Saturday, May 29, 2010

Home again...


This morning a lady brought by a therapy dog. The breed was a cross between a golden retriever and a poodle, which made for one large-sized, fluffy canine. Joshua was scared because the dog was more than twice his size and probably weighed three times as much. He wouldn't get off the bed, but Nikole convinced him to pet the dog. I don't understand why the therapy dogs are so big, the three that we've seen since coming to the hospital are all very big dogs, yet the trainers always say they are gentle breeds. Why is it we never see a therapy chihuahua?? Or even a pug??


We got to go home today, but we had to wait until late afternoon. Joshua is given several doses of a protective medication after the chemotherapy is completed. He tolerated this round of chemo better than the last. On the way home we stopped at Walmart to pick up a few things. While we were strolling through the store Joshua spotted an interesting looking man who was covered in tattoos, his earlobes hung down to his shoulders with these disc objects pierced through them, his hair was done up into a wild looking mohawk and his apparel was not something that any mother would want her child wearing in public. Joshua is not the type a child that hesitates to voice his opinion, as we walked past this fellow Joshua pointed to him and exclaimed, "Hey mom! Look at that weird guy, he looks really weird!!" I responded to his comment by saying "uh, huh" and tried to hurry him past the man and change the subject. But that didn't satisfy Joshua, he stopped, still pointing and now patting my side, he almost shouted, "Ma-om, you're not looking! I told you to look at that weird guy over there." Of course I was now obligated to look at this man. "Look right there, see mom." Otherwise Joshua would continue on until I did. "See, I told you. Doesn't that guy look so weird?" I glanced and smiled and by the way the man smiled back at me I'm sure he was amused at Joshua's reaction to him.

Friday, May 28, 2010

Dr. Seuss Day



Joseph was finished with school yesterday and Alex and Nikole finished at noon, so Sam brought them to hang out with Joshua. He had a lot of fun playing with them in the playroom and it's nice that he's in a good mood today. Joshua has just one more night of chemo tonight, then we get to go home tomorrow for another week, with the next check-in tentatively set for June 7th.
I didn't know that there's a small theater on the third floor of the children's hospital. This afternoon we were invited to attend a Dr.Seuss production put on by a group from Mesa Community College (The college just happens to be conveniently located across the street from the hospital). It was a delightful musical of "Horton Hears A Who." With all the singing, dancing, colorful costumes and comical dialogue, it was quite entertaining. Joshua enjoyed it very much, and the big kids liked it too. After the show we ordered dinner from the cafeteria, it was fun to spend the afternoon with the kids. The music therapist came by and did music with all my rowdy kids in our room, she was a real trouper because all 4 noisy kiddos together in a confined space can prove to be a challenge to have them all pay attention. They had a fun day and Joshua actually went to bed early tonight.

Thursday, May 27, 2010

Pizza & cupcakes



Joshua woke up at 7am this morning soaking wet and I figured he'd go back to sleep after we changed him and his bedding, no, he was up for the day. I didn't know if I was quite ready to deal with more crankiness this early, but he was actually in better spirits today. He ate his breakfast, played some games and when we went to the playroom he played with the volunteer, she thought he was very cute, his silly personality really shone through. At 2pm there was a pizza & cupcake party in the playroom to celebrate the birthday of one of the benefactors and former volunteers for the hospital. He is also a cancer survivor and turned 90 yrs old today. Joshua's oncologist Dr. Jeff came into the room and sat at the table next to Josh. Joshua turned and gave him a dirty look, got up, pushed his i.v. and moved to another table. When I asked him what happened he said, "I saw the Doctor and I moved away from him!" I asked him why he didn't say "Hi," and he said, "I just don't want to hear about mustard anymore!" (The joke with the mustard is from first time when we were in the hospital Joshua was eating a hot dog and the doctor asked him why he wasn't having mustard with it and Joshua said he hated mustard. So when the doctor saw him a few other times he asked him if he loved mustard yet, and Joshua said, "No, I still hate it!") I joked with the doctor I must be doing something wrong because Joshua has been happy the whole day even after getting up early. The big kids came to hang out after school and I saved them each a slice of pizza and a cupcake, they were excited for that. Happiness lasted until about 5pm when Joshua finally snapped, but then quickly fell asleep. His usual two hour nap continued on until 11pm, when he finally woke up and said he was hungry. I thought he'd be awake all night, but he went back to sleep at - you guessed it - 1am.

