Fresh Flowers Heeeeere!

My long time friends, the Milec's, own a flower shop, "Flower Creations", downtown in the underground. As yesterday was Valentine's Day, you can imagine how busy they were. For the past two years, Jaime and I have helped serve the masses purchase their sweethearts flowers. A lot more goes into those Valentine flowers than you would think. Roses are in demand, so the prices are high, but behind the scene of the pretty displays, and smiling staff, there is a back room packed full of flowers (many I had never seen before). Here in the dark confines, my Dad, myself and another full time staffer at Flower Creations, Ilda, worked hard at stripping (Get your head out of the gutter! It means we were taking the thorns and extra leaves off the roses), cutting, quick dipping, water picking, tissue-ing, Salal-ing (green leaves), Baby's Breath-ing, boxing and sticker-ing. Then repeat a million more times. That's all before it even hits the store! Fun times.

As I said, my Dad volunteered his time for three days to prepare for Valentine's, a little more for a distraction I think than really having any kind of interest in flowers. I think he had a blast! Especially on the last day when he, Jaime and I were at the kiosk. The last hour or two, they normally slash their prices to get rid of their stock. Dad had the job of letting everyone know. As the herds of people were passing by they would hear, "DOZEN ROSES! HALF PRICE, ONLY $30!". He did this over and over again until he lost his voice. His voice was still a little hoarse this past weekend when I went up to visit him. You wouldn't think that flowers would tucker you out at the end of the day, but as soon as Dad sat down on the subway on the way home, he was out.

Speaking of flowers, there were lots at my Mom's funeral, many sent from you. It was a beautiful service, and many people were able to come the distance to support us. Because the Oscars are coming up this Sunday, the award for best friends goes tooooo..... Krista Powell, Kim Powell and Jaime Simpson!!! Krista came from Calgary for an extended weekend to be with me. I guess I'm thankful that she's unemployed right now and was able to make the trip... although while she was here I was able to recommend Starbucks as a possible future employer. Kim wasn't able to be here because of a previous commitment, but I believe that she's the reason Krista was able to come out in the first place. Jaime, because she is so close, was able to be with me a lot, and even came to the hospital to visit with my Mom. More than anything, it was the both of us visiting and knitting, Mom was sleeping. Thanks a million girls!

I must also give honourable mention to Nolan Milec, who lent his car to Jaime for the weekend so that her and Krista were able to travel to the funeral. Now, it was also fortunate that he had to get rid of his car to make room for all the Valentine's flowers in their make shift garage/flower freezer. But I believe it was mostly out of the goodness of his heart. This is the same guy I was talking about a few posts ago... still single ladies!!!

Another honourable mention goes to my in-laws, who became a bed and breakfast not only for Brad, Lily, Ella and I, but also to Jaime and Krista. We talked a lot about knitting, and looked through the new pattern book Mom Sider had just bought. After every one had gone to bed, the girls and I had some fun trying on a fur hat we found in the closet. That was way too much fun! Jaime and Krista had their own adventures on the Friday as they toured Lindsay for the afternoon. You'll have to read about that on Jaime's blog.

Okay, I think that catches everyone up to date. Over and out.

HOPE

I imagine that most of you who read this blog have already heard that my Mom passed away on Monday night. Heather, my Dad and I had a good visit with her during the day. She was very talkative while we were there, saying that she wanted to go Home. That morning, we listened to a taped message by Joni Eareckson Tada titled "Let's Do Heaven". Mom even joined Joni while she sang "Higher, higher lift up Jesus higher".

We are so thankful to you, our family and friends, who have supported us since Mom was diagnosed with Cancer back in October. You have visited, called, wrote/emailed, and most importantly prayed.

There will be a memorial service held this Saturday at Fenelon Falls Baptist Church. Visitation will be at 10:00 a.m. followed by the service at 11:00 a.m. Donations can be made to Princess Margaret Hospital or to the Canadian Cancer Society.

Our Mom will be greatly missed... but we are not without hope! Mom believed and trusted her life to God. Her body is dead, but she is alive and completely healed.

Lately

Here's what's been going on lately. Mom has been at Baycrest Hospital now for two weeks. I think that everyone is finding the hospital really convenient to our place. It is only an 8 minute walk, verses walking to Yorkdale, taking the subway to Queen's Park and then walking to Princess Margaret Hospital. Although, I think Lily is missing going to the Magic Castle. It's a free daycare for patients and their families to use, and she loves it "more than school". It was a really nice perk at that hospital for sure.

