04/05/09
Mar 31 (Tues): Stunned silence. That was pretty much our reaction today when we were told that Andy didn't have to have any more chemo. It's still kind of surreal - much like when she first got her diagnosis - it takes a while to sink in. See Andy's Lymphoma Log.
Second priority of this entry - HAPPY (belated) BIRTHDAY VICKIE!!! It was Saturday and even though I had noticed it on the calendar a few days ahead, I missed the actual day.
Tonight, we celebrated Andy's halted chemo regime with take-out - Chicken Korma and Pappadums for Andy from The Spices, and fabulous Chicken Shawarma for me from Montfort. Actually, Andy really enjoyed her Korma too - she's got her sense of taste back to about 50% so is starting to enjoy again.
Had a videochat with Monica and the kids after we heard that Grace's hamster (#2) had died overnight. Grace seems none the worse for it. The new version of Skype (4.0) has a new feature - you can take snapshots while you talk.
Andy is addicted to her new puzzle and can't tear herself away from it:
Yesterday, she finished making her fleece hoodie, so she could get the sewing machine off the table and finally start on the sphere puzzle.
Last night we also "staked" the seedlings - using cocktail straws.
They are coming along nicely, but I am having trouble knowing how much water to give. It's a delicate balance. We're hoping that now that we are forcing the broccoli and bigger tomatoes not to lay on the ground they will strengthen up.
Tomorrow the car goes in to have the bumper replaced, and then life hopefully life will start getting back to whatever normal is.
Nice to hear from so many of you today after we sent out the email regarding Andy's prognosis. Thanks again for all the positive energy!
Mar 29 (Sun): Just finished watching the Australian Grand Prix, the first race of the season.
Although we're very upset that James, an announcer we really liked, is gone, it was a helluva race. There was actually entertainment between pit stops and the winner was someone we've cheered on for a long time!
Luckily, we'd got the PVR fixed last week in time to record it. We had channels dropping out intermittently and therefore some recordings were missed (or sections of them), and then it started having pixels crawling around the screen, even on programs recorded ages ago. I thought we'd have to get it replaced, but Bell forced a programming overwrite on it from the tech centre in India and all is fine.
This morning, we very much enjoyed meeting up with Trish and Michelle, who were in town from Ottawa, and Huguette at Cora's in Ancaster. Trish and Michelle rarely get out for breakfast as Trish is usually cooking them up, gourmet style, at their Bed & Breakfast, Radclyffe House. If you're going to Ottawa, be sure to stay there! Today gave Trish a chance to do some reconnaissance - checking out Cora's menu and presentation for ideas for the B&B. Huguette will eat out just about any time you ask - that way she doesn't have to cook! ;-)
Afterward, we swung out to Mom and Dad's on the way home as the kids were there and I had something to drop off so they could take it home to Monica. Didn't stay long as Andy still wears out quickly, but it was the first time she saw the kids "live" in a month, plus she and dad compared hair cuts. The rest of the day was spent resting and resting some more.
We were actually supposed to meet up with Trish, Michelle and Huguette yesterday morning, but Andy was unwell. Friday morning, we had gone for Andy's CT Scan (plus a blood test that told us her "neutrophils"/white blood cells had improved greatly). We had come home and Andy ate a good sized lunch, but then an hour later she started feeling horrible.....like she had the flu. She was aching all over, cold, nauseous, had a headache, and her temperature went up a degree. This wasn't enough to panic, but we starting checking her temp frequently. In talking with Carol (who used to be a nurse working with leukemia patients), our suspicion that Andy was probably reacting the to irradiated water or contrast dye from the CT Scan was confirmed. Carol says people often react to the dye and next time they will give Andy some Benadryl first.
Saturday morning Andy didn't feel much better and still had the low-grade temperature. I had to call Trish to postpone. I then had a bit of a dilemma. I had cancelled going to see Ben's basketball so that we could have breakfast with T, M, & H, and now I was free to go - but Andy wasn't well. We agreed she would call me if she started feeling worse. So, I went to Ben's final Basketball session of the year, also the first one I've seen - and he is damn good!!! These pictures are a bit blurry but they tell the story. After a bunch of drills, it was reds (Ben) versus whites.
