It was a slow morning today. After all the shopping and early mornings etc. Michellie was beat. We moved slowly to get to the hospital this morning, and then we were whisked away to Physiotherapy.
Physio was a real eye opener. It was nice to have someone else looking at Michellie's mobility, and it let me look at her through new eyes. Her flexibility has not changed. For other people, they may have tightened up, but Michellie really had nowhere to go, so she is still tight. Her strength is greatly reduced, and this is a result of the vincristin. Her ankles are extremely strong and her balance is excellent - thanks goes to dancing again! Michellie does have some damage to the nerve endings, so she has loss of feeling on different areas on her hips, legs and feet. This will come back with time and repair work, so out comes the Olive Leaf Extract! There is also a disconnect between her brain and body, so the physio put together some exercises and we will add The Star for Archetype movements and remylenation of the nerve endings as well. Cardio is the biggest recommendation, and getting the heart and lungs back exchanging as much oxygen as possible. With all the muscles disconnected, a 14 muscle balance every day will be essential as well as the foot rub. Anyone seeing a trend here?! Thank goodness for all the years of learning and training. With the addition of these techniques with some stretching and strengthening, Michellie should be walking tall and strong in no time. The doctors told us to expect about 6 months for her to recover her stamina and strength again.
Next was Pulmonary. Michellie's blood platelets were returning to the normal range, so this time she was able to reach some of the output markers of a more normal range. This was good.
Finally, we had a meeting with Lesley our family coordinator. We went over all the details again and caught up on all of the summaries from yesterdays meetings. With dinners and breakfasts over the last few days, we have determined that Michellie gets stomach cramps from milk, ice cream and wheat. As well, the wheat drains her energy and puts her to sleep. So, in Antigonish, on the way home, we added some gluten free cookies and snacks to begin to build some items for Michellie to have when she is out with others. We talked about different cooking options and how to prepare food so Michellie has options when she is not at home. Lesley, conferred that we should continue with our observations and continue with the gluten free until her stomach has had another month without chemo or radiation, and then we can pursue further tests on this. While researching several topics, I did run across literature that links gluten intolerance and lymphoma. Lesley had not heard of this, so she jotted some notes and said she would have a look into it.
Our trip home was an education run. Michellie was challenging my history and current events knowledge with questions about Politics, the Middle East, the birth place of Jesus, the reasons for different wars, the injustices of women, the history of wars, and the politics of Canada. Home schooling happens anywhere and anytime! I sure am glad I have become a little more intune with this knowledge, like my own Dad's interests, so I could have at least some answers for Michellie. This led to gardening, preparing food, preserving food, recipes, and good snacks. And, how do the Krochko's make such incredible meals every time we visit them? She was still drooling over the wild rice and the salad dressing that Diane spoiled Michellie with on this trip. This led to physio, observations of the body, Touch for Health knowledge, and how someone should properly walk, run and go up and down the stairs. It was an interesting drive for sure.
Lastly, we observed the landscape, which Michellie normally doesn't care about, but the ice bergs are interesting and we have seen the same scenes for months now. We have watched entire houses get built week by week, and a pipeline head from Port Hood to Port Hawksbury. The ocean has been great to watch, and Michellie confessed that this is one of the big things she likes about living here. She can hardly wait to get back to the sand and surf again this summer. Us too I should add!
On a similar note, but slightly different, we ran into the Child Life Coordinator, Kate, while we were on the 6th floor of IWK, and she thanked me for the donation of Stacey on the Keyboard books and let me know that our reasons for donating had been passed on. What this means is, is that when Michellie spent her first visit at the IWK she was given a pair of new pajamas as a gift from a past patient. This was a token of care to help Michellie cope with her experiences. This really brightened our day. We decided to add to this special gift by having all children under 9 receive a book to read for something different for the long days. Kate had let the Mom of the pajama donator know about how we had been inspired by her gift, and she was thrilled to know that children would be able to have something new to read. I am telling you this story, because I commented to Kate that book 3 was still in my head, but I couldn't quite get the story right. On the drive home Michellie asked me what I thought the book should be about. With one simple question, we had the story all worked out in about 15 minutes. So, it looks like I will play with "Jacob on the Floor" and see how Hip Hop and music will take over Jacob to help him regain his strength and power. So, the gift of some pajamas has gone a long way to keep giving. We never know how far forward a payment will go, but the trip is always a good one. Thank you Michellie for asking the right questions and listening intently to all that is going on around you!!!
We are now home safe and sound. David had a wonderful roast beef dinner ready for us. His back was broken from all the crouching in the attic to finish the flooring, but he is almost complete on this project. The cats were quickly snatched and bugged by Michellie, and she was sure quick to flash her shiny clean teeth at Dad. She is so thrilled to have her mouth back! Next, hair is on its way.
