Week in review

Tuesday the 18th

Gramma came to visit.  She drove into Vancouver at the beginning of rush hour and left at the end of rush hour.  Now she knows when not to visit........ but it was a very nice treat for us to see her.

Wednesday the 19th

Joel slept lots but I managed to drag him out to Whole Foods in return for a smoothie.  It is my new method of bribery...... If we go out, I will buy you a smoothie..... works every time.

Thursday the 20th

Chemo day.  We had to be at the hospital for 8:00 am.  It was snowing.  I told Joel that we were fine cause we had winter tires, it was just all the other Vancouver drivers we had to worry about.  Joel started the day with a lumbar puncture and a dose of chemo to his spine.  When he woke up from that but was still somewhat affected by the drugs.... he was given another dose of chemo, two needles to the legs.  He remembers the poke, but not the princess bandaids they put onto his legs.  After three hours of being hydrated and monitored for reactions to the shots, he was given one more dose of chemo through the port and allowed to go home.  Just before leaving we met a family from Salmon Arm who's daughter has just been diagnosed with leukemia.  Her aunt is also Joel's science teacher so we knew the family was down here.  It was nice to connect with them.  Their clinic day is also Thursdays so we will be seeing them often.  We made a quick stop at Whole Foods for a smoothie.  Joel stayed in the car and fell asleep.  When we got home to RM House, it was straight upstairs to bed.  We also watched the movie Second Hand Lions.

Friday the 21st
Joel stayed in bed most of the day.  I made him fruit perogies for breakfast but he made me take them away.  The nausea has hit.  I am lucky now if I can get two meals into him a day.  A quick visit from the Goldenthals brought him back to life. 

Saturday the 22st

Joel decided to re-teach me how to play chess (it has been about 25 years since I have played).  Here is Grants comment, pasted directly from the email I received.....When Joel teaches you chess be patient and don't run out of the room in anger, he might win, this is normal when you learn a new game.... Needless to say, I have not run out of the room or slammed any doors yet.  We were pleasantly interrupted by friends visiting and we headed off to Metrotown where we rode escalators, gazed at people a floor below us through pools of water and did other exciting things that are not available to us in Armstrong.

We saw some Rock Stars...... no wait.... I think that is just Steph and Joel in disguise.