Saturday afternoon, back with Andy, I did some ass kicking. I totally monopolized in a game of Monopoly. I had houses and hotels and was charging up to $3700 in rent while Andy had to sell back the few houses she had and mortgage everything. We blame Andy's original game piece for her bad luck. She started off with the thimble, but after she kept getting sent to jail or having to pay due to 'Chance' or 'Community Chest', she switched to the cannon and her game improved. It was just too late - my little race car had left her in the dust.
In the evening, because Andy was still only about 80% good after the dye reaction, we passed on going to the birthday gathering for Kathy and David at Carol's house. Instead we stayed home, lit a bunch of candles, and shut everything down for Earth Hour.
We played Battleship and Hangman to pass the time and Andy still wasn't having any luck. She got her butt whipped yet again so I was surprised she could sit down by this morning! ;-)
As for me, my neck hasn't been as stiff as I expected, but I am feeling the whiplash between my shoulder blades and have had some headaches. I was also surprised to discover how right the trauma room doc was about driving irritating it. One thing I forgot to mention about my ambulance ride and time at the hospital was that my blood pressure peaked at 193 over 100. Yikes! I thought I was so calm, but I guess a storm was brewing inside.
I took the car to the repair shop on Friday afternoon for inspection. It's nearby and they only needed to see if for about 10 minutes. They've ordered a replacement rear bumper (the outer, plastic molded part) and said that if there's any dent in the metal underneath, they will bang it back out. The guy said that this car has a pretty strong rear bumper, so he doesn't expect there is much damage underneath.
Mar 26 (Thurs): So......another fun day. I got rear-ended. I also had a nice ride in an ambulance to the hospital, in a cervical collar, strapped tightly to a back board. Quite the experience. I'm ok, but I do have whiplash. I'm not looking forward to finding out how stiff and sore I'm going to be in the morning. I'm already feeling it.
At first glance, it doesn't even look like there is any damage. But check out the second and third pictures.
I was on my way back to work from lunch at home with Andy, stopped at a back-up due to construction, and BAM!!! My head flew forward and I lifted out of my seat a bit. I put on my flashers and called 911 right away. The guy who hit me was standing outside my door while I talked to them. I wasn't sure whether I needed an ambulance, but my First Aid training from a few years ago, and knowing many people under-react and then have problems later, motivated me to agree to one.
I really didn't want to move but I kept thinking about the guy that hit Monica a few weeks ago that left the scene, so I carefully got out and used my camera phone to take pictures of the other guy's car. When I got to the back of our car, I couldn't believe it looked like there was hardly any damage after the hit I felt. The guy thought there was no damage and I think he wanted to leave, but I took his information. I asked if he had something to write my information on and he seemed disinterested. But by then I heard a siren, so I got back in the car. I should note that the first thing the guy said to me was that he was sorry.
When the sirens arrived, I told the EMT that I was probably over-reacting and then we discussed whether I wanted to go to the hospital or not. If I did go, it had to be "whole hog" - cervical collar, back board and taped down tightly. He checked me out and I had tenderness, so he basically convinced me better safe than sorry. I realized that my primary hesitation was due to the thought of looking and feeling ridiculous being taken away on a gurney in an ambulance. I decided it was best to go and be checked out properly. The EMTs were great, as were the people at the hospital. Being taped to that board is something else - you REALLY can't move!
As I was getting checked out by the EMT, two of my bosses had been passing by and stopped. They then drove the car back to the office for me and called Monica - and told my boss, Sonia, what had happened. As I laid, still taped firmly down, in the "trauma" area giving my statement to the policeman, someone took my hand. It was Sonia. She had got someone to cover her meetings and come to look after me. I still can't believe it! One of the nurses also told me that Monica had phoned and was on her way. I got checked out, told I have whiplash, not to go to work for several days, not to drive, that I will be stiff and sore, to use heat, Advil and Robaxacet, then released. We met up with Monica in the waiting room. She had just arrived after calling dad to go get the kids off the school bus and jumping in the van.
