"Hyper"-charged Back to School and Childhood Cancer Awareness Month

[Photo Description: Ollie lies on a hospital gurney hugging CNIB Buddy Dog Hope in CHEO's Medical Day Unit (MDU) during his August bloodwork and checkup.]

It has been a busy 2 months since I last updated the blog in mid-August! I figured I'd better write an update as I am starting to get private messages from followers wondering if we're okay.

I expected to update before now, but a few minor developments (I'll elaborate later in this post) have kept me busier than expected and we had hoped to have had scans by now and be able to confirm if he was still in remission. Unfortunately we all got colds the past couple of weeks (many many COVID tests taken to be certain that is all it was for each of us in our turn) and had to postpone Ollie's original scan date last week until October 19th, so we don't have any news on that front yet and while we are at it will ask you to include Ollie in your prayers for the next week for clear scans again.

[Photo Description: Ollie proudly wears his white Kids Kicking Cancer Canada gi and new yellow orange belt in the living room while standing on an exercise mat with Hope at his feet after his virtual belt grading.]

Backtracking a bit, the end of August was busy with getting ready for back to school. Ollie was proud to get his yellow orange belt through Kids Kicking Cancer Canada! 

[Photo Description: Ollie, students and Senseis do pushups while wearing their gis and masks at an in-person class of Kids Kicking Cancer Canada - Ottawa Chapter, while CNIB Buddy Dog Hope lies beside Ollie's mat wedding her yellow CNIB vest.]

All summer Ollie has been attending Kids Kicking Cancer Canada in person at the Maplesoft Jones Centre/Ottawa Regional Cancer Foundation's facility. CNIB Buddy Dog Hope has gone with him and even helped to calm others in the class, so she's invited to all classes that Ollie wants to bring her to now! 

[Photo Description: Ollie sits beside Hope and Child Life Specialist Manon on a gurney in CHEO's Medical Day Unit (MDU) with one arm around Hope, while nurse Kerri gives Ollie the first dose of his last four live childhood re-vaccinations.]

Ollie also got his first dose of the re-vaccinations for the live vaccines (Measles, Mumps, Rubella and Varicella) at the end of August. Only one more set of these on October 31st and he will be fully re-vaccinated! That's 30 doses of childhood vaccines plus 3 COVID vaccines in the past 18 months! He was also told by his team that he could bring his Hope with him for this and any appointment at CHEO where she could be a support to him. As usual Hope was amazingly well-behaved and calmed Ollie like few others can. 

[Photo Description: Abby wears her backpack and stands on the front porch with feet apart and arms crossed on her high school orientation day. The sharing of this photo was authorised by Abby.]

September has been consumed by back to school and starting all of the lessons and activities again! Abby started high school at her special arts school and is settling in nicely. She is becoming more independent and responsible and has an active teenage social life these days, too. We're trying to give her as normal a first high school year as possible given how abnormal the last three years have been for her and all that she's sacrificed to keep her brother well.

[Photo Description: Ollie stands on the front porch smiling and giving two thumbs up, holding his mobility cane with his backpack at his feet on his fussy day of grade 5!]

Ollie started back to school in grade 5! He now wears a size 10.5 men's shoe already and is among the tallest in his grade 5/6 class already. This is evidence that his thyroid growth hormone has been working well (until recently, but we'll get to that a bit later). Kids who have had cancer often either have early onset puberty or do not enter it at all without the help of hormone therapy. His endocrinology team has said that as he's starting to move into puberty, they do not intend to slow it down since the growth is where they want him to be, even if a bit faster than he otherwise would experience it.

[Photo Description: Ollie sits at the dining room table reading his French homework in Braille.]

He's back with his amazing Vision Itinerant teacher Dawne and has a sweet new Educational Assistant (EA), as his awesome EA from last year did an accelerated pilot program this summer to become a teacher this fall. She will be missed, but we are grateful for all that she did for Ollie and know how lucky her new students are to have her. His English and French teachers this year are the incredible teachers that Abby had for grade 6 when Ollie was diagnosed. He also has a couple of subjects with the incredible and kind teachers who were his first visitors in hospital during round one of chemo. His gym teacher was Abby's, too, is his same as last year and was and is so committed to adapting sports for him. He came home telling me about capture the flag and how she had the kids on the other team all wear beeper boxes so that they couldn't sneak up on him and steal his flags because he can't see them. I remain so incredibly thankful for his entire educational support team and all that they do for our boy.

