Warrior mode...

The face of a warrior. The body of a soldier. The innocence of a nine year old. Way to battle, Brady. The whites of Brady’s eyes turned yellow today. After reading through the mound of paperwork that has everything we need to learn about his cancer and treatment, I saw that it was a side effect classified as “could be serious”. So I called the on-call oncologist and it was decided he needed more labs drawn. As Blake and I sat there next to him in the urgent care, I wanted to cry. He is only nine. It is so easy to forget because he is such an amazing patient who rarely complains about anything, but his arms and body tell the story of how much he has been through in the past two months. His veins and arms are so, so sore. Today, they had to try three different places before they could find a vein. Three. Three more sticks. That will mean three more bruises on his already beat up arms. He is nine. He squeezed my hand so hard, but never cried. Never complained. Never flinched. Three more battle wounds for this warrior. I have found myself watching other families throughout this summer with such a weird sense of grief. I have realized in the past couple weeks just how different our kids’ lives are since school let out just a couple months ago. How they are all having to “grow up” and process and handle things like life-changing sickness and the possibility of death. Things that most kids never have cross their minds. Things I was never prepared to have to parent through. They are all warriors. Every one of them. Thankfully, his labs came back at a level that we are able to monitor him at home until his appointment on Monday without having to go in to the ER. Please pray none of his symptoms worsen and that his liver can flush out the effects of the chemo and multiple transfusions to return to normal. Philippians 4:13 seemed so fitting for today… “I can do all this through him who gives me strength.” Yes, Brady. Yes, you can. #waytobattlebrady #bravelikebrady #leukemiawarrior #phillylikemutation #TheBattleIsOn Also, the super awesome shirt Brady is wearing is the one he helped me design. He wanted a knight in a battle with the sword of the spirit. The orange ribbon on his chest is for leukemia awareness. You can buy or order these shirts from Molly Werner Stek of Molly’s Snazzy Stiches in Canal Winchester.