I debated whether we should get the car from work and decided we should before I stiffen up. We brought it home then Monica drove me to Shoppers for Robaxacet, which made me dopey. I laid on some ice off and on. Also called our insurance broker then within an hour the claims department called back and said they have already faxed a work order to the repair shop and were authorizing a rental car. Talk about service! I told them I didn't want to take it in for a least a week and they said that's fine - I need it as Andy has her CT Scan tomorrow and chemo on Tuesday (but Mom will come and drive us tomorrow morning if I wake up in bad shape). I also got an email from Sonia telling me to take all of next week off - she will get coverage for me - and she thinks I might qualify for short term disability.....I'm not so sure but will definitely check into it.
And (hopefully) there ends our latest drama.
Mar 24 (Tues): The puzzle is complete.
Andy says it's her favourite one so far as the pieces were varied and sometimes odd shapes.
Tonight, we planted her rhubarb that I bought during the garden centre visits on Saturday.
I went and got "Quantum of Solace" (Bond) on sale at Walmart this morning on my way to work, but there are 2 of our regular shows tonight with new episodes so it will have to wait.
Andy is feeling really tired again. She's written a little update on her lymphoma log about it.
Mar 22 (Sun): Andy's a sleepy-head today. She was feeling energetic yesterday and this morning, but it seems to have caught up with her. She went to bed mid-morning, got up for 15 minutes to have some lunch, and slept another couple hours. She now continues plugging away at the latest puzzle.
Friday night, due to "high isolation", Andy couldn't join me for "Disney on Ice - 100 Years of Magic", so I took a workmate's daughter and we met up with Mom, Scot, Monica, Ben, & Grace at Copps Coliseum. Grace got some candy floss come with her souvenir crown, and apparently Ben doesn't have enough swords already!
Yesterday, Andy was feeling quite decent so she came with me in the car while I went to a few garden centres. We'd found some ornaments online that we could order for 25% off before the end of March, but we wanted to make sure there was nothing comparable or cheaper near by. I went in and took pictures of anything interesting, then showed Andy. One thing I found that we both liked wasn't even necessarily a garden ornament, but goes perfectly in the office.
In the afternoon, I actually felt more lousy than Andy (trekking around garden centres is exhausting) so I was happy to nap to the sound of David Attenborough's voice while Andy continued watching Planet Earth. Unfortunately, as soon as she turned it off I couldn't sleep anymore.
This morning, Andy went out in the yard to cut up some of the branches from the wood pile, but then after she came in she crashed pretty hard and went to bed for several hours. We've now booted Comet off the living room love seat so Andy can lay there and read. She's getting a bit fed up with the bedroom. Actually, while I was proofreading this, she changed modes again and is now working on a hoodie she is trying to sew for herself. She never runs out of projects, this one!
Mar 18 (Thurs): I have never seen Andy have such an elated reaction to food as today at lunch! I brought her a Roasted Chicken Sub on her favourite bread.
She thinks she has 25% of her sense of taste back and was savouring every bite. It was nice for me to see her so happy.
It's been trying very hard to snow this evening, just in time for the first day of spring tomorrow. Still, it is pretty!
Mar 18 (Wed): After a great deal of soul searching, Andy decided to pack up the impossible puzzle.
Who'dathunkit? Well, frankly I'm surprised she lasted this long! This is 10 days worth of struggle. She's now decided to re-strengthen her puzzlemanship with a less challenging one and then she will attempt the lovely gift that came in the mail from Vickie yesterday morning - a 3D sphere puzzle. I got Andy a present this week also (she really likes the Eva Avila song, "Damned", but I couldn't get a good copy to download), plus a couple for both of us.
Got some bad news yesterday regarding many of our friends & former workmates. Our former company in BC, QuestAir, is merging with (aka: has basically been bought by) a company called Xebec. About 20 people will lose their jobs. We know they will all eventually find, as we have, that life after QuestAir can be great!