Wednesday, May 26, 2010

Tues & Wed


Based on the time we checked in Monday night, Joshua is receiving his chemo during the night starting around 3am and will get it for 5 consecutive days. He's receiving 2 different chemo meds one after the other and then some mdes to counter side effects and nausea. He doesn't seem to have any nausea so far, which is good. Tuesday his mood was all over the board but he was cranky a good portion of the day. The doctor said that being irritable is one of the side effects, unfortunately there is no medication to counter act that. He fell asleep around 5pm then woke up at 7:30pm and stayed awake until 1am. His sleeping patterns are really off when we're in the hospital. I get even less sleep because his i.v. fluids are increased at night when receiving the chemo, so he's up every 1-2hrs.


Wednesday was especially difficult, even though he slept in till 10am, he was even more irritable than the day before. He refused to eat any breakfast, which I think didn't help his mood. The least little thing would set him off and cause him to go into a rage. When I was opening a Kit-Kat and a piece of it broke off taking it out of the package, he screamed, threw it across the room and didn't want it anymore. It seemed like I could do nothing to appease him, he just kept saying he wanted to go home. We pretty much stayed in our room the whole day and I spent most of my time sitting with him in the chair or laying next to him on his bed. Another late afternoon nap, but he was a little happier when he woke up this time. I like to see him happier, but these 1am bedtimes are crazy.

Monday, May 24, 2010

Chemo - 2nd round


After a little more than a week at home, the time has come to for us check back into the hospital for round number 2 of chemotherapy. Depending on his blood counts, we will be admitted today or tomorrow. Joshua wasn't happy at the prospect of going back to the hospital, so we went to WalMart so he could pick out a toy for his prize for getting his shots all week long. He also found Transformer PJ's that he really wanted, so that was his incentive for going back to the hospital. We went to the doctor's office and everything was a go for today, so we went home to pack our bags. This time we should only be there until Saturday. On the way to the hospital Nikole wanted to say a prayer and when she asked for help for Joshua to do what his doctors say, Joshua piped up, "No I won't!"


We got all checked-in and settled in our room, it was after 8pm. Next we had to go to the treatment room to put Joshua's i.v. in his port. This was a little scary for him, but I assured him it wouldn't hurt as bad as an i.v. in his arm. They put numbing cream on his chest, but he still felt it when the needle went in and it made him cry. His pain was rewarded with a trip to the toy closet and, as you can see from the photos, he found a super cool G.I. Joe Ninja Sword set (that even makes sounds when you wave it around). By 10pm he was hungry and wanted to eat dinner, since the kitchen service was closed, I got a voucher to take to the cafeteria. When I returned Joshua was sitting in his bed with a handful of hair, there was hair on the floor and he had a sizable bald spot on the top of his head. He said, "Look mama, my hair's coming off. The germs are eating my hair." I thought he'd be more freaked out when his hair fell out, but he seemed fine when I explained to him that the medicine caused his hair to come out, but it would grow back. He started getting fussy when he said it was making him all scratchy, so I gave him a shower and scrubbed away most of his hair. He looked in the mirror and thought his head looked funny because it was all fuzzy. The reality of his disease really set in tonight, now he looks like a cancer patient.

Sunday, May 23, 2010

Weekend


Since Joshua was still feeling good, we decided that this weekend was the perfect opportunity to go and visit cousin Matt, his wife Amanda and their two kids Kasity and Parker. Joshua said, "I know Kasity can't wait to see me!" He just adores her, all the kids do. The last time we saw them was before the baby was born, so they were excited to go visit. Baby Parker is 2 months old now and everyone agrees he is the most adorable. We were glad to have had the chance to visit.


It's nice to have a little normalcy and not have to think too much about Joshua's illness when we're not in the hospital. Except for having to give him his shot Saturday night, Joshua had a lot of fun. We ate brunch together at the Aquarius buffet, which was very delicious, and Joshua ate like a little piglet. After brunch we went for a walk by the river, then we hung out at Matt's house the rest of the afternoon. On the way home there was a some sort of accident, on the section of road that was two lanes, of course, so we had to park for almost an hour. We never did see what happened, but we finally made it home safe and sound.