Mom is still receiving excellent care at Baycrest. Her nurse, Allan, is great. He calls Mom his girlfriend, and tells her she's gorgeous. Her doctor is also very patient and listens to Mom and Dad's questions and concerns during his morning visits. Since she's been admitted to Baycrest, her pain medication has more than doubled, which is making her very drowzy, and sometimes confused. Just yesterday, the dietician changed her over to a puree diet to make feeding her a little easier. Even though Mom seems to be confused sometimes, it sounds like she was really aware yesterday afternoon when Pastor Scott, Mrs. Scott and her friend Diane were in to visit. Everyone joined in singing some hymns, and Mom was saying she has nothing to fear because she is leaning on Jesus.

Dad finally had his hernia operation on Tuesday at the Lindsay Hospital. Sounds like it was a good experience, as he doesn't remember going under, or even waking up after the operation. He had to ask the nurse when they were going to get started, and then was told it was already over. He's hobbling around a bit, but I think he'll be okay in no time. Even though we're so close, I think that I'll be chauffeuring him to and from Baycrest for the next week or so.

While Dad was out of commission, my Auntie Edith, Heather and I tried to beef up our visiting hours with Mom so she wouldn't be alone. My Aunt especially spent a lot of time at the hospital, or looking after Lily and Ella for me so I could visit with Mom by myself. Thanks so much!!! :)

In other news... my friend Jaime and I have been busy working our way through the first two seasons of Veronica Mars, which were lent to us from Krista and Kim in Calgary when they were visiting over the Christmas break. I promised that I would only watch the show with Jaime, and not go ahead, but curiosity got the best of me and while we were in the middle of the first season I skipped to the last episode to see who-done-it. Before you tar and feather me for breaking my promise... I confessed to Jaime in the morning, and she forgave me. What a great friend! For season two, I've been good and keep the DVD's tucked away so I'm not tempted. We only have five more episodes to go... which I think we'll finish on Monday night. If you've never watched Veronica Mars, I would highly recommend it. You really should watch it in order, but you'll catch on quickly if you just watch when it is regularly scheduled on tv. It's mysterious, funny, and smart. You'll love it for sure... and you'll be tempted to skip to the last DVD too!

Tonight, Brad and I (as long as I can get rid of my shift at work) are off to an information meeting about the French Immersion program offered for Lily next year. I think she'll pick it up pretty quickly. She seems to be really interested in other languages. Her Spanish words have been thanks to Dora The Explorer, her Uncle Drew and Auntie Heather. She knows her colours, numbers and even a couple of songs in Spanish. My friend from work, Diana, is from Colombia, and Lily will practice her Spanish out on her, "Hola Miss Diana". Diana has even given Lily some Spanish colouring pages for her. For a while Lily would only watch her Madagascar movie in Spanish... thank goodness for English subtitles! Lily has also learned how to count to 5 in Chinese, so she thinks that she's fluent. What a funny kid!

Normally I have a picture go with my blogs, but I've covered a couple different topics. Here's my favorite pic of my Dad and Lily tickling each other.

Over and out.

Update on Mom

Sorry that I haven't been able to update you on my Mom's health until now, but we really haven't had any concrete answers until this week.

I'll try to sum up what's happened since Thanksgiving, when my Mom was diagnosed with cancer. At first there seemed to be a bit of back and forth with the doctors. The Oncologist didn't want to see her until she had a biopsy, the doctor performing the biopsy wanted her to see the Oncologist first. I think after a week and a half Mom was finally booked for a biopsy in Peterborough. During the biopsy, they were able to drain some fluid, hoping that this would help to alleviate some of the pressure.

On November 6th, Mom had an appointment with a surgeon, and this is where we were told that Mom didn't have Pancreatic Cancer, that she had Neuroendocrine Tumors. The surgeon said that Mom has probably been living with the tumors for a long time, and gave some possible scenarios for treatment. With the Pancreatic Cancer, Mom would have probably been looking at a couple of months, and now with this new diagnosis, although it still wasn't good, was a little better and would probably give Mom a couple of years as long as her body reacted well to the treatments.

This past Monday, November 13th, I was with Mom and Dad while they met with the Oncologist... remember the week before she was meeting with a surgeon, and they couldn't do anything for her because her diagnosis was different from what they had originally thought. An intern originally came in and asked Mom questions and then conferred with the Doctor. They both came in together and gave us a snapshot of Mom's health. She said that there were three options, chemotherapy, embolisation, and supportive care. The chemo option would help slow down the cancer, but counts on your body to flush out the toxins, and then went on to say that this type of cancer doesn't react well to chemo because it is not a blood based cancer. The embolisation option would kill off the blood supply to each of the tumors, but you need to have enough good liver tissue to regenerate for this to work. Mom has 5-10% of good liver tissue left. Option three is supportive (palliative) care, they would treat Mom's symptoms, drain fluid, and control any pain. This last option is what the Oncologist was suggesting. The chemo and embolisation would probably do more harm than good, and not increase quality of life. This is when the doctor said that although the Neuroendocrine Tumors is a slow growing cancer, they think that they have caught it at the tail end, where it is increasing. Like all doctors, she said that she wasn't sure how long Mom would live, but guessed and said 3 to 4 months.

