The Brands: Thanksgiving

Monday, October 11, 2010

Thanksgiving

It is Thanksgiving Day, and newly returned from camping, we sat down as a family and named (made a thought web, for teacher-types out there) our thanks. We tried to prompt the kids to think of things that have happened in this past year, since last Thanksgiving, but their memories seem to be confined to the past 3 days. Ah well.

Our intent in generating this list is to keep in mind the ways we are blessed. These blessings can take the edge off when things are tough. We're sharing our list, because somehow that feels like the thing to do. Sometimes lists or stories like these (like Christmas letters) can read like a list of accomplishments, and so people tend to go glassy-eyed when reading. If you go glassy-eyed when you read our list, at least hopefully you might be prompted to generate your own list.

Here's our list, in no particular order.
-gymnastics
-family
-running shoes
-a bucket tractor
-drawing pictures
-new cousins Hart and Julia
-gardens and harvests
-a new bathroom
-childcare
-people who care for our children
-financial support
-food
-drawing pictures
-learning
-laundry done
-work
-birdies
-a piano, and the gift of music to our family
-soccer, Crown Point Youth Soccer
-ball hockey and the Underdogs slo-pitch team
-fish tanks
-cameras
-ideas and new thoughts
-stuffed kitty cats and blankies
-Disney-Pixar's Cars (Lightning McQueen) (listed by the parents, not the kids)
-the good stuff, like beer and nachos and people to share them with
-hikes and bike rides
-camping
-Grandparents
-blogs
-a lively church
-a camping trailer
-John Deere
-a new computer
-meals provided
-the right hospital
-sunflowers and wildflowers
-trees revealing their true colours

The list isn't done, but it's done for now. Blessed Thanksgiving. God is good.

-Spontaneous affection

2 comments:

d said...: So glad you got away too! We are thankful for you guys, and we hope this week is a good one - less exciting than last week. Janneke says hi. She's typing this with me.

spot

p.s. the word verification is "bakin" right now. Gotta love that word for us, eh? Only family understands the logic behind bakin' cookies at 10 at night.; October 11, 2010 at 11:07 PM
anya genevieve said...: what a beautiful picture of the kids!! i'm so glad that hte port is free of clots; you had a weekend away camping - beautiful weather mostly too eh?! and just want to thank you for sharing your list with us... yeah it definetly was a glassy-eyed list; and brought back many reminders to me of times when i've made my 'Thanks' lists... it can do wonders for prespection can't it?? Thanks for sharing your list; and thanks for letting us all into your lives and for sharing the incredible Courage, Strength, Faith and Grace that your family shows every single day. God Bless, anya; October 12, 2010 at 2:17 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.