New Year's Eve Marks Ollie's First Treatment

*Thursday, December 31st, 2009 - Ollie's First Radiation Treatment

Oliver was very nervous and timid for his first radiation treatment. He was crying a little bit because he was scared. The nurses had him climb up onto the table and lay back and they told him that they would go really slow and if there was anything that he was uncomfortable with or didn't like, he needed to tell them so that they could see if they could do anything about it. When they put the mask on his face, he didn't say anything, but his body language told us that he was uncomfortable so Dolly asked Ollie if he wanted her to cut out some eye holes and he said yes. She marked out the eye holes with a marker while the mask was still on his face then took it off and cut them out and taped around the holes. He liked that alot better and Dolly told him that was exactly how she wanted him to be, if he wanted something done, she could help him. They then put his mouthpiece in and zeroed in his position and then I left the room and read to him out of The Boxcar Children and I didn't even make it through one chapter... it was so fast. They said, "We're done" and I said, "Holy Cow, Oliver... we're done already! That was so fast I didn't even finish one chapter!" I went back into the room where Oliver was and he was getting down off of the table. All of the nurses were praising how well he did and Oliver was just beaming. They took him over to a cupboard where they had nice, big toys and told him that he could pick out anything that he wanted. He picked out an Incredible Hulk toy that was about a foot tall. He was smiling and said, "That was easy" as we walked out of the hospital.

On the drive home, he was fine and we stopped and ate at McDonald's. When we got home about an hour and a half later, he told me that he had a really bad headache and felt sick. I gave him some Tylenol and he laid on my lap and fell asleep. Jared, my brother, my dad and I gave him a blessing (a special prayer) and then we moved him to the couch to rest. Jared was rubbing Ollie's head and then Stacy got him a rice sock to lay on his head which Ollie said helped a bit. I went with Jared to fill an anti-nausea med from the doctor after talking with him on the phone about Oliver's condition. Later on that night he was sitting on the toilet and started throwing up. We decided not to go to my parents house to celebrate the New Year.

*Posted by Ed



*Friday, January 1, 2010 - 2nd Radiation Treatment

I got to bed at 3 am and was up again at 5 am and on the road to Iowa City for his second treatment by 6. Ollie played video games on his I-pod touch the whole way down! Natalie, one of the radiation technicians, was there on a morning that the hospital was technically closed for the holiday and unlocked the doors for Oliver to get this treatment. There was also a female resident there this morning as well. He asked me if it would be the same thing and I said, "Yes. It will be the same thing every time." He was excited and relieved. Today I read "Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing" by Judy Blume and again I didn't make it through one chapter because he was done so quickly. Today he picked out an Iron Man mask and disc shooter.

Ollie and I stayed down in Iowa City for several hours waiting for the rest of the family to come down there. Oliver and I decided to see "Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakwell". Oliver loved it and I slept through it. Stacy drove down with her mom, brother, Chad and Eden and we met up with them at the Coralridge Mall right after the movie had ended. Stacy, Chad, Oliver and Eden decided to go ice skating while waiting for my brother, Jared and his family to get there. It was their last night visiting us from California so we decided to get a hotel for the night.

*Posted by Ed



Saturday, January 2nd, 2010 - 3rd Radiation Treatment

Today was my first time going with Ed and Oliver to his treatment. Natalie was there again this morning to open the door for him to have his radiation. I still can't believe that they did that for us. We walked down the hall and Oliver showed me how he hopped up onto the table and got all of his stuff on and in place. We walked out of the room and then Ed sat at the table where he read into a microphone. We sat there and I could see Oliver on three separate monitors. He just laid there so still and did so well! I was so proud of him.