margin:0; color:#000000; font:x-small Georgia Serif; font-size/* */:/**/small; font-size: /**/small; text-align: center; } a:link { color:#6f3c1b; text-decoration:none; } a:visited { color:#4c4c4c; text-decoration:none; } a:hover { color:#6f3c1b; text-decoration:underline; } a img { border-width:0; } /* Header ----------------------------------------------- */ #header-wrapper { width:660px; margin:0 auto 10px; border:1px solid #6f3c1b; } #header-inner { background-position: center; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; } #header { margin: 5px; border: 1px solid #6f3c1b; text-align: center; color:#6f3c1b; } #header h1 { margin:5px 5px 0; padding:15px 20px .25em; line-height:1.2em; text-transform:uppercase; letter-spacing:.2em; font: normal normal 240% Trebuchet, Trebuchet MS, Arial, sans-serif; } #header a { color:#6f3c1b; text-decoration:none; } #header a:hover { color:#6f3c1b; } #header .description { margin:0 5px 5px; padding:0 20px 15px; max-width:700px; text-transform:uppercase; letter-spacing:.2em; line-height: 1.4em; font: normal normal 78% Trebuchet, Trebuchet MS, Arial, sans-serif; color: #6f3c1b; } #header img { margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; } /* Outer-Wrapper ----------------------------------------------- */ #outer-wrapper { width: 660px; margin:0 auto; padding:10px; text-align:left; font: normal normal 100% Trebuchet, Trebuchet MS, Arial, sans-serif; } #main-wrapper { width: 410px; float: left; word-wrap: break-word; /* fix for long text breaking sidebar float in IE */ overflow: hidden; /* fix for long non-text content breaking IE sidebar float */ } #sidebar-wrapper { width: 220px; float: right; word-wrap: break-word; /* fix for long text breaking sidebar float in IE */ overflow: hidden; /* fix for long non-text content breaking IE sidebar float */ } /* Headings ----------------------------------------------- */ h2 { margin:1.5em 0 .75em; font:normal normal 78% Trebuchet, Trebuchet MS, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 1.4em; text-transform:uppercase; letter-spacing:.2em; color:#6f3c1b; } /* Posts ----------------------------------------------- */ h2.date-header { margin:1.5em 0 .5em; } .post { margin:.5em 0 1.5em; border-bottom:1px dotted #6f3c1b; padding-bottom:1.5em; } .post h3 { margin:.25em 0 0; padding:0 0 4px; font-size:140%; font-weight:normal; line-height:1.4em; color:#6f3c1b; } .post h3 a, .post h3 a:visited, .post h3 strong { display:block; text-decoration:none; color:#6f3c1b; font-weight:normal; } .post h3 strong, .post h3 a:hover { color:#000000; } .post-body { margin:0 0 .75em; line-height:1.6em; } .post-body blockquote { line-height:1.3em; } .post-footer { margin: .75em 0; color:#6f3c1b; text-transform:uppercase; letter-spacing:.1em; font: normal normal 78% Trebuchet, Trebuchet MS, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 1.4em; } .comment-link { margin-left:.6em; } .post img { padding:4px; border:1px solid #6f3c1b; } .post blockquote { margin:1em 20px; } .post blockquote p { margin:.75em 0; } /* Comments ----------------------------------------------- */ #comments h4 { margin:1em 0; font-weight: bold; line-height: 1.4em; text-transform:uppercase; letter-spacing:.2em; color: #6f3c1b; } #comments-block { margin:1em 0 1.5em; line-height:1.6em; } #comments-block .comment-author { margin:.5em 0; } #comments-block .comment-body { margin:.25em 0 0; } #comments-block .comment-footer { margin:-.25em 0 2em; line-height: 1.4em; text-transform:uppercase; letter-spacing:.1em; } #comments-block .comment-body p { margin:0 0 .75em; } .deleted-comment { font-style:italic; color:gray; } #blog-pager-newer-link { float: left; } #blog-pager-older-link { float: right; } #blog-pager { text-align: center; } .feed-links { clear: both; line-height: 2.5em; } /* Sidebar Content ----------------------------------------------- */ .sidebar { color: #000000; line-height: 1.5em; } .sidebar ul { list-style:none; margin:0 0 0; padding:0 0 0; } .sidebar li { margin:0; padding-top:0; padding-right:0; padding-bottom:.25em; padding-left:15px; text-indent:-15px; line-height:1.5em; } .sidebar .widget, .main .widget { border-bottom:1px dotted #6f3c1b; margin:0 0 1.5em; padding:0 0 1.5em; } .main .Blog { border-bottom-width: 0; } /* Profile ----------------------------------------------- */ .profile-img { float: left; margin-top: 0; margin-right: 5px; margin-bottom: 5px; margin-left: 0; padding: 4px; border: 1px solid #6f3c1b; } .profile-data { margin:0; text-transform:uppercase; letter-spacing:.1em; font: normal normal 78% Trebuchet, Trebuchet MS, Arial, sans-serif; color: #6f3c1b; font-weight: bold; line-height: 1.6em; } .profile-datablock { margin:.5em 0 .5em; } .profile-textblock { margin: 0.5em 0; line-height: 1.6em; } .profile-link { font: normal normal 78% Trebuchet, Trebuchet MS, Arial, sans-serif; text-transform: uppercase; letter-spacing: .1em; } /* Footer ----------------------------------------------- */ #footer { width:660px; clear:both; margin:0 auto; padding-top:15px; line-height: 1.6em; text-transform:uppercase; letter-spacing:.1em; text-align: center; } -->

