It's Times Like These....

So there was no post yesterday. It was a busy, hard day again.

We went to see Dr. Knight, the oncologist at Grand River in Kitchener. We learned that Barry's melanoma is aggressive and now possibly even in his blood stream. There are growths on this shoulder, arms, back, chest, and abdomen. So with the brain lesions and the tiny lung spot we knew about, this was pretty devastating news. Barry has an appointment on Thursday with the radiologist to determine the course of action. Dr. Knight said that there would be at least 5 sessions, possibly more. So we will hopefully find out Thursday when this will begin. There are some possible side effects, and because they are doing this on the entire brain, Barry most likely will lose his hair. I am going to remind Aunt Janice that she said that she will shave her head in solidarity. Lets all keep her to that promise haha.



After the radiology, they will start him on two different types of chemotherapy. They are Carboplatin (KAR-boe-pla-tin) and Paclitaxel (pack-li-TAX-ell). Each drug has a list a mile long (ok slight exaggeration) that could possibly happen, most commonly the feeling of flu-like symptoms, nausea and vomiting, tiredness, weakness, skin rash, low white blood cell counts, to name a few! These drugs are given together, once every 3 weeks. The way the nurse (Christine) explained it is that there is a cycle that involves specific cell growth and death that needs to run a course before the next dose is given. Giving another dose sooner doesn't increase its effectiveness. They are the experts, so I will take their word for it.


Barry's parents came and visited after the hospital visit. It was nice to have them there, to give us some strength when we needed it. They are hurting as much as anyone one if not more, and they were here, not questions asked, even though its a 90 minute drive. Happy birthday to Dad tomorrow... I won't reveal his age...yet! :) And Mom on Saturday... Happy early birthday :) We love you guys very much and admire your strength. You have been rocks for us. Many happy returns, and great big squeezy hugs from the three bears!!

After they left, Barry and I had a nice chat, a big cry, and then got lots of cuddles from Daniel. Its amazing how such a young little boy can spread so much love. He gives us strength and courage and he doesn't even know it, and does it with such purity. I wish this could be bottled and kept forever!!

We also taught Daniel about 9-1-1 yesterday. There are times when I leave Daniel with Barry to run errands and such, and the doctor told us that Barry shouldn't shower alone, or the likes, because pressure from the lesions on the brain could cause a seizure. So we used general terms, and tried not to frighten Daniel, but stressed if someone was hurt or couldn't get up to dial 9-1-1. We went over what to say to the agent on the phone, and he already knows his address so we taught him to give that to the person on the phone. I guess this is something good to learn, and I believe he would learn it in school, but its always tough when you have to do it because he might actually need to know it. All in all, I believe he wasn't worried about it, and he didn't seem stressed by learning this.

I want to remind everyone that Barry's birthday is just a few weeks away. Please help me show him he is not alone and send your cards and pennies. We have new people joining our blog every day, and the number of visitors is rising every time we look! Its nice to open the blog and see a new member or a new message, so thank you everyone.

We went to Hamilton today, and Aunt Janice and Samantha watched Daniel. He LOVED going to the splash pad and had a wonderful time. This means so much to me and Barry because although we are doing our best, I know we aren't doing what we would like to with Daniel, for obvious reasons. I always have good intentions, but this piece of life we are living is so bumpy. I have guilt about this, so you taking him to the park and knowing he had so much fun makes me very happy. Thank you :)

Tomorrow we have a nurse coming from the CCAC (Community Care Access Centre) to get Barry on their charts, and to give him an assessment before treatments start. Apart from that, the week is pretty free, for a change, apart from Thursday when we have the radiology appointment. Its nice to have open time. I am planning to see Bieke on Friday. (she was my big sister through the big sisters association when I was growing up, and a wonderful friend today). I am looking forward to that time :) Tomorrow night I hope to go shopping for something special for Barry's birthday with Kristine, another great friend. I have a few ideas, but I will let you know what I got him once I actually get it. Barry says he doesn't want anything, but I want to get him something to show my love and Daniel's love for him. Something a little mushy, he would say lol.

What would we do without friends and family? It's times likes these you see the good in everyone, their best sides. And that works for me!

That's all for now... I know this post was kind of all over the place, somewhat like my thoughts. Sadness is at the forefront this hour. Next blog, optimism will shine through...that is my goal!

Love to you all xxx
Sara