Wednesday, February 23, 2011

A whole handful


Caleb is now a whole handful!  He celebrated his 5th birthday yesterday!  What a day!  It didn't seem, outwardly, to be any different from any other birthday he's had--I still forgot to get candles ahead of time (he blew out some tea lights and a lovely fragrant soy candle) and we scrambled to get a birthday present in time (a fish, which he promptly named "Tammy")--but it was a bittersweet day.  I suppose it goes without saying that birthdays are often a time to reflect.  This time the reflecting was that much more difficult. 

Last year at this time we had no idea what we were headed for.  Caleb actually was already strangely sick at this time last year.  He picked up a cold sore virus that lasted for a week, followed by the chicken pox, for which we had vaccinated him--he just seemed more sick than usual.  The doctors tell me that because his leukemia is acute (gets bad quickly) it's not likely that those were signs of what was to come, but I'm a mom, and so I'm going to think that way anyway.  I feel like there was something wrong from this time last year up until we received a diagnosis in June.  It's difficult to journey in our minds from last years birthday to this year.  These are times that we pray for grace to deal with our memories.

We had clinic yesterday for Caleb's birthday as well.  While chatting with the parking staff in Mac's basement garage, I remarked that it was five years ago that we arrived at the hospital and Caleb was born here.  That made me feel lousy, thinking how I didn't think then that we'd be back at the hospital five years later dealing with leukemia.  No parent thinks that.   Again, these are times that we pray for grace to deal with our memories.

We have so much to celebrate, though.  Caleb is 5!  Five is a big birthday!  It's awesome to celebrate another year.  We had a celebratory weekend away with friends this past weekend.  Thanks to the Ontario government, we have a long weekend in February! 


Caleb and Nella got to try out their cross-country skis.  They did remarkably well, I think it's in their blood :)


Caleb and his friend Anna learned how to steer the GT sno-racer down the hill.  A little nerve-wracking for mom to watch the 4 year old on blood thinners careen down the hill, but the kids had a wonderful time.  It was actually a gentle slope on rather slow sliding conditions, so I didn't worry too much. (after refusing to allow him to go down the steep, tree-lined run made by the older kids).



Tim and Caleb had a great time snowmobiling.  I'm not sure who liked it more...

 
The classic cross-country skiing picture.  I'm so glad my kids get this chance to enjoy the out-doors.  I'm thankful for the health we enjoy and the friendships we have.  Thank you for your prayers for us.  We still need them.  

Posted by Picasa

Friday, February 11, 2011

I don't want to re-live yesterday

Deep thoughts about life? How about deep thoughts about food. These were Caleb's words today while selecting just what he should be eating at one of his many meals through the day. "I had peanut butter on crackers yesterday. I don't want to re-live yesterday."

It's steroids week again!  This week seems much like the others: Caleb is tired, cries and is sad for little reason, loses his temper over simple tasks, and is HUNGRY yet extremely picky about food.  He's doing great.  Only one more day, and then withdrawal, and then hopefully everything can return to new normal for a while.  After the last round, with the flu and all, we're hoping for a more ordinary round this time.  We've had no more flu since the intitial bout last week, although we've had to go in isolation when we go to clinic, just in case.  Hopefully next week we can interact with our friends again!

Caleb threw up from chemo this week, which wasn't fun at all, but we realize that some people are sick every time, and multiple times.  We must count our blessings.  The nurses were not concerned, likely because they see it all the time!  Caleb also has a rash around his port, but it's not concerning either.  Except that it's frustrating to me: it's from when we removed the "sticky" that the Emerg nurses put over Caleb's port to keep him accessed.  I asked (twice) for "adhesive remover" to help pull off the very sticky window bandage but was told that alcohol wipes would be sufficient.  They weren't.  Caleb's skin is healing, and the rash doesn't bother him physically.  It just reminds me to stick to my guns a little stronger!

Big changes in Brand-land this week: I returned to full time work and Tim is settling into being a stay-at-home-dad!  Over Christmas, Tim and I realized that we needed to make a change in how we do things.  Looking at another season of long landscaping days and seasonal work was daunting, and we discovered how exhausted we both were.  After a conversation with a friend over New Year's eve, we realized that the best option for our family for right now would be for me to find work and Tim to stay home with the kids most days.  God completely opened doors for us in this circumstance; it would be hard to ignore His leading in how everything has fallen into place!  I'm working weekdays, flexible days with some evenings, and Tim is home.  The schedule for me is such that I can continue to take Caleb on clinic trips, and Tim and I can share more of the responsibility for care than we used to.  We are so thankful for this opportunity!

Oh, and if you're interested in learning more about chemo and cancer in an interactive and exciting way, click on Captain Chemo for some games!

Wednesday, February 2, 2011

Tis the season


Caleb spent some time at his friend Kristin's house. It was a withdrawal day from steroids, and so he was quite tired. Kristin joined him on the couch for a nap.

We're hopefully recovering from the flu, yet again, in our house. This time Caleb had it, though. We spent Monday night at Emerg at Mac with Caleb. He ran a fever on Monday night, a fever that broke on the way to the hospital. It probably all worked out the best way it could have, because we went the hospital, got Caleb's counts, did a number of other tests and an X-ray, but we did manage to go home again instead of being admitted (that took a little bit of convincing!). One of the tests was a nasal swab, which revealed that Caleb has Influenza A. It's interesting to actually know for certain whether or not you have the flu or something else. Protocol for treating kids with cancer who have the flu is to give them an anti-viral, which we started today. Anti-virals are supposed to start within the first 2 days, so I'm not sure we've taken it in time, but hopefully it's helpful. Caleb doesn't really have many symptoms, just a lingering bad cough that I hope will heal soon! He has coughed so hard he's triggered his gag reflex--do you need to know that he threw up in my shoe? I didn't have a bowl handy!

Chemo has gone ahead as scheduled, despite the flu. We've been isolated for our clinic trips--that means we wear a mask and go straight to a room and stay there until we're done. Extra precautions are taken by the nurses who care for us so that the flu isn't transferred. We missed most of our sleep on Monday night, so being isolated meant that Tuesday Caleb slept through most of clinic, and today was relatively quick, although we had to return to the hospital to get a prescription for Tamiflu (the anti-viral).

We're tired, but thankful. It's been a ride, but glad that we're all reasonably healthy. We've got great friends, 3 of whom showed up with spicy pizza for supper tonight. Tim's had a lot of work to do, clearing all of this snow. Hopefully tomorrow we can enjoy some of it!
Posted by Picasa