John is home

Yesterday was a big day!...John came home from the hospital!

He is still bloated and bruised..

...but very happy to be home!

The bruising is from his battle with low platelet counts and the swelling is tied to ongoing treatments with prednisone. The steroids raise his blood sugar levels so insulin injections are sometimes required. As a result my nursing skills are always expanding!

The first night at home was punctuated with trips to the bathroom and frequent wake-ups to make sure that he was okay. This morning we picked up a walker from the Red Cross medical equipment loaning facility in Langley. It is just a two wheeler for stability in the condo while he regains strength.

It has been a harrowing two weeks with uncertainty about the outcome but it feels good to see him making progress. I am certain that he will return to the gym by the end of the month!

Ridin' dirty

Most of my clothing...other than shoes and underwear...is discovered in Thrift stores. Sometimes it is the colour that catches my eye, other times it is the style or an indescribable connection. The shirt that I was wearing today embodied all of these qualities. Impossible to remember where I found it!

I didn't pay attention to the two written words underneath "some girls aren't meant to be tamed" until

this morning. I was in line to buy a coffee at our favorite cafe which is across the street from the RCMP detachment. Ahead of me in line was a female officer. She turned and said "I like the words on your shirt". I thanked her. A couple of minutes later she turned again and asked me if I knew what the two written words meant. I shook my head! "It means riding a motorbike while under the influence of drugs or alcohol". I mumbled something about not owning a motorbike but I would definitely be more careful about the selection of my t-shirts in Thrift stores!

Hospital

John came home from Peace Arch hospital on Tuesday July 9th and has been back in the hospital since Monday July 15th. He had no strength and was unable to get out of bed. The lab results showed that his platelets were almost non-existent so the doctors in Emergency decided to give him platelet transfusions on Monday night. This treatment did not work so they attempted it again on Tuesday night along with a massive dose of IVIg. After further consultations with a Hematologist they started Dexamethasone and his platelet count finally started to rise on Wednesday. Their final diagnosis was ITP resulting from the RS virus that was attacking his body.

He had no appetite for several day before going back to hospital and has just started to show an interest in food over the last 24 hours. Of course he is still very weak and prefers to be in bed but today he stood and moved into a chair for his breakfast and again for his lunch. The platelet count continues to go up. We will deal with the subsequent gradual weaning from steroids after his platelet count has stabilized and he is released from hospital.

Visitors and staff are required to wear gown and mask 

because he is still considered to be contagious from the virus.

Adrian and his friend Blair visited yesterday afternoon.

Our balcony

We have a small balcony with room 

for a round table and two chairs.

Our garden sits in one corner

with two flowering baskets

and a cherry tomato plant

to provide visual pleasure

and tasty treats!

Today's crop of delicious little tomatoes!

Two shaved heads

My sister Tara is undergoing treatments at the Cancer Clinic in Surrey. She and John agreed months ago that they would have their heads shaved together when she started to lose her hair after chemo treatments. This morning her hair started to fall out so she came over and they both donned masks to protect her from John's bug.

 I shaved Tara's head first. 

Tara has a beautifully shaped head

and John has a large, intelligent Maxwell dome!

It was a special occasion for them to share.

Whidbey Island

Last Friday we drove down to Whidbey Island in Washington for a small reunion with John's cousins, offspring of his father's cousin. We arrived at the cabins in late afternoon and were greeted with hugs and much excitement.

Craig, Patty(Craig's wife), Mary, John and Ian

John's sister and Mary painted the design on the shed doors when they were youngsters. This was our first trip to the cabin since 1984. Most of the evening was spent with reminiscing and making feeble attempts to rectify a family tree! It was a very special time.

On Saturday morning we visited Mary's house and gorgeous garden.

Mary is also an artist with unusual creations made of mussel shells.

It is very difficult to capture the mysterious beauty of these pieces

because they rely on light to transform them.

We enjoyed lunch and ice cream cones in Coupeville before returning to the cabin for an afternoon siesta. When it was time to get ready for dinner at Ian's...John was feverish and not feeling well. I decided that it would be a good idea to get him back to Canada and to a hospital so we headed north.

By 8:30pm we arrived at Peace Arch Hospital and soon after that John was seen in Emergency. After viewing a chest x-ray and vitals the doctor decided to keep him overnight. When I returned on Sunday morning he was in a room on the "geriatric" floor...and not feeling any better...still feverish.

The lab results came back on Sunday night and they scurried to transfer John into isolation. Apparently he had contracted RSV...a respiratory virus and they did not want to risk contaminating other elderly patients. His "isolation" room was the ward's activity room filled with equipment, chairs and miscellaneous physiotherapy equipment. Although it offered him privacy...it was also lonely.

On Monday morning I arrived to find another gentleman in his bed and the nurse explained why they had isolated John. She took me to his new room and showed me the gear that I was supposed to wear while visiting him.

Adrian and Marika visited on Monday afternoon.

This morning we waited until almost 11:00am for the doctor to visit. He explained that there was nothing more that could be done for him in the hospital and that he would probably be more comfortable at home. We agreed. So I loaded him into the car and brought him home. It will take time for him to feel totally stable again...he is still a bit wobbly...but happy to be on his own couch and in his own bed!

Our visit to Whidbey was too short and we hope to return soon!

Trip to Telegraph Cove

We just returned from a wonderful trip with our daughter, son-in-law 

and grandson to the northern end of Vancouver Island. 

For four nights we stayed in the Ogawa House at Telegraph Cove.

The Ogawa House was built in 1901

Telegraph Cove General Store

Accommodation is available in old buildings around the Cove

which is frequented by fishermen, kayakers and whale watching groups.

Tackling the wobbly, sloped docks was very taxing

for the senior members of our family group!

The Whale Interpretive Centre, at the end of the dock in Telegraph Cove

displays several large whale skeletons.

The purpose of the Centre is to educate and inform the public

about the biology of marine mammals and the threat to their habitat.

We also made a day trip to Sointula (place of harmony) on Malcolm Island

and visited the Museum to learn about the Finnish immigrants

who established a Utopian community on the island in the early 1900's.

Another day trip took us to Alert Bay on Cormorant Island.

Burial grounds at Alert Bay.

The U'Mista Cultural Centre at Alert Bay displays many of the potlatch items

that were taken from the First Nations people in 1922 following

enactment of a law that forbade potlatches.

While many items have been returned to the Cultural Centre,

there is an ongoing search for the remaining lost pieces.

There was a challenge waiting for Papa back in Telegraph Cove!

It was such a treat to share this experience with our family!!