[Photo Description: Ollie stands in the schoolyard  on the first day of grade 5, holding his mobility cane and giving a thumbs up with his vision itinerant teacher, Dawne beside him. Photo shared with permission from Dawne.]

We'll focus a lot on the French Immersion side of the shop this year. Ollie remains behind in this subject area having missed two years of instruction thanks to his treatments and a lack of French instruction in his year in virtual school. Also, apparently blind and low vision kids typically don't do French Immersion (50% of the day in French) - they either do core French (1 period out of 4 in French per day) or are exempted from French altogether in their Independent Education Plan (IEP). 

[Photo Description: Ollie stands outside of the school on Terry Fox Run Day wearing his Fight Like A Kid sweatshirt with the Gold Childhood Cancer Awareness ribbon made by Littlepressco. He holds his mobility cane under his arm and a Terry Fox Run sticker in his hands that reads, "I'm not a quitter. I'm running for...Griffin, Lily and CHEO friends still fighting."]

Ollie was given the option to go down to core French, but was insistent he could do it, so I'm working with his amazing French, Resource and Vision Itinerant teachers to modify the curriculum to set him up for success until he is fully up to grade level in French. It is more challenging for a blind kid to learn French Braille, but he is determined and smart. Last year he fully caught up in two missed years in all other subjects as well as jumped 2 grade levels in Braille, too. All because we accommodated, supported and believed in him. So now we'll do the same in French. And he'll show everyone (as he always does) what resilience and perseverance can do. Ollie inspires me daily to do more than people expect I can.

[Photo Description: Ollie and Dawn pose in front of a Make-A-Wish Eastern Ontario banner at a recent Golf Tournament. Photo courtesy of Sharon Forbes, Make-A-Wish Eastern Ontario.]

That's part of why I do so much advocacy and fundraising for organizations that are important to us. To that end, September was Childhood Cancer Awareness Month, and a busy one it was! 

We started out filling in for another oncology family who was supposed to speak at a golf tournament being held for Make-A-Wish Eastern Ontario, but was admitted to hospital unexpectedly days before. Often cancer families are in this situation and we ourselves have experienced this in the past, too. Ollie and I drew the raffle tickets and spoke about Ollie's story and what his wish meant to him. Ollie caused a flurry of sales when he told the attendees that there were 200 tickets to be sold and they'd only bought half of that and another kid like him might not get their wish if they didn't buy more! 😆 He was honestly so charismatic and inspiring that the entire tournament was in love with him. 

[Photo Description:  A masked Ollie holds a CHEO Teddy Bear in the nursery in the CHEO Dream of a Lifetime Home for 2022 during the official media launch.]

The next week we got a last minute call from the CHEO Foundation asking if we'd fill in for the oncology family that was going to help launch the CHEO Dream of a Lifetime Home Lottery for them. Sadly this family had also been unexpectedly admitted to hospital with illness. Mario and Abby had school and work obligations, so Ollie and I represented. You can see the launch and our interview here. He was a bit tired and shy about the official launch part, but did amazing at the one on one interviews. You can read another account of the launch event with Ollie's interview here. Finally, I did an interview with Sam Laprade on her CFRA An Hour to Give session on the CHEO Dream Home. You can listen to my interview starting at the 33:58 mark.

[Photo Description: Ollie sits in the driver's seat of a golf cart decorated with gold balloons with Sensei Lyne sitting beside him and Dawn standing beside her at the 2nd Annual Kids Kicking Cancer Canada Ottawa Golf Tournament. Photo courtesy of Sensei Reesa.]

Finally, we were glad to be asked to be Ambassadors for the 2nd Annual Kids Kicking Cancer Canada's Ottawa Golf Tournament (no filling in for others this time). This time we got to spend the day in the beautiful fall weather, cruising around in a golf cart delivering food to volunteers, talking to golfers in the tournament and later delivered a testimonial as to the difference that the program has made in Ollie's life. 

