For his birthday, June 17th, he was ending the toughest part of treatment,Delayed Intensification. Though he did amazing, on his birthday his immune system was a little lower than we like so we had to postpone his birthday party. The Bishop Gorman football team heard this news and showed up in force to play with him. Not every kid gets to spend his 8th birthday with one of the best (now THE best) football teams in the nation! What amazing boys they are!
June 19th Thaddeus had decided he did not want any gifts for his birthday; he wanted to make blessing bags for the homeless. He made a list of items he wanted to include and then asked people to donate for his bags. One thing you will notice about your kids with cancer is their hearts increase ten fold. They are VERY different from other kids their age. They see needs in the world and want to do something to help. They KNOW suffering and fear and want to help other people in any way they can. In short, they turn into superheroes!
June 22nd day one of maintenance! The day we thought would never come! His blood counts were all on the rise and everything looked great to start maintenance with no holds. In the whole course of frontline treatment we only had two short holds of a few days. His body held up so well during these tough nine months. Maintenance will go three years from our first hospitalization for Interim Maintenance. So that means our end of treatment date is March 17, 2018. Until then we will be on 84 day cycles that will repeat. Nightly he takes a chemo called Mercaptopurine, weekly he takes Methotrexate pills, monthly he gets accessed and Vincristine in his port and steroids, and every three months he gets a lumbar puncture with brain and spine Methotrexate chemo. We are by NO MEANS done...but we are only at the clinic ONCE a month. It is SOOO much easier. Some pills at night? You can almost forget what is happening when you only have to remember at night when it is pill taking time or one time a month at the clinic. We still devote so much time to his diet and hydration, but like we tell him that is life now. We feel his body was susceptible to a primary cancer so of course it will be susceptible to a secondary one or relapse. He has to change the chemistry of his body so cancer cannot survive and thrive there.
June 23rd he was out with his football team for the first day of summer training...our hearts were so full of gratitude that he was able to get out there with his boys. His team would play flag football with themselves all summer with the hope Thaddeus would be well enough to play tackle football in the Fall...and he was =)
June 25th was the end of basketball season pool party. He had a beautiful day enjoying the sun and swim with his friends.
June 26th we finally had his postponed birthday party. These boys were with him through it all! We had an amazing time celebrating our "Cupcake" turning 8. Be prepared for some emotions at birthdays. They are not just the passing of time now...they are much more. They are a GIFT. Another year to hug and kiss our sweet babies. So many do not get that and we can NEVER take them for granted again.
Thaddeus' favorite nurse Lyn was able to come after work to join in the celebration. She is not only our nurse, she is our family. We are so thankful to have had her by our side! We love and adore her!
July: We were able to go to Florida to The Lighthouse Family Retreat in Destin, Florida...Absolutely amazing! (I wrote a whole post dedicated to our week here)
He is so tough and strong. His heart is so big and he just WANTS to live big so badly. He truly is amazing.
One good thing that comes from this journey is the people you meet. I would NEVER have met this sweet, little lady and her family. They are one of the gifts I can say this has given us. Sometimes it is hard to find the good in all of this and sometimes it is easy. Love her and her girls!
After we left the Retreat we went to Disneyworld for Thaddeus' Make A Wish trip! So fun (a post is coming about this!) We were gone for two and a half weeks. We had a wonderful time. We needed the break and it came at the perfect time for us. Thaddeus' counts were great and our spirits needed the time spent on just having fun. Many people thought the beginning of maintenance was not a good time for this big of a trip (away from our doctor, hospital, home, etc) but we thought it was JUST what we needed! We were so careful about hydration, rest, and nutrition; and he did great!! We were very fortunate to just have wonderful memories to bring home with us!
August: We got back just in time to start getting ready for school. Thaddeus only was able to attend full time for a bit of his first grade year and he was excited to get back into the swing of things for second grade. Juliette and Christian have always been homeschooled, but with me going full time teaching this year we all are going full time to school. Being homeschooled last year was such a blessing because the kids were all home together last year, but it is a perfect time for them all to go to school now. We have had a great start to the school year and could not be happier! Again, it meant so much to see him walk in to school the first day. One of those things I could just not take for granted. I KNEW of so many kids that were home sick, or in the midst of treatment. Any time I hear kids talking about not wanting to go to school I have to bite my tongue! It is a BLESSING to be well enough to go...make the most of it!
In maintenance, I can tell you that Thaddeus does not have many limitations. He is back to ALL of his pre-leukemia activities (which is a LOT!) He is back at rock climbing, tackle football, wrestling, hockey, ballet, karate, gymnastics... He has not lost a step either. In the beginning his flexibility and balance was lacking but it all has quickly returned. We attribute a lot of that to the fact he kept his activity level up so high during treatment.
Tate Martell, the quarterback for the Bishop Gorman High School football team, has gone ABOVE and BEYOND for our baby. He spends weekends with him, attends Thaddeus' football games, invites him to his games, texts him. It has been amazing. Again, one of those little gifts this life has given us.
September was our first Childhood Cancer Awareness Month as a family effected by childhood cancer. Next year expect to be BOMBARDED with Gold...we will be ready to spread awareness.
September 2015 this happened...our baby returned to his spot on the Red Eagle 10 and under (even though he is only 8) tackle football team. He has amazing talent and we are so thankful he is able to continue to play and excel as a football player during treatment. These boys are like his brothers. His heart is happiest when he is playing with these kids. We know so many who cannot follow their dreams on treatment and we do not take it lightly that he has been able to. We hope he can show though that it CAN be done and maybe inspire another little football player someday that gets the diagnosis of leukemia. Someday when someone tells a little guy that they can't play football because they have cancer, they can say, "Thaddeus Thatcher did it and so can I!"
We were able to have our feet in both the Pacific and Atlantic in a months time. When you see the ocean, or the stars and you see what God created and keeps in balance you KNOW that He can handle this...our lives, and fears. Our family has become much closer and we are in this together. This little team here can get through anything! They will have such a bond forever. I love them all so much and am so proud of how each of them has handled this.
We couldn't be happier with how treatments have gone so far, except to have not had to do it at all! It has not been easy. It is hard and scary, and sad...I would be lying if I said I did not cry most days. Cry for my son, our family, the babies we know fighting, the angels we know and their families...it has opened our eyes to a whole world of suffering we didn't want to know existed. We are here now though and we have to honor this life and our knowledge by sharing our story. We hope it can help someone some day. We hope it can help people who have a child that is diagnosed with leukemia, or help someone who just needs to know you can do TOUGH things, you can get through SCARY things, you can move past SADNESS and LIVE. FIGHT for your joy, it does not always come easily. Thaddeus is a testimony that if you fight for your joy you will find it even in the darkest of times; find the light and run to it and keep it in front of you.
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