Busy, Busy!

Wow! We've been so busy enjoying our summer! Since my last update...

Starlight Children's Foundation gave us tickets to see the BC Lions play the Saskatchewan Roughriders at BC Place. We decided to make a day of it and went for lunch at Steamworks and then toured around Gastown, went to the Vancouver Lookout at Harbour Center and checked out the Olympic Torch in Coal Harbour before watching the Lions win! 

We went to Capilano Suspension Bridge for the first time! 3 of us are terrified of heights (ok i am the only one who is terrified, the boys are just reluctant and Chuck says he's scared too but to just breathe through it - not helpful!) so it never seemed like a good idea before. However, Eric got a "world passport" from his Make-A-Wish trip that grants us free access to the bridge and I like free! We did the Bridge, the Treetops Adventure and the Cliff Walk and then had lunch at the restaurant. We all enjoyed ourselves; it was a great family adventure. I didn't see a lot of sights as I stared straight ahead, but I am pretty proud of myself for actually doing it. Eric's favourite part was the Treetop Adventure. and he wanted to do it over and over.

Next we went to The Outdoor Experience Water Park (aka Otter Co-op Water Park) in Aldergrove with family friends. The boys ran around together enjoying all the amenities while the mom's floated in the lazy river - best playdate ever! 

We've made it to last Wednesday, July 17 when Eric had his photo shoot for the 2025 Pet Therapy calendar as the Mad Hatter with Edward the Bunny. I do have one photo but I am not allowed to post it, so if you see me, please ask and I will be happy to share with you. It is the cutest thing ever! Following the photo shoot, we headed to the hospital to check in at clinic. Eric still feeling great, but counts aren't recovered yet. They've increased just a teeny little bit over the previous week. 

Next up is the BIG DAY - Friday, July 19 - Eric's 9th birthday!!! He had a few friends over for a backyard birthday party. The kids played in the pool, had a water balloon fight, jumped on the trampoline, smashed a pinata and ate pizza and cake. He rested for a couple hours, building all the Lego he was given for his birthday, and then Granny, Auntie Jenny and Uncle Dave came over for a family birthday celebration. We had more cake and Eric received more Lego. He was one happy kiddo and had to start building the new Lego sets ASAP!

The next morning, the boys and I drove to Vernon to join Grandma and Auntie Grandma (Great Aunt Sharon) who are there for 2 weeks thanks to a home exchange with Grandma's house in PG. It was HOT! Too hot to do anything but play in the lake and wat ice cream, which was ok with us! I did take the kids to Splashdown Vernon one day and they had a good day, but we only stayed about 3 hours as it was quite busy and waiting in lines for water slides is not fun. Of course, that left the afternoon free to play in the lake some more. Our last day there was much cooler and a little rainy, so we checked out Kekuli Bay Provincial Park where Chuck and Joel and I camped when it was brand new and Joel was only a few months old. We wanted to see how it had changed over the years, and specifically if the trees had grown to provide more shade. Then we checked out the house that Grandma and Auntie Grandma grew up in. We also saw their elementary and middle schools. We went to a produce market where we bought local cherries, BC blueberries and US plums (sad, but still yummy.) Finally, we went to Davison Orchards where the kids had ice cream and we checked out the animals, had lunch - PIE! - and browsed the market. We got home Thursday evening and were very happy to see Chuck and Millie after 5 nights away. 

The reason we came home on Thursday was so that Eric could have a check up at clinic on Friday, yesterday. His dr was away yesterday, but left very specific instructions: if his ANC was above 1.0 and platelets above 100, he would restart the Venetoclax (oral chemo). His ANC was 0.9 and his platelets 90-something, so he doesn't have to restart yet. But it is good news that his counts are still coming up. He is going away to camp on Monday and his doctor didn't want to start until after camp, so this will really only be a few day delay, assuming his counts will be up over 1.0 and 100 at his next appointment. 

