your legs. She plays this for hours and will not respond to her name so you have to call her 'Puppy!'
We do not know what to expect tomorrow....the unknown makes this really scary. We are grateful for our family, friends, members in our ward, and neighborhood who have prayed and fasted for Raylee and our family and who are thinking of us. Thank you for being our crutch at this time. We feel your love and support and couldn't do this without you. I don't understand why this can happen to a young child, especially my child, but I know our Father in Heaven has a purpose in all things. I wish I knew what the purpose of this was, but in this life I may never know. The difficulty of this is.....I want Raylee to be better....but then, I don't want tomorrow to ever come. Tomorrow this becomes real.
Introducing Raylee and Jorja.....sisters! Raylee is our cancer baby and Jorja is her sister's keeper.
Melissa, you are one of the toughest, most head-strong people I know, and SUCH a good mom! Your lifelong endurance has prepared you to be strong enough for this. She is so lucky to have all three of you to support her! I am confident that you and your family will prevail in good health! I think of you often and will continue to do so until the waters have cleared! Don't worry about what details you have to try to explain to her. Just remember, she will remember how you make her feel more than she will remember your words. Be calm, be confident, she will respond well. Please let us know if there's ANYTHING we can do!
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