Friday, May 21, 2010

First week home



This week proved to be challenging. We had a doctor's appt on Tuesday and Joshua did not want to go, he refused to get dressed. I had to put him in the car and dress him after we arrived. They just pricked his finger for his blood test and he didn't even flinch. The technician let him see the machine that does the analysis and let him push the button, this was fascinating to him. I was instructed to begin his Neupogen shots in the evening. The biggest challenge is giving the shots. No one really likes to have shots, especially kids. So how would you like it if you are required to poke your child with a needle on a daily basis? The first shot was difficult, Joshua screamed and cried and went into a frenzy. When Joshua throws a tantrum he picks up whatever is near him and throws it at whoever is closest to him, so everyone scatters. When I tried to pick him up he told me he hated me, punched me in the back a tried to pull my hair. It took almost an hour for him to finally settle down. You can't reason with a hysterical child, I waited until he settled down before I talked to him or could comfort him. The following nights proved just as difficult. I was prescribed a cream to numb his skin, but the medicine still burns. After the injections, we all had to endure Joshua's rage. Thursday night I just held him and went outside, with him punching my back, until he calmed down. Daytime we had fun watching movies, going shopping and to the park with all the kids.
After his Dr appt on Friday, I took Joshua to Target, a friend had given us a gift card. I let Joshua pick out a special toy for being brave and getting his shots all week. He is a very discerning shopper, he examined all of the toys carefully. After some time he finally settled on a Batman in a transforming vehicle that shot lasers. Too cool! Hoping this helped, shot time in the evening seemed a little less traumatic.

Saturday, May 15, 2010

Home at last!


Yea! we got to go home today! Everything looks good so far. Joshua only has the injections everyday and one oral prescription Bactrim, that he will take every Fri, Sat and Sun while we are at home. The Bactrim is to prevent a type of pneumonia that cancer patients are susceptible to. I told Sam we'd be discharged around noon, so he got here at 8:30am and wondered why we're not ready to go yet. Hmm... Nikole stayed with me to get everything ready and Sam returned later with the boys to carry everything to the car.
Home shows the signs of mother being away - groceries depleted, laundry mountains, dishes set up in booby-traps in the cupboards, but it is so nice to be home. We went to the grocery store and I asked Joshua if he wanted me to buy him Dibs, the chocolate covered ice cream bites that he loved to get at the hospital cafeteria. Upon seeing them he shouted, "No! I hate Dibs!" I guess they were too much of a reminder. When we arrived home the home health nurse was there to show me how to administer the Neupogen. Joshua was not very happy about getting a shot.

Friday, May 14, 2010

Friday


With the first round of chemo completed during the night, Joshua was able to be disconnected from his i.v. this morning and very much enjoyed walking around without having a pole following him. Today was spent relaxing, the doctors observed him and we made all the necessary preparations to go home tomorrow. The chance to go home is something to look forward to, Saturday will be our 19th day we've been here. With the chemo I didn't notice too many side of the effects, he just had a few complaints about pain in his jaw again, but not so much that it prevented him from eating. He was happy, as well as I, that he didn't have to use the bathroom so frequently. After breakfast we had a bit of a scare. Joshua was sitting on my lap watching TV while I was talking with the hospital administrator and he suddenly had a nose bleed. It freaked him out because it bled a lot, it was like someone turned on a faucet. The administrator ran to get the nurses. It was hard to get Joshua to sit still, lean his head back and relax. It finally stopped bleeding, but not before my clothes, his bed and the floor were splattered with blood. The doctor was not sure if we should classify this as a side effect or if the cause was just the dry air. Either way it was still unsettling.
I was joking about needing a massage and the social worker arranged for a free half hour massage at the hospital. It felt so good, but I needed more like 2-3 hours.
Joshua will have to have Neupogen injections when we are home to help build his white blood cells. The medication was scheduled to be shipped directly to the house. I told Sam when it arrived it needed to be refrigerated. Sam called me in a panic and told me the box was delivered, but it was too big to fit in the fridge and asked what he should do. I then couldn't believe I had to ask him, "Did you open the box??"

