So Much To Be Thankful For

It is Thanksgiving Day and I wake up in a hospital room in a pull out chair/bed next to Justin feeling more thankful on this Thanksgiving than ever.

Late last night and the night before I lay here in this "bed" hearing the sound of a child in the next room sobbing and coughing for hours.  She is very sick and she is alone.  Knowing that this ward is primarily cancer stricken kids or kids with other very serious conditions, and knowing that her mom is not lying in a bed next to her breaks my heart.  The nurse tells me that they can't force parents to stay with their children so this happens more than I would care to think.   A couple of doors down is another sweet young girl, a few years younger than Justin, who also has Ewing's Sarcoma.  I have spoken with her father on several occasions and her treatment is not going so well.  She is hospitalized right now, not for chemo, but because she is sick.  Her chemo treatments have been delayed due to her illness.

We are blessed.  For whatever reason, God chooses to work miracles in Justin's life.  Justin has now finished six rounds of chemo and not once has his treatment been delayed.  His counts have always come back to a level that is appropriate for chemo and he has never had any other illness or infection to prevent it.  From what I've been told, this is nearly unheard of.  He has also made it through this last round with virtually no nausea to speak of.

 As I was lying awake last night, I was counting our blessings.  We have many.  We are surrounded by family and friends who love, support and pray for us.  We have our extended family of nurses here on CK5 and at the Cancer Care clinic who do all they can to make this journey a little easier to bear.  We have a connection with Ondrej, who continues to reach out to Justin, keeping his dream alive.  And we have each other.  A family who wouldn't even dream of leaving one of their own alone in a hospital room to fight one of the scariest battles they will ever have to fight.

So, as I silently wept for the child who cried herself to sleep last night, I said a prayer for her and all of the other sick kids here to find comfort, peace and healing.  As Justin said to me last night, "It's just not right.  No kid should have to be alone in a place like this."  Wise words from a young man who has had to grow up too fast.