Oliver's Funnies

While we were driving around the other day I heard Oliver and Eden having the following conversation...

Oliver - "Eden, do you know how to get a boyfriend?"
Eden - "How?"
Oliver - "You have to shave your legs. And then when you get a husband you don't have to shave your legs anymore!"

This was certainly triggered by them witnessing my unusually lengthy leg hair! Spring is coming and with it... new razors!!

'Little Mr. Awesome'

The other day Ollie and I were watching a show called 'Little Miss Perfect' about little girls' beauty pageants. I know... I know... seriously nothing was on and I could not look away! It drew me in! The following conversation ensued.

"Mom, those girls are trying to look beautiful, but they are beautiful just the way they are."

"Good answer!"

When they crowned the winner and announced that they received a $1,000 check, Ollie's eyes lit up and he said, "MAN!!! Is there a 'Little Mr. Awesome' contest!?!"

Hair Today... Gone Tomorrow

Saturday, January 23rd, 2010 - Make*A*Wish

This afternoon the Make*A*Wish people came and met with us. They came bearing gifts for each one of the children. A beanie puppy for Finn, a stuffed elephant for Jaren, a necklace for Eden and a handcrafted kaleidoscope (www.kaleidoscopefactory.com) for Oliver. We sat down at the dinner table while we finished eating lunch and filled out some paperwork while we chatted. They asked what some of Oliver's wishes were and he, like most kids, said that he wanted to go to Disney World, the beach, Sea World, Universal Studios and the Zoo. He would love to meet his favorite comedian, Jim Gaffigan, who shares his love of bacon! HA! He also loves to play baseball and loves watching the Iowa Hawkeyes play football. We both have been learning more about the rules of the game from Ed, my husband, this past year. We also talked about him meeting the prophet and president of our church. He said that he wouldn't know what to say to him if he actually met him though!

The committee members told us a lot about the organization and about Disney World and what it has to offer to the Make*A*Wish families. They told us about a special resort just for the kids with a wish called "Give A Child the World". It sounds absolutely amazing. Before they left they also gave us a special Christmas ornament and I started thinking about if he would be around next Christmas and I suddenly got teary eyed. I thought of how fun this trip will be, but thought that I wished it was on OUR terms and not because he is dealing with a terminal disease. I suddenly had a pit in my stomach as my mind raced. I quickly tried to stop the thoughts in their tracks and began thinking of all of the wonderful memories we will be making in the next several months. We are also planning a family reunion with Ed's side of the family. He is one of eight children and they are all planning on caravaning to Iowa in June over Father's Day weekend and we have many special activities planned including participating in the "Relay for Life" event to raise money and awareness for cancer research. I need to keep my mind focused on the happy events surrounding this horrible situation that we are now placed in. I pray for guidance and strength every time I start to feel weak and unable to bear another thing. I am grateful for your continued thoughts and prayers for myself, Oliver and the rest of my family. We are planning to go in April as we want to go sooner rather than later, hoping that Oliver is feeling well and up to traveling.

Sunday, January 24th, 2010 - Hair coming out by handfuls...

Yesterday Oliver, Eden and I got out hair cut for our upcoming family pictures. I knew that Oliver was thinning in some spots so I filled the stylist in on what was going on with Ollie. It was noticeably thinning in two spots on the back of his head where they were pinpointing the tumor.

Sunday morning it was just a little bit thinner in those same two spots. I helped comb his hair before church and noticed the comb had lots of hairs in it. I thought that my husband used it after his haircut and they were his hairs clogging up the comb, like leftover strays from the haircut. It then dawned on me that it was Oliver's hair starting to come out more easily. During Sunday dinner at my in-laws I noticed he was shedding a bit, but really wasn't ready for what happened later that night. Oliver was sitting on my lap and I touched his head and a little hair came out. He then reached up to his thinning patch and pulled a bit and he had fistfuls of hair!!! We were both shocked! He kept doing it and we both started giggling. I don't know if mine was a nervous giggle, but I thought I'd try and keep it as light as possible since I never know what will trigger a crying spell. After a bit, I told him to stop since we still needed to have our family photos taken and at the time you couldn't tell he had two 2 to 3 inch bald patches on either side of the back of his head when you looked at him straight on. I took a picture of the back of his head to show Ollie and he exclaimed in a high pitched voice, "MAMMA MIA!!!" and started laughing! I was relieved that he was so calm about it since he was so nervous to lose it for so long. We knew that it was a possibility from the beginning that he would lose his hair, but we were shocked that it progressed so quickly! They hadn't even doubled his radiation dose yet! Eden then asked, "What will you do when people make fun of you?" and all the laughter ceased. He then started to cry. I was thinking, "Really? UGH!!" We tried to remind him that daddy was planning on shaving his head with a few other close friends of ours. I just felt so bad for him. I'm sure different scenarios play out in his mind about what kids may say to him. We talked for a bit and started to joke around again. For the most part he's taking it a lot better than I had envisioned.

