Out of the Pit

Well, she's out of the woods for now - so "relieved" may be overstating it, but woo-freakin-hoo!

After a CT scan on Tuesday, we got the feedback from Sick Kids today that Beth has no signs of the LCH in her brain at this point, just some debris in her inner ear from the surgeries. 

And no more meds for now - awesome - thanks for all the prayers and support.

The bonus is that she goes off to overnight camp on Sunday, run by Sick Kids.  It's called Camp Oochigeas and includes water sports, so now she can enjoy getting wet without having to worry about her PICC getting wet.  Double awesome.  A little long and 2 years old, but the best video I could find:

Meanwhile, to give Maggie (#2 daughter) her due, she started a drama camp this week at Actone School of drama in Pickering and is enjoying it tremendously.  She's always had the boldness of a stage performer (or any kind of performer really) so it fits for her.  Hopefully the drama of her adolescence is still a couple of years away.

And I've decided on a theme song for my 40th year - actually it keeps finding me, and I keep resonating with it:

I have climbed highest mountain
I have run through the fields
Only to be with you

I have run
I have crawled
I have scaled these city walls
These city walls
Only to be with you

But I still haven't found what I'm looking for

I have kissed honey lips
Felt the healing in her fingertips
It burned like fire
This burning desire

I have spoke with the tongue of angels
I have held the hand of a devil
It was warm in the night
I was cold as a stone

But I still haven't found what I'm looking for

I believe in the kingdom come
Then all the colors will bleed into one
Bleed into one
Well yes I'm still running

You broke the bonds and you
Loosed the chains
Carried the cross
Of my shame
Of my shame
You know I believed it

But I still haven't found what I'm looking for

Ok, ok it's not Shakespeare (or John Donne...), it's U2, but it speaks to the combination of faith and longing that kind of fits where I'm at. 

Actually, I thought about their song "40" (based on Psalm 40) but it's more of a redemption song.  I don't really feel like I was the one in a pit and had to wait patiently for Him to pull me out, Beth was. 

Then again, someone clearly "inclined and heard my cry".  And we will be singing a new song, for sure.

Ok, two video clips this time - can't leave out the early Red Rocks performance:

On Vacation

...for the last couple of weeks.  That's my excuse and I'm sticking to it.

A week in Montreal, seeing old friends and old sights, and then a week back in TO, taking Bethany for her last week of chemo (woohoo!) and building a lean-to on the side of the house.

Montreal, for all its construction/traffic headaches, is still a great city with awesome food all over, lots of history, and beautiful women everywhere (sorry TO ladies). 

It's starting to show its age a little though, now that the bridges and overpasses have caught up with the roads as being the crappiest in urban Canada.  The state of the overpasses (boarded up and caged for reinforcement) reminded me of the concrete ceiling that collapsed in Boston just after the "Big Dig" and new tunnel was finished, which ended up killing a woman.

Props to Archemdis and his blog for chronicalling this and this photo:
http://archemdis.wordpress.com/2011/04/04/montreal-quebec-is-literally-crumbling-into-dust/

Oh, and not only did Beth have her last 5 days of IV chemo last week, but she also got her PICC line taken out on Friday (double woohoo!) and we're hoping the CT scan on August 2nd just confirms the progress.  Meanwhile once the wound from her line heals she can go swimming again, with the help of a swimming earband like this:

and Doc's Proplugs as seen on Survivorman (don't ask, I've never seen it):



Oh, and we also got her the puppy she's been wanting - a "bichon-poo", and she broke it off with her jerk "boyfriend", so I'd say that's a fair trade.

I actually feel more sorry these days for our other daughter Maggie, who didn't seem to mind all the attention Beth was getting when she was more sick and in danger, but now feels a little left out and jealous I think.  As a middle child myself, I can relate. 

Especially now that she also has a younger brother and a puppy competing for the "cute and helpless" spot in the family.  She doesn't stand a chance. 

Gary and Greg

So, another week of chemo completed, and off the missus and I went to Niagara Falls for the Canada Day-4th of July weekend.  Can you say "tourist season"?

