Saturday, July 27, 2013

Camp Sunrise

Liam had the best week at Camp Sunrise. Camp was in Calgary Monday through Wednesday from 9-3. Thursday, the kids took the bus out to Camp Kindle (just west of Water Valley, 1 hr NW of Calgary) and they stayed overnight at camp Thursday night. We went out to Camp Kindle Friday morning and they held a family picnic for us on Friday at lunch. It was wonderful for us to be able to talk to the counselors and hear stories about the week. It was also great to catch up with some of the oncology nurses who work at the camp. We spent a LOT of time with some of them last year, it's nice to see them outside the hospital.

The camp is put on by Kids Cancer Care Foundation of Alberta, and cannot even start to say how wonderful the camp was. The camp counselors were absolutely the most wonderful people. Liam is not quick to warm up to people, but took no time to talk to and cuddle with the counselors!

If you've shaved your head for Shave your Lid for a Kid, camp is one of the areas the fundraising goes to.  A huge THANK YOU to everyone who has participated or donated, etc.

These kids share a bond through experiences that thankfully most kids don't have. In a world where noodles, buttons, pokes, heparin flushes, chemo, hair loss, sleepy medicine and transfusions have been a big part of their lives, it's wonderful for them to be around other kids that understand.

On a side note for those interested, research was done recently which showed that camps for kids with cancer is not a luxury, but a necessity:
Research reveals the healing power of cancer camps

Because cancer affects the whole family, siblings are also welcome to go to camp. Next year Madison will be old enough to go to the same camp as Liam, they will love that!


Monday, July 22, 2013

Scar

Liam's hair has grown so fast, it was time to clean it up. Unfortunately, Liam got a botched hair cut, we took him back to get it fixed and they ended up just buzzing it off in the back.

I was not impressed, but thankfully it will grow back fast again. It's a bit of a reminder about how many stitches Liam had from surgery! Before his haircut we could hardly see the scar anymore. Because Liam can't see it, the scar doesn't bother him at all.

Wednesday, July 17, 2013

Everything Going So Well

Liam survived all his birthday parties :-). A weekend of rest was needed for all of us!

Liam is doing so great. He seems to be feeling better all the time. To see him playing with other kids and having so fun is just so wonderful. When we told Liam he was going to take swimming lessons, he told us that he wouldn't go... but we managed to get him to try the lessons. He did really great and even put his face in the water, this is huge for him. I hope that getting more swimming time this summer will get him more comfortable.

Liam's eating is odd. We were struggling with getting Liam to eat more at a meal or eat any snacks. He was eating 3 small meals a day. Then a few weeks ago, things changed. He started to eat more frequently... But started to eat the same food almost all day long. First, it was toast with Nutella, or as we call it "chocolate toast". He started eating 2 slices of chocolate toast 3 times a day, with a few other things, such as soup or a hot dog in between. Then about after a week, he switched from chocolate toast to Cheerios. Now he is eating 2 bowls of Cheerios, 3 times a day.

Liam may have even gained a few pounds to 35 lbs, go figure. We just keep trying to get him to try new foods, and hope someday soon it will improve. He just won't try anything new. We tricked Liam and got some ice cream on his tongue, he acted like we gave him the worst thing in the world. He rubbed his tongue, spit and was VERY mad. If we can't even get him to eat ice cream... sigh.

Thursday, July 11, 2013

Quick MRI and Follow Up With Neurosurgeon

Liam had his "quick head MRI" this morning to check the hydrocephalus. The good news is that he won't get surgery for it now. Unfortunately, the lateral measurement was 5mm bigger again today. The small increases still indicate a small blockage, but because it isn't a huge change and Liam isn't presenting with any symptoms, they won't do a shunt or surgery yet.

Next routine MRI is the end of August, so they will measure the ventricles to monitor the hydrocephalus again then.

For those who really like the details, the aqueduct is larger now. In May, the doctor said the blockage looked to be there, but the MRI today does not look like it is there. Therefore Liam would be looking at a shunt instead of the scope to fix the hydrocephalus. But we can hope the increase just stops one of these times!

Here is a picture of Liam going into the MRI. He was awake, because the MRI only took a few minutes. (Is this kid a trooper or what for sitting so still!)

Wednesday, July 10, 2013

Happy Birthday to My Amazing Boy!

We may all be getting a little tired from celebrating Liam's birthday, but we keep celebrating! Such a wonderful birthday compared to last year when Liam was admitted to Unit 1 getting chemo.

I asked Liam what he wanted to do on his birthday, he wanted to go to Calaway Park. Grandma, the kids and I enjoyed the morning there.


Then we had pizza and DQ ice cream cake tonight. Neither of which Liam will eat, but the rest of us enjoyed it very much. For his birthday dinner, Liam had toast with Nutella followed by a chocolate cupcake from his birthday - minus the icing.


Tuesday, July 9, 2013

Yo Ho Ho Party Like a Pirate

Liam turns 5 on July 10! We had his pirate themed birthday party on the weekend, it was a fantastic day.

Lucky one of the few foods Liam will eat is "black cake", so he ate his birthday cupcakes this year!


I can't even say how happy the day was for me to see him having so much fun. It was a perfect day.

Thank you Tara for taking some great photos of the day for us.