August. 2011. Time for an update.. and all is good

Yes, all is well... 1 year and 9 months down..
  Owen is full of beans and life seems to be slowly slipping back into normal routines. Funnily enough, he is going in tomorrow for his monthly checkup, lumber puncture (25+ times under a general anesthetic.. losing count), chemo top up into his port and usual smiley and cheeky catch up with the Day Oncology nurses. We barely know any of the patients as a new group of children go through the same harrowing ordeal with their shattered parents. We smile and are relaxed seeming like old hands at this. Methatrexate.. check,  Mercaptopurine.. check, Dexamethasone.. check, Bactrim.. check, as we smile at the Oncology Pharmacists. Owen gives cheek to his saviour, Dr Waters and if all goes well, he is back to school at lunchtime.. It is strange yet so normal for us, yet I remember the children that sat next to me in Day Oncology that are no longer with us. Lots of brave faces in there.
  Within all of life's strange twist and turns, Joel and Owen still have managed to get away on a few camps and a huge slumber party with the Challenge, the charity that has looked out for us in our early days. Owen recalled asked being by a friend on how he managed to get to do all these great things. Simple answer - All you need is to get cancer, he answered. He thought it was funny.. Black humour..
After months of pushing him, he finally relented and applied to the Make-a-Wish Foundation for something special. Make-a-Wish is a charity that grants wishes to children with life threatening medical conditions to enrich the human experience with hope, strength and joy (and now the tears start....getting soft in my old age). Three helpers came to our house to talk to Owen about his wishes and they will get back to him with an answer.. We keep our fingers crossed..

Polly and Waz....!!

Rod and Tania....!!

In the Man Cave

Anyway.... turns out one of the Make-a-Wish helpers is related to the funniest people on television. Polly (and Waz) from THE BLOCK. Yep, a show about renovating which Owen loves. By the next night, O, J and I were sitting in their house, on their couch watching the Block with Rod and Tania (legends) as well. 25,000 people lined up last weekend to look through the houses and we had front row seats.... Unbelievable...Then a tour of both houses including playing poker, with screws, with Waz locked in his Man-cave. It was a wonderful and uplifting experience. A bonus, but most of all. the joy of being in the company of genuine people. Click on the photos to see the fun. Thanks heaps to Polly and Waz, Rod and Tania and Special Thx to Hugh..