"It's a great day for a ride Mom"

Donald On Zack's ATV

  When someone asks "how is your son?" most of the time I answer with a simple, he is good, we had a rough day or rough week. This week it gave me such pleasure to say "He is great!!!" This is the first time in quite awhile where he was more relaxed, enjoyed himself and was a "typical" teenager. Wednesday's fun continued with him riding his four wheeler around the neighborhood and visits with his friends. His spirits have been up and his health has been very good, considering he had a week of  pneumonia followed by a week of chemo . This kid, if I may say so myself, is amazing! His attitude, his strength simply amaze me.  

I am finally feeling better and getting over this "crud". Work has been great and as always the "normal" days have been wonderful. Knowing that Zack is out there, enjoying himself does my heart good. I was asked about his schooling and it gave me such pleasure to say "he is a graduate", he will cross the stage with his friends. Within a few minutes, I take time to think about that phrase. Wow!!! He really did it!! and because he did, he is now able to enjoy his free time in between treatments. Not having to worry about what must still be done and being able to focus on his healing. 

Today, he picked up and brought his Meme and Courage (my brothers dog) to the vet here in Brevard. They were quite anxious about her prospects and having been to our vet several times with our own animals, Zack was quite comfortable with this venture. Mom (Meme) has been quite shook up all day. She so loves all of their dogs (they have three), but she has become especially close to Courage, feeding her by spoon when she doesn't feel like eating. It turns out that Courage has several infections and it is our hope that she will get better by next week. She is an old dog, maybe around 14 years old, no one knows for sure as she was a rescue dog.  Zack returned and spent the rest of the day hanging out at his friends house. 

I arrive home from work and find Zack in the kitchen fixing dinner, Frank outside grilling steaks and Donald asleep (he was up until 1 am last night for whatever reason I don't know). Zack was in a lousy mood and it wasn't until much later that I understood it was because we go back to the Cancer Center tomorrow. He has had a headache off and on today and that is usually an indication that he needs a blood transfusion. His grandmother Linda called tonight and jokingly told him he could have the day off tomorrow. He gladly accepts, smiling at the idea. Sometimes "we" just need to be acknowledged for our feelings, once he realized that we understood how much this all sucks for him, he didn't feel quite so bad.