Living life undone

 Good morning everyone! This past week was a bit of an up and down.  Kaleb had several rough days where keeping his eyes open hurt and took too much energy, bone pain, stomachaches/pain, headaches and numb finger tips just to name a few of the challenges that come with Chemo and the drugs that are meant to help him kill the cancer.  On Thursday Kaleb had his hair dresser cut his hair to a shorter length (his hair was so long it could almost touch his shoulders) by Sunday night he had lost almost all of his hair so he called his sister and they talked.  Cancer does not wait until you are ready... Kaleb asked Matt to shave the rest off.   Yesterday Kaleb and I headed into London for a non-chemo appointment.  Matt made sure the car was warmed up and ready to go including a speaker so we could have music along the way :) Kaleb was exhausted as he did not sleep very well so once we got out of the town limits he dosed off to sleep.  I was able to enjoy ...

       Friday morning things became a little more real, Kaleb went into work for a few minutes to talk with his boss (they were reassuring him that his job is there when he is ready to come back and that they are thinking of him)  While Kaleb was standing there talking he all of a sudden turned completely grey, started sweating profusely, had tunnel vision, his fingers went numb and he was nauseous, feeling like he was going to faint.  I rushed him home gave him some meds and he went to bed.  All weekend he struggled to find food that interested him and yet he wanted to eat. The chemo started to show its effects on him as he struggled with energy levels and digestion issues.        Thankfully Easton a fellow warrior ... (only 5yrs old) came to our rescue and suggested a few different options that has helped Kaleb throughout this week.  - sorry Easton we still can't get Kaleb to try sauerkraut but we will keep trying!! The reali...

  Hi everyone!  Today Kaleb and I traveled into London for an outpatient appointment.  It was a good thing we left early as we ended up in a detour that turned into 3 detours!!  Due to timing of travel and his medication schedule we ended up having to pull over twice so that he could take his daily meds on back roads that were winding across the countryside.  lol thankfully nobody was around to wonder what the heck we were doing.   After arriving at the hospital we quickly grabbed some Timmies as extra breakfast and headed the PMDU Clinic.  Oh did I mention that Kaleb has all of a sudden started eating crazy amounts of food again?? We have been told that will stop just a quickly as it started.  Height, weight and blood have become his new routine when in London, then we wait to hear the results before they can even make his chemo treatment.  Today we found out his blood levels are where they want to see them.  His hight is the same as hi...

 Hey everyone,  I just realized that I haven't updated everyone!!  It's been a busy week.  Both the girls started school, there was a tornado back home (thankfully we did not have damage), Matt turned 44 and Kaleb started his chemo treatments.   We have almost completed Kaleb's first 5 days of chemo.  Kaleb has been a trouper and we couldn't be prouder of him.  He seems to be handling the side effects of the chemo really well.  Nausea is being handled by anti-nausea medication and mints.  Kaleb's taste buds have started to change so we are having to rediscover what is appealing to him and what will sit well in his stomach.  This can be very frustrating to him as some of the foods are his favourites that are not agreeable.  Fatigue seems to be hitting him the hardest but he does not like napping ... so that is fun :P  Kaleb is looking forward to trying school on Monday so long as he is feeling up for it.  I still can't get ...

Morning everyone, Today is going to be another long and big day but I thought I would try to get this out before it started.     Yesterday was a looong day we arrived at the hospital at 8 am and did not leave until just before 6 pm.   Kaleb had a rough day. When we arrived they tried to put in an IV and do blood work....it failed.  It was the worse needle he has ever experienced with no gain as they decided they would have to try again later.   We were given directions to his Echocardiogram/Echo (ultrasound of his heart) and off we went in search of it.  they gave us the back door route so we got lost at one point and also got to see the kitchen area of the hospital along the way.  Once we arrived Kaleb went into his appointment and we were able to watch his heart on a large screen tv.  It was crazy to think that the last time I saw his heart beat he wasn't even born yet and yes it was a lot bigger this time.  After his Echo he had an Electro...

 Wow I am busy on here today!!   Shortly after I sent out the last updates we received a phone call from London.  They had a cancellation and wanted to squeeze Kaleb into tomorrow's opening for the PET Scan.  Otherwise we would have to wait 2 weeks before we could start the process.  Well there was no question we took the spot, I called Matt at work and he has taken the rest of the week off.  Matt and Kaleb will be heading down tomorrow early in the morning to make sure they make the appointment on time. This is a day trip only! Libby and I have not have our Covid shots yet so we will be getting those done first thing in the morning.  (we are praying that we will not have the same reactions that Matt and Amelia had with their first shots). Then we will spend the rest of the day packing Amelia for college.   Friday morning Matt and Amelia will be heading down to Windsor to move her into residence.  Kaleb, Libby and I will be at home getting th...

 Who knew a week could feel so long!?  After a few calls to London and a couple trips to our local ER.  it was finally Monday.  The day of answers.  Our appointment was at 9am so it was a very early start to the day.  It was in clinic that we heard confirmation that Kaleb has Hodgkin Lymphoma .  There was nothing we did to cause it and they don't know why kids get it.  What they do know is how to treat it and successfully.   They kept reminding us it is treatable and curable.   Hodgkin Lymphoma is a blood cancer . It travels where ever the blood can go, but it has not traveled into his bones. (that is a very good thing).  We need more testing to find out how far spread the cancer has traveled and what stage it is at.  We know it is in his neck but they suspect it has traveled into his chest area.  This cancer responds to Chemotherapy but radiation may be needed as well.   Chemotherapy- will kill the good and bad (canc...

   Ahh how do I start this?       Our summer started out normal the kids were all working their summer jobs and enjoying time off with friends. As an extended family we had planned and booked a camping trip for August.  The kids were able to arrange their work schedules (last year they were unable to go) and secretly planned on surprising all of our extended family that they were going camping.   3 weeks before we were set to go, I noticed that Kaleb’s neck was starting to swell but he had no symptoms, so it was chalked up to a growing teenage boy.     On Thursday August 12 th , Kaleb was taken up to emerge in Southampton due to his neck being swollen and his lymph nodes protruding on the one side of his neck.  Up at the emerge he was tested for Covid, had blood work done and had x-rays taken.  It was decided that he needed to have a CT that night in Owen Sound and then was sent home to sleep (Matt and Kaleb...