October 19,2008

Sam and I arrived home this morning after a very worthwhile trip. On Thursday we arrived at BC Children's hospital at 10:30 a.m. with my sister Donna. Sam was signed in, accessed, and then we waited in the day room playing cards. Dr. Bond came to get Sam for an examination and a chance to review our last month. Here is a list of the things Dr. Bond was very pleased about.

1. Most of the time, Sam is feeling well, during this part of his protocol, which is usually very difficult.
2. Sam has no mouth or other body sores.
3. Sam's spirits are usually positive.
4. Sam has consistently been attending school.
5. Sam's energy is still fairly good and most days he is participating in P.E.
6. Sam has not been hospitalized for fevers which require 10 days of antibiotics.
7. Sam has still not lost ALL his hair. Dr. Bond insisted that he would lose it all during the next phase of his protocol. (But we have been hearing about his hair loss since the first week of treatments...we'll believe it when we see it.)
8. Sam has joined the grade 6/7 boys volleyball team and hopes to continue playing.
9. Sam has been tolerating the increase of chemo each week so far. He had 350 mg. at Children's on Thursday.
10. Dr. Bond wrote in his charts..."Sam is doing very well."

With all the positive support we have received, for the many prayers that travel straight to our heavenly Father for Sam, and for the awesome health professionals involved in Sam's care, we are so very thankful. We are experiencing answers to prayers and are surprised by how loving and caring God's family is...even strangers. I'll leave that story for later on in the week.

I was able to ask Dr. Bond questions about what next month would look like when Sam enters the "Delayed Intensification" phase. It's so very helpful for me to prepare myself and Sam for what might happen, things to watch for and what to do if these things happen. Treatments have been going very well here in P.G. on our children's ward but I look forward to checking in with our team at Children's once a month as well.

Sam's nurse, Alison, came to get us and prepare him for his spinal. Sam needed more conscious sedation as he was very apprehensive after what happened last month. With Dr. Lucy back from her holidays, everything went extremely well and Sam did not remember, nor feel any pain from the procedure. When he awoke he immediately asked for food and something to drink. He had not eaten since dinner the night before and it was now 1:30 p.m. He then received vincristine and methotrexate. We watched part of a movie that had us all laughing and at 2:45 he was deaccessed. We walked down the hall and headed straight to cardiology for his echo cardiogram. Ger's mom and dad arrived just then and Sam asked if Dr. Grandpa could come in for the procedure as well. We were quite fascinated with the sonogram views of his heart and its surroundings. We had a great technician that gave us a tour of what we were seeing on screen.

While I was picking up Sam's new prescriptions he got sick, but that was the only time while we were in Vancouver. We kept on top of the anti nausea pills around the clock until today, thinking it had passed...not quite as we found out this evening!

The highlights of our time in Vancouver was spending time with family and friends. Sam and I were invited to watch his friend, Nathan, motor cross racing on Saturday, which was a blast. We had two family dinners, one with Ger's folks and one with my dad, Donna's family, my nephew Dustin, our friend Lina, and a Japanese student Donna met at Curves the night before. It was an awesome evening with much conversation, laughter, great food, and wonderful people. We both really enjoyed the extra time we spent in Vancouver and we arrived back in Prince George in time for church on Sunday morning.

When Sam arrived home he was surprised to find that his dad and his sisters had been very busy. His room had been repainted, rearranged, and decorated with some new photos. I don't think it was painted since the house was built in 1991...so it was time. Ger and K8 were busy making it all happen during a tournament volleyball weekend!


That was our long weekend! I'm feeling refreshed, had my sister fix, and ready for another full week.

Good night,
Debbie