Thursday, May 13, 2010

(day 3) -or- the Mac&Cheese conundrum

Another night of frequently retrieving the urinal, I've gotten used to sleeping with one ear open and as soon as I hear Joshua tossing and turning I get up. Morning came too early once again. Waffles and bacon were brought in for breakfast today because pancakes were not listed on the menu. Upon lifting up the lid on the dish, I was immediately notified by my patient that waffles were absolutely unacceptable, so I had to call down to the kitchen and order pancakes, you'd think I should have known better by now. They gave Joshua medication for nausea, it must be working because his appetite was a little better today. Besides some nausea and a few complaints about his jaw aching, he doesn't seem to have too many side effects yet.
After his afternoon nap, Joshua was hungry and had some Frosted Flakes, then decided he wanted his mac-n-cheese that he hadn't eaten from lunch, his other favorite food besides pancakes and bacon. I warmed it up and when I gave it to him, instead of the look of glee I had expected, he glowered at me, "I don't want that plastic spoon!" Silly mom then removed the disposable plastic spoon from the bowl and replaced it with his cool Transformer spoon we brought from home. My smile was met with a big huff followed by a scowl, "Not that spoon, that's the one I ate my cereal with! I want a metal spoon." I usually save back a spoon from his meal tray for when he wants to eat something later, but all the silverware had been collected earlier. The metal spoon from home was too big, of course, so he didn't want that one either. The nice lady that cleans our room, in a effort to solve our dilemma, found a metal spoon in the nurses' lounge. I cleaned it and dried the prized spoon, but the joy I felt for this small victory vanished quickly as I was met with a frown, yet again. When I inquired as to what could possibly be wrong now, I was told, "I don't want this macaroni anymore, I want a new one!" I'm sure by this time most parents, in a regular home setting, would contemplate pulling one's hair out and simply sending the child outside without any macaroni. But, what can you do when he's stuck in a hospital bed hooked up to an i.v.? So, I took the unacceptable bowl of pasta to the snack area mixed a little milk and cream cheese in it, reheated it, brought it back and with my fingers crossed I presented it. The grimace on his face proved that I was still missing something, I almost begged and cried as to what it could possibly be now? His big brown eyes looked up at me and he said, "I want you to feed me and do airplane." Hallelujah! For just a brief moment, the planets aligned, the earth was in the proper orbit and Joshua ate his mac-n-cheese.

Wednesday, May 12, 2010

And Chemo begins... (day 2)

The doctors all stopped by this morning to check Joshua's progress, nobody was surprised he was still sleeping after his all night party. The pulmonary doctor had very encouraging news, he said there is a good chance that Joshua's surgery can be done laparoscopically. That's what we are all going to pray for right now, it would be a such blessing. He explained that 10 yrs ago this never would have been an option, but the advances in technology has made this a definite possibility. I didn't let Joshua sleep in too late this morning because I really wasn't looking forward to doing an all-nighter again, if I let him he would probably sleep past noon. When he woke up needing to use the bathroom at 9:30, I kept him up. His usual breakfast of pancakes and bacon was waiting for him. Every morning since we've been here he always wants pancakes, bacon and chocolate milk, of course, he wants me to feed him. His doesn't seem to have as much of an appetite this morning, but he ate some.

We're invited to a party. There's a little girl named Clara and today was her last day of chemotherapy. She's 3yrs old and had a eye tumor (retinal blastoma) and had to have her right eye removed. The first time Joshua and I met her and her mom in the play room was the day he wanted to bring his dart gun with him. Under the circumstances (I had sudden visions of horror as I imagined him shooting her in the other eye!) I convinced him that bringing the gun along wasn't such a good idea. Everyone sang to Clara, there were doughnuts and she got the hit the big gong. It was an exciting day for her and her family. Joshua will have a party when he's all finished.

Let the side effects begin...we went back to our room and Joshua was already complaining about his jaw aching and nausea, shortly thereafter, he starting throwing-up. My poor little guy. No sooner did we change his bedding and clothes and my clothes, he threw up again. We just mostly hung out in our room the rest of the day. After a while he wanted something to eat, so I fixed him some chicken noodle soup and he kept it down, then all he wanted was orange sherbet and his favorite Dibs ice cream bites. His doctor said it is common for kids undergoing chemo to crave salty, sweet or spicy foods. He went to bed at midnight, little earlier than 2am.

And Chemo begins... (day 1)



We spent most of Tuesday anticipating, expecting, eagerly awaiting, and dreading for the chemotherapy to begin. There was the 24hr urine collection, blood tests, processing the prescription by the pharmacy and all the various other checks and balances done to make sure that Joshua was ready. Although I'm not so sure if anyone truly can be "ready" to have multiple toxins running through their veins, but by all medical standards, at 9:30pm Joshua was finally all set to go.

When the chemo drugs are administered the nurses are required to wear a gown, mask and gloves. Each drug comes in special protective i.v. bag, as no one wants to risk contact with the skin because it absorbs quickly. I was also instructed to wear gloves when handling Joshua's container of urine and helping him. It's quite unnerving to see the level of caution used with these medications, and yet it is the same medications being pumped through my child's veins.

