Day 5

My sister Donna has been so great here in Vancouver. She brings us food, gave me her car to use, brings special stuff for Sam and has gone out of her way to care for us all week long - what would we do without this support here in Vancouver. Ger's mom and dad have sure helped too. The Corn Chowder is still Sam's favorite meal... one more serving to go!

Last night I flipped open my devotional book by Grace Fox and the entry which was next was entitled, "Thankful Heart." It was very good and the Inward Glance asked to name 10 things this day I was thankful for. This was timely as Ger and I had discussed that we need to do this each evening together. Here was what I was thanking God for:

1. Sam was feeling his best since last Sunday.

2. He had his longest walk since we got here - 5 minutes which was plenty for him

3. I was able to read all the emails that were sent to us in the past 5 days and was so very moved by your words of encouragement, prayers, offers of help, and your friendship

4. For the incredible nurse he's had for the past 3 days ...Jess!

5. That Children's Hospital is located in Vancouver where we have family and a few friends so we don't feel alone or lonely

6. Mel and LaDonna are living with our girls in our home, and taking care of Lucy too!

7. For the "Cleaning Chicks" who worked their magic in our home yesterday. Thanks Anita and Sharon! K8 said it was "sparkling clean!"

8. For the incredible amount of research that has been done with ALL, and that we are in the best center possible for this. The Fundraising event held in Vancouver this coming weekend for Children's Hospital has given me a whole new perspective!

9. For all of you reading this blog who are talking to God with us and on behalf of our Sammy Boy!

10. For the opportunity we had to go to Disney World with our family, the Karpenkos and the Uys this past spring break. We were being very encouraged, the last few years by a woman who was on our case to take a trip so our kids could experience this wonderland adventure. Although it was challenging to make it happen, we look back and see how perfectly timed it was. Our children absolutely loved it and Sam commented on the way home that it was the best spring break he had ever had. Those memories are now even sweeter and more precious. He was strong, healthy and showed no signs or hints of what was brewing in his body.

At 11:37 am, three beautiful nurses came in completely gowned up, and masked up, and gave Sam 3 shots of his most recent chemotherapy - PEG asparaginase. They count to three and then all inject at the same time into his thighs. He watched and smiled through the whole ordeal (more than his mom could do who had to sit down and close her eyes). The nurse said, "Wow, I've done alot of these and I've never seen a kid smile through it before..." Sam is amazing.

At about 2pm we switched rooms. We'd asked people to pray that we could just stay in the room we had already set up but in the end, we moved and this room is bigger, quieter and better!

This evening we spent about an hour in another teaching session about what to expect over the next month of treatment and beyond. This is such a big, big project. The more we learn, the more we realize just how much we are going to have to pull together in order to make this treatment happen. The binder says, "This is not a sprint, it is a marathon... pace yourself." We are beginning to understand what this means...

Debbie and I had briefly talked about how this was going to be a challenge traveling back and forth to PG from Children's Hospital. There are going to be a lot of trips for the 7 months that Sam is in the intense treatment stage because there will be times we will need to spell each other off in Sam's care. In the maintenance stage, we have to make regular trips for checkups. God answered a huge prayer for us today when someone contacted us to say that they would help us with all our transportation costs during Sam's 1095 Day treatment for A.L.L. We can't say how much it means to us to have so many people generously giving their support to help us with this huge project. This is going to take the village... thank you...



Thanks for all your thoughts and prayers. So far, the doctors are pleased with the way Sam is responding to the treatments even though his blood counts are so low.

Ger and Deb