Saturday, May 8th, 2021

Day 8 - First Day of Chemotherapy

Treatment has begun.

Declan is starting his long road to recovery and it all starts with this first round of chemo. 

Everything was going smoothly. 

Once the nurses came in with the chemo bags, everything took on a different feel. Protective equipment, gloves, and gowns were worn by hospital staff – mainly because chemo is very toxic. Because Declan is in diapers, he needs to be changed around the clock, so he isn’t sitting in his pee or poo that is contaminated with the chemo drugs. When I change him, I need to wear protective gloves as every waste product that comes out of him is potentially harmful to everyone else. 

This is where Declan’s demeanor changed. 

While still raging on the steroids, he started to look more exhausted. I’m sure the chemotherapy wiped him out, and he still has a couple more days in this cycle to go. 

Good news is, we may be out of the hospital in a few days… 

the bad news is… 

his immune system is going to be decimated. 

As Declan was receiving his fluids after chemotherapy, Jen and I took a stroll around the floor again to get Declan out of the room. He certainly enjoys his walks. Declan finally settled down, which gave Jennifer and me a chance to grab a seat on a seating area after performing a ridiculous number of laps around nurses’ stations. 

It was during this time seated that we accidentally fell into a position to eavesdrop on someone’s phone conversation around the corner. It was another parent… with a child… who had Neuroblastoma. Jennifer and I felt like we were reliving our hellish Friday of finding a mass on Declan’s kidney. The same string of emotions, the same shaky voice, we knew what was in store for this family and it didn’t sit well with us one bit. The father on the phone expressed how isolating and alone they had felt, and it was all the same emotions we felt not but a few days ago. Neuroblastoma may be a rare occurrence, but on the 7th floor of Children’s Hospital, cancers were all too common. We felt as though we should reach out and offer our contact information to this person so they wouldn’t feel so alone in all these, after all, we did share the common issue of having a child with Neuroblastoma – we were just a week ahead. 

Yet there would be no easy way to introduce ourselves. 

“Hi there! We couldn’t help but overhear your terrible predicament. We are in that same boat! LET’S BE FRIENDS!”

… Still working out that social awkwardness that plagues both Jen and me. At any rate, should we run into them while we are out and about on the floor (and we definitely will be carting this little boy around), we’ll try to introduce ourselves and reach out to support them through this difficult time as well. 

We’re all on this planet together, best to reach out with kindness and compassion – and make connections that bring out the best in humanity.