Joshua was given a dose of steroids just before the first chemo drug and his reaction to the steroids was as if he drank a pot of coffee. Suddenly he was wide awake, not sleepy at all and then announced he was hungry. At home he's always liked a snack before bed, but tonight at 10pm he was eating chicken strips dipped in honey, then ice cream. The night slowly wore on as we played games, watched T.V. and my frequent trips to the bathroom to grab his urinal. With chemo the i.v. fluids are increased to help flush it through his system and his system wants to flush every hour and a half to two hours. At 1:00am he declared he was hungry, yet once again, and this time he craved graham crackers with strawberry jelly and apple juice. I couldn't believe he was still awake because I was having trouble keeping my own eyes open. Finally at 2:00am he went to sleep. It was not a restful night, though, with his frequent urination it seemed like every time I closed my eyes that it was time to get up again. I felt like I only slept in 10 minute intervals. The sun appeared on the horizon far too quickly.

Monday, May 10, 2010

Chemotheapy



The Chemotherapy schedule follows a induction roadmap approved by the National Children's Oncology Group labeled the AEWS0031 Interval Compression in Ewing Sarcoma Regimen B. It will consist of the use of five different drugs all with various side effects. He will also be administered other medications to lessen some of those side effects. His therapy sessions will be administered in the hospital and last between 4 to 5 days each time and alternate between the first three drugs, then the remaining two drugs the next treatment. He will have a week to ten day break in between sessions and if he's feeling well enough and his blood counts are good, he can come home.
Chemo drugs being used:
(1) Vincristine
(2) Cytoxan
(3) Doxorubicin
(4) Ifosfamide
(5) Etoposide
**Common Side Effects:
Nausea, Vomiting, Stomach Pain, Constipation, Alopecia (hair loss), Anorexia, Jaw Pain, Numbness, Tingling, Weakness, Immunosuppression, Cardiac Arrhythmias, Bone Pain, Confusion, Loss of Reflexes.
**Rare Side Effects:
Vocal Cord Paralysis, Seizures, Blurred Vision, Pulmonary Fibrosis, Bladder Fibrosis, Secondary Malignancy, Anaphylaxis, Allergic Reactions, Neuropathy.
(Pretty scary stuff!!)

Treatment Plan


Joshua's Oncologist is Dr Jeffery Hanrahan, and although I have met with quite a few other doctors since we've been here, he is the one we see every day. Monday afternoon as I sat in the conference room across from the doctor, nurse and the social worker, I could feel a knot in the pit of my stomach. Now that the diagnosis has been confirmed, it's time to move forward with the treatment plan, unfortunately with cancer there are not a vast array of options to choose from.

First the doctor explained the diagnosis and gave me a report showing me how this type of cancer was genetically identified. Next we went over the treatment schedule, Joshua's treatments are expected to last between 7-8 months. Each type of cancer has what they call a protocol or roadmap that is followed that dictates the combination of drugs that will be used, the doses and duration. He is starting with chemotherapy, after about 3-4 months he will have surgery to remove the tumor along with part of his lung, and then finish with more chemotherapy. During the chemo he will be in the hospital, but he will be able to go home in between treatments if he is feeling well enough and has no fever.

I inquired about why we couldn't just do surgery right away, as I'm sure some of you might have this same question. The doctor explained that historically when surgery was done immediately on this type of cancer the long term success rate was diminished and, in some cases, it actually caused the cancer to spread to other organs, the bones or even caused brain tumors. So, doing surgery first is obviously something the doctors will not even consider.

Next the doctor went over the five chemotherapy drugs and all the side effects. This was the hardest part to hear because the drugs are basically all poisons that will poison the cancer and prevent it from spreading and growing any further and in the process poison my child. At this point, it was very difficult to hold back the tears any longer, knowing what Joshua has to go through is not an easy thing to swallow. Basically I have to let them make my child sick in order to make him well.

Monday


Monday morning was spent anticipating the consultation with the Doctor. After the usual breakfast of pancakes and bacon, we went to the play room and made sand art pictures. I helped Joshua with the first one to show him how to peel off the stickers one by one and then sprinkle on the colored sands until our giraffe was done. The second picture he decided to do all by himself. He carefully peeled off the first sticker and sprinkled on orange sand, then he carefully peeled off the next sticker and sprinkled more orange sand, he repeated this process with each subsequent sticker until he got to the last two, then he decided to switch to black sand and his picture was complete. It didn't quite resemble the rhinoceros that it was supposed to be, but that makes it all the more fun.