Andy is in her really, really tired and weak phase (Days 7 - 10), but this has finally given us a chance to start watching a DVD set loaned to us by Kathy & Denise - Planet Earth. Since I'm also still having headache trouble off and on this week, I'm happy to just lay and watch as well.
It's really amazing!!!
Mar 15 (Sun): Sunny and up to +11o today. Andy and Comet took advantage to get some Vitamin D.
Yesterday, I busted Andy out of prison for a late afternoon drive in the sunshine. We did a loop - up the escarpment on one road, along Mountain Brow road, then back down. Made a couple of stops, at the Model Plane Airport (overlooking Lake Ontario and the Skyway Bridge) and "Great Falls" at Smokey Hollow on Grindstone Creek.
I don't think we even did the equivalent of a walk around the block at the stops, but it was enough to wipe Andy out. Still, she is feeling slightly better every day, so we are looking forward to after the lull of the days 7 to 10 mark.
Otherwise, the weekend was filled with chores for me and rest for Andy. I went and got groceries yesterday morning while Mom Andy-sat, then actually finally got around to backing up the main computer and burning pictures from 2007 and 2008 - yah, I know, I was very behind! Today, I was cursed with a migraine most of the day, but still managed to get some jobs done (and Casper forced me to have a nap.....really!). Andy is plugging away at her newest puzzle - but it is so hard that after many days of frustration followed by procrastination, she is now looking at the box as she goes. Perhaps we will send this puzzle to Mumsy when Andy is done and see if she has any better luck!
Andy had a nice chat with Mumsy and Dad yesterday afternoon when they called. I didn't have time to go on the phone as I had marching orders to go over to Canadian Tire and get the workbench that was on sale - the one that Andy'd had her eyes on for months...."before they were all gone" (there were 7 left when I got there). It was on sale from $200 to $80.
I'm happy to report that only that one injection went wrong on day 2. The rest have been perfectly fine. Today, we even did it in the stomach and the only problem was me getting enough to grip on to!!!
Mar 13 (Fri): I'm losing it. I'm sitting here trying to write while a rowdy game of Cat-opoly is going on in the dining room. The hooting, hollering, snickering, and cajoling just won't stop!
But it's not quite as loud, razzing, and threatening as yesterday when I arrived home from work!
Scot wasn't here to be the biggest loser so the competition was fierce. Other than the Andy-sitters today (Dad, Carol, and tonight Mom staying overnight to be here in the morning), we had another arrival today.
It was sent by Andy's boss, John Blachford. We LOVE Edible Arrangements. Deeeeeelicious.
It sure seems to be Brit week around here. First, Doreen (the Scot) brought over the soup, then Andy heard from 3 of her University of Bristol buddies within 2 days, all for the first time in eons. Steve and Neil emailed, and Scot found us via Skype and last night they had an IM session. Good to hear from you fellas. Come to think of it, we got a nice email earlier in the week from George as well, a displaced Brit now living down under.
So, Andy's injection yesterday went horribly! We figured out it was because she was twisted onto her side and I was sitting on the opposite side of her from where I should have been. I actually stuck the needle in then dropped it so it hung there, which she says didn't hurt much, but then to right it so I could grab the plunger properly, I twisted it. That hurt! Andy gritted her teeth and waited to tell me what I did till I was done. I think she's got more patience than I would have! I felt really bad at first, but we've put it down to a learning experience. Tonight, I redeemed myself and did it perfectly again.
Mar 11 (Wed): As promised, here is the head being shaved and the finished product. Not a bad looking head really!
Andy did the front, then I did the back, then neither of us could get the smell of the foam off our hands - it smelled like Old Spice!
Thanks to Beryl who came and Andy-sat today. Monica comes tomorrow, then Dad Friday morning, Carol in the afternoon, then Mom on Saturday morning. My boss said to me today how lucky we are that we have so many good friends and family all pitching in to help. I think she is actually a bit astounded by all of you! I told her we absolutely know that. Beryl even brought me a gift this morning - so sweet of her, and so many of you, thinking of me. The shadow is almost as cool as the ballerina.
