Lovingheart

LP this morning.  Smooth process.  When we went down to the ‘sedation room’ there was a little boy still in clinic who was whining because he was hungry.  It is hard not being able to eat before procedure and the younger ones don't understand why they are being denied food.  Last time around there was a nurse just back from her own cancer treatment and she had a renewed appreciation for what they go through. I thought they often let the youngers go earlier but Marlon was not made to wait longer. Speaking with someone that works on the ward and heard there have been several new cancer patients in the past month.  Four that are quite young.  I also heard that the blina is quite widely used now.  Back when Marlon was first diagnosed it was still in trial phase.  Good results so it is used in various cancer treatments. Once on the ward, they moved towards restarting the blina.  A couple of changes this time around.  Positive ones. The conten...

Quiet day.  Sort of.  Knowing that Marlon will be admitted to hospital for a couple of days allows me to try to get as much done as I can in preparation.  The last couple of LPs Marlon has had have been pretty rough for a week or so with headaches and feeling low.  He doesn't expect much from the blina being reattached other than the inconvenience and a compounded low feeling. In general, he feels worse in the hospital. Picked some wild strawberries today. Yum

Today was a good day.  Weather was nice, Father's day, and dinner at my sister's.  Marlon and his brother rushed off before most others ate to go watch HaHa Halton, an improv group that P has been a part of with an entertaining show. My sister's dog is getting older and it was funny to watch her.  She spends a lot of time, in different places of the property, barking at some thing or other.  A sweet dog but she likes to bark.  Luckily their neighbours aren't too close and it seems her bark is not as loud as it was in her prime. Her peonies are in full bloom.  The bushes around where we live are bursting and only just starting to open.  The plant on the top left is wild rose which is an invasive species.  Beautiful big bush, with a faint sweet smell.  

When Marlon was visiting with his school friend, he learned his friends were going for bike rides during lunch break.  He went for a bike ride today as well as his walks.  Not a long ride but he was pleased with the result.  His legs were sore but he made it. He is working on one school subject and is waiting to hear about other ones.  The way he preferred to do it when homeschooling was one subject at a time.  Finishing the year's math work before starting on English.  Obviously in school for grade 9, he didn't have the choice.  Now that the next semester will be online, he is sayng he might like to do one subject at a time.  A year ago today, P graduated from UofG.  Mechanical engineering.  An emotional day

It's weird the way things are.  I can forget what we are dealing with.  A day at home, Marlon's energy levels are good, and he's feeling fine.  Then I remember that he still has his chemo drugs to take.  Right. He went to a friend's house today and they enjoyed their talks and hanging out.  He was happy to have that time but he gets to hear what he's missing at school and as much as he doesn't want to be there, he misses not being a part of it. Next Wednesday, we have a zoom call scheduled.  Still no word on the donor but I am assuming it is not one of Marlon's siblings otherwise I imagine they would have heard.  I took several videos from a good thunderstorm last year.  The sky, the lightning.  Such beauty

More dental work is done.  Pretty smooth process.  No complaints about his mouth. I always believed Marlon has a low tolerance to pain but obviously I don't know.  He has been through suffering with symptoms and then the treatment. I have taken a few quills out of Pan.  Ones that were missed.  If I can get a hold of them it is definitely better I take them out.  Another trip to the vet and he would go in fighting.  Some ask if he has learned his lesson and I don't think so.  If he saw another porcupine he would not hesitate to chase it.  Another special moon 

I suggested to Marlon that he could spend some time in the next couple of weeks getting started on next semester’s school work.  He isn't drained from aggressive treatment.  I had already been in touch with the school about next semester. It will need to be online.  Obviously we don't know how the recovery will be, but for several months post transplant, he will need to have limited social contact  Marlon has an idea of what he wants to do but the TVO ILC courses are only eligible for students that are not registered with a school.  A work in progress.  The school has been very good working with us so far.  At first I thought these flowers looked similar to strawberry flowers.  So many different white flowers out there.

We received a few more answers today but one was something unexpected.  Apparently, Marlon has the Blinatumomab for another four week stretch.  That news really upset him.  He had been celebrating all the ways life is simpler without being attached to the backpack only to realize he will be hooked up again.  This means that on Tuesday, he will have a lumbar puncture and then be admitted for a couple of days of observation as he restarts blina.  He has warned that he will be grumpy. I will be getting more info soon about dates but for now it looks like he will be admitted to sick kids around August 1st.  Pan is recovering from his excitement yesterday and is pretty good with a three legged run.  Sometimes he can walk on the leg that had the quills but it still hurts. There are several geese this year but no goslings.  This picture is this day last year when there were nine.

It started out as an uneventful day.  Chores around the house, walks with the dogs.  Marlon likes to go for walks without me but will sometimes take Mina.  I was setting out on a walk with the dogs when Mina started barking at something.  I saw a porcupine and started yelling.  Both dogs were dancing around this creature trying to get a nip at it.  I managed to get Mina away and leashed her to a tree.  I wasn't so lucky getting Pan.  They danced together, going around in circles, the porcupine constantly turning its rear end toward the dog.  I don't know how many times he got hit.  I ran and got Thomas but was able to get a hold of Pan before he got there.  By this time his face was full.  I forcefully pulled him and, once away from it, he realized he was in pain.  He wouldn't walk.  We needed Marlon's help too and the three of us got him in the car.  Once at the vet's, Pan was very calm, but drooling a lot....

