Easter Blessings

What a blessed Easter weekend we've had! 

We got out of the hospital on Saturday morning after a disappointing Friday where Ollie had to stay for another day for observation. Fortunately we've learned that when life hands you lemons, you can make some pretty great lemonade if you choose to. So daddy dragged Ollie' s brand new Hot Wheels race track up to the hospital (crazy as it's 8 feet long when set up!) to bring him whatever joy we could while he waited to be sprung from the hospital. When we got home Saturday, we set it up at home and had some family races (Ollie always won!).

Ollie asked if we could have our Easter dinner on Saturday night and in the interest of bringing him (and by extension us) whatever joy we can, that's what we did. Thanks to our friends Lynn and Kerry, we had both a Turkey breast and a ham with all of the trimmings! Abby and Mario also made an Easter cake for Ollie's homecoming (thanks to our favourite little elf, Sharon for sending the Easter egg candies to garnish it!). We also had delicious foccaccia sent by dear friends, Maria, Casey, and Sofia. 

So we cooked it all and had a veritable feast. We did this intentionally because we also happened to bump into acquaintances from 4 North at CHEO on Friday at Sick Kids who are here for THEIR son Ollie' s stem cell transplant! He's little Ollie (as he's under two) and this is his second stem cell transplant. His mom was his donor last week and they're both doing well. So we were pleased to take them some of the feast, too. I tell you this not for credit, but just so you know that just as people continue to take care of us, we are glad to be able to pay it forward and share our blessings with others, too. 

Maria and family also sent gourmet donuts (pretty good, but not as good as Suzy Q's was the consensus), which Ollie has been slowly devouring over the last few days.

On Sunday morning we slept in after a late night (we were all pretty worked up and had a hard time sleeping...not uncommon for us each time there is a significant development in his health). When Ollie finally got up, we had the egg hunt his sister had been patiently waiting for. We gave Ollie some tips to help him find them and Abby sweetly held back to make sure he'd get plenty of treats on his own. Apparently they make beeping eggs for blind kids, so that's what I'll be on the hunt for before next Easter. 

Later, Abby was in her room feeling sad because everything was so different this Easter (she is the Queen of holidays and their rituals). She misses home and friends. We all do, but we had a family meeting Saturday night and decided that it is best for us to stay here for now in hopes that we'll get Ollie to stem cell transplant quicker. Even Abby agreed. Ollie was not happy, but agreed to go along with it since we reminded him that anywhere we are together can be home and at home in Ottawa we still wouldn't be able to go anywhere but home and hospital. 

When Ollie discovered that Abby was sad, he asked his daddy to help him walk to her room to be with her and insisted he was staying with her. He's always been that way when she's upset and always finds a way to make her feel better. She finally understands how loved she is by him and vice versa.

So we spent part of Sunday watching movies and taking walks nearby (with masks and appropriate social distancing). We talked to family and friends and did anything that made us happy.

We walked over to Queen's Park so Abby could see it (she was not very impressed). 

On the way back to our condo we passed the original Victoria Hospital for Sick Children. The first pediatric hospital in Canada was opened there in 1892. Plus, Mario told Abby they'd seen the building in a recent Murdoch Mysteries episode. 

Today it houses the Canadian Blood Services' head office.

When we got back we ate and played Beyblades. We capped off the night reading survivor stories submitted by friends at our request. Each makes me tear up and marvel at people's strength. They are brave, odds-beating warriors like Radley, Lynne, Liam, Lauren, Colin, Strider and Leanne's mom. Please keep these stories coming as they are building us up!

Today was more of the same, but it was pretty windy outside and we had ordered some toys from Toys R Us on Saturday for curbside pickup, so we took a drive to Don Mills. We brought very few toys with us and this was one of the things Ollie told us was making him sad, so we used a gift card sent by dear Margie to buy a few new things and were grateful to the staff there who were wearing masks and gloves and made this a safe pickup for us (we also wiped them down with antisceptic wipes before putting in the van).

We also got gas since it's the first time we've driven anywhere in the last 3 weeks ($0.73/litre!). And we found a local grocery store that was fully stocked and had all of the things Ollie has been asking for four weeks that we were unable to get. I honestly felt giddy whipping through the aisles (with mask and gloves on) and wanted to buy one of everything! This must be what it felt like after the world wars when the rationing was lifted and things were readily available for purchase again.

We're due back at the hospital tomorrow for bloodwork. Our oncologist, Dr. Alexander checked in with me by email yesterday to ensure everything was okay (confirming for me that she is kind and this is more than just a job to her) and our homecare nurse did today as well knowing we had had a minor issue with no blood return when flushing and hepronizing Ollie's broviac on Sunday. Everything was fine today, and I feel good knowing that we are in good medical hands here. 

I've also been doing some research this weekend on Dr. Alexander (went to McGill for undergrad, Harvard for medical and graduate school with 20 years experience in Oncology in the US and in Toronto) and to see the success rate of his new Ceritinib drug (very good results). I also looked at other options with respect to other possible drugs so that I know what else we might try. I have learned that I need to know about possibilities to advocate for next steps as the parent of a critically ill child. So I feel equipped again for moving forward. Onward...