Thank-you Thank-you Thank-you

Three years later and the circle has grown. On Friday July 13 2012 at 5:00 am we woke to a phone call from the Cambridge Memorial Hospital. Since that very moment our family has been trying to cope with the reality that our son, brother, nephew, cousin, grandson, great grandson and friend.....Nevan, could possibly lose his life. Over the years, we have been very fortunate to have so many people come to our aid. The list of family, friends, neighbours, acquaintances, businesses and charities that have helped us is beautifully lengthy and ongoing.

From the first day of Nevan's original diagnosis we have had help in the form of gas and grocery cards dropped at our house, food made and delivered, offers to do chores and run errands, discounts from some local retailers and sympathy cards with kind words and phone numbers. We get emails and texts from people constantly asking what they can do to help. We were also lucky enough to have 2 fundraisers during our first battle that helped us weather some of the financial burden of this situation; A Fun Day Fundraiser by Active Health Associates and the other, an evening Gala by our parents and Beer Store Friends. We also had other events as well as a donation barrel from my employer.

This helped us immensely in the first year when the treatment was hectic and intense.  Being off work was a necessity as we had 2 kids to take care of and during so many hospital stays, appointments and procedures, it is impossible to be in two places at once.  As our 2.5 year journey continued and life took on a bearable routine, we were able to return to work part time, but the final financial toll it took on our family was almost dire.  The help we received from friends, family and the community allowed us to put food on the table, maintain our vehicle for the hundreds of trips back and forth to the hospital and keep our home.  After treatment ended, we were given over a year to make an attempt at normalcy.  We went back to work full time, kids went back to school and we were just beginning to really pick up the pieces of our lives when we got the devastating news that we would need to battle Leukemia all over again.

This task became slightly less intimidating when we realized that our family continues to be supported by the amazing people who joined our journey the first time and who are now joined by hundreds more to help us through for this second and hopefully,  final battle.

Saturday's Fundraiser was an enormous success. Everyone who attended could feel the energy and love surrounding our family. We were so happy that Nevan was well enough to attend. He and his sister Nylah had the most fun they've had in months.

The list of family, friends, sponsors and supporters for this event is in the hundreds. The turnout for the event was the best reward for all the hard work put in by the organizing committee. We have no idea how we can properly thank everyone for their support.  We can however do what is expected of us. We will, as we always have, stay focused and determined. We will stay positive and strong. We will exhaust all resources available to us to give Nevan the best chance of survival. The challenge is daunting but there are those who have come before us that have fought and won this battle. So despite the odds and the complications, we will strive for nothing less than cancer free and a full recovery. We will support not only Nevan but his sister Nylah who has made unbelievable sacrifices for her big brother. We will find time for our marriage in between all of the hospital stays and medical discussions and time spent raising our children. And because of the very generous support of so many we will maintain our finances as we once again proceed on a budget of reduced income and increased expenses. Because of you our family can stay together through this difficult time.
Thank-you for being a part of this incredible Journey.

Special Thanks for this event goes out to but is not limited to;

Saginaw Public School
Waterloo Regional District School Board
Fiddlesticks Community Centre
Blessed Mother Teresa Elementary School
Clemens Mill  PS
Sears Cambridge Centre
Cambridge Centre Honda
501st Garrison
Rubbersource
Rotary Club
Cambridge Fire Department
Marisa Pinto Photography
John Van Tran Photgraphy
The Cambridge Times
Conestoga Connect
The Cambridge Fire Department
Amplified Midlife Crisis

The Treatment Plan... FINALLY!

As we began this second fight, we had a long meeting with our oncology team who told us as much as they could about what we were facing, but at that point the knowledge of our future ended 28 days from that point.  After that, there were so many possible treatment protocols based on whether or not Nevan was in remission, how far into remission, whether he was accepted to the clinical trial we requested to be a part of etc.  Without these answers we had no idea what life had in store for us.

Finally after a very nerve wracking month of high intensity chemo, Nevan had a bone marrow biopsy and showed that his cancer was in remission and low enough to move forward on the low risk standard protocol arm of our treatment plan.  We also found out that we were not accepted into the trial that we requested.  We weren't entirely sure how to feel about this as both us and our team spent weeks preparing for participation into the trial.  If Nevan was not as far into remission as he was or not handling the chemo as well as he had been, I think Craig and I would have been more concerned, but since all the news we received thus far was good, we both are relieved that we will not be introducing any more chemicals into an already full treatment plan and allowing Nevan to have a slightly better quality of life as we navigate through the next few months.

 Although his treatment plan is very complex and intense we will try our best to give an overview as to what the next 23 months of Nevan's treatment will look like. Everything is subject to change based on his daily blood counts, remission status and tolerance of the chemo and meds.

To start, Nevans cancer is in remission. While this is great news, it does not mean that his cancer is gone. What it means is that in a small test sample of blood, there were little to no cancer cells found... again.. amazing news!  However this small sample of blood does not represent his whole body and we need to continue to treat for 2 years to ensure that every last cancer cell has been eradicated.  The treatment protocol for relapsed ALL is not easy.

For those who followed us through his first 2 year battle with Leukemia,  this time around will be more difficult with stronger and larger doses of chemotherapy drugs. The layout of chemotherapy is more frequent and overlapping within the protocol. The number of days Nevan will be neutropenic will be much greater than before. The long term side effects and possible damage to his brain and organs has increased drastically and his chance of life-long remission has dropped to 50% from 90%.

The month of February will be almost as aggressive as the first 4 weeks of treatment and will be followed by one last bone marrow aspiration to determine if his cancer is still in remission. After that the month of March will be a similar treatment as February. April and May are considered one block of treatment and will be slightly less aggressive than March. June and July will be a repeat of April and May. August he starts what's called maintenance phase. It has three initial blocks which are August, September, and October of this year. In November he moves into full maintenance which will repeat itself monthly until December of 2017.

Confused yet?! We are slowly figuring it out ourselves. Basically we will continue to push high levels of toxic drugs into him for the next several months. He will continue to visit the hospital several times per week. He will be admitted for treatment some days or if he gets a fever or doesn't tolerate the therapy. He will receive chemotherapy, steroids, several antibiotics and other preventative medication at home daily.

He will miss school for the rest of this semester and not be able to participate in any extra curricular activities or sports. He will feel horrible many days and will have to be kept away from sick people for the entire 2 years. He will be home schooled and tutored until the fall but may return to school as early as May. Nothing is firm right now. Some things we plan will be cancelled and everything can change or be shifted with very little notice.

The battle has just begun...


CUTE STORY OF THE DAY
After watching Nevan and Nylah proudly wearing a different outfit every day (Awesome Xmas gifts from family and friends)...

Daddy: "Ok... why do you guys have a way better wardrobe than I do?"

Without even looking up from what she was doing...
Nylah..." because we are cute... and you are old."

