Thursday, March 3, 2011
Citizen of the Year!
As I mentioned a couple of posts ago, Ramsy was selected as Citizen of the Year in our little town. The awards dinner was last weekend. It was lovely to see so many friends and acquaintances there, and we very much appreciate the kind comments from you all. Ramsy doesn't love being the centre of attention, but I just told him he would have to suck it up and deal with people wanting to say nice things about him! We'll have a couple of pictures to put up in the next while.
Monday, February 21, 2011
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!
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!
Tuesday, February 15, 2011
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.
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.
Wednesday, February 2, 2011
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!
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!
Monday, January 31, 2011
Hello again!
Well, it's been a long time. We had assorted computer issues, and it seemed that every time I decided to update the blog, the computer decided that I wouldn't. Now I have prevailed! (Or at least the computer has not chosen to sulk...)
These last two weeks have been spent getting used to life at home. Ramsy has always been wanting to do more than he is able (and he knows it- he dictated that line to me!) and I am learning when to step in and be bossy about resting and when to keep my mouth shut. The first few days were full with new bathtub/toilet installation, carpet cleaning (thanks, Kevin, for moving furniture :) ), and appointments. He had helpful appointments with the occupational therapist, physiotherapist, and massage therapist. Ramsy thought all the activity was great until Thursday, when he crashed. We have ventured out into group settings a few times and have discovered that although Ramsy enjoys seeing people, the group thing is still overwhelming for his brain. Even sitting in a restaurant with the family exhausts him, I think because of having to filter out all the sounds and activity around him. So for now, we will be very sparing with group settings. Short visits, 15-30 minutes, earlier than 8 pm, still seem to work the best for him.
Our family has really enjoyed the new, much more comfortable tub upstairs. It's great for soaking! (Or sleeping- one family member was discovered bundled in the tub, blankets and all, this morning!) Unfortunately, there was an incident on Saturday where Ramsy's relaxing soak was hijacked by a seizure. It only lasted a short time, but afterwards he was unable to talk for awhile and ended up sitting in the tub for some time waiting for someone to come help him out. We're not sure what caused this seizure- the first one since early December- but we are going for blood tests today to check his medication levels. Back to showers for the next while! Sunday was spent recovering from the seizure-induced fatigue, and today is much better. He is doing dishes as we compose this.
We received a very nice phone call last week telling us that Ramsy has been selected as our little town's Citizen of the Year for 2010! When I told him, he said, "What for? What did I do?" There will be a dinner at the end of February for the 3 chosen citizens (there are also a youth citizen of the year and a lifetime candidate selected) when there will be kind speeches given in their honour and a yummy supper. We have enjoyed attending in other years to see friends honoured, so it's pretty special to be going in the other role this time.
These last two weeks have been spent getting used to life at home. Ramsy has always been wanting to do more than he is able (and he knows it- he dictated that line to me!) and I am learning when to step in and be bossy about resting and when to keep my mouth shut. The first few days were full with new bathtub/toilet installation, carpet cleaning (thanks, Kevin, for moving furniture :) ), and appointments. He had helpful appointments with the occupational therapist, physiotherapist, and massage therapist. Ramsy thought all the activity was great until Thursday, when he crashed. We have ventured out into group settings a few times and have discovered that although Ramsy enjoys seeing people, the group thing is still overwhelming for his brain. Even sitting in a restaurant with the family exhausts him, I think because of having to filter out all the sounds and activity around him. So for now, we will be very sparing with group settings. Short visits, 15-30 minutes, earlier than 8 pm, still seem to work the best for him.
Our family has really enjoyed the new, much more comfortable tub upstairs. It's great for soaking! (Or sleeping- one family member was discovered bundled in the tub, blankets and all, this morning!) Unfortunately, there was an incident on Saturday where Ramsy's relaxing soak was hijacked by a seizure. It only lasted a short time, but afterwards he was unable to talk for awhile and ended up sitting in the tub for some time waiting for someone to come help him out. We're not sure what caused this seizure- the first one since early December- but we are going for blood tests today to check his medication levels. Back to showers for the next while! Sunday was spent recovering from the seizure-induced fatigue, and today is much better. He is doing dishes as we compose this.
We received a very nice phone call last week telling us that Ramsy has been selected as our little town's Citizen of the Year for 2010! When I told him, he said, "What for? What did I do?" There will be a dinner at the end of February for the 3 chosen citizens (there are also a youth citizen of the year and a lifetime candidate selected) when there will be kind speeches given in their honour and a yummy supper. We have enjoyed attending in other years to see friends honoured, so it's pretty special to be going in the other role this time.
Monday, January 17, 2011
First round completed
We made it! Ramsy finished all 30 radiation treatments with no cancellations due to illness, closed highways, or fatigue! Hooray! He did finish up by getting some kind of stomach bug on Thursday night, so he felt terrible on Friday, but was determined to get to his last treatment. When we got home at noon, he slept for pretty much the rest of the day, and it took him until this morning (Monday) to feel better. He is thrilled to have a break from taking the chemo pills- they were starting to taste pretty gross to him. He is also busy making plans in his head for this week, and next week, and next week.... he's trying to balance things he wants/needs to do with his continued need for rest. We learn as we go, I tell you. (Does anybody read Junie B. Jones?)
True story: I drove Ramsy to Winnipeg for his treatments twice a week, plus to numerous other appointments, as well as driving the kids to most of their lessons and so on, plus errands to Portage- all without accident or mishap. Of course, Saturday night I drove down our alley to park in our driveway as I have done thousands of times, and completely miscalculated my turn. Fencepost, meet van. We have two lovely big scratches down the passenger side of the van. Figures!
So we are now in a waiting period for 4 weeks with no radiation or chemo, so that the healthy tissues in Ramsy's body can recover from the treatment and the swelling around his tumor will go away. His family doctor says that we will likely see more improvement in his symptoms as his body recovers over the next few weeks. At the end of 4 weeks he will have an MRI (which the oncologist says will not really show any improvement, because there will still be swelling there. It will be used as a standard to compare later MRIs to.) and then he will go back on the same chemo pills (temozolomide) on a schedule of 5 days on, 23 days off. We are glad it's a drug that we already know, and that Ramsy had very few side effects with.
We really have to finish off with more thanks to all of you who have been praying, doing errands, giving gifts of money, food, or other things, driving, talking with our kids, sending words of encouragement- we just cannot imagine doing this without you. Thank you, thank you.
True story: I drove Ramsy to Winnipeg for his treatments twice a week, plus to numerous other appointments, as well as driving the kids to most of their lessons and so on, plus errands to Portage- all without accident or mishap. Of course, Saturday night I drove down our alley to park in our driveway as I have done thousands of times, and completely miscalculated my turn. Fencepost, meet van. We have two lovely big scratches down the passenger side of the van. Figures!
So we are now in a waiting period for 4 weeks with no radiation or chemo, so that the healthy tissues in Ramsy's body can recover from the treatment and the swelling around his tumor will go away. His family doctor says that we will likely see more improvement in his symptoms as his body recovers over the next few weeks. At the end of 4 weeks he will have an MRI (which the oncologist says will not really show any improvement, because there will still be swelling there. It will be used as a standard to compare later MRIs to.) and then he will go back on the same chemo pills (temozolomide) on a schedule of 5 days on, 23 days off. We are glad it's a drug that we already know, and that Ramsy had very few side effects with.
We really have to finish off with more thanks to all of you who have been praying, doing errands, giving gifts of money, food, or other things, driving, talking with our kids, sending words of encouragement- we just cannot imagine doing this without you. Thank you, thank you.
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