Everyone is being so kind. Doreen called tonight, then Wilf drove her over to deliver some home-made chicken soup, several books and a puzzle. Vickie was supposed to come over for a visit, bringing along Marnie, Cheryl, and some home-made, whole-wheat lasagna a week from Saturday, but with the low "neutrophils", we've had to postpone.
Andy's first injection went well this afternoon. I took the itty, bitty vial out of the fridge to sit for a half hour to warm up. Then I filled the syringe, remembering all the little tips Adele had given me, chose the thigh for the first round, let Andy swab herself, and then stabbed her at a 45o angle - it had to be "subcutaneous", not "intra-muscular". I don't think I knew how nervous I was until we were done....but it also was easier than I expected. Andy didn't feel a thing until about 30 minutes later when the area stung for about 10 minutes. I've put a can of soup in this picture for scale, but the vials still looks smaller live.
I've been meaning to talk about the funky weather we've been having the last couple of weeks. Has been like a roller coaster ride. We've ranged from -15o to a record setting +16o, had pounding rain, a few minutes of enormous snowflakes, and then last night and today the wind was back. I keep expecting one last, big snow storm.
Mar 10 (Tues): I can't say enough good things about the fantastic treatment Andy has been receiving for her lymphoma. Today was Chemo Session #3. See her log for the technical details and some pictures. We ended up in private room all day, which was awesome. There were no chairs available, the bed in the Medical Day Care was also already occupied and it was getting late, so one of the nurses came down to the room where we had seen the doctor and got Andy's IV started. We never got kicked out, even when the Medical Day Care was only half full a little later.
Nancy kept coming to check on Andy and change her IV bags through the phases. The IV machine beeps every 30 minutes. Sometimes I went to get Nancy when it beeped and sometimes she had already come down the hall. One time I had to run to get her as Andy started reacting to the Rituxan again. She hustled back to the room after me.
This room was a former hospital room turned into an examination room/office, with a desk and computer inserted in the corner. We had been sent in there fairly early in the morning and were seen by Adele, the doctor's assistant. Then we were waiting for a long time for Dr Walker to come in so I coerced Andy into lying down as she was fading fast. After that no-one was about to make her get up I guess. She even stayed flat through Dr Walker's visit.
It was quite comfortable for me also - with a nice chair, counter to put the laptop on to watch my movies, and we had our own private bathroom 5 ft away. Andy also had one of those rectangular hospital tables that slides over the bed, so she could have all her gear close at hand (as seen in the picture on the lymphoma log).
In the afternoon, I had jabbing lessons from Adele. I have to give Andy her injections for the next 10 days. Adele was awesome and as busy as she is, she did not rush at all in showing me the procedure. In fact, there is a mattress in room 1 of the 3Z clinic that has had an injection of Gravol.
We left the hospital about 5:45. Again, I chauffeured Andy down to the car in a wheelchair. When her IVs were done, I put the cuff on her arm myself to check her blood pressure as she wanted to walk. When it came back 89 over 43, she agreed to ride. Nancy was laughing at me as I attempted to use the stupid blood pressure machine but I accomplished my goal. Andy has been fine since we got home. I insisted she get horizontal for the first half hour, then she ate dinner, and then shaved her head and worked on her latest puzzle.
We now have to switch to high isolation for Andy, due to her low white blood cell count (explained in her lymphoma log). No more going out for visits or meals or shopping. Also no more visitors to the house - all for at least 3 weeks till we have the next set of tests. Only caregivers will be allowed in - because I have no choice.....I need someone here for the next few days while I go to work.
Mar 8 (Sun): As promised, here is the picture of the finished balloon puzzle.
We had a nice afternoon today at Scot and Monica's celebrating Monica's birthday, which was a couple weeks ago. Ben and I were wrestling around and I started kissing him. To defend himself, he stuck out his tongue (in a threat to lick me if I got too close). But that defense didn't work for long as he was more threatened when I countered him.
