Conversations with Jeremy

We are enjoying Jeremy's two week break from chemotherapy. It feels like we are on vacation! He is running around the house playing and has even gained some weight! His appetite is still poor, but we have increased his tube feedings and it is helping. Next Monday, January 23, Jeremy will have an MRI and CT scan. We are anxious to see how much the tumor has shrunk. On January 24th, Jeremy will be admitted for his VAC chemo.

We wanted to record some of the amusing conversations that we have had with Jeremy.

Once while we were at the hospital, the nurse was preparing Jeremy some Metamucil. I told her that Jeremy is a picky eater and I was not sure if he would drink it. She said, I have a really good trick that works on picky eaters. She warmed up some grape juice and added the Metamucil to dissolve it. She then added cold grape juice and put it back in the fridge until it was chilled. When she gave Jeremy the chilled, dissolved Metamucil grape juice, he said, "Yuck! Somebody put crumbs in my grape juice!"

Jeremy is learning new words. It is pretty impressive to hear a five year old saying medical terms. He will say "When is my next chemotherapy?" "My stomach is sick I think I need some Zofran in my G-tube." "I don't have to go to radiation anymore." There was no school today and Jeremy said, "I want all of the kids (his brothers and sisters) to watch the nurse access my port, so they can see how brave I am." They were pretty impressed with how Jeremy holds his shirt and sits still so the nurse can push the long needle into his port. Jeremy also helps the nurse flush his port with saline and heparin. Sometimes in Jeremy's prayers he will ask for his numbers to be high (referring to his blood count).

We watched a movie over the weekend called "Soul Surfer." Jeremy really wanted to watch it with us, so we had him close his eyes during the shark attack. He made some insightful comments during the movie. He said to us, "Her arm will come back". We said, no it won't come back, she will only have one arm. Jeremy said, "Yes it will, when she dies." I said, "You mean during the resurrection?" And Jeremy said, "Yes, it will come back then." He was thinking much deeper than we were! He also made a comment that her hospital room looked more like her house, it didn't look like the hospital. I agreed with him that it did not look like the hospital room that he is use to, they made the hospital room look nicer for the movie. He also asked "Where is her pole?" When Jeremy is at the hospital he is usually hooked up to an IV pole for his medication and fluids. I told him that she had a pole for the time she was in surgery, but she probably didn't need one while she was recovering. It was interesting how he is processing his circumstance and likening to others.

There is a little boy in our neighborhood who is going to have surgery. Jeremy has been so concerned for him. He has been praying for him and wanted to take him a gift to help him be brave. When Megan came home for the weekend, Jeremy told her all about this little boy. The prayers and gifts that Jeremy has received have helped him so much, he wanted to do the same for this little boy. Jeremy is learning the meaning of the scripture in Mathew 7:12 "Therefore all things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them". (I like the clarification in the footnote "good works", "courtesy", "kindness", "benevolence").