Nothing makes 37 feel old like the words of a 5 year old!

4 of 104 (dad)

Even if he has to repeat what he already has done it doesn't seem doable. Brave? No I struggle with that word. Bravery is about choice. Even at 4 years old he realized he had to or he would die. When I think of what we are forcing him to do I think of my own childhood. I think of how I remember my youth. The magic of it all. Not a worry or care. No stress or unreasonable requests. No threats or ultimatums. Will Nevan or even Nylah remember what the magic of being a young innocent child felt like. Or have we stolen that to save his life...

I can't put into words any better than Anita did of finding out his Cancer relapsed. The first few days were full of tears. We couldn't sleep for the first while at all. How could this happen? What could we have done wrong? What could we have missed? There is nothing we did wrong or missed. Not one change in what we or any nurse or Doctor did would have changed his fate. 60 years ago Nevan would be gone and from a flu bug by most indications. How grateful we are to know exactly why he is sick and even more grateful to have some way to try and save him. We show that gratitude every day by being co-operative and understanding with the Oncology team. They too have to carry this burden and have chosen a career that requires not only an intellectual component but an emotional one. I can't say enough how impressed I am with the oncology team we have and how well they know their jobs and even more so how much they care about our Family. When every Doctor meets you with tears or long faces you know that this shouldn't have happened. That we are all on the same page. That this is bullshit.....

I honestly can't articulate how I feel right now. We are grateful for the help he will receive but very aware that he is in great danger. The odds are horrifying. Being told your child has a 10% chance of dying is hard to stomach on top of what you have to do to achieve the 90% recovery. And now he has 50% chance. That number is so bad we can't even register its meaning. At this point its the fact that it came back at all that terrifies us. He had no serious complications from the first treatment. To be clear there were lots of ups and downs and nasty horrible days but he completed the treatment with no damage to his body as we could see. He finished all the leg needles which some kids body's cant handle. He made it to every treatment snow storm or not. He never missed a medication. He did what was asked. His numbers were always stable and when treatment was done his body recovered well. We shouldn't be here. Our only resolve is that one of the cells went dormant and the next 2 years will ensure we eradicate whatever was hiding.

The first four weeks of his treatment were not what we expected. Technically he should have stayed in the hospital the whole time however he came into this feeling very well. Because his body tolerated the initial days and because the team know us and trust us to watch him we were allowed LOA's often. Unfortunately his treatment started days before Christmas and because of the toxicity of the one drug he was required to stay Christmas eve for flushing and observation. I was very upset that we couldn't be together over Christmas eve. I have very few traditions in my family but Christmas comes with high expectations from me. I was aloud to bring him back home but needed to return by 9pm. The Magic of Christmas eve was lost anyway because he was too high on Dex to care about anything. I drove him back to the hospital around 7pm instead.  In the morning I had the nurses do blood work at 6am sharp. We left right after so that he could be there to see the tree lit up with presents under it while it was still dark out. We waited until late morning to give him his Dex so he could enjoy the morning with us.

Christmas wasn't the same this year. We didn't get to do a lot of the small things we consider our traditions. We spent some of the time apart and the things we did do were cut short or interrupted by meds and moods. We could have had a much worse Christmas though. We did get Nevan home for some of the holidays and he didn't complain about missing out on anything. Partly because of how laid back he is and partly because he was already exhausted from the treatment. He was also on steroids which affected his mood and energy and was content to just relax most of the time. Him and Nylah were both spoiled by Santa, Grandparents, Uncles and Aunties and the hospital. Nevan was diagnosed only weeks before Christmas and yet on Christmas morning one of his gifts was a small bear with his name stitched to its clothing. I was very impressed by this but not surprised. The amount of support from Child Life and volunteers and agencies and charities these kids get is enormous at Mac. Together they make being in the hospital happy :). So even though we didn't get to do Christmas the way we usually do, we still all felt the magic of the season. A little snow would have helped with that too.

Moving past the holidays Nevan had a few ups and downs. The layout of his treatment was not what we expected. I hesitate to use the word but it seemed easier than we were expecting. He got to have a few breaks from chemo and steroids. He was discharged on several occasions which technically isn't supposed to happen. The protocol is meant to be completed as an inpatient treatment however Nevan tolerated the high dose chemotherapy and was doing well. He was allowed to go home and even treated through the clinic on several occasions. This awesome perk came to an end towards the last week of his first block ( a block of treatment is 28 days usually ). After completing and clearing one of the medications he was discharged. I walked him to the elevator where while waiting he told me that his eyes seemed fuzzy. I told him that in a few seconds he would be sitting in the van where he would feel better. I assumed he'd been sitting too long in the hospital bed and had grown a little weak. I was wrong. The initial drop of the elevator brought Nevan down with it. I had my arm around him holding him close but my other hand had his pillow and blanket in it. He unfolded beside me like a marionette that just had its string cut. It all happened so fast and my reaction time is slow compared to some. I guided him to the ground and once the elevator stopped picked him up with one arm and asked him if he could here me. His eyes drifted as he fell but once I had him in my arms he seemed to be snapping out of it. Fortunately there were mirrors in the elevator so I could see his face. There was also a nice lady with us that sent the elevator back up to the ward. I'm pretty sure I scared the hell out of her but I told her he and I were fine. I went back up to the ward where one of the nurses noticed I had come back with him. I told her Nevan had fainted and then about 10 people ran us into his room. The team quickly discovered that his Hemoglobin was too low and we proceeded with a blood transfusion. Once the transfusion was complete they said we could go home again. I thought this was odd but considering Nevan was feeling well and all other vitals were fine and also that Mom and I are competent I took him and left. By the time we got home it was past his bedtime. At midnight he woke Anita because he was restless. At 2:00 am he woke her because his stomach hurt and by 3 he had a fever. Anita packed and left with him around 4:00 am. Our easy road had ended. The team talked to us and decided that it would just be safer and easier for everyone if we stayed now until we completed his bone marrow aspiration which was a week away. His fever disappeared and several tests came back negative. Anita and I talked and decided that no one should see Nevan if they or anyone in there family was ill in anyway within 48 hours. This blanket rule ensures Nevan stays as healthy as possible. It also keeps our stress low so we don't have to negotiate with people or worry about the what ifs. This rule applies to colds as well because we think he is dealing with enough and so are we. We are not depressed or feeling isolated. We are just protecting the 4 of us. There will be a time for visits and get togethers and we appreciate everyone's patience as we make these decisions.

This pretty much sums up the first 4 weeks. Its been a busy time and we've been using Facebook to give everyone recent news. The next post will be about Nevan's remission status and details of his 2 year treatment plan. Another 104 weeks of therapy followed by another 1 year off therapy and a 5 year milestone of cancer free followed by a lifetime of worry. And that's if everything goes according to plan.

