Ravi, my love, you entered our lives on June 18, 2002. The adventure has only gotten better. You are now 22 years old and amaze me every day. I hope you had a good birthday. The day before the lovely oncology nurses on floor 9 gave you a card and made a big fuss over you. A new nurse who was training in got to practice accessing a port on you, because you are such an easy patient to access. This made me very proud. On the 18th, you had your last session so of PT with Susan. You are ready to exercise in the outside world. I have pumped up the tires on your adaptive bike and if it ever stops raining, we are ready to go! Your dad and I also want to take you on a surrey ride on the local trails. We can pedal the surrey and you may either pedal or just take in your surroundings. We also want to go on a paddleboat ride.
The evening of your birthday, Myra came over. She has celebrated birthdays with you since you were 4 years old, and a birthday is just not a proper birthday without Myra. We ordered in Mexican food, and she brought you a fuzzy purple blanket and a blue chair. You decided that both were great and happily curled up in the blanket like a cocoon. Sadly, you had a seizure part way into the evening. It was not a bad one and it lasted less than a minute. Still, you were out for the rest of the night. You went to sleep on the couch. Mom, Dad, and Myra went on chatting softly. You seemed to find the sound of our voices to be soothing because your face was calm, and you smiled from time to time in your sleep. Eventually, Myra went home, and Dad and I moved you to your own bed.
You were supposed to have an MRI at 7:30 the next morning. We could not tell if you were going to have another seizure or not. We kept a careful eye on you. Around 2am, Mom called the oncologist on call and asked what to do. Fortunately, I got to talk to Dr Williams who knows you well. She said that it made absolute sense to cancel the MRI. We did not want to risk you having another seizure in the middle of the scan. After that, we all went to bed.
The past few days after your birthday have been calm. You seem tired but happy. We did take a good walk to Subway and back so you could get a sandwich. We are waiting for the rain to stop so we can get out for more walks and bike rides. You did enjoy a long hot bath, this morning. When your arm was in sling, you had to rely on sponge baths. I am certain it is a relief to finally get back in the tub, scrub all over, and wash your newly sprouted hair.
Boo bear, I love you to the moon and back. I hope that your 22nd year is good to you. I will be by your side, we will face whatever comes your way together. Love always, Mom.
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