Sunday, October 2, 2022Tonight's picture was taken in October of 2005. Mattie was three years old and doing something he loved to do..... paint with his feet. That whole notion would NOT be up my alley, but apparently Mattie loved the sensation on his feet and the art work he could create. The beauty of Mattie was he was a naturally organized and neat kid. So if I told him not to leave the paint area and run around with paint all over his feet, he complied. When he was done with this activity, he would lift his arms up, signaling to me that he was ready for me to pick him up and bring him into the kitchen sink to clean up.
Quote of the day: A bad headache can destroy all plans for the day. ~ Rajesh
This morning I went to wake my dad up and his face looked distorted. He was very red, swollen, and had yellowish fluid seeping from his forehead. Below his eyes were sacs of fluid, making it hard for him to keep his eyes open. I got him showered, dressed, and downstairs for breakfast. I also contacted his doctor again. I did not do any exercises with my dad today, as I immediately gave him Benadryl after breakfast and placed an ice bag over his forehead and eyes for several hours. My dad has very sensitive skin. He got an insect bite on his forehead on Tuesday and I have been dealing with the consequences of that all week!
It was a rainy and depressing day. While my parents spent the day resting, I was working at my computer on a Power Point presentation that is due on Wednesday. I can't tell you how long it took me to put 25 slides together! I have never had to present on the impact of physical activity on children with cancer and how physical activity affects mental health. Mattie was an excellent case study and earlier in the week I did a literature search to see what research has been done on this topic to date. Ironically NOT much! There is a lot of research about the benefits of exercise for adults with cancer, but little for children, and even less on the psychosocial outcome of physical activity for children with cancer.
Here's an example of one of my presentation slides. In all reality I took so many photos of Mattie on his cancer journey that I practically have a photo to describe or illustrate just about any psychosocial concept!
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