Les Fountain's Cancer Experience

Monday 5/31/04 A Happy Memorial Day to you. Les and I survived our last inpatient stay at the hospital last week. We both had a relatively good time. My cousin, Debbie, and grandma came on Tuesday afternoon and stayed till after dinner, and then my cousin came again on Wednesday for lunch. My mom came on Wednesday evening and stayed with Les while my grandma took me out to dinner and a play (we saw South Pacific). On Thursday we were able to get discharged fairly early and then we went to visit my cousin, Matt, at his house. From there we met up with my sister and then my dad came over after we got home. Oh, and I think Gammie came over sometime that evening too. What a wave of support for Les as he approaches the final weeks of treatment. I finally got the photos developed from our events in May. The first event we attended was called Courageous Kids. It is sponsored by the American Cancer Society and is hosted by Sea World. It was held on Mother’s Day (5/9/04) and they pampe...

Tuesday, 5/25/04 We’re here at the hospital for Les’ last inpatient chemo stay. Les has this place wired. He validated the parking when we arrived and then checked himself in at clinic. All this while I was unloading the truck (he was within eyesight and in a safe environment). Let me clarify that this is not the last chemo Les will receive, just the last time we need to spend the night at the hospital. He will receive his last dose of chemo on June 9, 2004. Today Les received a cassette/CD of “Teddy Bear’s Bedtime Bible Stories” from the playroom. He wants you to know that he likes it and “it’s mine” (we’re still working on the sharing issues). Also at the playroom was the Home Depot man. He comes in once a month and brings little wood kits for the kids to make. Today Les was making a sailboat. He got started on it and then dismissed me and let me know that he didn’t need me there anymore. I obliged and am now updating the website. This month of May has been full of events. I’l...

Tuesday, 5/11/04 Well, it’s been a couple weeks since I updated. Life is GREAT at the Fountain house. Our spirits are up and we are counting the days until Les’ final chemo treatment. We start our last round of chemo the day after Memorial Day, and we’re looking at June 9, 2004 as being his last dose of chemo (outpatient). It’s hard to say what will happen after chemo because every kid is different. I am assuming his appetite will come back, but I don’t know exactly when or how fast. His hair is already coming back (it’s even fuller now than these photos show) except for the lower section on the back of his head where the higher doses of radiation were concentrated (it still might come back, but we just don’t know). His physical muscle control and strength should improve, but I don’t know how quickly. As you can tell, there are still many uncertainties we will have to go through, but at least they are all positive and uplifting uncertainties. Let me go back and recap a bit of last m...