Last Tuesday was another clinic day. Since everyone was off for vacation Ryley really wanted to go with Karlee to the clinic. He had never seen her get accessed and he really wanted to see pink pee. So about 8am on Tuesday morning we all headed up North. Mom, Karlee and Ryley were going to go to clinic day and Dad was going to run all over the place to deliver popcorn and do some other running around. Ryley continued to show his phobia of needles and didn’t want to watch Karlee get accessed (he hid under the table). For a clinic day it went pretty quick and Karlee’s counts are still going good. When Dad showed up there was a huge pile of crafts they had been working on and Karlee was just getting the last of her chemotherapy drip. After the clinic we headed to the Kids Cancer Care Foundation office to deliver some slippers and scrubbies to one of the staff.Karlee has been in a pretty stubborn mood for the past few days. She doesn’t want to listen and seems to take great joy in bugging everyone around. This is probably due to the steroids that she was on and will be starting on again on Wednesday. We have been told that when they are on this one week on, one week off pattern it is like they don’t really go off them. By the time they clear their system they are right back on them and the effects kick in right away. December 29th should is her last day on them for this go round so hopefully she will return to normal a week or so after that.
Wednesday morning we headed downtown to deliver the last of the popcorn and for Mom and Dad to give blood. Karlee has done excellent only needing one blood transfusion since this journey started, but knowing so many kids who regularly need blood makes it more important for us to donate when we can. As always I would encourage everyone who is eligible to donate… it is a quick and painless process and they feed you pretty good afterwards.
Thursday we went skating as a family for the first time this year. We went over the the Millrise community rink and Karlee did excellent. Ryley had a great time getting into a pickup game with a couple of other kids and Mom even got her skates on.
Christmas eve was another busy day. In the morning we noticed that Karlee wasn’t looking too good. She was very white and had large red circles under her eyes. The last time she looked like that she ended up getting a blood transfusion. We called up to our primary nurse and chatted with her to see what we should do. She agreed with us that we really didn’t want to go to the hospital on Christmas Eve if we could avoid it. She suggested that instead of coming in we just monitor her and call if there are any problems.
We started off with a little house cleaning and then headed over to the Shawnessy rink for a little more skating. This time they were flooding the rink so it took a little while to be able to skate, but Karlee still did really good and Ryley liked playing shinny and practicing some of his skills. After that we had to run out and pick up Grandma’s Christmas present – nothing like leaving it to the last minute. When we got home we checked out the time of Ryley’s hockey game and found out we were running very late. Ryley quickly got his equipment on while the rest of us got dressed for church. They kids had a good game against a team that will now be in our division. The game went much better than most of the games we have played with our goalie getting his first shutout and the kids scoring a bunch of goals.
Right after the game we headed to Grandma’s church for the Christmas Eve service. Uncle Randy, Aunt Catherine and the boys were there too. In past years they have always had the kids dress up in costumes and be part of the service. This year they had them put some the nativity scene together. Not as exciting as past years, but still a good time. Afterwards we went to Grandma’s and had some Chinese food and then went home to open the kids Christmas Eve gifts. They always get to open PJs and books on Christmas Eve from Mom and Dad. Karlee then went to bed since she was tired and starting to melt down. The rest of us sat by the fire and read the Christmas Story and then Ryley went to bed too.
Christmas morning started a little earlier than we planned or would have liked. Ryley was awake about 5:30 and we told him to go back to bed until 7. Then Karlee was awake at 5:45 to go to the bathroom and then she went back to bed. Around 6 Jennifer sat up and asked, “Where is Karlee?” We quickly determined that Karlee was already downstairs so we got her back upstairs and opened stockings. We then headed downstairs to see what Santa had delivered to everyone. Santa was again good to all of us!
After opening gifts we headed over to Grandma’s for 9:15 or so to open gifts with the family. Again more great gifts and an excellent brunch. Randy, Catherine and the boys left shortly after brunch to spend some time with her family while we spent the day at Grandma’s. Ryley had fun playing with his Spy Gear and testing out his new snowboard while Karlee was mostly tired, but did have fun sledding. Mom captured all the action on her new camera (that actually focuses). This is the second year in a row that Mom has got a new camera for Christmas. The Nikon from last year didn’t take one good picture the whole year. Of course it was after we had it for a few weeks that we started reading the reviews and determined that it wasn’t the best camera. This year the Olympus was researched a little more thoroughly and the pictures so far have been excellent. Everett and Karlee spent a lot of time following Ryley around! Supper was excellent as always and afterwards we drove around and looked at a few Christmas lights.The steroids have definitely kicked in for the food intake. Karlee seems to want to eat, eat and eat now. Unfortunately (or fortunately) she is only eating small amounts each time, but wants to eat constantly. About 45 minutes before the turkey was done on Christmas Karlee was going to have a mental breakdown waiting for the food. We think the aromas and atmosphere just got to her and she really needed to eat.
Boxing Day is going to be relaxing this year. We have no plans to do any shopping this year and plan on staying at home and relaxing. Karlee is again looking pretty pale and is tired, but we are hoping to make it through the weekend prior to having to take her to the hospital. Tonight we are going to Seussical the Musical with tickets from the KCCFA.We hope you all had a great Christmas and enjoyed spending time with friends and family.
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