Marlon was feeling his legs from all the extra walking he did yesterday.  He didn't do as much today.   We did go watch a piano recital.  His friend, her siblings, and many others were playing.  From first year playing to those that were “ageing” out.  Haven't been to one of those in years but both P and L played piano.  Marlon started learning guitar several years ago but wasn't really interested so not worth it. Pan will stand in the water, either waiting for a stick to be thrown or just hanging out.  I liked the shadow and then noticed you can actually see his feet on the log within the shadow.  The tree has a ball stuck in it.  I have a notoriously bad throw.  Balls, frisbees, and even worse with the ball fingers.  Such bad shots can be amusing but also frustrating.

Marlon is enjoying pushing himself physically.  Walking further and appreciating the stamina even if his legs are tired and sore. I feel a sadness around it that I keep to myself.  We don't know how intense the transplant will be but it sounds like he will feel quite weak for a while.  It is so amazing and wonderful that during cancer treatment, he can feel strong and well.  But I guess I don't trust it. An odd picture.  The ripples in the flowing water with the reflection of trees from above mixed with the rocks below.

After four weeks of being connected to the backpack with blina, Marlon was disconnected today.  All the little things that he is marveling about.  He can go for a walk without carrying the extra weight around, digging into his shoulder.  No more tubing to get tangled up or stepped on or yanked.  He can just get up and walk without having to grab the bag and carry it with him.  To top it off, after the hospital, he went and hung out with a friend for several hours.  He noticed his stamina is improving even if his brain power isn't quite there.  All together it was a great day. We still don't know what is coming next other than dental work but we should find out more next week.  For now we will continue to enjoy the normalcy of every day. Had a quick paddle around in the canoe with dogs and Josephine.  Two dogs swam along side.  Mina was allowed in the canoe as she doesn't like swimming (she didn't make it into the pictures).  Afterwa...

One source of stress while we were in the hospital was Pan, the dog, and his jaunts to the commercial street out the back way.  I was getting messaged regularly and people were upset.  It is dangerous for a dog to be on the road, to be in the yard with fork lifts and on and on.  It doesn't help that he looks like he isn't well fed.  Being half whippet, he looks seriously skinny no matter how much he eats.  People feed him and he scrounges food. While we are home, I am doing what I can to ensure he doesn't wander off.  He did go off today and as soon as I got to him, he showed me he knew he was in the wrong. Marlon doesn't care, he likes Mina more than Pan.  I think they are both great dogs but of course Marlon's health and wellness does matter more than the dogs.  Hopefully they can all live their best lives. Pan is the bigger one with various collars to help him to learn not to wander. 

Glad we didn't have to drive anywhere today.  Just a few walks but a quiet day.  Nice to have hot weather back again.  Marlon isn't likely to be able to swim this summer.  He is disappointed about that. He was also commenting that a lot of the people working at hospital are female.  Most of the oncology doctors and nurses are female. A lot of the other departments too. A neat picture taken by Marlon.

On the way to the hospital this morning, Marlon was commenting that he hasn't had a female anesthesiologist.  He has been put to sleep many, many times and he was wondering if maybe there aren't any.  Today he had a female anesthesiologist.  We did ask and they said that out of the 17 pediatric ones they have (really that many?!) almost half are female.  The tooth extraction went well and he had a good sleep.  This evening he is feeling just fine.  There are more teeth that will need to come out at some point in the future but for now they will be left alone.  They are not decaying or causing any harm.  Two long dental appointments are scheduled to get a lot of work done over the next couple of weeks.  He will be awake for those. Other than that, we don't know much of what is coming.  The bone marrow transplant will happen around the middle of July. Blue Heron waiting for dinner.  A big bird that comes around regularly. 

For dessert yesterday we had ice cream and pie.  Marlon commented that when he gets ice cream, his instinct is to just swallow it.  His pills are always buried in a bit of ice cream so when he gets some his body says swallow.  He had to make a conscious effort to just eat the ice cream.  The day went about as expected.  An hour drive to Hamilton.  On the way there, I had to keep reminding myself not to be rude or unkind to the people working there.  I was stewing.  Sitting in the waiting room for 2 hours.  I was about to cause a fuss when Marlon's name was called.  The first thing the anesthesiologist (the head of them) said to us was that he was sorry we were there.  Not those exact words but we all understood we had no reason to have an in-person pre-op appointment.  He was apologetic.  Marlon rubbed it in pointing out the wasted money in gas could have bought him a sub sandwich.  Lately a lot of financial transacti...

A full day. My niece came by with her two kids and we hung out before heading over to my sister's place where she was having her mother's day dinner.  It was a last minute decision that allowed my niece to come along and see her cousins.  Thirteen people around the table for dinner with 5 dogs milling around.  An unusually social day for us.  Marlon considers himself more antisocial and was definitely ready for some down time.  At least he has more physical energy.  The smallest dog (with a huge personality) picked the biggest dog to play with.  Fun to watch them.  And of course the only living beings I got pictures of today were dogs.  Oops