Getting Closer Every Day

Over the weekend, we surprised Mason down at Johns Hopkins. He wasn’t expecting to see my dad on Father’s Day, and we knew he was bummed about it, so when the opportunity came for us to surprise him, we took it! It was great to be there, and we were even with him for his last dose of chemo.

The doctors told us that days 7-21 after the transplant would be the worst. It is during this period where that final round of chemo will kick in the most, and it will really take a toll on his body. Mason’s on Day 8, and he’s still fighting, strong as ever. His hair has grown back pretty nicely! You also can barely tell he had surgery on his brain because the scar has healed up so well. He is, however, having a lot of the typical chemo side effects that he didn’t have in his previous rounds. While this was expected, it’s still pretty hard for all of us to handle. I know that what makes it easier for Mason is the kindness and compassion of his (cute) nurses. From what I’ve seen, they’ve been awesome. They’re there to make him laugh when he’s hurting or not feeling so well. They tease him for being the only Steelers fan in Baltimore, and one of them even leaves him little notes to cheer him up.

In other Abate news, Morgan is doing much better! She ran for a few minutes on the treadmill yesterday, and is even considering joining me for The B+ Foundation’s annual 5k tonight, which I’m so excited for (me? Excited for running?!). Her back still hurts, but she’s a fighter like Mason, and she’s pushing through it.

Mason truly is amazing for doing so well even though he’s so far from home. He’s still adjusting to the fact that we can’t visit as often when before he was only a short train ride away, but he understands. He asked me to put on here that he still wants prayers for the Leyva family, which is crazy to me because he’s still acting so selflessly. Another ridiculously selfless person is my mom, who stays down at Johns Hopkins with Mason. I don’t know if I could do what she’s been doing, and I know that my entire family admires and appreciates her strength.

While it does hurt for us to know he’s on a constant drip of pain medication to make him comfortable, it reassures all of us to know that his support system grows stronger every day, just like he does. We’re lucky and blessed to know that even though things are tough on the orange brick road right now, our Emerald City is just ahead of us, and we’re so so close.