God laughs at me. Yes he does. Every time I attempt to make plans he laughs. Every time I say one day I would... he laughs. You see I have learned you have to be very specific about what you ask for. For example, if your a naive 20 year old, you might ask to one day meet a good man and be lucky enough to live in a nice house in a nice neighborhood (Moore's Mill in Auburn for example), you might then find yourself as a nanny folding laundry with a four year old, in an almost mansion, in a beautiful neighborhood having a "holy cow" moment realizing you got just what you asked for...just not quite the way you meant it. Lesson learned: prayers must be specific.
Then there was the fact that on multiple occasions I use to be certain I didn't want kids. Not any time soon for sure. Instead, I was always making plans to travel and write for National Geographic or become a foreign correspondent or something adventurous. Then there was Clayton. Another lesson learned: Don't make plans...or at least realize they aren't likely to go your way, but that isn't necessarily a bad thing.
Still, I find myself wanting to make plans all the time; plans for grad school, plans for work, plans for vacations. Then I have to reel my thoughts back in; I can't make plans based on the idea that other plans are going to work out. It's like grad schol, the more I planned it, the more I realized that I can't plan to take on student loans not knowing what will happen with Clayton. If I were to ever have to quit and be home with him all the time, our family can't be saddled with those loans. So grad school is still on the horizon and I am still going to do what I need to to get in, but enrolling will have to be contingent on my getting scholarships or grants. Or if I miraculously get rich and can just pay it myself, that would of course be awesome.
Meanwhile, my hiatus from the blog and Facebook has been full of plans. New plans, old ones...plans that never saw the light of day...and some plans that make me very very HAPPY! What are these happy plans? Clayton's back surgery. The plan had been to do a surgery that involved doing an outpatient procedure every six months to extend a rod. Then I found another little boy who had neuroblastoma, beat it and then had severe scoliosis to battle...just like us! Like me, his mother's heart was broken at the thought of putting her child through something every six months after he had already beat cancer. Well, that little boy just had a successful surgery done in New York by one of the best orthopedic surgeons in the world and his back looks AMAZING! And guess what? He doesn't have to go back every six months. The doctor used modified rods, so that little boy only has to look at doing a procedure every two years or so! Totally rocked my world! I can not tell you how happy hearing his story made me. I have already talked to his mother on the phone and Clayton has an appointment set up to see that doctor when we go up for our next round of 3f8; provided he is HAMA negative. I'll post a picture of that little boy's before and after X-rays for everyone to see what I am talking about soon. For now, it is three weeks post op and his mom said he is already running again! I. Am. So. Excited.
So despite giving God a good laugh from time to time, I'm still trying to make plans, but ALL of my plans of course revolve around Clayton. Wouldn't have it any other way. ;) For now though I am so thankful to have finished school before all of this and gotten a job close to home and now close to Clayton at school. Being able to work so close to Clayton all the time is just what we need. Thankfully, those are all things I didn't have to plan, they just kind of fell into place. Funny how that works sometimes?
So yes, Clayton started school this week! I am excited about that one too. It is going to take some adjusting, but I am so happy (and comfortable) with his teachers. Things are going good for the most part. The only complaint is that Clayton is still not 100% himself. Maybe only 75%. We aren't sure why. I will say I don't think he feels bad though. I am pretty confident it is just an attitude or control "thing". We are working on it.
I did notice a flyer at work today that touched on something I have been meaning to mention: bone marrow and blood donations. For ALL of these kids going through cancer, these donations are SO important. Even though people think about blood donations, very few think about becoming bone marrow donors. Becoming a bone marrow donor could save a kids life. It is so so important. If a kid needs a bone marrow donor it can be so hard to find a match. One-in-a-million kind of hard. The more donors, the better their chances of finding a match, so those of you that can, please think about being put on the BM donor registry. I cannot stress just how important that is to some of these kids. I am going to sign up as a donor myself. Anyhow, just something I have been wanting to mention.
I also have all kinds of video of Clayton I have been meaning to post, so I will try and do that soon! In the meantime please keep Matthew Pedrotty in your prayers. The cancer in his bones is stubborn and his parents and the doctors are hoping to find a treatment that yields a positive response!
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