DAXTONS STORY BUT ITS GODS GLORY!!!

This is by far the hardest thing I’ve ever written and I pray I can fully glorify the Lord with sharing this testimony of the valley we walked through but came out on the other side as refined gold.

Twelve years ago today the worst nightmare of our lives was coming to an end.     

Almost two  years of TOMO Radiation and chemotherapy.    

Some of the chemos were injected into his spine, some administered intravenously and some administered orally.    All did and are still doing a number on his little body.   

Daxton fell off of a trampoline while playing outside with one of his brothers.    His brother had felt sorry for Daxton because he had stayed in constant trouble that day… which meant lots of spankings.   LOL

So to get him sidetracked his brother took him outside to play.  

I’ll never forget the look of horror on my sons (Dakota) face when he came running in the house to tell me something was wrong with Daxton and that he’d fallen off the trampoline and landed on his head.   

Turns out this accident was what saved his life.  

I knew immediately that he had a concussion and knew he needed medical attention.    So I took him to the hospital and this is where our lives got turned upside down and we received the news from our pediatrician and family friend that our son had a very large brain tumor.  

He was life flown to ACH to be prepped for brain surgery.   The Initial tumor was on his cerebellum (which is your balance and coordination) it was a large tumor which meant they had to remove a large portion of his brain.   They told us he might not ever walk again…. but God had another plan.   

Within only a few days after surgery Daxton was getting up on edge of bed, then getting out of bed with a very unsteady gait, and by the next day he was walking unassisted and the next day he was standing up to kick a ball.     It was quite impressive!    So impressive in fact that the couple of therapists that was coming in to rehab Dax had to call for some others to come and  witness this miracle. 

A couple weeks later we got to go home.   We didn’t have a pathology report back yet but they thought the tumor was benign as they said it “looked clean.”

Five weeks after surgery I began to notice some things going on that caused some concerns I contacted the dr and they immediately brought him in for a MRI.    Shane and I fought the worst kind of panic you can imagine!   The fear that gripped us was for real!!!    So was the diagnosis they came back with….. they told us that our sons tumor  had blasted all over his brain and spine… they said the tumors are so many that they can’t count them all.   We only thought we were in a nightmare up to this point….THIS was the nightmare!    Our son had metastatic brain and spine cancer.    

Daxton endured 32 rounds of radiation that was 360 degrees of his body from top of head to end of spine.  (Basically only thing not radiated was his legs)

TOMO radiation took his beautiful head of hair on day 10.   It made him sicker than I’d ever seen him and the pain was torture to watch my child endure… and yet he did it with a smile when he was able to have the energy to smile and without complaining.    

Still no pathology report because it couldn’t be identified.   It went to five different places before we got a pathology report back.     

The  Plan was to finish TOMO radiation and then begin chemo.    

Trying to take care of Daxtons needs while we also had three  other children at home that we needed to make sure they had as normal lives as possible during this nightmare became our goal.    Gods Grace is so sufficient and it abounds so great in a time of need such as this.    I can’t even begin to express the Grace He showed to our family.    

Even with Gods Grace I have to be honest and tell you that there were times I literally thought I would die of shear exhaustion…. I was physically, mentally, emotionally and spiritually absolutely exhausted but every time I’d reach a point that I thought I couldn’t take one more step then Gods Grace stepped in and He’d give me what I needed in that very moment.     

Our lives consisted of getting up at 3:00 or 3:30 in morning heading out to UAMS CARTI in Little Rock to get there in time for his 6:00 or 6:30 TOMO treatment.    Each treatment took 2 1/2 to 3 hours.     We’d then drive home and someone would stay with Dax while Shane and I went to our own jobs.   The evenings consisted of taking turns staying with Daxton while the other parent went to the other three children’s ballgames.   Getting in bed by 10:30…. 11:00…. 12:00 then repeat the next day.  

Some of the trips for radiation Shane wasn’t able to make it on due to work schedule so other family/friends would step in to help make sure we made it there and back safely.    

The Lord used that lit up cross just off the interstate in Ozark, Ar  more times than I can count.    The times in early morning  or middle of the night that I’d have to make that HORRIBLE trip to Little Rock alone and I’d be crying and telling the Lord I’m so exhausted I can’t do this again… I can’t watch my child suffer this way one more minute.   I’m so exhausted that I feel like I can’t even breathe… and then during my pity party each time I’d come upon that lit up cross in the hill and I could physically feel Gods arms holding me and telling me that through Him I could do anything.   He gently reminded me of His exhaustion He felt when He carried His cross up the hill and was crucified for my sins.    

 That lit up cross gave me the breath of fresh air that I needed to finish each trip.    

During the 32 rounds of TOMO we finally were given the pathology report 

of atypical teratoid rhabdoid tumor/tumors and they further told us that our son would probably not survive.   They also told us that no other person has ever survived this type of cancer and he said that if he did survive then he would write medical papers on Daxton because he’d be the first one to survive…..but God had another plan…..

We finished TOMO radiation on a Thursday.    They rescanned and said that it didn’t look like the tumors had grown but they were all still there and too numerous to count.     We were told to be back at Arkansas Children’s Hospital (ACH) that Monday to begin his chemo therapy treatments.    

