The Brands: Our Camping Trip (Caleb)

Wednesday, August 11, 2010

Our Camping Trip (Caleb)

These are my shoes. Anya found them for me.

That's our stroller. We were at camping and we were going on a trail to find the dam.

My red truck goes really fast by itself. And then we change its batteries. It's not a remote control one, it's a button one.

This is a post with a house on top of it with sticks in it.

We went to the pool at camping. Daddy has a funny face on him and Nella was swimming in her lifejacket. I like a beach better than a pool. I like sand.

My family went camping. We borrowed Uncle Ralph and Aunt Sara's camper. Uncle Ralph and Aunt Sara said we can hang on to it for a few more times. We played in the camper at camping, and we had hotdogs in the camper. I had a hotdog and Nella had a hotdog in the camper. The bathroom at camping is not a normal bathroom, it's not a flush one.

3 comments:

anya genevieve said...: hey Caleb, sounds like you had a good time camping!! I'm really glad you like your orange crocs; mine are blue but now you've got me wanting to buy some orange ones for myself!! And I like water with sand way better than pools myself... even though its messier I think its more fun and its a good way to see God's creation - hope to see more of your pictures soon and to see you and your sisters and mom and dad soon too!! love ya buddy! anya xoxo (say hi to your family!); August 11, 2010 at 6:08 PM
Caroline Hughes said...: Hi Jess Tim Nella Aleah and especially hi to Caleb!

Just wanted you to know that we have loved reading your blog stories, and are really happy to hear you're feeling better Caleb. I also really like your bravery beads. You must be pretty brave to have sooooooo many of them!

Lauren and Tyler are my 'little' boys but they're big now, taller than their dad, Ron! They surprised us with a special birthday present, and rented kayaks with us in Toronto harbor and islands. I think you'd like kayaking... We saw lots of big boats and little sailboats and canoes, we watched the island airport planes taking off and landing and we paddled around the islands all day. We saw baby ducklings and turtles and a weasel! It was a really nice family day just like your camping trip last weekend.

Keep writing your stories on the blog Caleb! It's the best! Lots of love your Toronto cousins, Caroline and Ron and Lauren and Tyler.; August 15, 2010 at 11:30 AM
Anonymous said...: Caleb,
That's a funny picture of your dad!
Brenda in St. Catharines; August 22, 2010 at 9:35 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.