The Brands: Everyday Ordinary and Extraordinary things of life

Tuesday, July 13, 2010

Everyday Ordinary and Extraordinary things of life

Caleb shows off a hat made for him by cousins Megan, Katrina, and Mia

Sunday, at home, with our new bouncy ball. We had a really great weekend at home.

This is the hat that Caleb won for being brave for the IV nurse. It took him a few hours to be able to smile like this with the hat. This picture is for Heidi for her hard work with Caleb.

Thanks for the stickers, Micah! And thank you Disney Pixar for Lightning McQueen.

This is nice.

Life is rarely predictable. Yet we can somehow absorb what would otherwise be extraordinary events into everyday routine. If we try and take in everything all at once it can be too much to handle; the negative usually overwhelms the positive--that's human nature. When we take it a step at a time, we begin to notice more of the small blessings that we'd otherwise miss. The blessings are what make life bearable, and enjoyable. The small things become the big things.

Our small big things for the past 24 hours are many. Caleb was admitted to hospital, and they started antibiotics. He was able to have tylenol for his fever, and the fever broke sometime in the late afternoon. He is still taking antibiotics, but we haven't seen a fever since and we pray things stay that way. Caleb received blood yesterday and platelets today, and as a result he has much more energy and is far more pleasant to spend time with. Nella is particularly happy about that. Caleb had his bone marrow and lumbar procedures this morning, and we are back in our room watching some TV. Things are stable for now, after the worry of yesterday. Nella is here today, Tim brought her in the morning. She's been able to spend the day with us, and this is so good for all of us. Caleb appreciates her company (most of the time) and Nella is so happy to be with Caleb and I. The two of them are so close.

For now we will wait and watch, and pray for no fever.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...: Hey there Brands,
You amaze me! It's so good to hear that today was a better day for everyone. We will keep praying for strength for your family and for healing for Caleb. Thanks again for all the pictures!

Rachel; July 13, 2010 at 3:45 PM
anya genevieve said...: Hey Jess, so glad to read that Caleb's fever is down now and praying it will stay down and he'll get better quickly! what an adorable picture of him and Nella all snuggley...
made me picture Jesus' arms around them both... hugs and hang in theres, anya xoxo; July 13, 2010 at 4:07 PM
Unknown said...: Hey Brand family,
Keeping up to date through your blog postings and just wanted to let you know that you're thought of often and prayed for often throughout the day...whenever my mind wanders and wonders how things are going with you. Strength and peace and grace for each moment. Tell Caleb I'm waiting for the next time we can enjoy grinch stew and yummy sausages together at your house! We ate grinch stew at my house yesterday, but it just didn't taste the same as at your house. There must be a secret ingredient in the company! -alida; July 13, 2010 at 4:41 PM

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What is ALL?

Caleb has ALL, a form of leukemia. From what I understand (here's the dummy's guide to leukemia), leukemia means that something has gone wrong in blood cell production.

Blood is made up of 3 main parts, red blood cells, white blood cells, and platelets. The red blood cells do things like carry oxygen and nutrients through your body. The white blood cells fight infections and keep you healthy. The platelets glue it all together. (I did say this was the dummy's guide, remember.) Bone marrow is where these cells are made and released into the blood stream.

In Caleb's leukemia, his bone marrow is producing the 3 kinds of cells, but some of the white blood cells are being made wrong. These white blood cells are not maturing, they don't perform any function, and they aren't dying off. They take up space, and made it so that Caleb's red blood cells, functioning white cells, and platelets were having a hard time doing their jobs, and the production of the blasts was taking over. This is why before we were admitted to the hospital, Caleb was tired and pale. His blood just wasn't able to do what it should do.

Chemo treatments are designed to kill back the blasts. The only way to do this has a lot of extra damage (collateral damage) as well, which we see in side effects like hair loss and need for blood transfusions. Because chemo also knocks back regular blood cells, Caleb needs blood and platelet transfusions to replace what is being lost through treatment. White blood cells cannot be transfused, which is why he has nothing to fight off infections. We can't replace those ones. When the drugs are less intense and his body can gradually go back to doing what it should be doing, white blood cell production should return. We will have to be careful for a long time, though.

Hair loss occurs because cells that are replaced often in our body, like hair, can't keep up production. The cells die off faster than they are replaced. Other fast growing/often replaced cells are in our mouths and our nails. These are all affected.

I hope my dummy's guide to leukemia makes sense. It's the way I currently understand things. People in the health care profession may cringe at my descriptions, but hopefully it's accurate enough to explain what Caleb's going through. Maybe it will help you explain it to your kids. For now, we just say we're blasting blasts.

We are the Brands

We are three kids, two parents, and one dog. And too many fish. We love our city, time in the outdoors, playing soccer, camping, and making music. Our faith is central to our lives.

On June 23, pieces of what had previously been a concerning question about our son Caleb's health came together in a diagnosis of leukemia. It all happened rather quickly, after bringing him to the ER at McMaster hospital on Monday, June 21. We're absorbing this news, and trying to learn how to cope with leukemia and a young family. Our hearts are torn, but we feel the love of many.

This blog is intended to share with our loved ones and their loved ones what is happening for Caleb and the rest of us. I must say that it is possibly as much information-giving as it is therapeutic writing. Thank you for taking the time to share with us our experience. We find strength in numbers, and in shared experiences.