[Photo Description: Dawn makes her eleventh blood donation wearing a mask at Canadian Blood Services in October 2022. Her milestone 10th was in July 2022.] 

In addition to all of this, I'm working  full-time, am on various committees and councils for pediatric cancer and blindness and continue to work on several cancer-related studies. It's a lot, but I feel so grateful to be well enough myself to do these things and to pay forward the incredible blessings that we've been given. As we move into the winter some of these commitments will be completed, lightening my load somewhat. 

[Photo Description: Ollie and Dawn are masked and sit on the sofa in the living room of the CHEO Dream of a Lifetime Lottery Home.]

One of my biggest mental loads still is, and likely always will be monitoring Ollie's health. To illustrate how important this remains, even though he is more than two years post transplant we had a little medical issue over the past 6 weeks, too. 

[Photo Description: Ollie has blood taken at CHEO for his thyroid tests in September 2022.]

In the first weeks back to school we started to see little changes in Ollie: 

- Being short-tempered; 

- Waking in the night each night (he hasn't done that regularly in about a year);

- Waking up at 5 am daily after waking in the night and not sleeping his usual 10 hours per night (getting about 7-8 hours per night maximum); 

- Falling asleep in French class in the afternoons and it being really hard to wake him;

- Sleeping 2-3 hours at midday on weekends (normally he insists on staying awake even when he's tired);

- Complete lack of appetite and is having to almost force food down his throat;

- He continued to lose significant weight (he'd lost 9 pounds in the month after stopping his miracle cancer inhibitor drug Lorlatinib, which was expected given other people had after stopping) rapidly;

- Unexplained constipation and diarrhea again when we'd finally gotten bowel movements settled over the past 6 months after 18 months of instability after transplant; 

- Nervousness and anxiety (he'd started getting stressed again about scratching, dropping or breaking things and ask us constantly if he had. He used to do this whenever he was really anxious, but we've worked on it with the child psychologist and in August and early September when he'd gone off of the Lorlatinib it had disappeared entirely, then suddenly came back 6 weeks later);

- Heat intolerance when he'd have his plantar warts lasered, even though he'd done the treatments for a year and never complained that it ever hurt; and

- Night sweats.

[Photo Description: A masked Ollie checks his Braille on the Perkins Brailler in the Braille Room at school. A small black lab stuffie wearing a CNIB vest sits beside him on the table. Photo courtesy of Dawne Smith-Appell] 

It was the meltdowns and falling asleep during the day that made little bells go off on my head in the third week of September. This was just after his school team started wondering if he really was unhappy in French Immersion and suggested we might need to take him out. I started thinking about when we'd seen these symptoms before. At first it was scary because many of them are also symptoms of cancer. But I breathed deep and thought harder and remembered that after transplant when we'd gotten home and started seeing outbursts, fatigue and many of the same symptoms, it was his thyroid causing issues. Then I started thinking about what could make his thyroid meds stop working properly and I remembered that when he'd gained a lot of weight on Lorlatinib after transplant, they'd needed to bump his synthetic thyroid hormone med up because they told me it had to be calibrated to his weight. He'd lost 18 pounds in 2 months, so I realized he was likely experiencing hyperthyroidism instead of the hypothyroidism that he started taking the med for. Essentially I was certain he was taking too much thyroid medication because of his weight loss and this hadn't been flagged as a concern by his team at our last checkup at CHEO in August, even though they'd commented on the rapid weight loss. 

I verified in his MyChart online that they hadn't measured his thyroid levels by checking his TSH and T4 levels in his bloodwork since April. So I sent messages to the endocrinology team and his oncology team to explain and request a blood test. When the nurse practitioner in endocrinology called me back, she confirmed that it sounded like his thyroid was now overactive and ordered the blood test. She also said we would check his cortisol levels at the same time to be sure they were okay. Our team in CHEO's Medical Day Unit was kind enough to squeeze us in on the Friday morning for the test to keep things easier for Ollie to have it in an environment he knew well versus going to the lab directly. Monday I got the results in MyChart before I got a call from the Endocrinologist. Cortisol levels were fine.  But he did have high T4, low TSH. Hyperthyroidism. The Endocrinologist called about an hour later to confirm it, to commend me for seeing it and asking for the blood test, and to tell me she'd send a new prescription to the pharmacy for us that he should start the next day. She said that it would take 4-6 weeks for things to level out on the new meds and if we were coming in for routine bloodwork at the end of October anyways, we'd also check his levels again to see if the levels were normal or we needed to adjust the dose again.

