Round 5!

 On Wednesday morning Seth had his regular outpatient appointment with possible admission that day. We just had to wait for a bed to be available. Again timing was amazing, praise God! He had his doctor check-up and PICC line dressing change and then I dropped him off at school with 20 minutes to spare before he was off to a field trip at Galaxy Land for Physics. I received a phone call from the hospital saying they'd have a bed ready around 8pm.  Perfect! His sister wanted to take him out for dinner, and those plans they'd previously made could still happen. 

We arrived at the hospital Wednesday night, they put him on IV fluids to prep for chemo, which they started at 3am.  They are just doing the one chemo this time so I'm curious if he'll feel better and less exhausted after this round. We are typically here for 4 days so I'm guessing we'll be coming home Sunday. 

In the Family Room he asked if he could draw on the board and they said, 'If you're big enough to reach the markers, you're allowed.' 😁 (The marker holder is just under the 'S')

He's doing well, no harsh symptoms. His most annoying symptom right now is having to get up to pee in the middle of the night, which we have in common now. 😂

We went and visited the new Atrium area at the hospital which is really nice, and as people go there it also frees up some space in the Healing Garden area as well! Now we have lots of nice space to go sit and read or play a game or just walk to when we want to get out of this room. 

Sitting in the brand new Atrium area ♡

Praise God for his ongoing care in keeping symptoms away and providing so much 'perfect timing' moments.  We praise Him for all of you reading this and the care and love that our community is surrounding us in. We are starting to settle into this new routine.  We know God has a plan with Seth's story even though we don't understand it. No matter if we have a good or bad day, God is good all the time. May His name be glorified, and may He use our family and Seth's journey to fulfill whatever plan He has in store for Seth, for us and maybe even for you. We just trust that a masterpiece is in the works, and some days trust is all we have because we have no understanding of why.

Praise Him always ❤

Last appointment update.

 Yesterday Seth had his regular Wednesday appointment.  Bloodwork and PICC line dressing changed and met with his oncologist, Dr. Eid.  I thought maybe he'd be sending Seth for another PET scan next week but he said he has to meet with the team, including the radiologist and by the time they all make sure they are on the same page he said we'll be looking at around Round 6 of Chemo.  Seth is in his recovery time of Round 4 for another week and a half yet.  So Dr. Eid didn't want to send him for an unnecessary scan as all these scans are also forms of radiation and are not healthy to do unless actually needed. 

Dr. Eid also said that on top of meeting with the Oncology Board, he will also be presenting Seth's case to the Canadian Cancer Tumor board (or something like that).  Basically he want to present it and see if there is any new treatments or anything.  He said he likes to just have a Plan C,D, E etc.  He didn't say this in an alarming way but just that he wants to make sure he knows of anything out there that could be helpful for Seth. 

So looks like coming up we have another Round of Chemo.  He WILL be only getting one type of chemo for the next couple rounds because they don't want any added risk to his heart.  Seth gets medication during chemo to protect his other organs from the Doxorubicin chemotherapy, and this is the one they won't be doing for the next couple rounds to make sure his treatments are being done effectively but also as safe as possible. 

God is good, always. Seth had a great choice of shirt for his appointment.  Spreading a little light everywhere we go, you never know who it reaches. 💡

Thankful Seth has youth on his side to fight this. Also, thankful he's youthful enough to be at the Stollery Children's Hospital for this too.  God is good to us and goes before us in this battle. ♡

Nothing New (under the Sun)

☀ Had to add the 'under the sun' part on the heading. There is no new update and adding the 'under the sun' is a nice reminder that there is nothing new that we go through on this earth that surprises God. He knows all things, even before they come to be, and this is all part of a plan of a bigger picture unseen to us. We are only seeing a tiny piece of the puzzle and we can trust that God is working through Seth's story. 

There is not really anything new since Tuesday but I know sometimes people wonder if maybe we are just busy and not updating.  He had his PICC line dressing done already before we came home so we went in for an appointment today just to do some bloodwork. His whole visit was less than 5 minutes.  We stopped in the Family Room to get some beads for his Bead Journey and then to Tim Hortons for 15 more packs of hockey cards. 😁

Every appointment, bloodwork, chemo treatment, etc has it's own bead so you can have a visual of your cancer journey. Next Christmas it'll be so long we can probably decorate the Christmas tree with it, which I think would be neat, instead of just keeping it in this bag all the time. 

Also today we braved these ridiculous winter roads to go to the Registry Office to finally get the Handicap Placards.  We were able to buy 2, which will be nice so we don't have to remember to bring it along with us every time and can just leave them in our vehicles.

Temporary for 12 months. So we are good until the end of 2026. Praying we won't need them that long. 😉

Seth's next appointment is just for a regular PICC line dressing change, bloodwork and a follow up with the doctor. That's next week Wednesday, so there shouldn't be anything new until then.

Also side note that Rev. J. Vanspronsen's sermon for our new years service was SUCH a great one! I highly suggest you go take a listen. It has us in tears and then singing the song about 'without God's will not a hair can fall from your head' was unsingable for Bryan and I. But it was so so good.  If you need any encouragement for the upcoming year, go take a listen. Happy New Year 🎇

Click to listen to the New Year's Eve Sermon