Today is July 3rd, 2008. I am sitting on the bed at my lake house today just as I was 4 fourth of July's ago. 4 holidays ago we were in the summer of terror which eventually revealed the destiny Nick has been called to walk. I so remember that 4th of July. I have pictures I am going to try and post of him. He looked so healthy, recovering quickly from the appendicitis of June 14th 2005. He was at the lake water skiing, playing golf... with mris and cat scans recently completed. All of them showed "questionable" scans. No one thought it was cancer, but I sat her that summer with my heart broken as we marched through that 4th of July. By August our sentence was revealed and we moved to New York, literally plucked from the life we knew and now can hardly remember. I sit here on the bed in 2008 with such amazing gratitude that Nick is still here. July 4th 2006 he was in New York and we watched the fireworks with the RMhouse families. We also went to Coney Island to be on the ESPN hot dog eating contest show! Nick was in the midst of antibodies and we spent most of that summer in NY. July 4th 2007 Nick had relapsed. He had just completed his second round of irino/temador and we were off to his make a wish trip in Jamaica. We spent July 4th once again by water with me gazing at him wondering if we would see another July 4th with him in our life. This year I am back at the lake house, sitting on the same bed I did in 2005 with fear in my heart. This year Nick isn't with us but it is for a good reason! He is away for most of the summer counseling 8-10 year old boys in a good old fashioned mountain camp. He is where his heart sings, he is with those that love and embrace him. All of his kiddos probably now know why he is bald. Many of them have probably never heard of cancer. He won't make much of his situation, he'll probably explain it matter of fact and then wrestle them to the ground and goof around with them. This July 4th I am so thankful to have the freedom to relax and enjoy life for a little while. Monday will come and Nick has to leave camp to start another round of irino/temador. Dr. Gonzales does not feel comfortable doing the full volume in 2 days. With his GItrack history she would hate for him to rush back to camp and have a serious after effect. The compromise is 4 days calculated at 62mg a day instead of 50. We'll see.... Temador will be the full course of 5 days. The prayer quilt is displayed in his room. I had a little of the info wrong in my last post. Charlottes Garden and Patchwork Prayers did the quilt and a wonderful woman Nancy was instrumental in its creation. The kindness of strangers is one of the gifts that has been revealed time and time again on this journey we now call our life. Thank you all for all you do. The fundraising, the prayers, the friendship. We are so lucky. I sit on the bed this year without fear for the moment, just gratitude.
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