Today marks two months since one of the scariest days of our parenthood, when we woke up to Hudson having a seizure and found out there was a mass in his brain. Since then, he’s had tumor resection surgery, central line placement, two rounds of induction chemo, admission for febrile neutropenia, and more imaging and tests and labs than I can count. In some ways, it’s hard to believe that it’s only been two months, as he’s gone through so much already in that short time. In other ways, July and our “normal life,” life before cancer, feels like ages ago.

We’re home! Hudson and I arrived home around 9 this evening. The girls were already asleep, but Hudson was thrilled to see his daddy and play a little before going back to sleep (he slept the whole way home). The rest of his week of chemo went fairly smoothly, but he’s definitely experiencing nausea and lack of appetite, and he has had several episodes of vomiting over the last couple of days. He reacted to the vincristine again today, even with Benadryl on board, but he didn’t seem bothered by the rash/hives. He should have just one more infusion of vincristine next week.

Weekend update! Matt came up on Friday after work and spent Friday and Saturday nights with Hudson so I could have a couple nights out of the hospital. There’s just something about having Daddy here - he brings the fun and energy! Clare, Kate, and my parents came Saturday afternoon after Clare’s rainy soccer game, and we had a good visit. Then they got to have a sleepover with Uncle T, Aunt Shelby, and Lily, which they LOVED. They came back for another visit this afternoon. It was so good to spend some time together this weekend.

Hudson’s admission is going well so far. He got his first two chemo meds yesterday afternoon - vincristine and methotrexate. He ended up breaking out in hives, and the team has decided it seems to be related to the vincristine. Last round of chemo he also got very rashy right away, but he had been under anesthesia from his central line placement so it was difficult to place the cause.

We could not be more grateful that our team gave us this week at home to recover before round two of chemo. Honestly, I think it was the best medicine to just be home for some time as a family. Hudson’s ANC reached 12,000 last week on Friday, so we were able to get out and about a bit, too. Hudson could not have been more thrilled to return to daycare for three days this week and spend time with his friends.

We ended up discharging today! Thank you, Jesus! We made it home around 8:30 and had a great welcoming crew! The girls got to stay up late to get some snuggles with mommy and little bro, books, and prayers.