[Photo Description: Ollie wears a helmet and is being silly while riding his Berg peddle go kart at the Central Experimental Farm with both hands in the air.]

So I was able to go back to his team at school and confirm that it was his thyroid, not bad behaviour or boredom. And Ollie insisted he was going to continue in French Immersion even if we have to work harder this year to make up for the two missed years when he was sick. He says if he could catch up on everything else last year after two years away, he can catch up on French this year, even with thyroid issues. 

[Photo Description: Ollie and friends from his Beep Kickball with the Miracle League of Ottawa.The kids are outfield in the last game of the season that was kids against blindfolded parents. Of course the kids won!]

Despite these challenges this fall, my boy has also participated in the Terry Fox Run and made the Cross country running team. He didn't go to the meet, though, as it ended up being the same day as a special event day for the Blind Low Vision program and he attended that event instead, where I'm told he was a real leader and helped the little kids a lot! He's also finished his Beep Kickball season and returned to his skateboarding lessons at The Yard with instructor Jordan. He's even inspired another little friend with vision loss to start taking lessons just before him on Tuesdays with Jordan! 

[Photo Description: Ollie porches on the edge and gets ready to drop in on the bowl at skateboarding lessons at the The Yard. Instructor Jordan holds his hands for balance.]

Mario and I both continue to work from home, with him going into the office the odd weekend day to do server work for a few hours as needed. We are grateful for the flexibility that our employers allow us to work around Ollie's school drop off and pick up schedules, as well as his medical appointments. Having to figure out a one-to-one daycare situation for him as well this year would have been a huge challenge. There have already been a number of days where there has been a shortage of Educational Assistants at Ollie's school and two afternoons that I've had to keep him home for lack of support already. These are the same educational workers that the Ford government and the Education Minister Stephen Lecce are refusing to negotiate fairly with. The same ones that my son and special needs kids like him need to get an equitable education. 

So our work flexibility may be even more necessary in the weeks to come if the mediation fails and educational workers strike. We had so hoped that this year could be completely normal, but between educational worker issues, difficulty getting COVID vaccines that should have been available months ago and more COVID spread, and flu season happening earlier than normal, it looks like we're destined to have another year of disruptions. Still grateful to have these problems than those that we've been dealing with the past 3-years, but wouldn't it be nice not to have to keep adapting?!

[Photo Description: Mario describes a small pumpkin to Ollie and holds it so that Ollie can feel it at the pumpkin patch at Miller Farms.]

So as we cruise into this week, which marks our three year anniversary of landing at CHEO in pursuit of diagnosis, and our twice annual MRI and CT scans to see if he's still cancer free, we once again thank you for continuing to follow our little story. Shockingly we are nearing 400,000 views of this blog around the world in the almost 3 years I have been writing it! Once again, I humbly ask for your ongoing positivity and prayers for clear scans this week. We'll share a short blog post as soon as we have results.

In the meantime, be kind to each other and yourselves, and please don't take any of your blessings for granted. See below for Ollie's recent Thankful Friday inspiration in his class from the day they also did the Terry Fox Run at school. Let us all see the world as Ollie does despite all of the suffering he's endured in his young life.

[Photo Description: Ollie's brailled message for Thankful Friday contribution on Terry Fox Run Day. It reads, " I am grateful for life. I am grateful for friends. Everyday, I am grateful for those who survived." Photo courtesy of Leanne Endicott]

Hope is stronger than fear

[Ollie stands proudly in the living room in front of the sofa beside his new Buddy Dog Hope who is wearing her yellow Buddy Dog vest.]

Sorry that I haven't written this before now, but it was a busy few weeks and my body and my brain felt like I had been in fight or flight again due to all of the adrenaline from the excitement. It seems my brain doesn't understand the difference between good adrenaline and bad anymore.

On March 5th, 2021 Ollie's life changed yet again. Thankfully the positivity continued and this was a change we had hoped for and waited patiently for 9 months to happen. 

