Life in a goldfish bowl
We are now living in a goldfish bowl. RM House has been closed to all but existing families. These families make their way home when their child is discharged from Starship. New families are being accommodated at the Waldorf St Martins apartment hotel across Grafton Bridge. We are very grateful to RM House for continuing to provide a home away from home for us while Rory is on treatment. We are in a small apartment on Level 7. An even greater degree of confinement is hard for a family like ours who thrive on being outdoors. It helps us cope mentally and physically, particularly when under pressure. Covid19 has increased the stress and risk markedly for Rory and our family. Thankfully the apartment has windows which open, and a sliding door to a small balcony, so we can have Auckland air and sunshine. I can hear the traffic below as I type the blog this morning.
It was an eerily quiet drive to Auckland yesterday. On the road was our car, trucks transporting goods, police and the odd vehicle. We shaved half an hour off our normal travel time. Surprisingly we didn’t get stopped by any police. We refuelled at Te Kuiti and I had to use a combination of yelling and gestures to communicate with the teller inside for the food items we wanted. Sean and the boys found it amusing. We ate a packed lunch on the side of the road near Huntly.
Rory had a clinic appointment with Dr Stephen at 5pm last night. Rory’s platelets were 45. We came up with a plan for the next two weeks. Rory has had his port accessed this morning and we have been across to Auckland Hospital for the injection of radioactive material for the GFR (kidney function) test. Blood samples are taken at 2, 3 and 4 hours post the injection to measure how well Rory’s kidneys are working. Rory is due to be admitted to Starship Ward 27B for chemotherapy tomorrow morning by which time his platelets will be over 50. Hopefully the GFR test results show his kidneys are still coping.
Thank you to RM House for your continued support and the Child Cancer Foundation for the groceries.