Accutane, Round 5 Day 5

Hi,

Well - it's been kind of a crazy week around here. I was in a ton of pain and got my first Root Canal. Yuck - don't recommend it, but it wasn't that bad. So - it was kind of a "lame" kick off to spring break - but we did try to squeeze in a little fun. I took the kids to the movie - Spiderwick Chronicles. I was thoroughly impressed that Hans was able to do it - his first movie theater movie since Diagnosis! That was exciting! Kevin got us free tickets to the Houston Rodeo and Fergie concert. We didn't think Hans could handle the whole nite of fun, so Elle and I took Carmen and Michael. I was so glad they could come! We had way too much fun. It was pretty exciting that there were two cowboys from Ellensburg, WA in the roping competition (that's Kevin's hometown), so we cheered for them really loudly! Fergie was a lot of fun. Elle used her allowance money to buy a Fergie t shirt. The kids also saw some of the cows and bunnies and rode the roller coaster.
Today all four of us went back down to TCH to go to a parent meeting. It was interesting - on all the arts programs that are available through the Cancer Center. The neatest thing we learned about is a songwriting program called Purple Songs Can Fly. A woman helps patients write and record their own songs in a one hour session. The coolest thing is that Continental Airlines just arranged their In-Flight selections to offer some of these songs for their passengers. What a great treat if you're flying Continental - but, dang, don't forget the tissues... Some of those kids' songs are pretty powerful. We also had a unique opportunity to pass out some cookies! I'm sorry - it was so crazy (Hans' wild emotions on accutane - we'll blame it on that;) that I didn't even get any photos. First, Hans really enjoyed passing out cookies to his main staff helpers in the clinic, and he did buy that case of "Thanks A Lots" himself. He loved that part, and Elle and I were able to pass out some of the prayer and rosary bracelets we've been making to our staff. It was pretty cool to give them a little something sparkly to hold on to after all they have done for us!
Then, we went up to the 9th Floor/Cancer Treatment floor. We had purchased a few small toys to pass out too. Kevin and Elle were having a blast passing out the cookies and then Hans and I joined up - and poor Hans had a pretty rough time separating with some of the toys we brought up. So, Kevin whisked him off. Elle and I found a super Ronald McDonald House volunteer who handled the rest of the distribution for us. She also posted a sign in the family room that the cookies were donated by the families of Hans Weberling, Erin Beunger, Colby Ash, and Malachi Schaeffer - thanks so much to everyone for your contributions. We also took two cases down to the 8th floor/ Bone Marrow Transplant. Oh, that place is a pretty rough place to be! We were thrilled to be back there just contributing a little bit. It really used to perk up our day quite a bit when some person or group would sweep through the floors with a treat.
There are other things I want to share - but I'll save it for the next post. This one has been so long. Hans is doing okay on Accutane. It is certainly difficult in that impacts his behavior (irritability is a very common side effect), and our lifestyle. We have to keep him indoors a lot during this completely gorgeous spring weather, and it feels almost criminal! His face is starting to peel now at Day 5. But, one thing that has made it easier is that we did upgrade Hans' hand-held video game system from a Pre-K "Leapster" to a Nintendo DS. It's kinda crazy that he knows what to do! We didn't even think he'd be ready for it, but when he kept stealing Elle's - we figured it was time.
Okay - more later. Thanks for all your prayers for Hans and all of his NB and TCH buddies. If all goes well, we'll be off Accutane on April 26th and at that point we'll be considered to finally be "off treatment".
Love, Lara