Some of you may recall that last July when we were in Toronto waiting for his stem cell transplant, Ollie was lucky enough to have a visit from a Canadian National Institute for the Blind (CNIB) Ambassador Dog (Ziggy and his handler Audrey). We had applied for the CNIB Buddy Dog Program and since then Ollie has talked about little else (dogs and Beyblades consumed him). 

In January, when he was 6 months post transplant and doing so well, Ollie was cleared medically to eventually get a Buddy Dog when one became available. Shortly after that we received an e-mail from Miriam Mas, Program Lead for Buddy Dogs and Ambassador Dogs at the CNIB. She updated us, telling us that Ollie was fifth on the list for a Buddy Dog, so she hadn't forgotten about us, but was checking in to see how Ollie was and to let us know it would likely be a while yet until Ollie would get his Buddy Dog. 

Ollie was disappointed, but resolute in his readiness to wait and we figured it might be another year or so before he got one. Oh well! We figured this would give him even more time to be stronger and healthier when his dog finally came. 

A few short weeks later I got a call from Miriam. She explained that because of COVID-19 and the Buddy Dog Program not being considered essential (which frankly I believe it should be as it serves children who are blind and low vision, improving their mental and physical health and providing important resources to help them navigate their world of darkness), they were unable to travel beyond the Ottawa area to deliver the Buddy Dogs and train their new handlers. 

It just so happened that she had two Buddy Dogs ready to go to their new homes and given they had no idea when they might be able to travel again (we are currently experiencing the third wave of the pandemic with no end in sight) and the training facility is in the Ottawa area (in Carleton Place), she wondered if Ollie might be ready to have one so that the program could continue helping kids and give one of the dogs a loving home. Ollie had heard me on the phone with Miriam and insisted I put her on speaker phone. He was beyond excited and begging me with his own puppy dog eyes to say yes. 

What other answer could there be for my beautiful boy who survived a rare cancer with a double relapse in his brain and spine, went blind, had a stem cell transplant and made it back to wellness with his incredible grit?! Of course we were taking the dog! 

To give you context, Buddy Dogs begin as trainees for the Guide Dog Program, and are bred (in Australia), raised in Canada and trained (all over the country, but in particular at the CNIB Training Centre in Carleton Place) for two years by the CNIB with unbelievable commitment from incredible volunteer puppy raisers. Usually some little thing makes them less suited for the Guide Dog Program, but perfectly suited to teach kids like Ollie how to care for a dog to prepare them for one day having their own Guide Dog. 

Miriam had two sibling dogs to place,  Hope and Ray. As we later heard more about them, we learned that their mama's name was (wait for it...) Abby.

[Abby with her litter during feeding, including Hope, Ray and Owen who were all trained for the CNIB Guide Dog Program. The litter was born February 28, 2019 in Australia.]

Miriam told us that both were gentle, loving dogs in good health and ideal buddy dogs. Ray was raised in a rural setting and was a bit distracted in high traffic areas so we thought he may not be the best fit as we live in a very busy urban area. In Hope's case she had a bit of body sensitivity and didn't like the harness, but since the harness isn't used in the Buddy Dog Program, this was not an issue. Miriam brought both for a walk in our neighborhood before calling to tell us that she felt Hope would be the best fit for Ollie. Ollie was sad not to be able to give Ray a loving home, but was assured that he would be placed soon, too.

[Hope (left) and Ray enjoying exercise during time together in training.]

We also felt that it was perfect that her name is Hope and that is what we clung to during Ollie's incredible cancer and stem cell transplant journey. In fact, that's exactly what our oncologist Dr. Abbott told us on diagnosis day that we must never lose if we wanted Ollie to get well. 

To backtrack for a moment, the day before Miriam confirmed that it would be Hope, this blog post that her puppy raiser Catherine wrote about her popped up in my Instagram feed. I had felt an immediate certainty that Hope was meant to be Ollie's when Miriam said her name and after reading Catherine's post in tears, I knew that this was true.

With my blessing, Miriam shared Ollie's story with Catherine and I reached out to her to tell her how grateful we were for her incredible gift of time, patience and love. She shared amazing "baby" photos of Hope and like a proud parent told us all about how wonderful she was.