Thankfully, the hospital was able to coordinate some other appointments for Mom right after each other. From the Oncologist's office (2nd floor), we went to the blood lab (main floor), then to the palliative Care doctor (4th floor), Dr. Bryson. He was great. Looked over Mom's medications, added some more medications, answered a LOT of questions. From here, Mom was sent to get some fluid drained (15th floor). We were at the hospital from 9am - 3pm. Obviously it was a long day, with a lot that needed to be absorbed, and is still being absorbed.

At the moment, Mom is well enough to stay at home with some extra assistance from ParaMed. They have come to do an assesment on what Mom needs to help her get around the house better. They will come in periodically to help her with whatever needs to be done. Mom and Dad have some great friends and family up in Fenelon Falls, who have been able to come around them and support them with cleaning, cooking, or just sitting down to chat. I wish that we lived closer and could be more help.

As Christians, we believe that God is the Great Healer. We know that He has the power to cure. We know that even if God does not heal Mom's body here on earth that she will be given a new body in Heaven, one free from pain, cured from cancer, and one that will live forever. However God will work in my Mom's life, we will continue to give God the glory.

Please continue to pray for my Mom and our family. Thanks.

A Traditional & Unconventional Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving!! I love this time of year. The weather is cool and crisp. The trees have changed colours. This weekend especially is wonderful because we get together with our families and eat massive amounts of turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, corn, salads, and, lets not forget... PIE! We started out going to Brad's parents place and enjoyed the previously mentioned food (it was sooooo good). Mom Sider always puts on an amazing spread of food... regardless of the occasion.

While we were waiting to sit at the table, I received a phone call from my Mom with some sad news. She has been sick since the Spring, and the doctor hasn' t been able to diagnose her until now. She needed to go into the Lindsay hospital that morning because her feet had swollen, she thought that this might have been a side affect of one of the tests she had taken a few days earlier. Then the hospital doctor told my parents that she has Pancreatic Cancer, which has already spread to her liver. Not very nice news to ever have to hear, but especially on a weekend which is dedicated to giving thanks.

Brad's and my parents live fairly close together so it was easy to hop in our car and drive to my parents. Mom and Dad were supposed to go to a community dinner, but changed their plans so that we were able to visit. Mom can't do anything until she speaks with her family doctor, to get a referral to a specialist. The hospital doctor was able to give her a prescription for pain, so I think that is helping her get some sleep... and obviously makes her a little more comfortable.

After a while Dad took Lily outside for a change of scenery, while Brad and I talked with Mom. Lily must have worked up Dad's appetite because he decided to cook some hotdogs for us over a fire. I know this is a little out of the ordinary for a Thanksgiving meal, but those were the best hotdogs I've ever had!

Normally I wouldn't write this kind of stuff on a blog, I like to keep things fun and light. But there are some of you who read my posts to keep in touch. Please keep my Mom and our family in your prayers.

Thanks

The Sound of Silence (aka. Lily's First Week at School)

Lily just finished her very first week of school. It sounds like she's really enjoying it. Grandma Norman came down and we all walked Lily to her first day. Lily brought home her first craft (a magnet for our fridge so her school stuff is always on display). She has seen most of the different rooms in the school (computer room, gym, library, and the office... not because she's already getting in trouble - just to drop off the attendance sheet). She has played at most of the play stations in her classroom (kitchen, puppets, painting, playdough, reading, and blocks... at least these are the only stations she has mentioned so far). Her favourite thing to do at school is having snack when she is sitting between her new friends Emilie and Hazel. After school this past Friday, Lily came out and told me she's going on a Field Trip to an Apple Farm... she is soooo excited!!

I'm not like the Mom's you hear about dropping off their kids and crying because their little babies growing up so fast. The biggest change for me is getting used to how quiet my afternoons are. When you have kids, you don't hear quiet very often. It's a strange thing to get used to. I'm trying to change Ella to only having one nap a day (in the afternoon when Lily is at school), so it's even more quiet. Unfortunately I haven't been able to use this time to rest myself yet. I try to take advantage of this time to do my "Mom" stuff. I'm still trying to figure out my daily routine. Our place is normally cleaned during this time, and then I try to have a quick shower before Ella wakes up, and then off to pick up Lily.

Last night there was an information meeting at the school. It gave me a chance to go and look around Lily's classroom, and speak with her teacher, Mrs. Ovadia. It was reaffirming to know that she is doing well, getting along with the other students... especially Hazel. I was even asked if the girls knew each other before they came to school, which they hadn't, because they just "clicked". Mrs. Ovadia did say that it's nice that they have a such a close friendship, but that this makes them "chatty", and has had to separate them once. I can't say I'm too surprised! I guess we'll have to work on that a bit.

Pictures of Lily's first day of school will be posted soon.