EIGHT Wait, What!!!

Happy 8th Birthday to our incredible boy

As we were in quarantine like everyone else in Canada,
this birthday was going to be a bit different. 

Breakfast was followed by presents

Rob and the kids then had a blast blowing up and
making balloon animals. We then played outside for
several hours biking, playing hockey and enjoying
the backyard. Sadly no pics as I was enjoying the moment

Made up and devoured these pizzas between the
four of us

We then did a group video chat with the Grandparents,
Aunts and Uncles. Everyone made a cake and enjoyed
together. It was really fun.

Happy Easter

Happy Easter from our Family to yours

Thanks to mail delivery from Oma and Grandpa, the
kids had some fun Easter crafts to make up

 

Verrrrrry early this morning the hunt was on

We made another fort and they are quietly playing while us adults
chill and enjoy the quiet while it lasts

Week 3 in Lockdown

Dressing up was the theme of the week, luckily we
have a pretty great dress up box to go through 

Two spidermen kept me safe for the day

Our walks were pretty entertaining

Still making our weekly sourdough sandwich bread and
I'm getting pretty happy with the results

Trying something new this year, mini greenhouses to
start our kale, chard and spinach. Rather than start the seeds
indoors then transplanting, I'm direct sowing and covering with
jugs to mimic a greenhouse. Hope it works! 

Like everyone else, haircuts are starting to be needed. Rob
volunteered so the kids could start learning a new skill, hahaha.
We came upstairs to this, they were very excited to be cutting
daddy's hair

Starting with the scissors

and moving on to the clippers. I didn't get any pics of
Kate cutting, I think I was laughing too hard

Whipped together some delish burger buns for dinner
one night. Even remembered to record my
recipe this time, they were that good!

Probably one of the most exciting spring finds every year,
our rhubarb starting to sprout

Not to many places I feel comfortable bragging but since
this is my blog I'm ok with it here. The kids were doing
their daily homework and Kate was asking how to spell different
words. I wrote them on a seperate page for her to see and this
is what she did, all on her own, three years old. Oh Yeah

We got our tomatoes and peppers started today

As much as we are doing to cope with the lockdown
the kids do manage to climb the walls some days

Lockdown Activities

We've been getting outside everyday, making the best
of the early spring weather

Kate's ambidextrous drawing abilities are
pretty good!

Owen has been loving his bike, hopping on and taking
taking off. I think this week the boys may go for a
longer ride. Kate usually gets tired by the time we reach
the mailbox

We woke to a surprise snow, of course the kids loved it.
We went on a zombie hunt, no playing at the park
but lots of fun in the school field

Kate insisted on cutting and styling my hair.
With everything closed it may just come down to family
haircuts in the backyard

Thank goodness for coffee delivery

The past couple of days have been wonderfully warm
and our mornings, pj's and all, have been spent
outside. Kids playing and me tidying the garden up.
Lunchtime rolls around and it's a picnic on the grass.
Happy times

Good Times

My Celebratory drink, a dalgona coffee, whipped coffee
on top of iced milk. Fun to make and even more
fun to drink

Well, MRI was quick and the drive in and back was even quicker. No surprise there.

One of the Dr's from my team called and let us know that the images showed that my tumor had reduced in size since November and the surrounding edema was reducing as well. This was the best news I could possibly get as I was preparing myself for surgery. Even with the steroids I am still dealing with several symptoms from the tumor, tongue and right side facial numbness amongst others. Because of this I was figuring that we had just pissed of my tumor instead of stabilizing it and it had grown again! I will have another MRI in 6 of 7 months to confirm. Only then will I feel like I have won this round of the battle.

The Dr. explained that my nerves had been damaged as a result of the swelling and we will not know immediately if it is permanent or will repair itself. Only time will tell. I'm somewhat used to it with my left side nerve damage so I guess this makes me a more balanced person?

We have established a 12 week program to get off the steroids with the understanding that if my tumor induced symptoms become more severe I am stay on them. So, here's hoping the next few months go smoothly and I can move on from this chapter and onto bigger and better things.

