August 27, 2008

Well lots has happened in just a few days. I'm happy to report that things have turned around in a lot of areas...sheesh that last blog was even hard for me to read again. On Monday morning, the 25th, we were anticipating staying in Vancouver for 11 more days, Karly flying back to PG and Sam and I bunking in with the Elliott's, who have graciously shared their home with us in Vancouver these past 6 weeks. The kids began moving downstairs into the guest rooms, Karly packing up her stuff, cleaning, and getting ready to migrate to the north. On Monday afternoon, having taken Sam's blood we got a call from our Primary Nurse, Monica, saying that his numbers were climbing slowly, but far too low to begin chemo again. She gave us the thumbs up to go home for a week off and return to Children's hospital for 2 days (Sept.4 & 5) to begin Sam's "Interim Maintenance Phase." To say that we were excited was an understatement. The kids didn't want to tell Ger about our change of plans and try to surprise him by coming home early. I thought it would be fun if we could pull it off.

We raced back to the house to continue packing and cleaning...you can sure gather a lot of things in three and a half months. Fortunately Ger had taken a full load when he went home, but in true Goertzen fashion, we kept too much for just a few weeks stay. Early Tuesday morning, my sister-in-law Noni, met me at my sisters so I could drop off her car and then she drove me to the shop where my car was being fixed. Thanks Noni, for coming to my rescue once again! The muffler and exhaust system was all repaired and we could converse and have the windows open once again. I was surprised I hadn't been stopped and ticketed by police for noise pollution!
We "stuffed" our junk into the car, jumped in and set off for 100 Mile House. We arrived about 7:30pm, checked into a hotel, grabbed some supper and called Ger. We told him we had picked up the car, were packing and cleaning and had just had a late dinner at Tim Horton's. Of course, we omitted the fact that we were in 100 Mile House and not in Vancouver. The next day we headed out early so we could surprise Ger at school before his all staff meeting in the afternoon. Sam didn't get sick once during those 2 days, which is truly amazing. Sam sat up front with me to keep me awake, chatting all the way and asking a million questions. I think he was just too excited to even think about getting sick. We arrived 12 minutes too late and the staff meeting had already begun. The kids thought it would be fun to let our dog, Lucy go in, he'd see her and come racing out of the room to say a quick hi and we'd go home and unpack and Ger would carry on with his day. We heard Ger leading the singing, we let Lucy go in the classroom where all the staff was meeting, and people started laughing when they saw the dog. Ger, who was busy concentrating on his new songs, thought they were laughing at him. He couldn't believe someone had let their dog run loose in the school. Our friend Michelle, was sitting closest to the door, grabbed Lucy and came out into the hallway. She was so shocked and surprised to see us. She gave us quick hugs and stepped back inside the room saying to the staff that there was some special visitors. We went in and said "SURPRISE!" Everyone said hi, and clapped for Sam, and Ger just stood at the front looking completely befuddled. It's not very often my husband is speechless and stunned. The kids thought it was great fun.

My back is getting a lot better. All the sitting and driving actually was good for it. I guess all the stretching and exercising I was doing aggravated it further. Thanks for your prayers.

It is GREAT to be home! Sam thought our time in Vancouver had passed quickly, but it felt like a very long haul to me! We've decided to have Sam treated in Prince George and fly back and forth to Vancouver when he needs lumbar punctures/spinals done, which is about once a month for now. Did I mention we are all excited to be home! We definitely are! I had best get back to unpacking and reorganizing...it looks as though a tornado hit in the inside of our house!

Bye for now, Debbie