December 2011 - Update

We've just started the month of December and I have tons of posts to catch up on... still from September on up. Ahhhhh... life certainly doesn't slow down. We've just been having fun and trying to stay positive (as much as we possibly can) during this time. We've been pretty busy this fall. Oliver has been able to do so many fun and memorable things which has been fun to see.

Hospice currently comes every Monday to check Ollie's vitals and make sure we have anything we need. They will come more often as his health declines. Right now it seems like he's plateaued a bit which is better than declining that's for sure. The hard thing is that he could pass away in his sleep at any time or his health could decline so much that it could be a long, drawn out process of watching his abilities slowly fade away. He could lose his ability to eat, talk, walk, move, see, hear and eventually breathe. Throughout this journey I have prayed for no pain for him and that if it is Heavenly Father's will for him to pass away that He will be merciful and allow it to be quick and painless. I pray for a spiritual experience and to have the faith and hope needed to get to that difficult point in this journey.

We've known from the beginning that kids do not survive this type of brain tumor. It's like the black cloud of tumors hanging over the entire journey, not letting many rays of hope break through. I've had hope and faith in varying degrees throughout this journey, but I've known that the end wouldn't be the end I had hoped for. I know I need to have faith that all will be made right someday and that I will see him again. I do believe that. I just want him here. I've been watching lots of home videos with Oliver singing, dancing, playing baseball and capoeira and all sorts of other funny videos and I.JUST.WANT.HIM.HERE.

It is hard aligning my will with Heavenly Father's will. He knows all things from beginning to end and I just know what I know at this time in my life. I'm having difficulty fully letting him go. Anyway...

I wish it could have been another way. Granted... I know that he IS still here, but I KNOW where his path is heading. It just disgusts me. Why Oliver? Why THIS type of cancer? Why isn't there anything else we can do? WHY.WHY.WHY. AHHHHHHH!!!!

He looks nothing like he did in the videos we had been watching. I find myself thinking of that time, 'healthy Oliver'... and how different he looks and how much more he used to be able to do. It makes me so sad to have seen the decline in what he can do. He used to be such an active kid -- just a short, stocky, muscular kid runnin' around. It just blows my mind seeing what WAS and now what IS.

What do ya do?! There really is a loss of control at this point. A very tough place to be just letting nature take its course with the help of steroids. There may come a time when he decides to stop taking the steroids. I know he hates them. He calls them his 'fat pills' because they make him gain so much weight. He told me the other day that his face 'isn't my face, mom'. It's been hard to hear how he is feeling with regards to how he looks and what the meds are doing to his body.

Anyways... it's late... 5:30 am and I still haven't been to bed tonight. Just thought I'd post that he's pretty stable and we've been trying to do some fun things together -- making memories.