When a broken bone isn't just a broken bone

When you're a cancer kid nothing is simple. A cold can be a serious life threatening event. A paper cut can cause an infection to race through your body, and broken bones don't heal as fast.

When we were told that the cast would have to be on for about 6-8 weeks, I should have known that in the long run it might be longer. After speaking to Joshua's oncologist yesterday, he informed me that the break is most definitely a result of weakened bones from the amount of steroids he's received. Great. We will do another month long round of steroids in July. He was also set to continue as planned with Joshua's admission for chemo today. I pointed out that his arm is still quite swollen and that he is requiring around the clock narcotics to keep him comfortable. After discussing that, we decided that we should hold off on the admission for a week to allow the swelling to go down and for him to be off the oxycodone. The chemo that he will receive requires high amounts of hydration so that he will go to the bathroom a lot and clear out the chemo fast. Oxycodone can cause constipation and extra fluid causes swelling so you can see where the problem arises.

So, we'll delay Joshua's last scheduled chemo admission until Monday. We'll try to get the swelling down in the next day or so and hopefully he won't need the drugs to help keep him comfortable. The twins 4th birthday is Saturday so hopefully we'll be able to pull something off and enjoy a nice quiet family day. But, these are all my plans and as we all know, our family doesn't quite follow the plan.

Thanks to everyone who has called, e-mailed or stopped by to check on our boy! He's not quite 4 yet and he REALLY knows how to milk this for all it worth.

Me: "Boys I need someone to go outside with Lulu for a minute."

Adam: "I'll do it."

Me: "Adam, you're such a good dog owner."

Noah: "I'll go to."

Joshua: "Not me Mommy. I can't be a good dog owner because I have a broken arm."