Journey

We are home and we are together.  For now our family is all under one roof.  It’s like we are living two lives.  When we are in Auckland our real lives and our real selves almost cease to exist.  Our focus is solely on treating cancer.  When we are home it is like Auckland and osteosarcoma is all a bad dream we are trying to shake off.  At times it is hard to know what is real and what is fiction.  For the next two-three weeks we are putting cancer aside as much as we can and soaking up all that is good about being home.  Rory says it is being free, sleeping in his own bed and doing the things he likes to do with his family around him.  Christmas is also very close.  Colt has been complaining we have been doing a poor job this year.  He didn’t get an advent calendar and we have yet to source a Christmas tree and put up the decorations.  The tree is high on Sean’s to do list this week. 

Rory is as well as he can be.  He is extremely tired and very slow.  He is struggling to balance while standing and walking is a challenge.  He also looks an impressive shade of grey but he is not in any pain or nauseous.  We joke with the Starship Dietician he is the only child putting on weight during chemo!  Rory was discharged from Starship just after lunch on Saturday.  He had the GCSF injection to boost his immune system on Sunday morning and we flew home at lunchtime.  Sean and Colt collected us from New Plymouth airport.  They were as eager to see the Krispy Crème donuts as they were to see us!  Life has been a whirl wind since we returned.  Rory’s blood counts were good yesterday morning but they will drop during the week.  I expect him to be neutropenic (no immune system) by Friday).  Sam and Colt both have colds which makes me extremely nervous.  Rory will be unable to fight even the commonest viruses and infections.  I am on alert monitoring him closely every day. 

Thank you to Auntie Teri for the voucher to help us out at Christmas.  We had planned to be having a hot Aussie Christmas with you this year.  We send our love and hugs.  Thank you to the Child Cancer Foundation and Aliah for the new bed which arrived for Rory.  Sleep is such an important part of his recovery.  He is sleeping uninterrupted for 11-12 hours a day which I am so grateful for.