Only one more to go

All the previous chemo's were done sitting up on a Lazy Boy type reclining chair but after last time's "knock-out" and the discomfort of sitting when she felt like sleeping, Judith asked if she could use one of the beds this time. The result was that she slept through most of the infusion which was pretty uneventful. There is now only one more chemo session to go, in two weeks time, and after that the tests to assess the effectiveness of the treatment program - another Gallium and CT Scan. Your continued prayers are really appreciated.


On Tuesday and Thursday Judith played field hockey for the school and their team won both matches. The Thursday game was rather tough and close, taking revengeful pleasure in a 1-0 win over the school that beat them in a shootout in last year's final. Thursday's game was a quarter-final so now they are in the semi's. Click on the picture to enlarge. It's a bit blurry - but then I didn't take the picture :-)


Watching Judith play on Tuesday was her godmother from South Africa, Pat Prinsloo. Pat has been with family and friends in California, Colorado and Washington State and came to us last Saturday. Ingrid and I said goodbye to her at Toronto's Pearson Airport at 4:15 AM on Thursday morning - barely 5 hours after a great farewell dinner at Al Gonquin's restaurant where Judith used to be a server. They still remember her there and gave her an employee discount!

Update from Quebec

...not Quebec City but a place called Shefford in Quebec Province where an old friend of mine, Clement, has a house in beautiful rural surroundings forty-five minutes west of Montreal on the A10. Without going into details, Clem and I were student friends in South Africa going back to the late Sixties. I have just come back from Sherbrooke where I enjoyed a reunion with two other French Canadian friends we both have in common, both Catholic priests, Fathers Robert and Jean-Claude, Mariannhill Fathers. Jean-Claude and Clem I last saw about four years ago when Ingrid, Stephen, Judith and I spent a week based at a resort in Magog, not far from Sherbrooke. At that time Fr. Jean-Claude took us to Quebec City where we spent two wonderful days as he showed us around - and handled all French communication on our behalf!! It was like two days in Europe.

This time I left the rest of the family at home and drove over mainly to see Fr Robert whom I had not seen in over thirty years. He is in Sherbrooke on holiday from Kenya where he is Superior at the Mariannhill House of studies in Nairobi. We had a great time talking about `the old days`.

This evening Clem and I are going to a local restaurant to have some popotte Québécoise.

Thanksgiving

Judith tried something new: no IV hydration. The home nurse suggested she try it - rather pace herself with taking sufficient water by mouth at frequent and regular intervals over the day. Ingrid or I woke her up from time to time and told her to drink and she did so diligently. It worked out fine and she will probably do the same next time.

This last weekend was the Thanksgiving long weekend in Canada. We had our dinner on Sunday evening. Stephen had bussed in from Kingston but Miriam had gone to Ottawa with a friend. Mark and Luisa also joined us. Sean had to work.


During the meal we took turns to tell of some of the things we gave thanks for in the past year. Some that I recall: lots about jobs - my job, Ingrid's job, Stephen's summer job opportunity just past, Mark's opportunity to work in Holland for a year, Sean's job opportunity in Whistler; that Mark and Luisa met 11 months ago; Judith expressed the "up" side to not going to university this year - opportunity to improve grades and broaden university options and courses next year; and we are all very grateful for the Canadian healthcare system (imperfect as it may be) that has been providing Judith with such excellent care.


Judith went to bed early. The rest of us spent the evening chatting, reading, laughing at peculiar customs of our various nationalities, playing Mario Brothers on Mark's laptop, playing "Sets". Luisa whipped the lot of us into turkeyland.


Soon after Sean came home we received a phone call from Pat Prinsloo (Judith's godmother) phoning from Marius & Janet in Seattle. Here he is talking to "Onnie Pat"

Click on the images to enlarge.

Just Two Sessions Left

Field hockey was a bit of a disappointment for Judith this last week. She was only on for about five minutes and then had to ask the coach to take her off. To add salt to the wound their team narrowly lost by one goal.

On Friday she had her chemo - only two more to go after this. They started off by giving her a strong shot of some relaxant to prevent the rigors that she suffered the last time. This left Judith pretty dopey and sleepy so she did not provide much by way of entertainment while the infusions were going on even though Ingrid, Miriam, Mark and I were all there at some point over the four hours. The relaxant had the desired effect, and everything went without a hitch this time. Visitors had to entertain themselves...

Then at five o'clock I was down at Scarborough town centre bus station to pick up Stephen and his girlfriend, Heather. Steve has come in from Kingston, ON (Queen's University) to spend Thanksgiving weekend with us. I managed to get some pics of him and Heather on Friday night before Heather's mom arrived from Penetanguishene where they have a farm in the area.


Click on the pictures to enlarge.

Camping Pics - Finally

We finally got the film developed from the camping trip that Judith had with her friends, Hannah, Jeanine and Melissa at the beginning of August at The Pinery Provincial Park on Lake Huron. To view the album click on the link on the left.

It was a poignant moment for me a few weeks back when Judith's friend, Kristin, came to say goodbye to Judith prior to leaving for university and I realised we were at the end of an era. I also felt extremely grateful for the truly wonderful friends that Judith has had in the last couple of years in high school - friends who have been simply amazing in their support for Judith over the last 6 months. It is not for me to name them. I have only met a few of them anyway. They and Judith know who they are and most of them don't even read this blog. :-) But I do thank God for them all and pray his blessing for them.