[Hope's first official photo as a puppy taken by Career Dogs Australia in front of a backdrop with their name.]

[Hope sitting on a wood beam near the ocean as a puppy in Halifax where she was raised.]

[Hope running in her CNIB Future Guide Dog vest as a puppy.]

[Hope with her face covered 

 in sand in Halifax.]

[Hope sits on a boardwalk in a wetlands area with a beautiful blue sky with clouds and rays of sunlight in the background.]

This is my favourite photo of all that Cathy sent. For me it confirms that Hope was heaven sent.

[Hope in a commercial building in front of boxes wearing her CNIB Future Guide Dog vest.]

Hope was lovingly sent by Catherine to the CNIB training centre in September 2020, just as we were coming back to Ottawa from Toronto after transplant. Another sign for me that she was supposed to be his from the start.

[Hope with a treat on her paw waiting for the command to take it.]

Buddy Dog training is 3 solid days and is more about teaching us than the dog (who is already well-trained after two years). Ollie counted down the days. At one point Hope had a minor cough and out of an abundance of caution for her and Ollie, the CNIB vet monitored her to confirm that it was nothing and she was okay. For those days Ollie was like a worried parent of a newborn...asking us daily for news and praying that she'd be okay and still be able to come on March 5th. Thankfully she was and she did.

[Hope with a grey towel on her head after a bath.]

On the morning of March 5th, freshly bathed the night before, she arrived with Miriam. We had agreed to have Miriam come despite the fact that she tried and couldn't get a COVID test because she was not "essential" and not exhibiting any symptoms. She was well (as were we) and we all wore masks and washed hands a lot for the three days she was here. We figured it was no different than being in hospital where you're constantly exposed to others and after 6 COVID tests in the past year, Ollie was never once exposed to COVID-19. We take few chances and we considered this one low risk and important for his mental health.

[Miriam and Hope arrive at Ollie's house to meet the family. Both.are in the front entrance looking into the living room where the family was waiting.]

Miriam had asked us to let her in the door quietly and then to sit in the living room calmly and let Hope come to us. She says normally the dog will sniff around the house first, then check out the people. Hope came in and went to Ollie right away when she first arrived (watch the video). She knew he was hers. She licked him and then greeted the rest of us excitedly, but gently. 

[Hope sits on the floor beside Ollie and Mario on the sofa.]

She is so well trained and settled down immediately to wait for whatever was to come next.

[Ollie and Mario sit on the sofa with Hope at their feet while Ollie holds her leash and pets her head.]

Ollie was completely in love with her from the start. She's so gentle, yet silly during play and very loving. Much like our gentle, silly, loving boy.

[Mario, Ollie and Miriam sit and watch as Hope lies submissive on the floor and Chewbacca the cat comes to sniff Hope's head.]

Hope was excellent with our cat Chewbacca from the beginning. It helped that she was raised with Cathy's cat (Olaf) and spent time with Miriam's cat in the two weeks before coming to us. 

[Chewbacca is lying on the Ottoman while being petted by Miriam and hanging his paw down to touch Hope below him on the floor.]

Now after two weeks together, Chewbacca and Hope are fast friends and even starting to learn to play together! 

[Buddy Dog Hope lies relaxed on the floor partially on a towel while Chewbacca the cat stretches out on his back at her head and stretches out to touch her head.]

The three days of training were intense for Ollie, who so desperately wanted to do it all perfectly. 

[Ollie holds on to Hope's leash indoors while holding the clicker in his other hand to tell her she has done a good job on the command. Miriam looks on.]

All CNIB Dogs are clicker and whistle trained with a lot of positive reinforcement and some treats of course! They're also kept at an ideal weight (between 60 and 64 pounds for Hope) and their food is measured and weighed carefully twice a day. 

[A masked Ollie stands beside Hope in a snowy backyard while using the "Go Busy" command while Miriam looks on.]

Ollie had to learn to do everything for her. 

[Ollie stands back watching Hope eat after feeding her in her new raised feeding centre with two bowls and storage for dog food underneath]

From feeding...

[Ollie and Hope out for a walk. There  is snow on the ground, but the sidewalk is clear. Ollie has Hope's short leash in his left hand and uses his blind cane in his right. Dawn walks behind Ollie and Hope holding the second longer leash that is used by the adult with Buddy Dogs.]

