Day Thirty-six

"Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see."  Hebrews 11:1

Beep, beep, beep....what was up with the IVs today?  They just kept beeping, the nurse would come in, Mirjan would tell them what the flow should be, they would fix it, and repeat.  Mirjan  was on top of everything today (she has had a good teacher).  Every time there was a question, either for us or between nurses, Mirjan had the answer!  She was awesome!  Anyway, it seemed that we had to have someone look at the IVs about 10 times this afternoon for a variety of reasons. All was good though.

We started off the day at the oncologist's office for the standard visit, weight, bp, CBC, etc.  Ryan watched a movie during most of this.  Then came the part that he does not like.  He did not want the nurse to access his port, and that took a minute or two.  He always does fine, but I think the fact that he sees the needle being pushed into his chest is not good for him.  That is why we try and divert his attention during that process.  He then comments about people taking his blood from him.  After a minute or two, he acts like nothing even happened.  He was then excited about going and playing with some of the toys.  We had to wait about 15 minutes for them to get the IV ready, so Ryan played bowling with John.  This is a guy that clearly displays God's love all the time.  He remembered Ryan's name and what he liked to do.  So, for about 15 minutes, he set up bowling pins while Ryan knocked them down.  He and Ryan were laughing quite a bit. 

Ryan then got his limo to the hospital.  I stayed and did some paperwork, and therefore I didn't know about the special tunnel from the doctor's office to the hospital.  So, while they took the shortcut, I walked around the parking garage, across the parking lot, and met up with them in his room.   Here is another picture of Ryan with his "Batman"  IV pole. He wanted to ride "Batman" all around the hospital.  

They started the medicine around 3pm, and the mesna will drip until about 12:00am.  His stomach started hurting about the same time as it did during the last treatment.  I have gotten up about 5 times to have the trash can ready, but they were false alarms.  Mirjan has been giving him the motherly love that makes everything feel better, and that's probably just what he needs.  I'm going to finish the update early tonight, so I can sit with him when Mirjan leaves.

It's important to laugh as much as possible, so here is some humor from today:

•  We talked to the chaplain today, and she was getting ready to pray and said, "God bless you, Ryan."  Ryan quickly said, "Hey, I didn't sneeze."  The chaplain just started laughing.
• After Ryan takes the medicine, the nurse has to test his urine.  Well, Ryan had to go #2, and I told Mirjan that the nurse will need to check that too.  So, she called the nurse in and asked her about that.  I couldn't keep from laughing.  Mirjan sent me immediately to the doghouse. 

 Other things that I remember:  Mirjan scraped herself and Ryan was praying for her.  Mirjan took Ryan to the movie night, and he got some popcorn.  Ryan had some major gas today  (I was somewhat impressed and grossed out at the same time....Okay, Mirjan...you can only send me to the doghouse one time a day.)

Father, thank you for keeping Ryan in your hands today.  I thank you for the visit from the chaplain, Nanna being here, John's time with Ryan, Nick's humor that brought smiles to Ryan, and Mirjan's motherly love that comforts Ryan.  From all of me, I am grateful for your love displayed through others, your guidance and your continued healing of Ryan. You have continually given me strength and focus, and I am also grateful for those blessings as well.  Thank you, Father!  You are wonderful!   Amen.