Birthday Blessings

Today is the twins' birthday.  Thirteen years old!  What better way to spend your 13th birthday than getting a CT scan, right?  It was all fine and good until we got there and realized they had to put in an IV to inject the contrast medium.  We assumed they would put it in the central line, but no.  Justin was NOT happy!  Anyway, the scan was performed and we were on our way out to our favourite little hot dog cart outside of Cancer Care.  We have gotten to know Kevin, the Champion Dog owner, quite well over the past month and a half.  A very sweet man who knows our names, what we usually order and our story.  When he found out it was the twins' birthday today, he insisted that lunch was on him.

 Next stop was Sweet Impressions to pick up the birthday cake.  Once back in La Salle, I went to Jeni's (our local grocery/hardware store) to pick up some more fireworks for tonight's birthday celebration.  Justin had received a box of fireworks from the owners of Jeni's via the VICTORIOUS Box a while back.  It was decided then that they would be lit up on the night of their 13th birthday.  I was standing there with a box of various fireworks in my hand, with a perplexed look on my face as I was trying to decide what the heck I was looking at!  The owner, Tom, saw me and came over to chat.  He asked how we were doing, as he hadn't really talked to us since he heard the news about Justin.  I explained that things were very up and down and that he probably understood how that goes because his sister-in-law was diagnosed with cancer fairly recently and is going through chemotherapy too.  I told him it was the twins' birthday and that we were going to use the fireworks that they had given to Justin, and I was looking for a few more to go along with them.  He took the box out of my hands and said, "Here, let me help you out."  He put the pre-packaged box away and dove into the cage of individual fireworks and started pulling out fireworks one-by-one and piling them into a box.  He said, "I want to do this for you. Anything that might make things better, even for a little while."  I stood there, with tears in my eyes, as he loaded the box into my car.  I know I keep saying it, but it's so true; people continually amaze me with their compassion and generosity.

The best birthday present for Justin!

We got a call from the oncologist this afternoon with preliminary results from the CT scan and the tumor appears to have shrunk 60-70%!  Praise God!

Carrying on with the treatments

Knowing that we are being admitted tomorrow for the next round of chemo has been weighing heavily on my heart.  I'm anticipating the raw emotional roller coaster that is chemotherapy.  I'm hoping that Justin can remember that it is working and that it's worth it while he's in the midst of it.  But, for tonight, we will put that aside and celebrate the two young men who are just entering the time of their lives when things change so fast and emotions are high at the best of times.  We will celebrate with our friends who have become even more important recently.  We will eat, laugh and maybe even shed a tear as we reminisce about the good times we have had growing these two to teenagers.  And we will end the night off with a bang! And forget, for a little while, what awaits us tomorrow.