Archive for February, 2008
February 28th, 2008 - The Mythbuster of faith
Yesterday Sunshine Coast Grammar School hosted a special 30 minute service in the new school chapel, to pray for Cameron immediately before the start of the school day. It was a very thoughtful and rather emotional event attended by Ingrid, the boys and I as well as crowd of about 80 teachers, parents, friends and Maroochy Baptist church supporters. I have no doubt that everyone there was very touched by the event and I personally felt the reassuring presence of the Holy Spirit there in that place at that time. The service was led by the school chaplain, Rev. Ron Holt, who knows Cameron and has visited him a couple of times. He also delightfully refers to himself as “Revâ€. Read the rest of this entry »
February 26th, 2008 - Being great
Cameron enjoyed yet another brush with sporting greatness yesterday! Yes, he had the pleasure of not only meeting Caleb Brown who plays wing for the Super 14s side the Queensland Reds, but even had Caleb push him in his wheelchair to the outpatients clinic while they chatted and visited for a while during Cam’s wait to see the oncologist. At the time neither Leigh nor Cam realised who he was… Read the rest of this entry »
February 24th, 2008 - Emergency room resident
Marianne and Gran spent Thursday and Friday with Cameron and Leigh at the lodge and on Friday they went to visit Childhood Cancer Support (CCS), which is a charity that operates from an old house just a few hundred metres from the hospital, where Leigh had heard Cameron might be able to get online and finally see this website… Read the rest of this entry »
February 21st, 2008 - Into the Lodge
Yesterday Cameron had another does of chemotherapy in the morning and didn’t feel very well at all afterwards, went right off his food and then slept for a few hours in the middle of the day, but awoke determined to ‘get out’. He started eating a little again and by the end of the day was feeling much better, although he now has very distinctive black rings around his yes, is very gaunt looking and is clearly starting to look a lot like someone with cancer undergoing chemotherapy. . Read the rest of this entry »
February 19th, 2008 - The Bulls drop in
Cameron remains in the oncology ward following the drama of the past weekend, but he is really bouncing right back to his old self after a few days off from the first round of chemotherapy, which continues tomorrow. After that he gets to enjoy about 12 days of rest and recuperation to see out the remainder of this, his first 21 day chemotherapy treatment cycle, which has really delivered a fabulous result in terms of the impact it has had on his tumour (I’ve also today uploaded a recent chest x-ray). Hopefully tomorrow won’t be too hard on his system. Read the rest of this entry »
February 18th, 2008 - Venturing out [not]
Ingrid, the boys and I all headed down to Brisbane on Friday afternoon to spend the weekend with Cameron. We were moving into the ‘lodge’ for a few days, which is where the so-called country folks like us are provided with self-contained family accommodation that serves as a home away from home on the hospital grounds. Good isn’t it? So I was able to relieve Leigh so she could spend Friday night with Carlton, Owen and Ingrid at the lodge, while I camped next to Cameron in the ward. Read the rest of this entry »
February 15th, 2008 - Rollercoasting
After the euphoria of yesterday it’s terribly disheartening to watch the chemo take its toll on Cameron as the side-effects of the chemical bombardment that his body is undergoing begin to emerge. Yesterday, his blood readings were exceptionally well above the range expected at this very early stage of his chemotherapy treatment plan, which means his system is in very good starting shape for taking the fight to the cancer. He was feeling and looking a bit off and his joints were also aching, but he was okay. Today he’s not feeling at all well… Read the rest of this entry »
February 14th, 2008 - We Stand in Awe
Wow. The doctors are shaking their heads! It seems Cameron is doing so incredibly well that… well, they want his bed! When the word first came that they’re preparing to reclassify him as an outpatient we thought hey… there’s some kind of administrative bungle, but then once the oncologist came and explained that Cameron is defying all of their expectations and that whilst he will need to remain resident in the lodge - which is a motel type facility on the hospital grounds – he could be allowed home in a little as one week! Our God is indeed awesome! Read the rest of this entry »
February 14th, 2008 - Treatment Plan
Cameron actually had a fairly good day today. He didn’t begin his first chemotherapy treatment until early this evening, while his friend Tyler was still visiting, so he not only got to enjoy that visit, but others earlier from Gran, Shane and Alison, Malarney and Mark, Neil Champion and of course his dear brother Carlton after school. However, today Carlton was more interested in playing with the PS2 that is attached to a mega size plasma television in the interactive play area on the ward. So he didn’t see much of Cameron, but was a blessing to someone else though, as he made a little friend who I understand has not been responding at all well to his cancer treatment for some time now and whose parents are sensing the end of the line. It’s so terribly sad and difficult not to be impacted by what we see these kids and their families going through. Read the rest of this entry »
February 13th, 2008 - Chemotherapy Looming
Cameron began his day by watching a DVD while a dose of radioactive glucose made its way around his system, followed by the PET scan. Owen was well enough to visit Cameron today and of course, as soon as Carlton got wind of the fact that Gran, Owen and I were going to be heading down to see Cameron after dropping him at school that plan was going to change, as the tears quickly welled. So Carlton scored another day off school and the four of us got down to the hospital expecting to find Cameron glowing a light green colour. Read the rest of this entry »
