A Long Week Ahead

Our weekend was a great one. Ronan is still refusing to act or look sick, which makes this whole thing so much easier on us. I can tell his beautiful eyebrows are starting to go, but his full eyelashes are still hanging on. He looks so beautiful.

On Friday, we had family game night and just played at home. Ronan was, of course, thrilled to spend the night with his big brothers. On Saturday, Liam and Quinn had their basketball game. We were brave and let Ronan go. He was in heaven. His BFF Winston came to watch as well. It was their first mini reunion. They were both shy at first and wouldn’t even look at each other. Ronan stayed right on my lap. By the second half of the game, Ronan went to sit by his big brothers on the court, and Winston soon followed. They sat by each other, talked, played, and laughed. I had to fight back the tears. It was hard to see but also beautiful to watch.

Ronan took off his hat during the game, and I could see other parents staring at him—also hard for me to see. I am fully aware of how sad our situation is, but being out in public with him and seeing the look in other people’s eyes makes it so much more sad and real. I am so happy we took him out, though. I think Woody is starting to realize that it is okay as long as we are making sure he washes his hands a lot and we don’t have him around people who are sick. We won’t be going to the grocery store or anything like that with him, but I think it is important for his well-being to get to do some of the same things he used to be able to do.

Saturday night, we had Kay, Charlie, and Uncle Ron over to watch the ASU game. The Devils won, so it was a good night here. Liam and Quinn went home with Mimi and Papa because they had to get up early on Sunday to leave for the airport. They left for Colorado for the week for their fall break. Ronan was very upset about that. He was crying really hard as they got into the car. We finally got him settled down, but he is still talking about them and saying he wants them to come home. It’s better that they are gone and off doing something fun. Ronan and I have a very long week ahead of us.

Last night, Auntie Karen and Olivia came over to watch Ronan so Woody and I could go out for a bit. We were both tired but agreed we should take advantage of sneaking out. We didn’t do much—went for a drive and then stopped at Target. When we came home, Ronan was asleep, so we hung out for a while and listened to Woody’s 45-record collection together. It was a very sweet date night. Simple but sweet.

Today, Ronan and I will head over to PCH around 1:00 to get checked in. We will be there for the entire week for Round 3 of his Magic Medicine. I am trying to have a positive attitude about staying in the hospital all week. It sucks that we can’t be at home. I know how much better Ronan does here. I will just have to keep his spirits up by bringing lots of things to read, and we will have to go for a lot of walks. I don’t want his little legs to get weak again by sitting in a hospital bed all week.

Woody will be flying out to NYC on Thursday to meet with the doctors at Sloan Kettering. I am excited for him to get out there, talk to the doctors, and make sure the path we are choosing for Ronan is the right one. New York is my absolute favorite city, and I’m trying not to be sad about the reason Woody is going out there. It has always been our favorite place to visit together. Someday we will go back, as a family, and celebrate Ronan being healthy and cancer-free.

Yesterday was the Susan G. Komen breast cancer walk in Phoenix. So much pink. Amazing. Pediatric cancer awareness was last month. Did you see the sea of yellow anywhere? Take a minute to think about that. Pediatric cancer is the number one killer of children of all childhood illnesses combined.