My beautiful warrior. My how he inspires me. His strength. His joy. His light. He is truly a child of God, filled with the Holy Spirit, and anointed to bring glory to our Father’s kingdom. I’m so thankful to be his mother (and Hayesie’s too).
December 23, 2021
We were on pins and needles waiting for the call from Hendrix’s oncologist to give us the diagnosis details and treatment plan.
The phone rang. Texas Children’s Hospital showed up on my phone caller ID. “Hi, this is Dr. Foster calling, may I speak to the parents of Hendrix?” My stomach churned.
From that call we learned that Hendrix’s preliminary diagnosis was confirmed – it was Wilm’s tumor, stage 3. The tumor was about the size of a football – 17 cm in length! They also told us that the abdominal fluid near the tumor had cancerous cells due to possible small rupture that could have happened prior to or during surgery. My heart cried out,“Oh, Lord Jesus please heal our boy! Protect him!” They also saw on the scans that there were a couple areas in his lungs but they weren’t too worried as the size was less than the criteria needed to investigate. The good news was that the lymph nodes were not affected leading to those nodes of potential concern in the lungs.
She went on to say that the treatment plan would include 7 rounds of proton radiation therapy to the abdomen at MD Anderson and chemotherapy for 6 months at Texas Children’s, which the details would be discussed at our first outpatient visit.
His doctor assured us, “while no parent ever wants to hear their child has cancer, Hendrix has the best of the worst case scenario. We come very far in treating Wilm’s, with 95% cure rate.” Thank God
I fell on my knees in the fetal position, crying out to God after this phone call. Tears were bursting down my face. The Holy Spirit was groaning to the Lord on my behalf. Was this really happening to my baby? But thank you Lord for the good news and that we have good answers! I was so thankful that this could be treated and that our son would live! Thank you Jesus!!!
You might be thinking, how could I not know that my son had a tumor? How could I not know he had cancer? Or what can I look for if this happened to my child? Hendrix showed no signs up until the tumor was noticeable and his tummy was bulging on one side. It is very common for Wilm’s to grow quickly and often not discovered until the tumor is big enough to be seen from the outside. He showed no signs of pain. He got fevers here and there but we thought since he had just started kindergarten, it was being around all the germy kids at school. He was active and never complained about his tummy hurting. We asked him had he been feeling differently and all he told us was that it was hard for him to run fast at recess (playing tag with his buddies). All I know is that it was a blessing we went to the hospital when we did. It was all in God’s timing and hands!
December 28, 2021
First Chemotherapy Appointment
We didn’t know what to expect. I was so nervous and in constant prayer. God did not give us a spirit of fear but of power, love, and sound mind.
Hand in hand, Hendrix and I walked into the Cancer and Hematology Center.
Beautiful bald children waited in the lobby, children of all ages, newborns to early adulthood. My heart! You can’t help but look at them wondering their story and their struggle. Many prayers were prayed.
After what seemed like hours, we were taken back to the outpatient room. The doctor came in and explained the treatment plan, and we had to review and sign off on tons of legal forms stating risks, side effects and symptoms from chemotherapy treatment. Fun *sarcasm*
Next, was the first port access. Hendrix was in tears, as was I, watching him going through this terror. They had a compassionate lady with Child Life come in and explain what they were going to do to his body in a way he could understand.
Holding him in my lap, they accessed his port with the giant butterfly needle. This port has a tube that leads directly into the main artery in his neck and goes directly to his heart. They took tubes of blood for testing, flushed it with liquid, and capped it carefully until it was time to get the chemo. At this point, watching my baby go through all this, I was so faint that the nurses had to get me a cool rag and some juice (blood makes me queasy). I was NOT ready! Hendrix, though once they were done, handled it like a champ! He was concerned with how I was feeling, how beautiful is that? He is the one battling cancer, getting port access, and doing all these scary things and yet here he is concerned of mommy’s faintness!
After this wonderful experience *sarcasm again*, they led us to the infusion room. And here I thought the lobby was heartbreaking!
This is a huge bright room with windows, 14 stories up looking out to the Houston medical center. Cancer patients and their parents sat in the chairs aligned along the walls, while others laid on the small couches in some areas. Thin bodies. No hair. Dark circles under their innocent eyes. Cartoons were on and monitors were beeping. Babies were crying. Nurses were here and there. It’s a sensory overload.
By the time it was our turn for the chemo, most everyone was done with their treatment and the room had quieted down. A sweet nurse came out and gave Hendrix his first dose of chemo, which took about 5 minutes for it to drip from the medicine bag, through his port and into his bloodstream. He got to pick out a toy – one small perk of going through this. He chose binoculars and was looking through them while getting his chemo. He took it like the champion he is!
His beautiful, innocent strong heart melts me. Thank you Jesus!
Next up was the 7 days in a row of radiation and the rest of his chemotherapy treatment.
I pray this helps to bring light and awareness to childhood cancer.
More to come…
Thank you for joining us on our journey of Chasing the Light of the Son.