It was ultimately quite fun and relaxing, though.  We booked some inexpensive rooms at a small motel down the parkway, upriver from the falls, and we picked and chose the sights we wanted to see.  Gary, the owner of the Niagara Parkway Riverview Inn, was a great host:

Tough running a motel pretty much by yourself, as Gary described, with just a little handyman help from his dad.  But the rooms were clean, the pool was clean and heated, and Gary makes everyone feel like they're staying in the guest room of his own home.  





Niagara Falls Lessons Learned:
     1) If you leave early enough (7:30-8ish), you can beat most traffic in either direction, but any later than 10 and you're screwed.
     2) Staying in any of the establishments in-town is a crapshoot; I heard tourists talk of cockroaches in better motels than ours.
     3) There are inexpensive hotels just up the QEW in nearby towns like Grimsby that are less than 20 mins from downtown Niagara.
     4) Dinner at the Skylon Tower was worth it, for the food and the view.  The dinner show at the Greg Frewin Theatre wasn't, for the food or the show.

Maybe it's my age and having seen too many magic shows in my time and/or maybe we were just sitting too close so the tricks became obvious.  But I got tired of the variations on disappearing people, even when the lion and tigers started appearing.  Sorry, Greg.

On the other hand, I did like the close-up magic, the sleight-of-hand stuff.  And the dancers were entertaining - worth sitting up close for!  Plus the lion got loose backstage and didn't want to go into her cage, so that provided a little nervous excitement for everyone for a few minutes.

I guess it must be tough being a magician these days, with your trade secrets being revealed regularly on TV, competing with Harry Potter and special effects, and live crowds being overall tougher to impress.  Kind of like Gary and his inn, competing with the chain hotels and online reviews by anyone who wants to dis your business.  Two middle-aged guys, putting themselves out there for public scrutiny doing old-fashioned jobs in a hi-tech world - it's gotta be tough.

I actually had to make extra noise at Greg's show to get my section clapping and cheering, otherwise it could have been a much tougher room.

Sorry, no audio of me doing my Homer Simpson "woo-hoo"s.

Bright Spots

The cork from a bottle of Dan Akroyd's Sauvignon Blanc we had last week:

And who says we Canadians aren't funny?
Apparently only some stupid social networking site, who polled its members:

http://www.thestarphoenix.com/entertainment/movie-guide/Americans+rated+funniest/4931138/story.html

Makes me wonder, though, who the voters were thinking of when they thought of "funny Americans", since many comedians in the States were bred in Canada (e.g. Bill Murray, Jim Carrey, Will Arnett, etc.).  I guess you could point to SNL and Second City, but then Lorne Michaels is Canadian and SC Toronto is second only to, well, Second City Chicago.

And then there's the Canucks' uniforms (they're on their 5th since '69):

So week #4 of chemo is done, and we got the results ot Bethany's MRI scan -- seems the "thickening" of the pituitary stalk is gone (woohoo!) and there's even a "bright spot" back to see.  The "bright spot" is the posterior part of the pituitary that's supposed to show up brightly in an MRI scan:

NB: Not her real scan, so don't worry about the arrow

This were two of the indicators that the doc had seen in the March scan that had convinced her that the LCH was back.  So a reversal of those two things is really good progress and hopeful.  As you can imagine, we're thrilled and grateful for the ongoing support of friends and family.

Our neighbours, on the other hand, thought we were taking too long to cut our lawn (two weeks instead of one), so left us a note in our mailbox this week saying they'd "appreciate it" if we'd cut it soon.  I finally got to it yesterday, but then posted this on the poles near the house:

And who says we Canadians aren't funny?
Wait, I asked that already.

Rockin' the House

OK so let me say from the start that I'm not a West-coast hater -- BC's great, got a bro in Alberta, and the Rockies rock.

But what the NHL is this?  Is this the fighting spirit of Vancouver?

I mean, I guess I can't mock a team that made it further in the playoffs than the Habs or the Leafs (not completely anyway), but then I don't really feel like I have to blindly support a team just because it's Canadian.  Kinda weird IMHO that some of us in the Great White North actually do feel that way -- after all, it's not the Olympics, folks.