I had my pick of primo free parking at the hospital,
it's the least they could do! Hahaha

Mini Update/Rant

So I've been on the steroids since Thanksgiving, tried to taper down my dosage from 8mg to 2mg resulting in the numbing symptoms in my face coming back so am back up to 4mg a day. Much better than 8mg I guess.
I am also dealing with several side affects of the drugs as well, which had made these past few months challenging. Constipation, nuff said, I've found that taking higher daily doses of Magnesium Citrate helps keep everything somewhat normal. Weight gain and some days an almost uncontrollable urge to eat all the time. I really need to be aware of what I'm doing or else I can quickly get myself into trouble. My vision has changed but not sure if its the steroids or old age! I've noticed my moustache is filling in even though Rob assures me it's not.
The end of the month I have an MRI and will find out if anything has changed. To be honest, I'm not feeling overly optimistic but hey, this little bastard has been full of surprises in our 8+ years together so I'm not wasting time on thinking about what if's, doing my best to remain focused on all the awesome goodness in my life.
I'm just really done with the steroids and want to be off them.

Birthday Pics

It was our Birthday weekend in the beginning of February, my Aunt
and Uncle came over to sit on the kids while we went for a
wonderful hike to celebrate our oldness

Finished off in town for a latte and treat

Kate and I made a cake for Rob's birthday dinner,
she wanted to be properly protected
while mixing the ingredients!

 

A Birthday Pizookie, chocolate chip cookie made
in the cast iron pan. It was so good we
might have made a few more since then.

My Birthday morning started with a sleep in

Followed by a latte and fresh cannoli, how
glamourous for breakfast

The following weekend Sean and Maggie hosted a
get together to celebrate my Mom's, Robs and my birthday.
My Mom, Leanne and I went for a manicure.
Leanne brought cake from my absolute favourite shop.
I desperately tried to keep this all to myself

After our manicure we met up with everyone to do a group pottery paint session.

Everyone had such a fun time creating together

 

After a fun afternoon of painting we walked back to Sean
and Maggies for lunch

and cake.
Happy Birthday to us all

Tree Hunting

This past weekend we decided to put up our Christmas tree and really wanted to do it special this year so a live tree was in order. Albion Orchards close to us has tree cutting as well as this seasons apples on sale! How could we not go! We grabbed 20 lbs of apples and a stunning tree, a new family tradition has been born.

First we had to check out all the trees, luckily it was
a beautiful day for our adventure

There were sizes and shapes for everyone

After about half an hour we had found our perfect tree,
Owen was an amazing help carrying it back 

Of course with a few stops along the way for a roll
down the hill with Kate

All loaded and time to get some apples

But first some more play time in the orchard park

Up and ready to decorate. It was bigger than we thought,
11 ft. We ended up cutting off 1.5 ft so we could get the
star on top.

It also came with a wee birds nest and a
butterfly chrysalis. Just a squirrel shy of the
Griswolds Family Christmas Tree

Sunday morning, time to get decorating

All done and what a tree. We had so much fun, the kids
did the decorations with Kate passing everything to Owen
up on the ladder and the four of us doing the lights.
I'm almost as excited as the kids this year for Christmas morning

Tumor Update

Back in May I had Gamma Knife treatment to deal with the regrowth of my tumor. Everything went pretty smoothly and September I began to notice some symptoms start up again. By the time Thanksgiving rolled around piercing headaches were starting to become a regular occurance and the right side of my face, including half my tongue, cheek and eye area all began to feel like I had a dental freezing that never went away. Ever.
I contacted my Dr's just before Thanksgiving and they scheduled me in for an MRI on the Tuesday after Thanksgiving with the follow up on Wednesday. My Tumor had grown to almost double in size which was obviously quite concerning for everyone. I was prescribed Steroids to help reduce any swelling that may be occuring and was to have a second MRI in three weeks to see what next.
Well, the past three weeks have been very interesting to say the least. Along with the steroids came two other prescriptions to counterbalance the side effects. I really didn't want to be taking a bunch of different drugs so by tweaking my diet and supplements we were able to manage the side effects quite well. As an added bonus, because I am eating at regular times and have minimised sweet/sugar intake to a very minimal amount I don't have my mid afternoon energy crash, my moods are happier and way more balanced and my overall well being is much more calm and focused.
Yesterday Rob and I went to see the Drs for the follow up of my second MRI and it was good news!!!
This MRI was done with contrast dye and they were able to get a more detailed image of what was going on. We were shown the images and could see that the tumor was dieing, as the cells die they begin to break apart which is causing the great amount of swelling. The steroids did help as all my symptoms had diminished and returned again one I was off them.
Next steps for me, I'm back on the steroids for the next 4 to 6 months to help with swelling and all the symptoms I have been dealing with. I am booked for another MRI in 4 months to check on how thing are going and then hopefully it will show some exciting results!
Until then, I'm going to figure out what to do with my drug induced insomnia. Maybe start some midnight sewing.