During the consultation Joshua was entertaining the nurses and the rest of the staff driving his remote control car up and down the halls, he got to pick it out from the toy closet on Saturday. There is a special toy closet here that kids can choose a new toy from when they have to endure a painful procedure, it's filled with all sorts of cool toys donated to the hospital. Joshua had to have his bandages from his surgery replaced, which consisted of peeling off the very large, very sticky tape on his chest - pain that was eased by choosing a remote control car. The doctors and nurses are quite taken by his personality and all think he's quite adorable.

Sunday, May 9, 2010

Timeline - First two weeks




4/27/2010 - Admitted to Hospital. CT SCAN THORAX (of chest) - Confirmed tumor in right lower lobe of lung.
4/29/2010 - LUNG TISSUE BIOPSY - Preliminary report shows abnormal cells. Received Blessing
4/30/2010 - BLOOD TRANSFUSION (1 Unit) - Blood tests show Joshua to be very Anemic with higher levels of white blood cells and lower red count. After transfusion his levels improve and he regains his appetite.
5/01/2010 - CT SCAN ABDOMEN/PELVIS - Checking for other tumors, report comes back clean.
5/06/2010 - DIAGNOSIS CONFIRMED - EWING SARCOMA/PRIMITIVE NEUROECTODERMAL TUMOR - Related to Bone Cancer.
5/07/2010 - POWER PORT IMPLANTED, BONE and BONE MARROW BIOPSY, BONE SCAN - I.V. can now be placed in his Port rather than through his tiny veins in his arms, nice for Joshua because he's had to have 4 I.V.'s put in. Bone Marrow and Bone Scan reports come back clean.
5/08/2010 - ECHO CARDIOGRAM - Thoroughly checks the heart, his heart is strong.
5/10/2010 - Doctor's consultation to explain treatment plan.
5/11/2010 - CHEMOTHERAPY begins.

Kind of Cancer

Joshua was diagnosed with Ewings Sarcoma. It is usually found in the bone, so they did a bone marrow biopsy and bone scan on friday and so far it has come back clean, but I don't think all the results have come back yet.

Donations

Hi,

This is Patty, I am Joshua's Aunt, I set up this blog for Vicki. This has been a very hard time for the Mataipule Family. A few years ago Sam (Joshua's dad) was diagnosed with congestive heart failure and had to have a pacemaker/defibrillator put in. He still suffers from cardio myopathy and hasn't been able to work since, so, Vicki's been working to support the family. A few weeks before Joshua was diagnosed the company that Vicki had been working for was dissolved leaving them without work and owing the Mataipule's a large sum of money. Vicki was looking for another job when Joshua was diagnosed, but she has now been staying with him at the hospital every night instead. Needless to say they are struggling, at the moment, so I set up a link here so anyone who is able can donate money to help them out with their needs. It's thru paypal so it's very easy. Thanks everyone!






Mother's Day



This year Mother's Day took on a whole new meaning. The sacrifices that mom's make for their children can sure be intensified at times. I think the hardest part about being a mother is to have to watch your precious child in pain or go through a traumatic ordeal and feel powerless to help them. I'm sure we've all experienced this on various levels at one time or another.
My cousin Joyce came to the hospital to stay with Joshua to enable me to go home for a while, since Sunday was an easy day of just hanging out and playing. She brought the kids with her because they wanted to surprise me and bring a card and a few small gifts including a chocolate rose.
Upon arriving home I could see the dishes were disheveled in the cupboards, the laundry was piling up and the signs of not having mother home were apparent, but trivial things don't seem to matter right now. Staying away so long been difficult on everyone. Nikole really wanted me to go to church with them today to come hear the Primary singing special songs for their mothers. I wasn't sure if i could handle seeing everyone, as I'm sure the news about Joshua is just starting to spread, I'm still in shock myself. Our ward is really great and has been very supportive. I've pretty much been teary eyed the whole day and did cry when I tried to give an update in Releif Society. The Primary sang beautifully and it was nice to feel the love and warmth from so many.

Wednesday, May 5, 2010

Address

If you would like to send anything to Joshua, here is the address at the hospital.
Cardon Children's Hospital
Attn: Joshua Mataipule RM# P706
1400 S. Dobson Rd.
Mesa, AZ 85202

Monday, May 3, 2010

Joshua's Diagnosis

Today Joshua was diagnosed with Cancer. He has a 4x8 centimeter in his lung.