Back to the Future (dad)

This will be the first time I make the effort to sit and write a full blog of what has happened so far. I haven't blogged for a few years now. I have a few drafts with titles and main themes started but no finished products. As Anita said 2015 was full of some much needed normalcy and the year before that just felt like it dragged on week after week. The rotating 3 week cycles we were on with his chemo were draining. It took up much more of our time, patience, emotional stamina and money than we had anticipated. And when the big day came on August 28Th 2014 we were glad to be moving on. I remember that day well. I remember how fast it came upon us and how exhausted we were by the end of his treament. But something was missing. We had finally finished over 24 months of treatment but even with a final date there was now sigh of relief that day. We had already gotten him into remission in 2012 which was the main milestone I guess but this moment was about finally being able to stop being a cancer family and start being a normal family. And there in lies the problem. We felt the truth then but now we know it. We will never stop being a cancer family. Never. We will never be a "normal" family. Our universe will always have Nevan's Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia right in the center of it. It shapes who we are and how we think and feel. It decides how our time and money is spent. It determines our future goals for ourselves and our children. It alters every single relationship we have. Our marriage and parenting feel it. Our relationship with our parents and the kids with their grandparents. Our relatives are pushed out further along with all our personal and family friends. Cancer consumes as much of their loved ones as it does the patient.

2015.....Anita said that we were happy to get back to the normal swing of things right after his treatment finished. And we did, Nevan went back to school and so did Nylah. Nevan still missed some time because of catching some flu bugs that required some checks by the hospital plus his many follow up appointments. I went back to work and although had to take a few more days off than expected they were all for Nevan's illness and I worked more than enough overtime to compensate throughout the year. We got caught up on things around the house. We tried to do some day trips with the kids. We tried to get together with friends and family but my work schedule is hard to match with other peoples jobs. We also were busy with counselling for all of us to deal with the toll of the previous 3 years. We all suffered in different ways and all needed time and help to move forward. Nevan did an amazing job of getting back into the social aspects of school and the academic as well (once he stopped being social all of the time :). Nylah is not very independent by nature so putting her on the back burner at a young age caused some damage but now that she is in school she is truly emerging as a bright courageous leader. She has a lot of spirit and we are working hard to let her be who she wants to be. The dark cloud above all of us is that Anita had to quit her job to take care of Nevan. I was able to go on disability to keep my job but took a 60% pay cut to be home with everyone. This all was done a mere 6 weeks after buying our 'forever' home and tripling our mortgage with tons of renos required. I wont get into the details but essentially we took almost $100000 in consumer credit that should have gone into renovations to improve our home and increase it's value. Instead those credit sources were used to hold on to the house and our life style with the hopes that the market would go up and we could repay the loans once life returned to normal and regained a full double income. The total income lost we figure is around or above $135000 after tax from both of us. We were very lucky in the beginning by having several people come forward to raise money for us through fundraising campaigns. We estimate around $40000 was raised over all including charities and fundraisers and tax savings for Nevans disability. We are forever grateful for the efforts of our friends and family to raise money for us.

One of the biggest financial tools we had in place was a critical illness policy on Nevan for $20000. I had it through my employer and took it along with many other products in preparation when purchasing the new home. The policy was denied in the end because of a hidden rule about not paying out for cancer in the first 90 days. We were half way there. Even so, Nevans cancer can be tied to symptoms of a flu or cold which means if he had either they theoretically could deny the claim. LOOPHOLES everywhere. Long story short , we took them to court, sued for the $20000 policy's worth, had the lawyer call us greedy because of the large amount of charity we did receive. Yes greedy because I wanted the money from a policy I was still paying a premium on to continue benefits for other illnesses for both kids. Life's not better under the sun. You get cancer and then they don't payout. The contract was so twisted you couldn't tell the difference between adult or child. So we chose to settle and walked away. Fighting further could have had them sue us for damages if we lost. We also signed a non-disclosure that as you can see I couldn't give less of a shit about right now. We left that court room that day and left everything behind us. It was undeniable proof to us how little the world cares about children with cancer. But look around you. Forget war and famine and global warming. Look at the litter and the road rage and the manner in which we speak and treat each other at the local grocery store or mall. We don't seem to care about a lot of things these days.

So 2015 passed very quickly for us. There was so many expectations on our part but with me back to work on long rotating shifts and the kids catching up on school, swimming, skating and piano, and Anita putting a tremendous amount of effort into securing a self employed income for her future we just ran out of time. We have so many people we have wanted to see but we couldn't find the time. If you are reading this and feel like we have not put effort into our relationship with you you are probably right. But it was out of a lack of time not interest. Catching up is taking so much longer and life keeps moving no matter how far behind we fell. I hope I can stay off work as long as possible so we can truly find the balance in our lives that we crave right now.
At this time I need to point out that the purpose of this blog is to inform on Nevans journey but also to document how we all feel and are dealing with his illness with respect to every way it affects us. PG 18 warning!!!! If "(dad)" is in the title there will be some colourful metaphors. After 20 years in organized labour positions I have become versed in many forms of foul language. Not proudly but one must adapt to their environment in order to survive and even thrive. And the term FUCK CANCER was coined long before I arrived. This is my blog and as such I write what I feel.

There now we can move on to current day or at least the beginning of our re-journey......

Funny story. all the words blog, blogger, and blogged are not in the dictionary of the blog platform I'm using..........

Round 1 vs Round 2

So many people feel our pain of having to go through this all again.  We have watched our friends have to face relapse and have felt the same as all of you...Sad, confused and angry. It is only those parents that truly know what we are going through now, but let me try and put it into words here.  

We were obviously devastated... it was completely out of the blue, unexpected.  Even the Drs and Nurses were stunned.  We called family and friends immediately because we knew as soon as we began discussing treatment, our brains would need to focus on the task at hand, grasp it, learn it and make serious decisions very quickly... we would be distracted and busy from this point forward just like last time.... Not so. 

This time was different... harder.. sadder.. more crushing.  Which we honestly thought was not even possible considering what we went through the first time... what could be worse that hearing than your 4 year old has cancer?! ... hearing that your 8 year old has it again.  

The first time we got the cancer diagnosis it was was followed by a whirlwind of events that forced us to either focus and stay grounded or be sucked up in them.  We lived moment to moment, day to day, conversation to conversation, symptom to symptom.  It was so busy, so stressful, our family was immediately split apart for months with no sign of relief.  We read everything we could and listened to every word spoken to us... many moments simply spent trying to trick a 2 year old and 4 year old into thinking that everything was fine.  

This time Nevan was not sick, it was not crazy and instead of living moment to moment, an entire 3 years of painful, fear-filled, heart-wrenching memories came flooding back within moments of our first conversation.  It was blinding, deafening and shocking.  The conversations made sense to us immediately and there was no need to turn to google for clarification... the medications were familiar and the side effects understood.  Very few things required a whole lot of explanation although the amazing Drs went through our 30 page consent form with us page by page.  