He had also been wrestling with Andy, but took it very easy. Andy has since commented a couple times on how she couldn't believe how gentle he was being. Well, would you really pound on a baldy in a surgical mask? But seriously, good for Ben.
We had taken the Wii over and, while Andy was upstairs napping, I let the kids play some Tennis, then when Andy rejoined us, she found some bowling going on. Both Andy and Mom play sitting down.
After some lunch, it was time for presents. (No, Grace is not injured. Those are a bunch of temporary tattoos.)
Mom & Dad went together with us to get Monica a set of 3 cordless phones - which was actually a selfish gift as I got fed up one day when they couldn't talk because the battery on their ONE phone needed to charge! Grrrr. Then we got rocking with Guitar Hero. Andy showed off a bit as she is getting quite proficient at the drums.
We even finally convinced Mom and Dad to give it a try. Mom did really well at the guitar. Andy says she's a natural. Dad didn't do too badly either. He just didn't like the music we have - he wanted something from the 50s.
Then we sang Happy Birthday, had some cake and packed it up for the day.
Yesterday, we went to visit Tara and her 12-week old baby, Nathan. I used to babysit Tara (and her brother and sister) and am close friends with her family still. Mom joined us, as did Tara's Mom, (my very good friend) Sherry, Tara's sister, Brande, and Brande's son, Jacob. We took a couple small gifts for Nathan and Jacob.
Around here, we had a lovely chat with Mumsy & Dad yesterday morning, and Andy has been busy (with my assistance) trying to get some things done while she has a bit of energy - and before her next chemo on Tuesday. The blind that originally (somehow) went up crooked in the dining room was taken down and fixed.
And the one for the office went up with a bit of a struggle - only because it was awkward putting it inside the frame and getting the brackets tightly into the corners. We love it - it really suits the feel of the room that we were going for. The picture does not do it justice at all.
It's very natural looking. It really doesn't look like a beach mat, as this picture would have you think! My biggest delight with it is the privacy. The office is at street level, so it doesn't seem to matter what time of the day you are sitting at the computer, you have people looking in at you as they walk or jog by. I knew that was creeping me out, but hadn't realized how much till the blind was in and down.
We are also watching our potential vegetable garden come to life. Broccoli.....day one and day two.
We switched to Daylight Savings Time last night, which screwed me up a bit. First, we didn't remember till we were already in bed, and then we both changed the clocks in our respective sleeping areas. But the one in my room has an auto-adjust, therefore, it got moved 2 hours ahead. So.....I got up this morning thinking it was 8:22 when it was actually 7:22 (and my body thought it was 6:22). I happily then went back to bed for another hour. When we did get up, we went to Cora's for breakfast. Andy, who has actually managed to gain a pound this week (do the happy dance!) ate her entire Raspberry and Custard Crêpe in one go. She had even brought a Rubbermaid container as she usually can't finish it all. I figure that crêpe was good for 2 lbs at least. My 'Eggs Ben et Dictine' were perfectly done - yolks still runny. I'm doing the "Homer drool" just thinking about them.
Mar 5 (Thurs): We feel very popular tonight. While we were videochatting with Kathleen and Michael (in BC), Scot and the kids were trying to ring through.
We had the honour of being Kath & Michael's very first Skype chat! We even gave them a tour of the house (since the webcam is built into the laptop). It was really great to see their faces for the first time in about a year and a half. When we hung up with them, we then called Scot, Ben, and Grace back. Scot said Ben was really funny when the message had gone back that we declined their invitation to hook up. He said, "Well that's never happened before." And when they tried to connect a second time, I sent an instant message that we were already on with somebody else, and Ben said, "Well that's never happened before either". Sometimes those two 6 year olds sound so grown up. Grammy also happened to drop by Scot's just as we started the videochat, so we got to say hello. She's back to working 6 hours per day now.
Andy is in full swing with her next puzzle, another panorama. It's 1,000 pieces. (Actually, just as I was about to upload this she finished, so pictures of the finished product will get posted next time.)
