Friday Appointment

We met with the oncologist on Friday afternoon.  He asked how Ramsy has been for the last few weeks, and when we told him that his energy has been fairly low, and some of the other symptoms have not improved, he said that he was not surprised and that the MRI showed that the treatment has not been as effective as he had hoped.  He does feel that the upcoming rounds of chemo pills can still help control the tumor's growth, so we are proceeding with that this week. 

We are not without hope, and will continue to ask what God has in mind for us.  We may consider alternative treatment in the next couple of months as well.  Please keep praying for us and our kids.

One more glitch in the events: we noticed on Thursday night that Ramsy's right leg was bigger than his left, so I brought this up at the appointment. They immediately whisked him off for an ultrasound and found a blood clot in his leg.  This means that he has to have daily injections of blood thinner (I get to stab him in the stomach!) to dissolve the existing clot and prevent others from forming.  Our children do not care to watch this medical procedure!  Since starting the injections, Ramsy has noticed that some discomfort and dizziness/faintness that he had been having  has all but disappeared- yahoo!

My Small Contribution To Cancer Fundraising

This is two weeks into a two-month a beard growing project– and I'm not doing half bad, eh?! I want to invite everyone who has read this blog to contribute to this fundraising project. I know we get will a lot of requests for money and even if you can send along $20 or so that would be great... of course I would  gladly take your money if or where a much higher denomination!

 I will publish more pictures as time marches on and I like to to raise at least $1000 for this project. For everything above $20 gift I will send you a a donation receipt so please make sure to in include your  return address.

Please send your money to: Box 310, Oakville, Manitoba,  R0H0Y0

Ups and Downs

Ups and downs pretty much sums up the last 10 days!  We are finding that there is no consistency to Ramsy's energy, hand movements, speech, and so on.  (Luckily the beard-growing ability stays steady!  Picture to come.) He has had some really good days with plenty of energy and leg strength, and many lower days with lots of resting.  We knew that it would take some time to settle into a pattern after the treatments, but apparently the settling is not yet finished!  The doctor was right when he said it would take 6-8 weeks for the swelling to go down around the tumor.  Ramsy says he always wants things to happen in a hurry, so he optimistically figured that it would be only 2 or maybe 3 weeks.  It's hard on him, waiting on his body.  Every few days he has to come to grips with what his limitations or abilities are for just right now.  In a couple of days it's different again!  Along with that, his medication needs tweaking now and then, so when he's had several rather bad days, we check with his doctor to see whether an adjustment can help.  When his medication has been increased, he has felt better very quickly- sometimes in a matter of hours. We are really thankful for these little amazing pills!
He did have his MRI on Friday night and we will meet with the oncologist this coming Friday.  

Some of you have asked about how to donate to the "Beards for Cancer Care" event.  If you would like to contribute, you can send us a cheque made out to Central Plains Cancer Care and we will send you a receipt.  Our mailing address is PO Box 310, Oakville, MB, R0H 0Y0.

How cool is that?

The big news over here: Ramsy moved his right arm tonight!!  The first time he did it without realizing it and wondered how his hand got from here to there.  He tried it lots more times and could move it over sideways about 4 inches.  It doesn't always work, but lots of times it does.  Wow.

This is very encouraging after the seizure episode on the weekend.  I talked to the nurse today and she told me to increase his anti-seizure medication and bring him back to check the level again next week.

In other news: every so often Ramsy will contemplate growing a beard, and I protest (sorry, beard-wearers) and he usually decides not to grow one.  However, when it came up again last week, I said, "Go for it," or some such thing.  The next day we found out that Central Plains Cancer Care in Portage is having a beard-growing contest over the next two months as a fundraiser!  So Ramsy's beard is working to generate funds for cancer research, support services, and prevention education.  If you'd like to contribute (or just cheer on his whiskers) give us a call or email us!