There were numbers everywhere, lengths of time, dates, medication doses and statistics.  One statistic in particular got us through so many hard moments last time... Standard Risk Pre B Cell ALL has a 90% cure rate... the first time around.  This is the statistic I was waiting to hear during the entire conversation... we were told on more than one occasion the cure rate for relapsed ALL is also high. This is where a good lesson in relativity should be inserted because what is high to them is not at all high to me... finally the number was given... Nevan has a 50% chance.  This number was a punch in the stomach... it still rings through my brain every single day... multiple times a day.  Even though I have been told and understand that it is not where my focus should be... there are some things you just can't un-hear.  

So many supporters lending their shoulders and words of strength and wisdom, but I couldn't hear them or see them.  Where last time I was in it from the get go and fully in control... this time I was lost.  It has taken me a couple of weeks, but I found my way back... I am strong and ready to support my baby boy and the rest of my family to fight again and win Round 2 with a KO.  

Cute Story of the Day:
Craig's friends came over with his daughters for a visit.  Nylah wasted no time taking them up to her room to play... after they were gone, she discovered that one of the little girls had left her small figurine behind.

Nylah:  Daddy, Sydney left her toy in my room, we HAVE to give it back!

Daddy: Ok let me text him and let him know
             He texted back and said the toy is just from McDonalds and you can keep it.

Nylah:  Now wait a minute!!  Did Sydney say that or did her dad?

Kids are always looking out for each other!  Next time we see Daddy's friend we will be sure to return the little toy. :)

And... Round 2

As most of you are aware by now, Nevan's Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia has relapsed.  It has been a long time since we have written in this blog and I have been thinking about posting an update so often, but never getting around to doing it.  Life started again for us, back to school, back to work, seeing friends, going where we want, when we want without the worry of blood counts or whether we were on the dreaded "week 1" treatment protocol.  Normal life got in the way of sitting and writing and we simply let it... happily let it... welcomed it with open arms...

Now, in a very twisted and cruel moment of Deja Vu, here we are again... me sitting in my 'chair-bed' at McMaster Children's Hospital and Nevan sleeping in the hospital bed beside me.  Stuck in a small room with nothing to do but be entertained by one of the many electronics we have plugged into the one outlet we are provided with in our room.  Silence interrupted by the beeping of machines, the check in's by nurses and tonight... the ice rain that is loudly blowing against our window.  There is nothing to do... time to blog.  

On Nov 28th, our entire family went on a beautiful 7 day cruise to celebrate my dad's 75th birthday, Nevan's 8th birthday and his first birthday off treatment and without his port.  We were saying good riddance to a very painful chapter in our lives and hello to the new beginnings that were slowly coming our way.  We didn't celebrate Nevan's end of treatment in 2014 with more than a simple picnic in the park. We thought... if things don't go our way, it will be harder to face the truth if we celebrate too much.  We decided to celebrate 1 year instead... August 28th 2015 was one year off treatment... affectionately knows as super hero day in our family.  We decided to dress up like superheroes and spend the day that way.  We got together with family and friends and reminisced about all we got through, and how fast it flew by.  We decided to plan a trip together to really celebrate and on Dec 6th, we returned from a memorable family trip... a trip of a lifetime.  2 days later was a routine check up at McMaster,,, soon we realized just how special that trip really was.   

That day, Nevan's blood work showed that his platelets had dropped slightly along with his white cells... very typical of the body fighting a virus.  Only thing was, Nevan had no signs or symptoms of being sick.  He was strong, healthy, pain free and had a great appetite.  We were asked to come back the following week to recheck, and also put on the sedation list in case he dropped some more and needed a bone marrow biopsy.  We waited until the Tuesday of the following week when his blood tests showed that his platelets had come up and his white cells were still only slightly lower than before.  The Drs were still fairly convinced that this was a virus and nothing at all to worry about.  We spoke to his oncologist and she said that she really was not concerned and didn't want to push the bone marrow biopsy.  We all discussed the pros and cons and decided that with the holidays coming, it may just be nice to do the test, get the results and have a happy and worry free holiday.  Later that day we got the phone call... there were cancer blasts in his marrow.  His marrow was 60% cancer to be exact... the battle we thought we won, wasn't even remotely over.

Cute story of the day:
We were at the hospital with Nevan and Craig forgot something in the car.  Nevan and I continued into the hospital and waited outside the elevator on the second floor for Craig to meet up with us.

Me:  Daddy will be here soon
Nevan:  Lets go watch the elevators, I have a feeling he will be in the next one!
Me: Ok.... here it comes...
Nevan:  Is Daddy in there!? ... Nope... just short people....

The Light is bright, but the tunnel to get there is dark...

There is a light at the end of the tunnel... and we are going to get there very soon.  We have travelled this long, dark and narrow road for almost 2 years now and just as the end seems to be so near, it seems like one thing after another is taking its turn to remind us that we are not there yet and still very much on our journey!

The last few weeks have been rough.  Nevan's reaction to his Dex is getting worse and worse.  He is having a much harder time controlling his feelings and reacts very harshly to so many things including his little sister... poor thing.  A few weeks ago, Nevan's secretary called me from his school and told me she had Nevan there with her and he was having chest pains.  We dropped what we were doing, picked him up and spent the next 6 hours in the McMaster emergency room.  They put Nevan through a bunch of tests, but could not diagnose anything... which in this case wasn't a bad thing.  With Leukemia there is a very real chance Nevan will have heart problems in the future and these tests came back clear!  Phew!  The only other thing it may be was severe Acid Reflux... so more meds were prescribed.  

Since then, Nevan has been feeling ok... we reached a mile stone this past week when Nevan had his LAST sedated Lumbar Puncture (chemo in his spine).  That morning however he woke up and we noticed a fair number of bruises on his lower body.  We spoke to the Nurses at clinic and they didn't seem overly concerned except to say "don't let him get bumped too badly".  Ok... no problem... we have managed it for almost 2 years now.  Fast forward 8 hours and Nevan is lying on the ground screaming as he falls off his bike!  ugh!  I told Nevan before he left that since he was sedated in the morning, we were not going to bring his bike to his school BBQ as he is still a bit dizzy.  He agreed, but seeing all his friends riding around and having just missed 1 month of school because of a chicken pox outbreak... Nevan broke down and begged to join his friends.  Daddy went to get his bike so he could ride in the last 5 minutes of the relay... it took only 2 and he was down.  He cut his right hand open and got road rash on his elbow, shoulder blade and stomach.  We took him home as fast as we could and I put him in the tub to wash as much of the dirt and gravel out as I could.  Nevan has been and probably always will be physically and emotionally against anything sticky touching his skin.  No bandages are allowed to come near him at any time unless absolutely necessary.  The only other alternative, wrap him in tensor bandages and gauze!  So that's what we did.  He looked like he just had major surgery, but he was happy and went to bed utterly exhausted!  

