Friday was an exciting day for everyone. Mom and Dad were making a presentation to the Kids Cancer Care Foundation of Alberta Board of Directors. We were sharing our journey so far and letting them know the impact the KCCFA and the ACH has had on our lives so far.
We were all up early as Grandma was coming over for just after 7 to take Karlee to her clinic day and to help Ryley get off to school. Mom and Dad were off to the Ranchman's Club downtown by 7:30. When we arrived about 8:15 we parked in the free underground parking (yes, there is still free parking in the downtown core, just don't ask what a membership at the club is worth or who you have to be to get one). We were directed to one of the rooms on the main floor. On the way in we met Christine McIvor (Ric's wife in case anyone was wondering) and Mike from the KCCFA. As the directors started coming in we were introduced to everyone. Everyone we met was incredible nice and genuine. Around 8:30 a continental breakfast was available and then we all headed into the meeting room to get ready. Once the last few stranglers arrived we started. They went around the table and everyone introduced themselves and gave us a little of their background on the board.
Just before 9 we started our presentation. Jennifer was a little emotional at the start, but everything went very well and we finished up around 9:25. We spent about 10 minutes answering questions and getting some very positive feedback on what we had to say. They were impressed with the "human" side of camp. They always hear about how far the bathroom needs to be from the door or where this building needs to go, but don't get to hear about the benefits the parents and kids get from going to camp. One fact we left out that I wish we had included was that Karlee was getting very close to needing a transfusion prior to camp (they had done the blood work and everything) with her counts being in the 70s. When we returned from camp her counts were the highest they had ever been; even higher than immediately after her transfusion. We presented Jack Perraton (Chairman of the Board) and Christine McIvor (President and CEO) with "Hope Stars" to thank them for everything they have done for us. Mike in turn presented us with some KCCFA gold ribbons and a beautiful blanket for taking time to come give them the presentation. We were on our way to the hospital by about 9:45.
Karlee and Grandma had left for the hospital about 8am, but ran into a huge traffic jam on Crowchild and didn't get there until almost 9:30. Karlee then proceeded to fall off the chair and upset herself. She then didn't want to get her port accessed until Mom got there. Karlee ended up not being accessed until almost 10:30 so that resulted in a delay in getting her fluids into her which resulted in a delay of getting her chemotherapy. She needs 2-4 hours of fluids before getting MTX through her port to help prevent possible side effects.
Dad picked Ryley up from school at noon and, since Dad had a vacation day, took Ryley to lunch. We had a great lunch and Ryley even finished his home reading. Around 3:00 Karlee and Mom got home from the hospital with Karlee all medicated and good for another 10 days.
Friday evening Ryley had a hockey practice in High River. While Ryley was playing hockey Mom and Karlee went swimming in the pool down there. The pool was a little cooler than Karlee was used to, but she seemed to have a good time.
Early Saturday morning Ryley was up vomiting. He didn't feel sick or anything, just seemed to want to vomit regularly and had an upset tummy. By about noon he was feeling much better. Saturday afternoon we finally got the last of the pool base taken down so we can again use our parking pad. This seemed to be important with winter coming soon.
Saturday afternoon and evening we had a team building event for Ryley's hockey team. One of the parents on his team owns Kart World just north of Chinook Centre. We all went there and rode go karts, played mini-golf and laser tag. Karlee and Ryley both drove the kids karts by themselves and had a great time. Ryley got in the bigger carts by himself later in the day and had a blast. Both kids rode in the 2 person karts with Mom and Dad and both said Dad went much faster. Everyone had a great time and we were home around 8pm so everyone was tired.
Sunday morning we took the kids swimming. We went to the Southland Leisure Centre and Karlee had a great time. She was laughing and giggling the whole time and really enjoyed herself. We are trying to get her out doing stuff like this now as Dad is thinking her great mood is about to go downhill. Her MTX dose is increasing every 10 days and she is getting closer to starting delayed intensification at the start of December. From talking to other people this phase is the hardest on the patients and they tend to be fairly sick and potentially in the hospital a fair bit.
Monday morning Dad and Ryley woke up feeling sick and Karlee had a bit of a cough. Hopefully this isn't something that is going to be with us for a while, but will be a quick 24 hour thing. We have a pretty busy week coming up if everyone can stay healthy. Tuesday Ryley has Beavers, Thursday night we have Ghouls Night Out at Heritage Park with the Beavers and Saturday the KCCFA is putting on the Halloween Howler at the ACH for the kids.
No comments:
Post a Comment