October 6, 2008

Good Morning,

We have all been enjoying the beautiful, sunny, colorful fall days this past month. I can't remember having a warm fall like this for many years. It has been so breath taking to walk, bike, and run through the paths across the street from our house. Lucy loves her daily walks and runs and still finds many wild blueberries to munch on. It's so funny to see her dash into the plentiful patches, her tail wagging furiously, and her mouth trying to nip off the bunches of berries. I've noticed she's not the only dog to do this!


Sam has had a strange week. On Monday he began experiencing "foot drop" on one of his legs and foot. He was walking abnormally and his foot was slapping as he walked. His leg was very sore and we later learned that this is one of the side effects of the drug called vincristine he is on. On Tuesday he had terrible stomach pain. Then on Saturday the nausea and vomiting began and Sunday afternoon and evening he was not well at all. Today he is home sleeping and resting after a tough night.

I called the hospital this morning as we were scheduled for more chemo today. We are to go in earlier today, have the foot drop assessed, physiotherapy treatment for that, and have the paediatrician examine him. They may need to change the dosage of his chemo today. He is on a protocol whereby they increase the chemo each week until his body cannot tolerate it or he has too many adverse side effects. It has been difficult for Ger and I to see him have to endure these new symptoms and have him feeling poorly again. Up until yesterday he was handling it all well, going to school, walked half of the school's fundraising walkathon distance on Friday afternoon, came and watched all the volleyball games in K8's and Karly's volleyball tournament on Friday and Saturday, and adjusted to the weird foot and leg thing.

Last week the children's ward gave Sam and us tickets to go watch the Cougar's hockey game on Saturday night. We were all looking forward to going after the girls came in 2nd in the final game of their tournament. Sam got sick in the parking lot as we were heading into the CN Center, but he still wanted to continue on with the evening. While we were delayed by that and having to wait in line to pick up the tickets, the Cougars scored 3 goals in the first ten minutes of the game, which we missed. We did hear the roar of the crowd as we waited in line. We got to our seats in time to see 2 of the biggest fights of the evening. Some players were promptly kicked out of the game! We lasted most of the evening, but Sam started feeling too tired and was chilled through and through so we left 10 minutes before the game ended. It's amazing to see him try to carry on even when he's not feeling his best.
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The Cedars staff are heading to Abbotsford for their annual Christian Teachers Professional Development Conference. There is no school for the students this Wednesday, Thursday and Friday. Ger will be gone for these days, K8 has been asked to work out at Ness Lake Bible Camp for 2 of those days, and Sam can recuperate without missing a lot of school work. Karly and I, along with Sam will find things to do at home or close to home.

As we reflect on this Thanksgiving season, we have so much to be thankful for. We look back on these last 5 months and see God's faithfulness, goodness, mercy, comfort, and love. We have been awed and humbled by so many kindnesses, prayers, thoughtful and practical help, encouragement, and fianancial support. We appreciate you so much for sharing this journey with us...and for your constant love and concern for our very special Sammy boy! We know that God will carry us through Sam's tough days and we will continue to experience joy in the midst of all this.

With a heart full of thanks,
Debbie