daily journal of the past week..

Wow. So far it has been adventurous.


Monday:
I was at BC Children's Hospital at 9:30 a.m. The day started out with getting my vital signs taken and then getting hooked up to many tubes. I got blood work done right away so we could get the results back as soon as possible. Before having the lumbar puncture they had to see how high my platelets were. At about 11:30 I had a meeting with my Oncology doctor and we talked about what the next phase is going to be like and just other stuff like that.
For a lumbar puncture you are not allowed to eat or drink about 6 hours before it. So by the time it rolled around to 12:15, when they were finally ready to give the LP to me, my stomach was growling like CRAZY. After having an LP it is imperative to lie on your back for an hour or else you just might get a major headache. I'm always quite sleepy from the anaesthetic anyways so I just sleep for a while afterwards. At around 4:30 the nurse brought Mom and me up to our room so that we could get settled in. My pH had to reach neutral (7.0) before being allowed to get my chemo drug. For some kids it doesn't take very long for their pH to become neutral, for me unfortunately it took nearly 24 hours. :(

Tuesday:
At 11:00 a.m. my pH finally reached 7 and my high dose of methotrexate was finally able to get running. I was able to get a math lesson done on my bed and later on in the afternoon I watched a movie with Mom on our own personal tv in our room.
About an hour before dinner time my nurse came into my room and asked if I had any brothers of sisters near Vancouver and whether or not any of them wanted to go to the Canucks game that night. I was ecstatic. Sadly, I was not able to go myself because of the chemo running through my veins at that moment. I let Rachel and Dad go. Dad hadn't been to a game in a long time and Rachel had never gone to one. Letting them go was almost just as exciting as going myself. :) They lost 4 - 0 which was sad. I was able to watch it on the TV but it was a slightly boring game so I didn't watch the whole thing. The group that gave the tickets away, Child Life, also gave free taxi rides to and from the game. After the game they came and visited me.

Wednesday:
Sickness set in. I woke up, took some Gravol, and went back to sleep. I slept all morning. I watched some more movies during the afternoon and at about 7:00 Elyse came to stay overnight with me so that Mom could go home. A little later, David, a young man from church, came to visit me. It was very sweet of him. We played some games together.

Thursday:
I felt a little better but my stomach didn't feel like it wanted anything to eat. I had a lot of fun with Elyse. We played Xbox Kinect together. We played bowling, tennis table, and boxing. She totally beat me at boxing. I don't know what it was but I could never win. :) It was awesome. We watched some MORE movies together.
In order for me to go home the methotrexate level in my blood had to be less than 0.1. Thankfully it was 0.09 and they let me go right before Elyse needed to leave for choir. We quickly packed up all our stuff and left. I was very happy to be back at home, sleeping in my own bed.

Friday:
Today was the worst day out of all of them. I just felt gross and disgusting all over...and tired on top of that. I watched a musical to get my mind off how I was feeling. All in all, I ended up throwing up at the end of the day. :'( It totally sucked.

Saturday:
I was exhausted. This phase is totally taking ALL the energy out of me. The family made apple juice and I didn't even end up helping. I was yawning every 2 seconds. I had a bit of a nap in the afternoon.
For Mom's and Christina's b'day all the girls and Grandma went to Tracycakes Bakery for mini cupcakes and tea. It didn't end being an all girls party because little baby Ezra came along, which was totally okay with me. :) Later in the evening Betty-Ann, Elyse, Rachel, David J., and I went to see 'The Three Musketeers' in 3D. It was an awesome movie! I loved it.

Sunday:
I went to church and I wore my wig. It looks MUCH better if I wear it with a hat. In the afternoon I went to the Vanderveen's for lunch and I had a really enjoyable time.
I played piano in the evening service for the first time in a long time. :)

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I had my blood work checked today and it was all fine and dandy. I'm very thankful no transfusion needed to be done. I am also very happy that I'm not feeling nauseous.
I went to my nephew's first official hockey game tonight and he played really well. :)

If you made it to the end of this post I congratulate you! :D
Pheww. That is a lot of writing.

A word to the wise ain't necessary..

..it's the stupid ones that need the advice. - Bill Cosby

I had a really great Thanksgiving weekend. The turkey was amazing! I feasted all weekend. 

I had my blood work done yesterday and it was all really good. My 'hemogoblin' level was on the lower side but it wasn't low enough for me to have a transfusion. I started Phase 3 last night with oral chemo and next Monday I will get admitted for at least 4 days. If the drug isn't flushing through my system well enough, I might have to stay longer. It's meal planning time.. :)

My hair is growing back slowly but surely. Everyone in my family is calling me a 'gosling'. The next drug that I will be getting is going to be quite a high dose so it might fall out again. Rachel says that it is now long enough for me to have hat hair again. :P Betty-Ann's favorite line when talking to me is: "Just cause you have cancer doesn't mean....(fill in the blank)." :)
My cold has been getting a bit worse over the last few days which is not very good. I wouldn't like to be admitted for getting sick.
I've been playing the piano again. My fingers are still a little numb from the prednisone. That was the drug that made my cheeks balloon up..and now FINALLY after a couple months my cheeks are deflating. :)

I'm having a party on Friday with some girlfriends. It's a phase 3 sendoff. For the next 2 months I will be gone every other Sunday. :'(  It's time to go back to the grindstone.

You cannot control what happens to you...

...you can only control your reaction to it. ~ Author Unknown.


I'm enjoying my break. :) I'm not doing anything special for my break unless you call school special. I'm really looking forward to Thanksgiving this weekend and eating lots of yummy turkey and good food. :) 
I actually have lots of energy and I feel exactly like I did before I had cancer. My cheeks are going down and I'm almost able to run up the stairs two at a time again. My bedroom is upstairs and I do my school there, so it gets really annoying having to climb the stairs one at a time every time I want to get to my room.  
I'm trying not to focus on what the next 2 1/2 months are going to be like..I'm told that the side effects are supposed to be pretty bad. :/ I have handled everything quite well so far so I'm not crazily worried. One thing I get annoyed about when I'm at the hospital is the fact that they wake you up every couple hours to take your blood pressure and temperature. :/ I need to stop thinking ahead and to just focus on the next few days. 
For this last phase I didn't have to have a transfusion on the last week and I did not get a fever or an infection which the doctors were worried about. I have had a little bit of a cold for the past few weeks but it hasn't developed into anything bigger than a sniffle. 
I guess I know I'm feeling well when I get put back into the rotation for family chores. :)

May your stuffing be tasty
May your turkey plump,
May your potatoes and gravy
Have nary a lump.
May your yams be delicious
And your pies take the prize,
And may your Thanksgiving dinner
Stay off your thighs!
~Author Unknown