So that's what is up next...both boys are going away to overnight camp for the first time from Monday to Saturday. I am so excited!!! Due to camp, Eric's next check up will be Wednesday, August 7. 

Clinic Check In

Eric is doing great; full of beans! He had his check up at clinic yesterday and his blood counts are somewhat improved. His ANC/neutrophils (germ fighting white cells) are up to 0.4 from 0.1. It is still a risky level, but definitely on the upward trajectory. Unfortunately, his platelets are down a bit. He does have quite a few bruises, but no active bleeding. Eric's energy and enthusiasm don't seem to match his bloodwork. He seems like he's 100% most of the time. His doctor wants to wait for a more fulsome count recovery before restarting the Venetoclax (the oral chemo treatment.) He said there is no urgency to do another round. Additionally, the team has decided to monitor his disease through peripheral blood, rather than doing a bone marrow biopsy after every round of treatment. They are confident they can successfully monitor this way and not put Eric through the repeated biopsies. They took additional blood at his last clinic appointment on July 2 to complete these tests and we got the results yesterday. There is no sign of the abnormal cells that mark his disease and his blood is still showing full donor DNA. It is always hard to wait for these results, but such a relief to get this reassurance. 

We have been busy in the last week. We camped at Bridal Falls Camperland RV Resort. At the resort, we all went in the pool, Chuck and the kids played mini golf and the kids ate lots of ice cream. We were lucky enough to be able to have a campfire and make s'mores of course! On Thursday we spent the day at the Bridal Falls Waterslides and the Blain Family joined us. The kids played hard from 11am until after 5pm and had such a fun day on the slides. We sent a picture to Eric's team at the hospital and they loved to see him having fun and even better, practicing excellent sun safety. Meanwhile, Joel's shoulders and the tops of my feet got burnt. We know better! After the long day at the slides we had dinner and then did the short hike to the Bridal Veil Falls in the Bridal Veil Provincial Park. I've driven past 100s of times, but never stopped and it is definitely worth the stop; the pictures do not do it justice. 

This week the kids have been at a day camp run by WCK (West Coast Kids Cancer Foundation.) It is such a great organization in support of families living with childhood cancer and blood disorders. They stock a freezer full of microwave meals at the hospital and snacks for outpatient visits; they deliver quick and easy freezer meals to our house once a month to make long days easier; they make fresh smoothies for inpatients at the hospital on Sundays and give us cozy family pjs, plus they run this awesome day camp! The boys have tie-dyed, done martial arts and wood working, had a visit from the White Caps and tomorrow they have a dunk tank! 

Clinic Yesterday

Eric and I visited the clinic yesterday. Yes, on a Tuesday! It is not his doctor's regular clinic day, but our Nurse Practitioner had us come in for a count check before heading out to camping/waterslides. The bad news, his platelets and ANC have both dropped since last week. Actually his ANC/Neutrophils (germ fighting white blood cells) are basically non-existent at only 0.1. The good news is that they are still letting us go camping and to the waterslides! Our Nurse Clinician drew this picture for Eric:

The team still believes the drop in blood counts is a result of the most recent treatment and are planning to wait for his counts to recover before starting the next round. We have to be prepared for the next round to have a similar effect as well and hopefully that won't impact our summer too much. Camping prep now includes packing a thermometer and knowing where the closest hospital is, but we get to go camping for the first time in more than 1.5 years!!! 

Last Friday, I took the kids to The Outdoor Experience at the Aldergrove Community Center and they loved it. They thought it was a pretty amazing way to kick off summer vacation (after the previous day of pouring rain!) though Eric did get stung by a wasp x2!!! It was the first time he'd ever been stung and luckily there was no reaction beyond it hurting. I don't have many pics because we were busy playing, but here are the kids in the lazy river:

Over the long weekend, the kids kept busy riding bikes and playing a new game they've invented called Hide & Squirt. In case it isn't obvious, that is hide and seek with squirt guns.

We're back at clinic next week. Since his counts are low, we have to go every week for now :(