Thursday, January 8th

Finally they made it back. Sam and Debbie went to Vancouver last Sunday for Sam's spinal injection on Monday. Unfortunately when they went to the airport on Monday to fly home after Sam's procedure the airport was a mess and flights weren't leaving because of our weather here. They waited at the airport for 5 hours and on the plane for 2 more hours, then disembarked and went back to Donna's for the night in Burnaby. Tuesday and Wednesday weren't any better because Sam needed to be at the hospital for treatments on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday and camping out at the airport, while Sam was feeling extremely poorly, was not an option. Debbie cancelled their treatments here at our hospital and BC Children's continued on with his chemotherapy. They stayed until today and were fortunate to get on the 3:55 flight back to PG after Sam's treatment at the hosptial.

It was a strange week for Debbie down in Vancouver. She thought she was staying overnight and had to stay 5 days. She and Sam were getting kind of tired of the same clothes. Debbie sister is great...she changes her schedule, cancels her plans and goes with Debbie and Sam to the hospital every time they are in Vancouver. Once again they were so well taken care of.

Sam had a tough couple days... nauseated, low energy, getting hot and cold spells, vomiting, and very tired. He has a few days off and then on Monday he'll be at the hospital all day receiving 2 more chemo treatments...what a challenging week for him.

It's great to have them home again! During the Christmas holidays Sam was given some time off so he'd feel well, but now it's back to the schedule. It's going to be a tough few weeks. We are all looking forward to him beginning the Maintenace Phase and completing the toughest 8 months of his 3 1/2 year protocol. (Just a few weeks away!)

Thanks for checking in with us.

Ger