So we went to church on Sunday like we always did when Daxton was able to.    While we were there the Lord led Shane and I to have Daxton anointed and prayed over.    So we did. 
  

The sound of hearing Pastor Jimmy Waldrop and the elders of the church cry out to God in Daxtons behalf and claimed healing and life over our child is a moment in time I will absolutely NEVER forget and it’s a moment God used to change me forever!!!!   My faith has never been the same since that then!!! 

We got to the hospital the next day and there were some issues I’d noticed with Daxton that concerned me and I spoke to the Oncologist about them.    He agreed it was probably the cancer progressing.     I requested another a MRI to be done.    He told me it didn’t need to be done that he could dose his chemo off of the MRI that was done the Thursday before.    I begged him and adamantly asked if he could pacify us and do this MRI and that we would pay for it out of pocket.     He reluctantly agreed.    Daxton started his first round of intense chemo and after he was taken to MRI.   

The next morning the oncologist walked in… his face was as white as the sheets on my sons hospital bed, and he was scratching his head.    He said “Mrs McBride, I don’t know how to tell you this….(my heart fell to my toes)…. but  your sons tumors are gone!!”

Now comes the hard part.    The part I will probably never understand until I get to heaven.   The part i have to still pray daily about so that I don’t let satan get any victory.   

I immediately began praising the Lord for the miracle He just did in my child!!!!!   Then I said to the dr that we could pack our bags and go home.    

The Drs entire demeanor changed and he said “what makes you think that?   What makes you think you can go  home?”

I replied with “because my son has been healed….his tumors are gone  and there’s no reason for chemo!”

He proceeded to tell me that if I took my child and left he would prosecute and have all of our children taken away for neglect.    He further asked what kind of mother I was to chance leaving one cancer cell in his body.   That if it came back again there was absolutely nothing they could do.     Fear gripped me again and I felt like we were forced to continue with chemo although my sons MULTIPLE tumors were completely gone because God chose to perform a miracle!   

So we continued the journey of hospital stays for days and weeks at a time, eight life flights from Mercy hospital to ACH, numerous trips to our local hospital for blood checks and blood/platelet transfusions, numerous port accesses and needle sticks, having to leave my other kids which was heart wrenching each time as I cared for the needs of the child that needed my full attention at this time.   

The journey of watching my child grow more and more sick.    Watching my former very active child no longer have the strength to get up on his own, no longer being able to turn his sick little body over when he would get sick and puke.     Our house that was once full of fun and laughter was now quiet and sad.    A journey that consisted of learning how to give my son TPN as this was now his only way to get nutrients.   

Yet through it all…. Daxton never complained and he managed to smile even in his sickest weakest moments.   A journey that meant bumping back each chemo session because Daxtons little body was too sick and weak to receive his next treatment.     

This was also a journey of meeting other families that we could pray with and for, a journey where the most awesome bunch of oncology nurses at ACH would make it a point to come into Daxtons room and sit for lengthy times to play uno with him or to simply come in and give him a hug and talk to him about his fake breathing dog that made every single hospital trip with us and sat at the end of his bed in its own dog bed…. because the dog was a reminder to Dax of his dog Reece that he had to leave at home each time.    A journey where our local nurses in the infusion center of our home town hospital went above and beyond to meet Daxtons needs and would make special trips to different places in hospital to access Daxtons port because they knew he was particular as to whom did it and that them being there eased his anxiety because they were a precious familiar face to him.  

Our prayer was that the Lord would be with Daxton during this time and that the Lord would meet our other children’s needs while momma had to be gone so much.    Shane was a trooper!   Driving back and forth from home to LR and making kids games and sometimes not really knowing what to tell the kids or even me as the moments would come when we didn’t know if Daxton would make it or not…but he was so strong for all of us when I know Shane was exhausted too.   

Our prayer was that this nightmare end and that the Lord would please allow us to be finished before going in to the next year… God is so faithful…… more faithful than I can ever even express!!

They scheduled Dax for his last round of chemo about a week and a half into the new year.   I asked them if they could change it and Kathryn the oncologists PA/Nurse (I’m really not even sure of her title…I just know she was awesome!) explained to us that it would be too dangerous for Dax because his counts were critically low and that the treatment could actually kill him.   We left in tears and of course with prayers.    Praying for this nightmare to end and that we could still finish up treatment before the new year but of course we wanted it to be safe for Dax.    We asked the Lord to one more time touch Daxtons body and to heal him to realign his cells and normalize his counts so that he could soon receive his last treatment.     God heard and God once again answered and He healed him overnight.    We had his blood counts checked (which was already scheduled) and we were prepared for another blood transfusion which we were always thankful to get because it made Daxton feel so much better within an hour of receiving…..but Gods plan was different this time.    God healed his body and all his counts were normal with no need of a transfusion.   Kathryn called and told us the news and at last minute scheduled for us to come to Little Rock….. God answered our prayers and Daxton received his last round of chemo on Dec 31, 2007!!!!    

We share Daxtons story daily for Gods glory.