The Boys

Kien is only 15 months old, so of course, he has no understanding of what is going on. But I'm sad that I can't carry him around anymore at this point. It's been a few weeks now since I've been able to. Fortunately, I can still sit to hold him, including feeding him a bottle. :)


Kevin, on the other hand, is 4 years old. He has known for months that my back has been in pain. And he has continually prayed about it. He has also been aware that it has gotten worse. Last week, we opted for my mom to stay home with the boys while we went to church, so Kevin wouldn't be exposed to the emotion that would surely take place that morning -- the first morning at church after finding out about my cancer. That was definitely for the best. His teachers at preschool also know, but they've done a great job of not talking about it in front of him. His teachers have even prayed for me during their morning prayer time before the kids arrive in the morning. But over the course of the week, Kevin seems to be more aware of things. People have come to visit Mommy and Daddy and to pray with us, while Grandma takes the boys upstairs or outside. And Mommy and Daddy (and Grandpa) have gone to many appointments during the course of the week. So Kevin has been becoming aware that Mommy isn't feeling well. Lately, he usually interjects prayers of his own at dinnertime. And this week, his prayer has usually been, "Thank you for creating us. Thank you for creating Mommy. Please help Mommy get better soon."

In the past couple days, I've been gradually talking to him about things a little more, saying that I have to see doctors to help me get better. Each time I mention going to a doctor, he gets very concerned that I'm going to have a shot. And he cried when he saw my bandage from the IV the other day. He's such a sweet little boy! Then this morning, I decided it was time to tell him I'm going to be having surgery. He knows about surgery, because he had eye surgery in January. He was pretty shocked when I first told him. He cried and said, "No!" But I reminded him that his doctor fixed his eye, and that the doctor is going to make me better too. After we talked this through, he seemed much more ok with the idea. I just wanted to be sure he heard it from me this morning before we went to church and he heard it from someone else. He has now asked me a couple times today when I'll be having surgery and how many more days it will be. I have not yet though told him that I will be staying in the hospital for a few days. That is a new concept to him, and he will NOT be happy about that one at all. So we need to wait to introduce these things gradually. In the meantime, he's certainly happy to have Grandma here taking care of him. :)

This afternoon, I got an email from a friend who taught Kevin's class at church this morning. She said, "He quickly brought his request to pray for your back and your surgery when I asked for prayer requests." What a precious boy!!