Sorry for my long absence. I have been in my world of denial. This has been a hard month for the whole family but I think we are all doing better now. Everything just seemed to hit at once and we were all feeling tired and worn out. I have been healthy since Joel was diagnosed almost a year ago but at the beginning of the month my body decided to give out on me. I guess it has just been too much physically, mentally and emotionally.
So there I was, sick and tired with my brain in a huge fog. I kept forgetting everything that I was supposed to do. In the kitchen, I made two nice big stovetop fires; it was not a pretty picture. And that is when the Church care groups decided to bring us a hot meal every week for the next few weeks. We have had two amazing meals so far and there was so much food that we had another meal just of leftovers. Joel and I are leaving for Vancouver tomorrow and for the next three Wednesdays, Grant and the kids will get a nice hot supper. We really have the most amazing Church family.
This month….
Adam turned 12 and had a great day with all his friends.
Grant trimmed all the trees. I told him "less is more" as in, the less you take off…. the more effective it is. He understood it as, the least you leave on the tree… the better. Anyway, he tells me it will look great in the spring. We will see…..
Adam built and launched his rocket. The first time it went off without a hitch, the parachute opened and the top half landed on the roof of the pole barn. The second time the parachuted didn't open and it landed about 2 feet from Grant's truck!!!! Time to build a new rocket, and next time it gets launched WAY out in the field.
Brianna was very happy to have Shane home for a weekend. She is due on the 22nd. I told her she can have the baby tonight or else she has to wait until Joel and I get home in December.
Joel has been doing as expected. His hair all started falling out this week and Brianna buzzed all his hair. The dex affected him as we expected, he was irritable and emotional but he didn’t complain. His appetite went way up. He would eat breakfast and then have a box of mac and cheese, a snack before lunch, lunch and then another box of mac and cheese. Supper was much the same and then he would eat more pasta before bed. Coming off it was hard. The side effects were insomnia; vivid dreams when he could fall asleep, lots of pain and trouble walking. The x-rays showed large white areas in his bones but no one really knows what they are or if they are normal at this point in treatment. He is not allowed to take Tylenol or Aspirin because they mask a fever. The codeine doesn’t seem to help at all with the pain and he doesn’t like taking the morphine because of the side effects and hallucinations he would have all night. So I almost burst into tears when I ran into Deanna at the Shuswap Health Food store and she told me about Curamin (from tumeric). Joel took two pills that night and slept a solid 9 hours. She also lent me an amazing book to read by a doctor who practices in Victoria and gave me a list of options to Google.
Joel was given a truck on one of his hardest days.
Jim, I don’t know how to thank you. You made Joel’s face light up and you took his mind off everything he was going thru. He could barely walk up the stairs and couldn’t drive that day because the pain in his hip was so bad but that didn’t matter. He was so weak that he couldn’t even open the door to the truck by himself but that didn’t matter either, he still wanted to get up and just go sit in the drivers seat and make plans for when he was feeling better.
The people where Grant works also had a raffle and gave a very generous gift. So glad you won Brandi!
I got the baby's quilt done. So you it can arrive any time….. hint, hint. No pressure Brianna.
Anyway, I just wanted to say a big thank you to everyone. Thru all of this each one of you has been a constant support. We have never felt alone. We have felt so many people sharing in Joel’s battle and cheering him on. It has not gone unnoticed. And thru our darkest days we have also never felt so blessed and supported. Thank you for your prayers. We have the best family, friends, neighbors and Church family that anyone could ever ask for.
So the plan for this week is….. Monday, Joel goes for blood work and we head down to Vancouver. If the counts are good he will start chemo on Tuesday. Radiation starts on Wednesday.
31 days to go until Joel is in Maintenance, I think December 21 is the big day!!!!
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