Life at Home

When we came home from the hospital I may have gone a little overboard but I wanted to make sure we had an adequate amount of personal hygiene/illness prevention articles. Whatever we can do to help Levi stay healthy is worth trying. When we left his blood counts weren't too bad so he has had fun playing outside and riding his bike. We've been avoiding public places and Levi's been a good sport about wearing a mask if we ever go out beyond the limits of the front or backyard.

Jessica and I take turns staying at home with Levi during church. The doctor said we could consider taking him to sacrament meeting but to make sure to arrive late and leave early to avoid interacting with potentially sick people. This morning his temperature was above 99; nothing alarming but we thought we'd keep him home again. Levi is a good sport and enjoys playing with some of his new toys or watching a movie. Today was Monsters Inc which he somehow convinced us to watch twice. We're learning how to still set limits but also parent a child with cancer who is very easily pitied. 

Even though Levi doesn't get out as much these days he still likes to have visitors. Here he is with his two cousins eating curry and rice. Levi was mostly fond of the rice and the company. That's ok...more curry for us. We are grateful for those who have brought us food and spent some time with the semi-quarantined toddler. 

Although hesitant at first, Levi eventually got the hang of trick or treating. His mask went perfectly with his doctor costume but was mistaken as a leukemia patient more than once (it was probably the fact he was being pushed around in the stroller in one of his more listless dispositions). He didn't even hold out his candy bag but rather said, "Trick treat. Put in bag." After getting the concept he kept asking to go to more houses and we managed to go up and down an entire street. Upon returning home Levi was anxious to partake of his newly acquired spoils but ended up taking a bite of each kind of candy and spitting it out. The next day he gave us his stash. It was a good Halloween.

Of course having cancer isn't an enjoyable experience but it does have its upsides. Due to the steroids Levi is taking he's experiencing an astounding increase in appetite. The steroids also cause him to retain water resulting in chubbier cheeks and a protruding belly. He could have passed as Spanky for Halloween had he only had a brimless hat and mid calf length shorts. Of late his favorite foods are peanut butter sandwiches, chips, pretzels, cheese, pancakes shaped like Mickey, crackers, rice, popcorn, green beans and cereal milk but not the cereal. Also he always wants to take his medicine with orange juice. Every morning when Jessica has gone to get him out of bed the first thing he says is what he specifically wants for breakfast. He's pretty ornery until he gets some food in him at which point he exaggerates all politeness. "Yes, mommy!" Thank you mommy!"   All of this added weight will be lost just as quickly as his treatment progresses but Levi seems to be enjoying eating to his heart's content (which is conveniently just what the doctor ordered).