Another chemo day

This last week has been a steroid induced emotional roller coaster with several breaking points, usually surrounding food. :)

I told him after our visit with the doctors (and his chemo), he could have a cheeseburger for lunch (he liked the ones at the hospital). So, he was dreaming about it all morning.

Of course, we were late *and* the clinic was super slow to see him for his vincristine push. So the minute we were admitted to a room he begged me to go get a cheeseburger for him (and since I knew we still had a while to wait, I thought that would work out).

The first pic is of him putting the cheeseburger together - but he quickly started crying because the lettuce kept falling off (it didn't help that he had torn it all into little pieces!).

The next pic is of him INHALING the monstrous cheeseburger in just a few minutes flat (this is also a problem during steroid week - since the food calms him down and he's in heaven - but he eats so fast that his stomach usually hurts and he has to deal with a lot of gas after). *sigh*

Thankfully, last night was his last dose for this cycle. So we should be back to normal in a couple of days (just in time for school to start!). :)

(All went well with his chemo and numbers look fantastic too!)

Sutro Bath Ruins

My parents took the day off to take the boys on a "field trip" today. :)

So, we're sharing a childhood favorite of mine, with them. Had a yummy lunch at Louis', overlooking the ocean, followed by a walk down to the Sutro Baths (my parents took them all the way down to the beach, but I've stayed back since I'm actually a bit disabled at the moment, threw out my back a couple of days ago).

Added bonus: today is gorgeous!

Squigglyhead

Callum's latest masterpiece!

(With only a tiny bit of help from Mommy) :)

Perler Beads

Our dining table has been overtaken with perler beads. Thanks Summer Camp, for getting the boys hooked. ;-)

Day 1 of our next cycle

Today is Day 1 of our next cycle, which means it's a big (and long) day of procedures and chemo.

We started off with Callum's LP procedure bright and early this morning. The first pic is an adorable action shot I captured (not posed!!) of one of our favorite nurses, who is always so energetic and expressive, as you can see here! She's excited because Callum is telling her about our recent trip to Hawaii. :)

When Callum went under for his procedure, the anesthesia, apparently, caught him off guard so he started choking and had a hard time breathing. They quickly put some tubes in his nose and a mask over his face to help him breathe. Watching him go under is never easy for me but I've gotten used to it. However I wasn't prepared for that reaction - it was quite scary - and I had to take a few minutes afterward to compose myself before joining Logan back in the waiting room. :(

Thankfully, all went well with his procedure and they called us back pretty quickly. Callum, as always, enjoyed his snooze and took awhile to wake. :) Once he started to stir and they felt good that he was doing ok, they went ahead and ordered his vincristine, and administered that via IV. He was also seen by his main NP for his regular monthly exam.

It's been really nice having Logan with me for company and distraction. And he's been SO HELPFUL as you can see in the second pic, pushing Callum all over the hospital. :)

Callum has his pentamidine appointment this afternoon, so we're taking a break and grabbing some lunch in the cafeteria while we wait. Because this starts another cycle, I also took the chance to start his meds - which is a 7 day round of steroids. Wheee!!! ;-)

Another family pic

While, for the most part, we truly had a blast in Hawaii - there were a couple lowlights of our trip. The big MOM FAIL was picking a luau which was located right along a grotto in the dead heat of summer.  Which meant that while we sat sweating our balls off watching the luau dancers perform on stage (which was surrounded by a very still stagnant lagoon), we were also getting chewed up by the local mosquitoes.

UGH.

Callum was sitting in my lap to see better but was really tired and cranky and wiggly and losing patience by the minute.  So, about half way through the performance, he and I ducked out early and walked around the gardens for a bit, waiting for Jon and Logan to finish seeing the end of the show (Logan remembered seeing a luau before and was waiting for the fire dancing routine).

I was telling a friend recently that I get really frustrated with not having many family photos to showcase.... and while I know I could hire a photographer and have a session or two done, I just never get around to it.  And, let's face it, my boys get sick of me snapping pics with my phone in a span of 30 seconds, so I know they REALLY won't put up with a 45 minute professional photo shoot.

So, over the past year or two, I've decided to LOWER my standards.

Like REALLY lower them.

And suck it up and pay the RIDICULOUS tourist fees that events charge you, for a posed family photo that never EVER comes out the way you'd like it to come out (because, it's usually taken without any preparation whatsoever, as you're standing in line, being herded from one point to another, right??).

So, after hearing my story above, you might think that this lovely gem was taken AFTER the mosquito biting fest in the blazing sun.  But noooooo, it was actually taken a few hours BEFORE.

Hindsight being 20/20, I guess I should've known the night might quickly spiral downhill from there.  ;-)

Twitch Summer Party

It was a gorgeous day up in the city today - perfect for the Twitch Summer Party. I made us sit in the photo booth on our way out - it's one of the only ways I can get a family pic these days! ;-)