Ladies and gentlemen, we have had two weeks of nonstop excitement from birthday parties to sleepovers to Wii time to pool dates and, lo and behold, the tics are back!<\/p>\n
Introducing, the squeaky gulp. It is happiest when interrupting Stink\u2019s sentences at a rate of 20 times per minute, but it will make its appearance during quiet times, reading, chewing and teeth brushing.<\/p>\n
While it is doing its best to unnerve me \u2013 and trust me \u2013 it\u2019s doing a great job of it \u2013 I am hanging in there. I make no apologies for having my husband read bedtime stories to my little dude, wear ear plugs when needed, or just go for a walk (or 10) when I find myself losing it.<\/p>\n
I refer to\u00a0episodes like these as\u00a0\u201dSilver Bullet Denied\u201d, for while I had hoped that the Intuniv would just blast these suckers away all together, alas, such is not the case. It is what is.<\/p>\n
God, grant me the serenity to accept the tics I cannot change, change the tics I can, and have the wisdom to know the difference.<\/em><\/p>\n And really, although I\u2019m entitled to my pity party, I have so much to be grateful for. Just three hours earlier, my friend of 40 years asked me to visit her in the hospital.<\/p>\n \u201cWhat can I bring you?\u201d I asked, happy to finally have a chance to visit since her diagnosis two weeks ago.<\/p>\n \u201cBring your sharpest scissors,\u201d she asked.<\/p>\n \u201cUm \u2026 why?\u201d I asked, not thinking she was planning on doing anything drastic, but it sounded odd.<\/p>\n \u201cYou\u2019re giving me a haircut,\u201d she said. \u201cMy hair will be gone by the weekend anyway, so at least get it off my shoulders. It\u2019s so dry. I hate the clumps.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cNo problem!\u201d I said.<\/p>\n One hour later, and a few snips that lasted five minutes due to her increasing chemo-induced headaches, she\u00a0proudly sported a very short\u00a0flapper hair cut.<\/p>\n \u201cYou\u2019re like the Betty Paige of Leukemia,\u201d I quipped.<\/p>\n She\u00a0smiled and\u00a0said she was tired, but asked me to come back Thursday.<\/p>\n I\u00a0said I would and started to hug her goodbye.<\/p>\n She braced herself against the bed, and then I realized, \u201cOh, yeah.\u00a0I can\u2019t hug her. Her immune system is still too compromised.\u00a0You\u2019d think the surgical mask on my\u00a0face would remind me. But no.\u00a0Like thinking I can cure TS, I\u2019m a slow learner.\u201d<\/p>\n Moms and dads, a cancer ward is not fun, but if my friend can name her chemo pumps Penelope\u00a0and Kujo and dance on good days, we can get through TS. She will survive this \u2013 I\u00a0know she will — and so will we! And so will our kids!<\/p>\n