...to taking her out to "Go Busy", to walking and grooming her.

[Ollie sits on the floor beside Hope's bed while brushing her gently.]

Although Ollie is her handler and primarily responsible, the rest of the family was involved, too. We all learned her commands and how to care for her (in case Ollie needs backup)...

[Abby and Ollie sit on the floor on either side of Buddy Dog Hope who is lying on her side and having her belly rubbed by both.]

...and everyone got to play games with her...

 [Mario puts a treat in front of Hope who is lying on her bed while Ollie and Miriam look on. All are wearing masks.]

...and love her up.

[Ollie sitting on the floor beside Buddy Dog Hope who is lying down beside him with his hand on her head]

She is so smart and quickly caught on to new games that Miriam taught her (like "Go see..." where we'd send her to find one of us, thereby learning our names and "Go Find Dino" where she found a vanilla scented dinosaur dog toy when we hid it).

[Ollie stretched out on his red sofa in his new play space with one arm around Buddy Dog Hope who is lying beside him and resting her head on his belly.]

We don't allow her on the furniture EXCEPT when she is invited onto Ollie's bed on a blanket to sleep with him and he has allowed her to get up on a blanket on his sofa in the new play room with him. 

[Ollie asleep in his bed with arms stretched out and one resting on a curled up sleeping Buddy Dog Hope.]

Incidentally, before Hope came Ollie was still sleeping with one of us most nights because of bad dreams and waking up afraid of the constant darkness. Since she arrived, he's slept with her every night and not been afraid. Progress. She is a terrible bed hog, though! 😄 

On the Sunday after a busy day of Ollie helping to lead a Kids Kicking Cancer karate program fundraiser...

[Ollie wearing his Kids Kicking Cancer karate gi standing proudly beside Buddy Dog Hope who was wearing her CNIB Buddy Dog vest.]

...and all day Buddy Dog training, Hope and Ollie "graduated" (at least informally...official graduation happening online in April!) and we said goodbye to Miriam, thanking her profusely and wishing we could hug her. 

[A framed certificate with a photo of Ollie sitting with Hope that reads: Certificate for Buddy Dog Team Ollie and Hope]

Ollie has adapted well to having a Buddy Dog over the last two weeks, and for the most part has been thrilled to have her. There have been moments where he felt bad if she didn't listen to his commands, but we've been working on it and reminding him that Miriam said that it will take time and patience. That Ollie is the smallest and therefore she is least likely to see him as the pack leader at first. We've all deferred to Ollie and tried to let him do most of the commands if he's in the room. We've also had to teach him how to lower his voice when he commands and not to use his natural excited kid sing-song voice except when he's praising her or playing with her. So much for an 8-year old to learn and he desperately wants to do it all perfectly. 

[Mario, Abby, Ollie and Dawn sit on the sofa together while Chewbacca the cat sits in Dawn's lap and Hope the Buddy Dog sits in front of Abby and Ollie on the floor with her Buddy Dog vest on.]

This is exactly the point of the Buddy Dog Program - to teach them these things so that when he is older he will be completely ready to have a Guide Dog.

[Ollie sits on the floor and bows his head into Hope touching his forehead on her neck as she has her head down. His hands loosely hold her chin.]

Hope has wagged her way into our hearts quickly and at bed time you can usually hear each of us saying "goodnight and love you" to both Ollie and Hope. Because the truth is that the promise of her brought Ollie hope even before we knew she was our Hope.

[Ollie and Hope fast asleep on Ollie's bed while Ollie spoons Hope with his arm around her.]

I've said before many times that I don't believe in coincidences, but that everything is connected. It was Leona from Vision Loss Rehabilitation Ontario who first taught Ollie online Braille and introduced him to her Guide Dog and told us about the Buddy Dog Program. Cathy lovingly raised Hope, and so many volunteers, CNIB staff and donors helped along the way. Miriam gave us hope with the promise of a Buddy Dog during Ollie's stem cell transplant and a reason to get well. Then she literally gave us Hope when he finally did. 

(With thanks to Miriam Mas and Cathy Kieran for the photos and video that each provided).