The next morning, Nevan felt a bit better physically but mentally, his dex was taking control.  Nylah ended up touching the wrong lego piece and Nevan decided to gouge out her arm with the corner of the piece!!  Nylah started screaming and Nevan was just angry... there was no remorse, just outright anger at the situation.  I couldn't believe it... it was like Nevan was gone.  My Nevan... the healthy one... the one that doesn't suffer from 'roid rage would NEVER have even thought to harm his sister. It was very upsetting for all of us. 

Nevan is losing weight and doesn't have as much energy as he used to.  He suffers with undiagnosed abdominal pain, diarrhea and fatigue.  We are very lucky that he has tolerated it this well so far, but as our dreams of living a cancer free life are getting closer and closer to reality... it seems our momentum is wavering.  2015 cannot get here fast enough... we will welcome it with open arms!!  

Cute story of the day:

When ever Nevan goes to school, I have my phone inches away from me at all times just incase I see Saginaw PS call through.  It usually means something is wrong and I need to go and pick him up.

Last week the phone rings, I answer and there is a little voice on the other end. 

"Hi Mommy, I just wanted to tell you that I am going to be dancing with Daniel and Ben in the talent show next week"

Me: "ummm ok... are you feeling ok?"

Nevan: "Yes"

Me: "Don't you have class right now?"

Nevan: "Yes"

Me: "Shouldn't you be there?"

Nevan: "Yes"

Me:  "Nevan are you really not understanding what I am trying to get at here?"

Nevan: "Yes, I understand... bye Mommy!"

The Next Day the phone rings again:

"Hi Mommy"

Me: "Hi Nevan, Whats wrong"

Nevan: "Can you bring me some Cheesies?"

..... I don't think he understood! :)

An Long but Unintentional Hiatus!

Well, the last time we wrote was March of 2013!  At first life got busy, then it got routine and when we sat down to write again, we found that Google had locked us out of our account!  It took a lot of troubleshooting and finally a frustrating trip for Craig down to the Google Office in Waterloo to demand answers, to finally be able to write again!

Although I was unable to write, I read this blog over and over again throughout this past year.  Sometimes to remember where we were on order to gain strength for where we are now.  Sometimes just to have a laugh at all the cute memories that were intermingled among all the bad.  

  

Yesterday we went to Churchill Park for a photo shoot with Marc Douglas Photography.  Marc is a good friend of ours whose daughter is also battling the same fight that Nevan is.  He was nice enough to shoot some much overdue family photos and this is one of them.  I love this picture, but it makes me very emotional.  Our journey to fight Nevan's cancer continues today, but we are so blessed, lucky, fortunate, to still have our family of four intact.  I feel so immensely grateful for this but in the same thought feel heart broken for those families that have had to say goodbye to one of their members.  Since I have written last we have had to send condolences to too many families.  

Nevan and Nylah are strong and happy and doing very well these days and in the next few blog posts, I am going to back track to fill in as many events as I can, that have happened over the last year.  Good times and bad times as all families have.  We have made many new friends and have grown our extended family in such an amazing way.  We keep each other going and immerse ourselves in their stories when ours become a bit too much to handle.  At the same time, the family and friends that have been there from the beginning and still stand by us today keep our heads level and give us the much needed relief from a life changed forever. With the old normal we look back so fondly on and the new normal that is just on the horizon, I am so glad to be able to write and share again!  

Cute story of the day:

Nylah talks NON stop these days, to herself, to her dolls, to the animals... whoever is around. I work from home now and sometimes I just need some quiet. 

Me: "Nylah... you can sit with me on the couch, but I really need you to stop talking for a little while so mommy can concentrate ok?"

Nylah: "Yes mommy, I can help you concentrate, I can rub your back or your legs while you work and then you can work even better and faster and then after you are done you can play with me, because I have been waiting to play with you for a long time and all the 'by myself' things are done and..."

Me: "Nylah!  I really need you to stop talking, just for a few minutes.  We just had breakfast and I will play with you as soon as I am done writing some emails"

Nylah: " Got it mommy... You have to write emails because it is your job, but do you know what I can write?  I can write my name and Nevan's name and mommy and daddy and Nana and Nanima... not sure about Grandma and Grandma yet, but you can help me with that when you are done writing your email, because sometimes I need help with things...."

Me: "NYLAH! Please, please, please just sit quietly for a few minutes"

Nylah:  "OK! I am going to sit right here beside you and be super duper quiet so that you can finish your work and then it will be time to talk again as soon as you are done, I am very good at being quiet, I have to be quiet in daycare when my kids are sleeping or when Dawn talks, so I know how to be quiet..."

Me: " Oh man... ok Why don't you put your baby to sleep? She looks very tired!"

Nylah: "She can't sleep with all that typing!  You are being way too loud!" 

AHHHHHHH!  lol 

Hibernation....(dad)

Its the beginning of March now. We try and keep daily notes for our own personal records but blogs are few and far between. We have been busy keeping life in order since Christmas. With me back to work and at 6 days a week it's busy around here for sure. Anita is and will be off work for quite some time but it feels like we need me home more to help out. We are planning of taking advantage of the new EI for parents with critically ill children benefit but are waiting for the bill to be passed. Politics... This will give us the summer off together as a family. I think thats fair considering we lost last summer to 3 months in the hospital. Many fun day trips will be in order I think.

Nevan continues to respond well to his treatments. He rotates a revolving 3 week schedule. Week one is always difficult. The steroid he takes alters his mood and makes him very sore. Think of  being high and having a bad flu at the same time, oh and your 5 and don't know why you feel like this. That's nevan for 6 days. If we take him to school the day after the drugs stop he still feels sick. He tries to go to school for the day but only wants to stay for and hour. He loves school and would never ask to come home otherwise. We are used to it but it's still hard to watch. His eyes are glassy and foggy at the same time. He gets depressed and just want to sit in the corner of the couch or sleep all day. He walks himself to his bedroom 3 times a day without even telling you sometimes.

The following two weeks are filled with our normal happy silly boy. Nothing gets him down. He has even stopped crying and getting worked up about needles. Every visit to clinic is all about being brave. And he is. In 4 more weeks there will be one less thing to be brave for though. His last leg needle approachs. 30 in all. Once finished he is supposed to regain his strength and appetite.

His hair is starting to grow back. It's too early to tell but it may not come back to it's original dark brown. Maybe lighter they say. He lost a lot of his eyebrows and eyelashes too. It makes me furious to think it won't return to its original colour. I want so much for there not to be a trace of this once the treatment is finished. Unfortunatley he already has many scars. Hopefully creams and time will help with them. His perfectly little body is damaged with scars, puncture holes and bruising that are still trying to heal from 6 months ago. I hope he remembers nothing from this and at 5 years old he probably wont't.

