Archive for March, 2008
March 31st, 2008 - Small steps
Cameron enjoyed his weekend recovering at home and finally started to feel better late Saturday as the chemo had really flattened him up until then. However, late Saturday afternoon Cam declared he was well enough to attend his friend Matt’s birthday party. So off we went for the last hour of the party. He is a determined boy I give him that and he enjoyed his time there even though he could not participate in the hyperactive game of hockey with cardboard rolls and a sock with 15 boys in3 teams sliding across indoor tiles trying to score goals! On Sunday he enjoyed his time at church, although he had to attend in his wheelchair, but was happy and feeling a whole lot better. Then after a few hours resting at home off we went to join our group of friends at Gabby and Rod’s. 12 boys ranging in age from 5 to 16 enjoyed each others company and Cameron was so happy to be able to go and enjoy his time with the friends who have come to mean so much to him. Read the rest of this entry »
March 28th, 2008 - Chemo round 3
Cameron is home sleeping in his bed one day earlier than planned. Our determined boy, who could barely stand up was adamant about coming home when the Oncologist told him it was up to us. This Chemotherapy week began on Easter Monday when Cameron and I drove down to our “Inner City Apartment”, joining the throng of Brisbane residents returning from to the city after the long weekend. Good timing eh… Anyway we got there in pretty good time and got settled into the lodge. Early Tuesday morning we went to the hospital and for the first time Cam walked up the hill between the lodge and the main hospital building, so I did not have to push him up there in the wheelchair! Read the rest of this entry »
March 23rd, 2008 - Enjoying a dose of normality…
Saturday March 22nd
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After our daily visit to Nambour Hospital I finally talked Cameron into taking a walk along the beachfront in Mooloolaba. He has not wanted to go near the sea as he said it would torment him not been able to swim. This is the thing he has missed the most – our visits to the beach and boogie boarding which he has come to love. Thankfully it was a little windy and the sea was choppy so it wasn’t too enticing. The boys enjoyed an ice-cream with Gran and I while we sat and watched the ocean. Cam enjoyed his little outing even though he would certainly have rather been out in the surf. For the rest of the day the boys all played with their guns, computer games and just enjoyed being together again, Meanwhile I set about doing some of the mundane things that I used to find timresome, if not boring, but yet somehow it feel like a blessing to be able to do them again. All in all our day was rather uneventful, pretty chilled and unusually close to normal – great. Read the rest of this entry »
March 21st, 2008 - Update from Leigh
Wednesday 19th March
Cameron had 2 days full of tests to see how the cancer is responding to the treatment and thankfully all were good results. Our day on Wednesday began with an early run to Brisbane and me running up the hill with Cameron in the wheelchair. I nearly had to go to the cardiologist myself after that! The first test was the PET scan where he is injected with a radioactive sugar and he has to sit very still for an hour, then he goes in and has the Scan which takes 30 mins. Been there done that before so he was okay with it all. Then we rushed over to our normal Outpatients “spot” to have his line care done and bloods taken. We had to see a doctor as well as his line had looked infected in the morning – good timing! Read the rest of this entry »
March 17th, 2008 - Bouncing back
Another day another blood test. Thankfully today’s results were very good. I’m not at all surprised, between his visit to the healing rooms at the church on Saturday and a rampaging appetite all weekend a bounce back was on the cards. He is no longer neutropenic. His counts were not ideal, but good enough for school tomorrow, which will be a welcome departure from Runescape… If he goes to school tomorrow it will be his last visit for a couple of weeks as he’s in Brisbane for tests and maintenance stuff this coming Wednesday and Tuesday, then it’s Easter and the following Tuesday his third cycle of chemotherapy commences. Read the rest of this entry »
March 15th, 2008 - No Reds Rugby – now it’s neutropenia
Cameron enjoyed getting his own back on me with the electric razor yesterday. Yes, my hair is all gone. Yikes! I do hope it grows back… Carlton had his hair coloured in front of the school at assembly and we have pictures and video of both events. However, these may never see the light of day here because so far we’ve only managed to move our sponsorship tally up by $100 with all of that coming from one very generous donor… Grateful thanks Ken and Shaz! Anyway, by late yesterday poor Owen was feeling rather left out of the hair games so this morning right after he got back from his first rugby game of the season he got his hair coloured too. Read the rest of this entry »
March 14th, 2008 - Bad hair [no hair] day
Cameron went to Brisbane for his chemotherapy this past Wednesday, the day after attending school and that treatment went about as well as could reasonably be expected. Of course, this brought with it some suffering for Cameron with side-effects being mainly deep aches and pains. This time the pain is concentrated on his head, neck and all around his ribs, back and shoulders and so yesterday he didn’t even get out of his pyjamas the whole day. I can still barely imagine what it must feel like to be taking medicine that doesn’t actually make you feel better, but worse…Â
March 11th, 2008 - Back to school
Cameron went back to school for the first time since being diagnosed, staying through the morning and returning again for a short while around pick-up time for a house meeting. I’m not sure who was more nervous about this first day back… Cameron, Leigh or the School leadership who have so graciously and enthusiastically undergone the crash course on what it means to have a pupil on the premises in Cameron’s condition – that is weak and biologically vulnerable. I’m pretty sure it was Leigh who was the most nervous, but as it happened everything went just fine. Read the rest of this entry »
March 9th, 2008 - Home sweet home
Yes, Cameron is home!
Owen stayed with Gran yesterday morning and I dropped Carlton with a friend for the morning while I did the round trip to Brisbane. Cameron was in pretty good spirits when I arrived, but was still suffering a little nausea when discharged from the hospital. On the way out we visited the ward where his friend ‘M’ is and who now has a nasal feeding tube fitted as he is refusing to eat and although he is not much younger than Cameron, he is half his body Weight. Leigh went up to intensive care to check in on ‘A’, who was brought out of an induced coma that morning following the surgery on her nose and cheek and who is doing well considering what she is still going through – while I wheeled Cameron over to the lodge to collect our things. Read the rest of this entry »
March 7th, 2008 - Great news! (and new Video)
The good news is Cameron is bouncing right back after this second round of chemotherapy. He is, in his own words, err… “fineâ€. He had his last chemo dose of the week today. Next Wednesday he will have another and that will mark the end of this cycle. Cameron did experience a little nausea today but he has managed to keep down the little food he has eaten today. However, the really, really, really fabulous news is that the plan right now is for our incredibly brave little man to be discharged from the ward and come home tomorrow! Read the rest of this entry »
