Confections for Cats, A Journey through Sarcoma is a chronicle of my son's journey through Desmoplastic Small Round Cell Sarcoma. It is intended to educate and inspire by using Mathew’s thoughts and feelings, dreams and fears through a variety of mediums; art, music, and writing. Through factual experience, what we learned and what we wish we had known. Mathew’s desire was to give meaning to his journey and in the process help anyone else on a similar path. The last possible explanation in my mind for my son’s health problems was cancer. Even the words “the scan shows a large mass” didn’t lead me to conclude cancer and when the cancer diagnosis was confirmed, I still wasn’t prepared. My Mother is a breast cancer survivor and my sister Elizabeth passed away three years after her breast cancer diagnosis. I thought I knew what cancer treatment and living with cancer looked like, but none of us could imagine or be prepared for how all semblance of routine and normalcy had alre...
Mathew always had awesome hair. Rock and roll hair. When he first started treatment, they shaved his head. He still wasn't bald, plus it represented the beginning of treatment. It was temporary until the cancer was gone and he was well again. Before treatment started, Mathew was so sick I wondered how he would accept the change. He hadn't wanted anyone seeing him when he was first hospitalized. But I was surprised how quickly he adjusted to the new look. Then when treatment started and his hair fell out it coincided with the tumor responding to the chemo, so overall he looked so much better than he had for a long time. Less bloated and healthier color. I was so happy he was responding to the treatment, that being bald didn't bother me. I'm a Mom, I thought he looked terrific. Mathew was dismayed over the bald look at first. It made him appear younger, and since he also lost his eyebrows and eyelashes, he referred to it as that ...