What am I to do with you Joel?

Joel had another CT-scan Monday at noon and then it was off to clinic to have blood-work done.  The scan showed that the clot had not gotten any bigger.  Doctor Dix was not in on Monday so we scheduled a meeting for Tuesday morning.  Joel got out of clinic and wanted to go straight to the ocean.  You can see in the pictures that he still has his blue hospital band on his wrist.

I was in my happy place.

 I forgot to pack shorts and a bathing suit this time around.

This is not the latest trend, it is the only patch of hair that has started growing back.  The funny thing is that there are several teenage guys all at the same stage in treatment and they are all sporting the same hairdo.

Adam and Ari entertained themselves the way they always do. 

Tuesday morning we met with Dr. Dix.  He asked Joel if he had any questions and Joel's biggest concern after having a stroke was "can I still drive?" Really???  I do not understand the teenage brain.  Joel's counts had dropped again so they were not able to start chemo this week.  He has lost over 10 pounds in the last week so everyone felt it was better for Joel just to go home to eat and rest.  It was a rare reaction that Joel had but it was not unheard of.  Since 1997, of all the kids who were getting treatment for cancer in Vancouver Hospital,  only 6 of them have had the same reaction that Joel had last week.  Joel's oncologist, Dr. Dix was part of a research group who studied those 6 kids and did long term follow up.  All of the 6 made a full recovery with no long term damage.  Joel will have to have shots of blood thinner twice a day for the next three months and he has to be careful not to do anything that will cause bleeding.  He had given himself one shot but prefers for someone else to give them to him instead.  Grant usually does it but I gave him the shot last night…… it was not pretty and I poked him twice but he was very gracious and forgave me.  He even said that he will let me keep practicing.  His legs are looking very interesting now, covered in polka-dots.  After three months, Joel will get another CT-scan to see how the clot has changed and they will decide whether or not he needs to stay on the blood thinner for an additional three months. 

Joel was looking forward to being at home and sleeping in his own bed.  He spent some time playing his guitar, ate some supper, laid on the couch and watched Corner Gas with Adam and Ari.  He was heading off to bed when his left side went numb again.  Grant called Children's Hospital and then he and Joel headed off to the hospital in Kelowna because they have a neurologist there.  The numbness went away but then Joel started throwing up again.  So far I haven't heard much.  They did another CT scan and it looks like the clot has gotten smaller (a good thing).  They didn't find any bleeding (another good thing)  but are thinking of doing an MRI just to see if they are missing anything.  Grant said he would phone if there were any problems and I haven't heard from him (again a good thing).  Needless to say, I haven't gotten much sleep (not a good thing).