Nylah is doing well. Brother and Sister get along and have lots of fun together. We feel like Nylah doesn't get to do a lot of the things Nevan did at her age because we get stuck in the house a lot. We really need for this summer to be as hospital free as possible.

We should have some good stories to share in the coming weeks as a small celebration will be in order for his last leg needle. We will keep you posted. It's 3:00 am off to bed..........

PICTURE POST: The Journey continues

                                           Leg Needle Sticker Chart. 30 for every brave kid. 

This was Nevan's first!

Dad Checking Nevan's Heart Rate.  Might get a more accurate reading if he was not playing video games at the same time!

 



Finger Poke.  Nevan gets a finger poke to check his blood counts every week.

A Little kid in a big room

Even at the worst of times, Baby elephant never left his side
 

He is the funniest when he wakes up from sedation!



Our first Day pass from the hospital

A very careful picnic in the park



He loved the silicone bracelettes we made for him.  "Noone Fights Alone"

 



Pretty Nylah



Feeding the birds at Riverside Park

 

 



Riverside Park



The birds love Nevan

 



Going to Dr Laura's Fundraiser

 

 



Nevan's first time in Public for Dr Laura's Fundraiser

Nylah in the bouncy Castle

Nevan is a Survivor.... in the making

 



Far away high fives

 



Nevan's Favourite thing... Glow in the Dark Mini Golf... this time with the help of a pair of gloves and a package of Clorox wipes in tow!

Deja Vu

Well, after a good month of feeling strong and healthy and having some great moments... Nevan is again feeling pretty crummy.  It feels like Deja Vu of the last time we had to have his tube inserted.  He has a very sore throat from the insertion of the tube and his stomach is hurting all day.  He has stopped eating all together and is throwing up all the feeds that we are trying to put in him over night.  He is weak and frail and sleeps most of the day. 

I guess over this past month we thought the worst was over and we wouldnt end up back here but here we are.  This morning we woke up early to go and get our christmas tree in a tree farm and store in Flamborough. I made a nice breakfast of French toast and bacon at Nevan's request (of which he ate none) and then we started getting our boots on.  Nevan stopped and asked for some more medicine to help his tummy.  You know its bad when Nevan requests medicine... a few seconds later he threw up everything we put in his stomach over night including his morning meds.  We carried him to the couch where he fell asleep shortly thereafter and we just flashed back to 8 weeks ago. 

Nylah is still a happy, busy toddler, not really being affected by all of this.  She stays happy playing on her ipad and making everyone food in her play kitchen.  We ended up staying close to home this morning and getting a tree from Canadian Tire instead.  It's these types of forced changes that make life for Nylah almost unfair.  By this age, Nevan had been to the park countless times, African Lion Safari splash pad was his favourite place and riding his bike was one of his favourite pass times.  Nylah hardly knows any of these places and she has ridden her tricycle less than 5 times.  A side effect of spending our entire summer in the hospital and spending the fall and winter secluded and trying our best to avoid cold and flu season.  She is always happy and doesn't really know what she is missing... but we do. Hopefully as next summer approaches, Nevan will be feeling much better and we pack it solid with fun things for both kids to do.

Help a Child Smile is a charity organization that works directly with McMaster Hospital and they definitely make sure that these cancer kids smile.  They provide tickets to major theme parks for children well enough to go including Disney on Ice, Sporting Events and Various parties.  We also have Camp Trillium to look forward to, which is a camp for all cancer kids and their families.  Other parents have said that it is therapy for the soul.  Each child that attends is assigned their own attendant and they keep them busy with activities.  Other activities are scheduled for the adults or they can just sit and relax.  A whole tonne of family time and an escape from 'medical norm'.  Something that the kids will definitley enjoy is a cottage... we are looking into possibly renting one ourselves for next summer somewhere, but once Nevan is done his treatment, there is an organization called Cottage Dreams where people provide their cottage for a week of free use to all children who have survived cancer. 

There are definitely things to look forward to... we just have to keep moving forward to ge there...

Cute Story of the Day:

We are teaching Nevan how to say the alphabet phonetically and sound out his words... he tries to teach Nylah..... but she is not quite getting it!

Nylah: "Nevan... you going osispal?"

Nevan: "Nylah, Hospital has a H in it... H- H- ... Hospital"

Nylah: "H- H- osispal??"

Nevan: "No... like T- T Teacher"

Nylah: "OHHHH, Me Try... T-T Baby!!  C-C Nylah! B-B Toothpaste!!" 

Nevan: " Mommy... she doesn't know anything..."

PICTURE POST: Nevan's Birthday

Waking up super early to see his special birthday present

Acting Crazy infront of the Fish Tank

One Froggie Cupcake for Nevan's Actual Birthday

Tradition is that each birthday the kids are allowed to choose what ever cake they would like.  This year Nevan chose a superhero cake for one party and a bust of Spiderman turning into Black Spiderman for his next party!! I have made kittens and puppies, a giant yellow octopus, a stegasaurus and a Toy Story Cake... but these were some tall orders!  Time to call in the help of a professional... Auntie Yvonne to the rescue!  We spent all of Wednesday creating these cakes! 

This one turned out WAY Better than I thought it would!  I carved out carrot cake for the chest and shoulders and used styrofoam and tinfoil to make the head.  Covered the whole thing in yummy Fondant!

A very Special guest came to Nevan's party... a life sized Spiderman Balloon!

 Nylah and her Baby Elliott

 



Nevan, Grandma and Grandpa

Happy Whole Hand Old!!! Nevan is 5!!

Last week end we celebrated a very special occasion!  On Nov 27th, Nevan turned 5 years old!  As usual, Nevan had been counting down the days to his birthday since the day after Halloween! Very accurately remembering each day how many more 'sleeps' until his big day. 

His actual birthday fell on a Tuesday and we woke him up extra early (6:00am before Daddy went to work) to give him his gift.  I snuck in and told him that there was a very special birthday surprise waiting for him.  I asked him if he wanted to go down and see it and he rolled back over under the covers and said "Not right now... maybe in the morning".  Spoken like a kid that likes his sleep!  I woke him up anyway and carried him downstairs.  Set up on the main floor in their play room was a beautiful 36 gallon fishtank!  Complete with bubble blowing dinosaur!  He was still a bit tired and never really had a full reaction until later in the day, but he was definitely surprised and excited.  

