Liam Update

 

Things almost feel "normal" for now, while we are waiting to start radiation. As normal as possible anyway. Liam has great amount of energy, he plays all day long. He has some tired days, but he rarely naps, and hardly falls asleep in the car on the way home from preschool now. We've still been to the hospital a couple of times a week, but also making it to preschool twice a week.

Eating is still a challenge. Liam has tried some new foods, he now loves fries and McDonald's chicken nuggets, which he never ate before. He eats gingerbread cookies and girl guide cookies every day, drinks milk, and the odd banana. Because Liam is eating some, we aren't giving him full NG feeds, but we're still doing about 3 feeds a day to make sure he gets enough calories. Not to mention cookies and fries aren't exactly a full range of nutrition. The main thing we are focusing on is just keeping him eating some food, no matter what it is, just to keep everything working. Chemo just is plain cruel to the taste buds, not to mention that Liam has vomited so much, he has an association with eating and vomiting. We won't be aggressive with taking the NG tube away until Liam is done with radiation, we hope radiation won't cause him nausea, but there is a chance. As soon as Liam is nauseous, he won't eat.

Liam has beautiful eyelashes coming in! They are only a few millimeters long, but they are thick and coming in fast. Liam has some fuzzy short hair all over his head as well, but it doesn't look to come in as fast as his eyelashes. It's still hard to tell what colour his hair will be (sometimes it comes in different than before), it looks like it is light, it's hard to see it.

I've been trying to get a Christmas card together, so I've been going over the pictures of the last 225 days since Liam's diagnosis on April 30, it is almost too hard for me to go through them and be reminded of all Liam has gone through.

In the picture, Liam has his stethoscope around his neck, Liam does a perfect physical exam like the oncology doctors do. He will do physical exams on us and Madison and even tell us in a soothing voice that we are doing a good job. When the exam is done, he puts the stethoscope around his neck, just like the doctors do, it's very cute.

Loose Moose Theatre's Rumplestiltskin

We were invited to see Rumplestiltskin with Jamie's Preschool, both kids absolutely loved it. It was a cold morning, but we bundled up and made it to the show.

After the show, both kids were anxious to get their programs signed by the actors. Thank you Loose Moose Theatre and Jamie's Preschool!

After the show we had lunch at Crossroads Market, and what is a market without balloon animals. All Liam ever wants is a bike or motorbike creation, M got an Elmo. Unfortunately, by this time the kids were in no shape for pictures!

Preschool

Liam was finally able to go to preschool today! We are so lucky there is a preschool for children with compromised immune systems, Jamie's Preschool. They are very flexible, they understand that things can be up in the air as to when Liam is able to go or not, and they realize how much these kids need to be able to play and learn. Little sister is also welcome, which is also important as she really hasn't even seen other children in 6 months, and we keep her away from play areas in malls, etc due to germs and the need to protect Liam. They were both so excited and had a great time.

The downside is we got home and Liam basically had a tantrum for 3 hours, he was just so exhausted and was too worked up to sleep. Things are not easy after the last 6 months.

Day Out to Kananaskis

A big thanks to Jamie's Preschool for the day trip to Kananaskis! We took the Tim Horton's bus out to the Delta Lodge in Kanaskis for a great day.

Liam did some fishing, he loved it! He was a bit confused that he didn't catch any fish, but some other kids did catch a few fish, so we did see some in a bucket.

Liam was a bit tired that day, after fishing and a look at a fire truck, he had some hot dog and chips, then went to sleep on a chair, until it was time to go. 

Some fun this week

We finally got the opportunity to check out Jamie's Preschool this week! It is a preschool for immune-compromised kids, so we could feel more at ease taking Liam.

We went on Tuesday, which was preschool and music class. Then on Thursday for gym class at Stars gymnastics centre.

Liam was absolutely so excited to go, he was beside himself. At the gymnastics centre, he just ran from mat to mat jumping and falling. They even had a bouncy castle, so he spent a good amount of the hour in there.

School is over for the summer, so we'll have to wait until September to go again.