Cravings, Cuts and Confirmation

Yesterday Ollie had a lumbar puncture with intrathecal chemo. When he cane out of recovery he was ravenous and asked for pizza...

And...

Thankfully, friend Elliot was coming by the hospital so he kindly agreed to bring some (after I explained what they were since his body is such a temple that he's never had one!).

Ollie has had a great few days despite the fact that chemo has started again. He's not been nauseous (we're keeping the anti-nauseated flowing to be proactive) and his appetite continues to be huge. Not to share too much, but those of you with kids will appreciate that a lot of your time as a parent is spent talking about and monitoring bowel movements. Even Ollie' s BM's have improved the last few days! 😀 💩

We've been making a lot of lists...his oncologist was very impressed that the blind boy with lymphoma on chemo was writing lists. She couldn't get over his determination, although as she acknowledged, she has seen nothing but that from him for the last 44 days. 

 

Mario stayed with Ollie last night so Abby and I could get haircuts. We were way overdue and since Abby's confirmation was tonight and I needed one before Toronto, my long-time stylist and friend, Sonia and Abby's stylist, Thwe from Maison Noi treated us. We looked and felt great (which is saying a lot right now!) and hit so many nice compliments on our hair today!

Also this afternoon, while the boys were having a good day in hospital with lots of playtime despite Ollie needing another blood transfusion, Abby and I had a fun afternoon of manicures and pedicures with dear friends Julie, Jenna add Mackenzie. 

Tonight Abby had her confirmation. In the Catholic Church, this is an important rite of passage where kids become real needs of the Church because they choose to be versus simply because their parents want them to be there. As I've mentioned before, Abby has really embraced her faith this year, maybe in part because of everything happening to her brother. 

In my darkest moments my faith has been such a comfort to me and reminds me that I am loved and can get through anything with God's help. I can't imagine trying to get through this without faith in a higher power. 

I was also so happy to sponsor Abby's friend Ines for confirmation. Bishop Prendergast was saying tonight that when we teach youth our faith, we by extension are practicing and even strengthening ours. I am thankful for Ines (and Cristina and Fernando) as well as Charity, my dear friend, "God sister" and our youth minister for allowing me to help them with confirmation this year before Ollie's diagnosis. While I am sad that I missed some of our Alpha parent prep sessions as a facilitator due to our situation, I am so happy to have had the opportunity to deepen my faith with other parents in our community.

We also have big love for Julie who agreed to be Abby's sponsor since her godmother Gladys is living in California and could not be here. Julie has always loved my kids so much and is always there for them no matter what. This mama is proud to have her in our village.

So that was our busy weekend so far! 

Tomorrow morning at 9 am, Ollie had his next lumbar puncture with intrathecal chemo, so I'll be back to CHEO early. Wishing you all a blessed and restful Sunday!