Make Yourself At Home, Ollie!!!

I just wanted to post something funny that happened the other day down in Iowa City. Ollie usually has to use the bathroom right after we get there, before he goes in for his radiation treatment every day. One morning took our familiar trek downstairs to the radiation therapy area and walked to the waiting area. Ed and I walked by the front desk and Ollie continued to walk down the short hall to the restroom. All of the sudden I heard a noise like someone was pouring a gallon of water and I looked toward the restrooms and noticed that both of the doors were W-I-D-E open! Ollie was just doin' his business right there with the door open! We both burst out laughing and Ed walked over to the restroom and closed the door for him!

He's been very lucky so far to still be as active as he is. I know that it's still the beginning of our journey and that we will just continue to take each day as it comes. He's such a good kid and is really keeping a positive attitude. We are planning some family activities including a trip to the Omaha Zoo when the weather is nicer. He wants to go to a zoo and see the animals in the worst way! We just received some information in the mail on the *Make-A-Wish program the other day. He said that he wanted to travel by train to Disney World in Florida. We'll see how that pans out. I just hope he feels up to traveling whenever we can go.

He still is anxious about losing his hair. He just cries every time he thinks about it. I want to get a nice family picture since we have a new little member in our family and I want to get it taken before he loses his hair. A few nights ago he was crying and said through his tears, "I don't wanna look like a crackhead!" I just started laughing and he did as well! We HAVE to keep the laughter in our family or we just wouldn't be able to get through the day. Yesterday when he was talking about being bald we asked him why he was so worried about it and he said that when he was a baby he was bald and he didn't like it! Again... we all had a good chuckle! I went to the craft store yesterday and got Oliver a plain white baseball cap to wear when he starts losing his hair. I was going to go to his classroom at school and have each one of them sign it and then I was going to give it to him as a surprise. I also bought him some handkerchiefs to wear on his head, so he could be just like his Uncle Chad! We've heard that if you shave your head before you lose it then it's easier to deal with because you did it on YOUR terms and not the DISEASE'S terms. Ed said that Ollie could shave his head and then Ed would turn around and shave Ollie's. I'm sure we'll have some fun and interesting pictures to share after that! My mom even said that she would shave her head to support him! As of today, he still has his hair. We've noticed a slight spot where it's a little thin, but it could just be some crazy bed head!

I've got a few ideas to make or do for Oliver:

*Baseball Cap - Again, I bought a plain white baseball cap for 2 bucks and an iron-on mini baseball and I will have his classmates sign it.

*My good friend took a class picture of Ollie's class and we'll get that printed and matted. One the matte I will have his classmates sign that as well and then we'll frame it for him. Maybe we'll set it up by him when my mom is tutoring him these next few weeks! :O)

*I got some red buckets with hearts on them to place in each of the three 3rd grade rooms for the students to put mail or drawings in for Oliver while he's absent.

*I had thought of making a necklace out of beads for Ollie as well. I would let each student pick a bead and string it on, symbolizing each one of the students in his class.

*My friend is making a book with his classmates photos and nice words of comfort and she's going to surprise him with it.

*Another friend wants to make a quilt with pictures of Oliver all over it for when he's in the hospital to remind him of happy times.

He may be getting an MRI sometime soon as his radiation treatments are about halfway done to see if the tumor has shrunk any. He also may be losing more hair soon as the dosage will double the remaining three weeks. We will just take it day by day. We are going to talk with the pediatric oncologist again about putting him on a low dose chemotherapy. I'm so worried about the side effects of these drugs. As a parent you are always worried about not doing enough for your child. I just want to make the right decision. Anyways... that is where we are at right now. Time will tell, I suppose.