In the time leading up to Michael’s diagnosis, he was vomiting every morning for over a month. I took him to his pediatrician and a small hospital here in town. They both said it was a stomach bug and gave us medicine and sent us home. After a few days, his vomiting got worse. I ended up taking him to a hospital a hour away. The doctor took Michael back for a CT scan. The doctor said it can only be 2 things that is making him vomit, either a tumor or cvs (cyclic vomiting syndrome). He wanted to rule out the tumor. Unfortunately 15 minutes after the CT scan, the doctors told us Micheal did have a mass in the back of his brain.
From then on everything happened so quickly. We were transferred to a bigger hospital with specialist. He had surgery and his treatment planned. Michael’s treatment was really hard on his body. After surgery, he had to re-learn to eat, drink, sit, stand, move his hands, and walk. It was very difficult for him. With chemotherapy, he spent most of treatment in the hospital because he would get sick due to his anc being low or a zero. He also has had 11 surgeries throughout his treatment. He now eats through a g-tube. Maybe forever but we hope not. He will need therapy for a while and still has lots of appointments to check his health. He also gets sick very easily.
We were three hours away from home so our other son had to stay with his grandma and aunts. We did miss his whole school year of kindergarten and we would only see him a few times a month. If we were lucky, we would spend time together at home.
Michael’s diagnosis has affected our family a lot. We have to be more careful with him and he sometimes will get more attention. I know our other son feels more left out but we try to explain it to him. Life will never be the same. There is always a chance of relapsing or something going wrong. I also just wanna say that there is more behind to what we chose to show others ….living life with a sick child is hard but you really start to appreciate the little things and learn to love a little more.
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