💛 F I V E    Y E A R S 💛

It’s been a busy week, I’ve been trying to find the best words all week but struggling. Monday, February 20th marked 5 years since Tucker was diagnosed with Cancer. 

This week we were in Rochester for Specialist appointments. It felt “right” to be there to celebrate 5 years of tucker’s diagnosis day. I say celebrate because it truly is a celebration that we are able to be at appointments WITH Tucker during this time. We have many friends that can’t do this, so we are thankful everyday to God!!

The side effects we are working through, are harder than others, will continue to be a lifelong journey. 

• We met with a new Sinus specialist because Tucker’s left nasal passage hasn’t grown and is super tight. Causing him to always be congested and struggle to breathe through this side. We will try some interventions at home for 3 months and go back in May or June for that. 
• Our favorite Plastic Surgeon, Dr Gibreel, met with us Tuesday and was pleased with the healing of the port scar site. We will work towards fat injections, however need to get Tucker to gain some weight in order to have fat to take from his thigh or abdomen. So any tricks to fatten him up let me know 😉 He eats all day long the way it is! His lip will get fat injections as well.
• Lastly we saw 3 different dental specialists. One is more for later when we do jaw reconstructive surgery and permanent implants/plates. She keeps a close eye on how things are growing but knows she doesn’t want to do major surgeries until he is done growing so late teens is projected surgery time. We discussed his lip closure and how the fat injections might help, but likely Tuck will never be able to fully close that left side. He doesn’t chew or drink on it due to discomfort and lack of muscle tissue. We’ve worked with speech but it only does so much. He just knows some of his food and drinks spill out if he uses it so usually doesn’t. The majority of his day and night is spent mouth breathing because he cannot close the left side completely. However you will never find him complaining. He just compensates and that’s what makes this momma heart so happy!!! 
• We go back in April for routine scans and oncology appointments. When we go we will also have dental surgery done, to extract a tooth that’s been damaged badly from chemo and radiation. We did X-rays this time and it was confirmed that all his teeth in upper left jaw (where radiation took place) are not growing. There are some very small adult teeth helping to hold his bone in place but the teeth don’t have roots to hold long term. So we will be getting Tuck a mouth guard for contact sports but will also be looking into some options that are non-contact sports in order to give options for him. This was strongly suggested by our dental team.

We were blessed to be able to stay at our home away from home (Ronald McDonald House) again this week - seeing many familiar faces. This again brings so many feels to these trips as we feel comfort every time we walk through the doors at RMH. 

Many songs have been a stable through the last 5 years, but lately Firm Foundation and Gratitude have been on repeat or played at the perfect times. I find my kids stopping what they are doing and raising their hands and singing. When I can’t find the words, I simply will do as the lyrics say and just throw up my hands in surrender. Some days all I have is a Hallelujah, nothing else fit to say. Even though I don’t always feel like it I have to remind myself daily to find the Joy in the chaos, God is always faithful and won’t fail. 

It’s been a long 5 years. Tuck is in remission. We are beyond thankful. However we know the road ahead will be long and some side effects will be life long. We’ve prepped Tuck the best we can, there is just only so much to talk a 6 year old through. So we take it step by step and only really give him the details he needs at the time. 

Thankful for another year and another beautiful blessing coming in just two short months! Baby Wolfy #4! God is so good.