We decided to have 2 parties at the house because we just couldn't fit all of the people we wanted to invite into our house at one time.  On Sat we had friends over and on Sunday, family.  The friends party with the kids turned out to be much smaller than anticipated because unfortunately Nevan's birthday falls right in the middle of Cold and Flu season!  So many of the other kids were sick and couldn't come.  But as it turns out, 4 kids is pretty much all our house can handle! lol.  They had a blast and our playroom was ransacked within minutes!  It was so amazing to see Nevan have fun with his friends for a full 4 hours.  His energy lasted and he was having a ball!  It was the first time he was able to play with a group of friends since he was diagnosed this July.  We want to send out a heartfelt thank you to Greg, Lisa, Pratiksha, Rahul, Tom and Amy for coming out and helping Craig and I feel like Normal parents for a day!  And to Rowyn, Leila, Caden and Dilan... thank you for making Nevan and Nylah feel like normal kids! 

Sunday was our family party.  Nana #2 and family fell ill also and had to stay home.  Auntie Priyanta came on behalf of all of them and in true to Auntie style, had awesome gifts in hand.  This eased Nevan's feelings of missing his Nana #2 so badly.  Also on hand to make this another great party was Baby Elliott, Aunti Yvonne and Uncle Dave (his favourite Fighting buddy), Auntie Medhini, Uncle Anoop, Grandma, Grandpa, Nana and Nanima.  This party was a little calmer, but just as fun!  Nevan and Nylah again had a blast and were completely tuckered by the end of the night!  This is Nevan's favourite group of people and they did what they do best... made him feel like the king of the castle!

Nevan has been doing very well these past couple of months.  He is on routine with his meds and his Chemo and is very brave now during his fingerpokes and leg needles.  He doesn't cry at all during finger poke and helps the nurse collect his own blood now.  The leg needles, although still very painful, are tolerated well thanks to the "Leg Needle Hat" the nurses create just for Nevan everytime he has his chemo.  They are unbelievable! Sometimes there are 3 of them in the room and they are talking a mile a minute and acting silly.  They don't give Nevan the opportunity to get worked up or upset until the needle is already in... and then it is over in a few seconds!  (If I haven't mentioned before the nurses and drs at Mac are amazing!).  We are still working on being brave for his chest pokes, but thats a hard one.  I don't think I would be so calm with a needle coming at my chest either.  Another amazing milestone is that Nevan is now taking all of his meds orally! Since dad's cooking caused him to throw up his nose tube a month ago Nevan made the very grown up decision to begin taking his meds... and he has.  The problem is that he is not eating.  While for most kids, the steroid phase is supposed to drastically increase appetite.  For Nevan, his appetite goes right out the window.  Very soon after the tube came out, we started noticing him losing weight.  We tried our best to get him to eat as much as we could, but Chemo distroys the taste buds, making food that you once loved taste bland and uninteresting.  We just couldn't find anything that Nevan enjoyed.  Even the Mr Noodle packages were not cutting it anymore.  We didn't want Nevan to have the tube for his birthday so we tolerated his eating habits and tried to introduce him to as many new things as we could, but he was shrinking fast.  The first clinic day after his party we made the decision to put the tube back in.  We will get his weight back up as high as we can with night feeds and pushes of calorie shakes into his stomach and then take it out again for Christmas.  Although he had the tube out for a fraction of the time he had it in, Craig and I got used to seeing him without it and perhaps forgetting time to time that we had a critically ill child.  Now with it back in, it is again a constant reminder to us and everyone else, just how fragile he really is.  Another reason that this birthday was extra special for all of us.  Thanks again to all of you who helped to make it as amazing as it was! 

Cute Story of the Day:

Me: "Nevan, do you want a snack?"
Nevan: "Yes Please?"
Me: "What would you like?"
Nevan: " I don't know, what do we have?"
Me: "We have Regular Fish,  Pretzel Fish, Cookies, Ice cream, Chips, Bananas, Grapes, Carrot Sticks, Crackers, Cheese, Yogurt...."
Nevan: "Ok"
Me: "So Tell me what you would like please"
Nevan: "For what?"
Me: "Dont you want a snack?"
Nevan: "Yes please.... what do we have?"

Perhaps I should have turned the TV off while trying to have this conversation! :)

Another Ambulance Ride

Well, it looks like our daily posts, turned weekly posts have now turned into monthly posts!  A sign that life is moving along at a very fast and busy pace!

Life over the last couple of months have had their eventful moments!  Halloween being one of the high points and an Ambulance ride to the emergency room being one of the lowest.  Yup... there was yet another Ambulance called... this time the patient was me! 

It all started with a batch of spaghetti and meatballs that Nylah and I shared for lunch... I left to do some errands and within an hour my stomach started turning.  Nylah was completely fine however so I pushed on to finish the things I needed to get done.  About 30 minutes after walking into the house I started becoming violently ill, it seemed to come out of nowhere and it was very harsh.  I dehydrated myself so severely in the span of a few hours that my major muscles were cramping and I was losing conciousness on the bathroom floor!  It was unbelievably scary and I knew I had to go to the hospital, but the thought of sitting in a car made me want to panick... so after talking to Telehealth, an ambulance was called.  I dont remember much after they lifted me up to carry me downstairs as I passed out within minutes.  I just remember being in the back of the ambulance and feeling like I was going to freeze because for some reason the paramedic thought that the tank top I was wearing would be enough to keep me warm in -6 degree weather!  (not at all bitter about that ;)

When we arrived at the hospital I saw a familiar and comforting face... it was Tony, the amazing nurse who was there and put the IV in for Nevan the day he was diagnosed with Leukemia.  He was also the one who gave Nevan 'Dog the Cat'... a special home made stuffed animal that he still has at the foot of his bed.  This time Tony was there to take care of me and he again was amazing... he had the Dr see me quite quickly and ordered me fluids and a miriad of meds.  Within Minutes I felt better and was able to fall asleep and allow the rest of my 2 boluses to finish.  I had 2 of the best popsicles I had tasted in my whole life and since I had kept them down for 30 minutes, requested to go home.  Apparently sitting still in a hospital bed is much different than driving in a moving vehicle.  I was sitting in the back of my dads SUV and yelled at him to pull over, much to my dismay... because he travels with my kids so often he has child safety locks on the back doors!!!  Thank goodness, Craig jumped out and opened the door just in time!  I laugh so hard thinking about it now... however I was NOT laughing then! 

After a shower and a good night (and days) sleep, I felt a whole lot better and began to get my strength and energy back.  Nevan however was not feeling great.  He was very upset by the fact that I was so sick and ended up in the hospital, Nylah was in bed and was none the wiser. Watching your mom be loaded into an ambulance would upset any child however a few days later we found out the real reason that Nevan was so upset.  He told his teacher that I got so sick because I sat too close to him the other day!!  Ughhh.... poor kid.  He thought I had caught his cancer and was so worried that I had to go through all the things he had to endure over the last few months.  He even asked me if I had a PICC line put in.  We then had a long conversation about how noone can ever catch what he has, just like he didn't catch his cancer from anyone else.  We also talked about how all of us are going to get sick many times in our lives even Peanut and Chaiyya will get sick.  I told him about how Chaiyya was bitten by a bee and went into shock.  The vet had to do many of the same things I had done including IV fluids and an ECG.  To this day we still don't really know what caused me to get so sick since Nylah and I ate the same things all day and she didn't get sick at all.  Perhaps I caught something while out on errands.