On the other hand, with my track record, maybe my cheering them on will be the death blow.  Go Canucks!

In the Beth-news, this past week-after-chemo was pretty uneventful -- less lethargy and nausea than the last cycle.  On the down side, she's already gotten a sunburn on the top of her head and a little on her face from the small amount of sun we've had in the last two weeks.  It could be a long summer...

So how about that season finale of House, eh?

I have to say, not as dramatic as I thought it would be from the promos, but really fitting -- he was bound to crack at some point.  Hilarious and tragic at the same time.  The "two preganancies" subplot was pretty funny too, but not what you'd call a cliffhanger. 

It was so long since we'd seen him drive, though, it did seem weird that Wilson wasn't driving, especially since House was just out from major leg surgery.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2xyXBGtly1A
(couldn't embed, so you gotta click)

Brilliant.  And could actually end there if they wanted to, or not.
Almost makes me overlook how everyone's been "glammed up" on the show this season.

Pirates

Ah, the resiliency of youth.

Week three of the chemo now done, Bethany's holding up well and the docs want to have another MRI to see how it's working.  Her energy level and spirits are okay overall, though she does admit that it's getting more depressing that she has to miss blocks of time in the last weeks of Grade 8 and feels tired more and more of the time.  We just pray that it's working.

On the other hand, she's such a happy child in general that it doesn't take much to get her excited about the next fun thing, whether that's the new "Pirates of the Carribean" movie or her upcoming Confirmation (and reception/party afterwards). 

It's gotten lousy reviews so far, but that doesn't seem to matter to kids who haven't developed much critical thinking yet, or "Pirates" fans like our family.

Speaking of people who haven't developed much critical thinking, I noticed that the tide turned pretty quickly in the "men who redeem the gender" category - thanks Arnie and Dom.

If you need captions to know who these guys are, you've been disconnected from all media for at least the last week - which would probably not be a bad thing.  I really regret our trial subscription to the Toronto Star for all it's horrible reporting and front page shock-stories -- I keep out the comics for the kids but chuck the rest in recycling before they get the chance to see it. 

Which also makes me wonder how much media bias there is in the rise and fall of men lately in the news cycle.  Just sayin'.

So now time for a little honest reporting on myself. 

1. Start a new blog : Done
2. Take karate lessons : Uh, not yet
3. Maintain the new blog :  Steady as she goes...
4. Start investigating how to get my PhD by age 50 : Started, need to do more
5. Get a Bb Playbook as soon as they come out (maybe even wait in line like the diehards):  Just couldn't do it.  Maybe it's what keeps me from being an "early adopter" in general, but too many iffy reports before the release date.  Still on my wish list, though - no Apples for me. 
6. Copy those videotapes of our 2005 trip to Ireland :  Kind of forgot about this one.  Step one, set up 2nd computer for all media conversion.
7. Give my kids more hugs :  Already ahead of last year (and most years)
8. Say "I love you" more :  Ditto

Winners

Winner

Winner

Winner

Uh, not so much.

Just when Charlie Sheen had given the male gender a black eye, along came three men this past weekend who really did "live the dream".  And a fourth...well, not so much.

It really was quite an eventful weekend for the news though, wasn't it?  Regardless of your affiliations and loyalties, you can't deny it was a "busy news cycle" as they say.  No need for the news broadcasts to find stories of kitties rescued by firefighters -- not that there's anything wrong with that.

In other news, Bethany's in the middle of her week-after-chemo, and this time the fatigue and lethargy are catching up with her.  Supposedly according to her oncologist last week, the chemo drug really takes effect 5-7 days after she gets it since it affects the production of new white blood cells which aren't fully in the bloodstream for 5-7 days later. 

This means that she's not only tired but very immune-suppressed right about now - and with her mom and little brother sharing the same persistent nasty cold.  Just don't share it with us, honey!


So is there anybody but me that thought that House and his crew looked a little too "made up" this past Monday?  Where was the rumpled hair and slept-in-my-clothes look?  They all looked overdone to me.