My Son

I miss Rohan - the boy I have seen him become over four years. I miss the Rohan who doesn't ever admit to being tired. I miss the all-star who will opt to play a sport, any sport, over almost all other activities. I miss the incessant talker, the optimist, the scheduler and the social busy bee. I miss the boy who seems at times to be reasonable beyond his age; the one who brought his compassion with him from another life; and the one whose smile is practically glued to his face. I miss my son! And even though I know that the changes in his personality are temporary and superficial, I just want to see him lob balls at the tennis court and hear him tell me that "When I get bigger and learn how to play golf then I will teach you and daddy. Okay? It's not too hard." We live with the hard facts of the disease and the treatment everyday, but sometimes the less tangible stuff is what causes the heart to break.

So on to the hard facts. Rohan completed his first month of treatment this week. I am relieved to say that his body responded to chemo well. He has less that .01% leukemia cells or 'minimal residual disease' in his body. So what does this mean? For one thing, he is off of the steroids for awhile (giving me hope that any day my son will be returned to me). Second, Rohan can move on to the next phase of treatment. We were waiting for the results of 'Day 29' since this journey began. And though I was anxious about it, I didn't realize how much until we got the good news. The sense of relief that he had overcome a big hurdle was deep.

Thanks to all of you for your prayers and support this past month and in the months to come.