29/3/10 Day 137. Monday

Made it to the GP. Sat in a corporate area with chairs and shade on a balcony. The boys could get lemonade from the bar whenever they wanted...luxury...! And to top it off, a surprise helicopter ride over the track for 6 of the children. Owen absolutely loved it.

Sunday, we caught up with the newest family member, a brand new cousin... Cousin Maya has a new sister.. Mum and Bubs are doing well....

Monday, some large bruises have appeared so off to the Childrens. A blood test, wait an hour, crossmatch, another hour then a bag of platelets, another 3 hrs. 1 hour to the hospital, 1 hour home. There goes 6.5 hrs.......

26/3/10 Day 134. Friday

We are awake from 2.30am to 4 am with Owen crying, unsettled and in pain. He pleads to go to hospital because "they will look after him there". Yep, the drugs are working. He is hot, itchy, and distressed and eventually throws up twice at one hour intervals. Exhausted but calm, he falls off to sleep. All he wants is to be well enough to go to the Grand Prix for the first time on Saturday with Challenge, the childrens support charity. And, is really disappointed that he could not get off to school today to present a project as it is the last day of term. The good thing is that he is young enough to catch up on all the things he is missing....

25/3/10 Day 133. Thursday. Royal Childrens Day.

A long day and we have to come back tomorrow....... for more..!
Owen is coming to the end of this 29 day block of treatment. We were in today to get his weekly medication, including the dreaded double needle into the thighs. But his bloods had taken a huge dive from the chemo and he needed topping up. The nurse and Dr Domnie are really impressed with his health considering that his counts are so low. The body is remarkable.
He has his blood taken for testing and cross matching. We wait for results, see his Doctor, have his bandage changed and start filling him up. 1 bag of platelets and 2 bags of blood. A total of 750ml of blood products. It takes 2.5 hrs per bag and we ran out of time.
Tomorrow, he gets his needles and another bag of blood. And he has to wait 4 hours in case of an allergic reaction. He misses out on 2 days of school including the last day of term. Bummer........
Left home at 7.30 am. Home by 7.40pm.
Tomorrow....Leave home at 8.30am... back by 4pm.
Owen chats to a psycologist today, as he has been worrying a lot about his mortality lately. Big thoughts for a little boy. The door is left open for more chats in the future.

Day Oncology. This where O spends a lot of his time. This is half of the room. In the other half is 2 beds and 3 more chairs. It is a nice bright room. As you can see everyone has gone home except a nurse who is waiting for Owen's bloods to finish. He would much rather be at school....

20/3/10 Day 127. Saturday.

What a week. After an awful weekend, the little man went to school everyday, without any time in sickbay. The rollercoaster...! From the low of Friday when he was terribly unwell to the highs when everything seems so normal, you wonder what you are worrying about. 3 years then we are all finished....
Oh, then it changes slightly, just to keep you on your toes. This morning for the first time in nearly a week he drags himself out of bed, with his blanket, sick bowl and Dr Ben (his monkey). His health is starting to deteriorate as the chemo starts knocking him around. But, a quick vomit, some anti-nausea tablets, and we are right to go, hopefully..

Bored in Day oncology, waiting, waiting.. Time to learn how to go cross eyed.

15/3/10 Day 122. Mission Accomplished....

What seems like a small gesture has a profound impact on a 9 year old boy and his Grand father.
And it is all for a good cause. All cancer children in the future will benefit from people who are touched and we can all make a difference.
Well done Pappy...!

14/3/10 Day 121. Sunday . The ups and downs.

Bang...!
Like a sledgehammer, it changes again. Healthy and happy Owen gets through the night without throwing up but it starts again in the morning. He is slow out of bed but tries his hardest to get off to school. Throws up twice, cannot hold down breakfast and on his way to school the decision is made to stay home. He is a trooper and believed that he could go to school.
The day was spent on the couch, and quick trip to Mum's work where he threw up twice.
By nightfall, Owen vomited 15 times with one more at 1am in the morning that night. He was sick.... and it was truly heartbreaking..
Saturday, and the more of the same. I would have tears in my eyes as I walked him to the toilet, supporting him from behind as he hobbled, stooped over like a very old man. However, by 5pm the clouds lifted and he started improving. He started eating and our Owen started coming back.
Sunday, and he started slowly but kept improving. More vomiting with oral medications but he was happier.
Yes Pappy was shaved and we heard about the wonderful Jamieson Cosgriff. A courageous 14 year old girl/champion from Hampton, with a great story who did the same. More about that tomorrow...

11/3/10 Day 118. Royal Childrens. Started next round

Al last, we are off and running with the next round...
Every week we miss is added onto the end of the treatment, so we don't like delays....... but, unfortunately, we are not in charge. O is in great spirits after 2 weeks of no medication and excited about catching up with Pappy this weekend to cut his hair. Lets see what the weekend brings us...

Shave for a cause......

Guess who is chasing sponsors for Shave for a Cause.

A hint.
He will be losing the beard and hair... well, shaving the beard, and clipper cutting his hair as he has lost most already....!
(Shave for a Cause) this Sunday 14th of March.
Here is a link to his fundraising page.
http://my.imisfriendraising.com.au/personalPage.aspx?SID=117138

All money raised goes to the Leukaemia Foundation.
We sit in Day Oncology and watch as 35-40 children go through, 5 days a week getting treatment for all types of Cancers that this Foundation supports. It is brave for Pappy to to cut off his precious locks for a good cause. And brave for these children who are there every week, hoping for a good outcome.

Owen was stoked when he heard that his Pappy had volunteered to "Shave for a cause" as he now believes that one task that he has in life is to raise funds for Charities. Just like his adult mentor and adviser, and friend, Lisa Sewards, who constantly raises funds for the Breast Cancer Network.

"Shave for a Cause" website..
http://www.worldsgreatestshave.com/index.php

January 2010.
Owen with Cousin Maya, Oldest brother Luke(wavy hair), Middle brother Joel(spiky hair) and Pappy(too much hair)

4/3/10 Thursday. RCH day

Foiled again....!
Owen's bloods have not recovered enough to start treatment, so we are stuck in a hold pattern for another week. Met up with Dr Waters and he smiled and said that this was typical and not to worry. Try again next week.
Apart from that, his health is great. He still throws up when he has his tablets and he is losing weight as his appetite has dropped away. Still at school so that is good.