Last night, we actually went out for dinner, just over to Kelsey's a couple blocks away. It was nice just to get out for both of us (although I think baldy scared the waitress, who seemed to keep a distance). I'm happy to report Andy is also eating quite impressively the last few days, though she hasn't weighed herself for a while. She says she has about 5% of her sense of taste back. Hmmmm.....come to think of it, Beryl had come and taken Andy out for lunch on Tuesday to a local Indian Restaurant. She really has been eating well!
We got the new blind up in Ben's room Tuesday night. Andy's got a bit of energy so is trying to get some things done. Yesterday, she also did work (as in her job) for an hour and a half.
I got my seeds started.
Two kinds of tomatoes, broccoli, and green onions. We have decided that we will have a container garden this year since we are postponing the back yard makeover for a year.
Although Andy has had some trouble for a couple days with her scalp breaking out, we've managed to get it under control again thanks to some alcohol swabs and hands-on work. She's also switched to Johnson's Baby Shampoo, which has made her hair softer so she's not prickling her own head so much.
I had my new helper in at work today for the first time. He's a junior tech from our network consulting company loaned to us part-time. He'll be in Monday and Thursday mornings to help me out and, more importantly, to learn our systems. This way, he'll be able to pitch in when I'm swamped and cover for me should I need to take more time off for Andy. He's already familiar with our servers as he has worked on them remotely, but he's going to learn all our specialty software and how we put them to use.
Mar 1 (Sun): Had a great time this afternoon at the Baby Shower for the newest Coopers, Bronte Grace and Oakley Justin, born December 22nd. They are the twin daughter and son of my cousin, Brandon, and his wife, Hollie. Andy was bound and determined she was going to this and was going to last through most of it. I'm happy to report that she did, but was she ever wiped on the way home.
Oakley made the rounds. He looks so much like Brandon - just missing the beard!
Monica did our shopping for us. She got a "Boomerang Nursing Cushion", "Bumbo" baby-sitter chairs, Teddy Bears, and some smaller, colourful, fun stuff. Hollie opening the gifts from Monica, Mom, Andy & I:
My cousin, Melissa, and her daughter, Iris, checking out some presents.
Melissa is Brandon's sister, as is Amy, here with Bronte. Bronte is still only 5 lbs so wasn't making the full rounds like Oakley.
Andy and I figure there were about 40 people there, at Colin and Shelley's house in Dundas. Aunt Sharon, Shelley, Amy, & Melissa did a great job with the shower. They were also so incredibly sweet and accommodating. We arrived to find there was a comfy love seat in the corner with a "reserved" sign on it for Andy and I, and everyone was quite nonchalant about the bald women wearing the medical mask. Andy did take the risk of taking it off for a while to eat as she couldn't resist the yummy spread. I had to laugh when I watched Iris loading up her plate with just various types of pickles initially! Also, the carrot cake was such a nice change from the usual.
Last night, we went to another social gathering. There was a Birthday Party/Dinner for Sarodha and one of the Craigs at the other Craig's. Andy wore her even scarier mask that kind of even looks like a coffee filter. From the left, David, Andy, Phil, Denise, & Kalpana.
Carol, Huguette and Yours Truly.
Andy only lasted an hour, which was all we had expected, but we were still very glad to get out, see everyone, and feel more normal for a while.
Saturday morning, Andy also came out shopping. As she'd finished the Niagara Falls puzzle....
...we went to Zellers and she got 4 more. I am also so very happy to say that we also went to Blinds To Go and finally ordered proper blinds for the Dining Room, Office, and the room I am currently sleeping in. I'm in a different room than Andy because she has occasionally been awake during the night since chemo started. If I'm not there to disturb, she can turn on the TV or her light to read. But the room I'm in has those temporary, fake horizontals from Home Depot. Every morning and every night I have to fold and unfold them - it's SUCH a pain! I can hardly wait till we get these new ones up.
Friday night, we finished watching a movie we had started earlier in the week. It wasn't a bad story, just a tad bit dry.