I think after a few talks, Nevan understood that although what he has is unique, everyone will get sick at one time or another and it will never be his fault. 

Cute Story of the Day:
Bob Munch's Mortimer:
'Clang clang, rattle bing bang
Gonna make my noise all day!
Clang clang rattle bing bang
Gonna make my Noise All day!"

Nylah's Version:
"Bang Bang, Rubba Dub Dub
Gonna sing my song today!
Bang Bang Rubba Dub Dub,
Gonna Sing my song all day!!"

NG (Dad)

After a lot of thought and discussion we have decide that it best to put Nevans NG (nose tube) back in. We have been monitoring his weight and nutrition for the past few weeks. He has lost 4 pounds since it was accidentally thrown up a month ago. We have tried to get him to eat but because of the chemo his taste buds aren't quite what they used to be.

Yes thrown up! I guess I should go back. Just after Halloween Mommy went out for a girls night. I was left in charge;)  I decided to make a fun dinner to make the night go well. Garlic bread seemed like a good idea. Bread, butter, garlic, cheese, simple. Perhaps I used too much garlic powder.While brushing his teeth Nevans stomach turned and then up came the garlic bread along with his nose tube. Tears and pain followed by an overwhelming sense of relief. He thus ran a fever that almost forced us to take him to the hospital for a 2 day stay. It broke the next day. I haven't been allowed to cook since;)

After a long discussion in the morning Nevan agreed to try and take his meds orally. Until now he has been doing a great job with minimal coercion and bribing. However the meds are no longer the issue. Nevan will eventually catch a flu bug. As of right now he doesn't have any extra body fat to deal with the dehydration it will bring. Also in order for the chemo to be as effective as it is prescribed to be he must have good nutrition. The chemo is slowly deteriorating his taste buds and thus makes him very fussy. We are trying our best to increase selection but even still hes just not interested. We were warned of this. So we have decided to have his NG tube returned until a few days before Christmas. This will allow his face to recover from the tape before we take pictures during the holidays. The Turkeys are being fattened for Christmas and so is our little monkey.

I took him yesterday to clinic and requested the tube be put in. I was suppose to be at work but Anita came down with a cold bug or something worse. It is not acceptable to have anyone visit the clinic who feels ill. Obviously we agree.

It was not an easy day. It was his week one Thursday. 1 finger poke,  1 leg needle, 1 chest port access, and his steroids start again. He didn't have much warning. It wasn't fair but telling him ahead of time gets him too worked up. I told him he was going to get the nose tube just before we started the treatment. I should have waited. It just made everything worse. He screamed through everything. I couldn't say or do anything. Everyone tried to talk him through it. Me, the nurses, even the social worker Nancy and her cool toys cant distract him. I hold him down once again, body and head and we all work together to get it over with. He screams out that he will be a good boy and eat his food. Everyone jumps to reassure him its not his fault. Once again everyone in tears..... The nurses are reminded its not just a job they do......Nevan has that affect.
Once its in he talks to us about it and makes his usual demands. Water please. Tape it. Hes very precise and has a routine. So proud of him as always. Now we are making a solid effort to fill him all day and make this traumatic procedure worth it.

Halloween (dad)

Ready...set...go!!!!
Wednesday morning. It's Halloween day, one of my favorite times of the year. If a vote ever came about to make it a national holiday I'd be the first one to the poll. I have nothing but fond memories as a young child celebrating Halloween. The cool night air, the dim orange light of jack o'
lanterns, the smell of the slowly cooking pumpkin, the excitement of everyone in the neighbourhood out of their homes and in the streets running around from house to house to show off their creativity in exchange for some sugar. What a perfect end to summer before everyone north of 40 hibernates for the next 6 months. I love it even more now as I get to watch my kids experience this spooky and playful event.

This year was a little more special than previous years. Because some children are either to ill to leave the hospital or just not well enough to be out door to door in the cold, McMaster has its own trick or treat event. At 10:30am on Halloween we pulled into the hospital parking lot. We went up the elevator to the second floor lobby. When we looked around we could see people in costumes from one end of the corridor to the other and on both sides of the isle. There was approximately 200 people standing around. I initially thought that all the trick or treators were lined up for candy. I then noticed that many were adults and that the kids were around the corner lining up and getting ready to go. The 200+ people were handing out the candy!! The line finally started forward and the candy began to fall into nevans giant spider-man pillow case. He quickly realized that candy could be grabbed from either side and so started weaving back and forth trying to get as much as he could. Nylah however being only 2 and not remembering last year was a little overwhelmed to say the least. She did not know why she was there or what was happening. She walked reluctantly from one end of the hospital to the other in nearly a straight line staring up at the make-up and mask faces. I had to keep asking her to keep walking or she would have stopped in shock of the pure volume of people. It didn't help that she was wearing a big eyed spider man costume, black mesh tutu and her always too cute pig tails pulled through her mask. She was SPIDER-GIRL!!!  A real character she is but not easily found on the costume shelf. Mommy found an infant one for $5, cut holes in the mask for the pigtails and put the tutu between the shirt and pants. That girl was the cutest kid there that day.

Her idea to be spider-girl of course was modelled after big brothers request to be the evil black spider-man from the third movie. Black spider-man is a one piece suit complete with bulging muscles. Once inside Nevan became a muscle flexing, posing egomaniac! His confidence was sky high in that suit. We decided to let him wear it to clinic the next day to see if it would help with his anxiety but that`s a story for another day. After gathering an entire pillow case of treats from 2 floors at the hospital we decide to leave. I thought it would be nice to have just one visit to McMaster that didnt involve medicine or pokes or anything related. We didnt even go to his clinic to say hi, he would come dressed in costume for them the next day.

While on our 1 mile candy hike a reporter stopped Nylah and I to take a picture for the Hamilton Spectator. I tried to get nevan and mommy in the picture but they had gone ahead to far and the reporter snapped his picture and moved on. Nylah was definitely the show stopper of the day!

After a great morning at MacMaster we came home to begin carving our pumpkins. Aunti, Uncle and baby Elliot (baby tigger) joined us for the festivities. Ill give you one guess as to what nevan wanted as a pumpkin carving. Yup Spider-man! Luckily Auntie has excellent drawing skills. 3 hours later and we had a spiderman pumpkin, an owl pumkin and a Number 1 pumpkin for baby Elliots first Halloween.

With the low temperature and wet ground we decided it was best if Nevan not go door to door this year. It turned out to be a fun night anyway. Nevans cosutme not only gave him super strength but the mask was the perfect protection from germs! The kids were both excited by every ring of the door bell. What a great day.