Thursday, July 30, 2009

Back Home

Today we headed back home after his latest procedure but not until after Shaylie had a good play in the starlight room.She wanted to hang out for a while because she doesn't know when she'll be back.I let her go for a while but i wanted to beat the afternoon traffic so i had to put the foot down at some point.It will be October before we are required back for more scans so that's a real good break for Kal.I guess now it's time for me to get back to work and start getting back to normal.I don't know how that will go but i will just take things as they come and hopefully things will fall into place.The main thing for me is that Kal is home and all the really tough parts are seemingly over.

Wednesday, July 29, 2009

Another Milestone

This morning Kal,Shay,Mum and I headed down to Sydney for the removal of his central line.You could say it's his last remaining link to his cancer treatment so it was a pretty big thing for us.It wasn't until late in the afternoon the he was finally called in and the procedure itself took around 20mins.He was a little upset just as he woke and was saying his throat was "tickley' but he said that he didn't feel any pain from the operation.He started to suck on a lemonade ice block but not long after he threw up big time.He did drink a fair bit of water as well to try and get rid of the tickle in his throat so that may well have been the problem.He seemed to feel so much better after it though and was up out of bed in no time.We moved out into a different recovery area where they continued to observe him.After an hour or so he was given the all clear to go but only as far as Ronald McDonald House.They didn't want him traveling too far so soon after the operation.It was pretty special to see him without his line and it must feel amazing for him to be without it.

Today Shaylie spent the whole day in the Starlight room because two of the cool captains were on today.She has a few faves and hangs out there all day when any of them are on.Today,and plenty of other days,it proved to be a god send for us because there is no way Shaylie would have been able to sit in the waiting room with us for as long as we did.I can guarantee though that they love having her there as much as she loves being there.

Monday, July 27, 2009

Latest Update

On Friday I took Kal to the Golf course as he has been asking for some time to go for a hit.After a bit of a rough start(that goes for both of us) he started to come good and showed that in time his arm won't be a hindrance.He hit some nice shots but got a bit tired after 5 or 6 holes so we called it a day.It was just good for him to get a taste of it again.When we got home he told me that he really enjoyed getting back out there.I told him that for me it was great to see him out having a hit again.

Unfortunately because of her injury there was no soccer for Shaylie on the weekend.I'm not sure how her team went but they had a game on Sunday as well so she wasn't too impressed about the whole thing.On a positive note my old soccer team the mighty warriors had a break through victory on Saturday with a 3-1 win.It was there first win of the year and I'm sure it was celebrated accordingly.I was lucky enough to make a guest appearance in the win and would like to think i had some influence in the outcome.Whether that is true or not is another thing entirely.

Kallan's surgery to remove his central line has been put of till Wednesday after he was bumped off the list for Monday.We won't find out the time until 3 o'clock tomorrow for some reason so it may mean going down tomorrow afternoon and staying the night at Ronald McDonald House.Whatever happens,happens and as long as he gets his line removed i don't mind having one more night down there.

Thursday, July 23, 2009

Results are in

Today Kallan and i headed down to Sydney to get the results of his scans.Mum came along with us as she had a present that she wanted to give to Ronald McDonald house.Shaylie couldn't come down today as she had an appointment at Maitland hospital to get her full cast put on.She has a pretty pink one on and she sent me a picture of it after she had it put on.Kal and i had a fairly short wait in clinic today which was good but even better than that was the news that the scans came back all clear with no sign of any cancer about.It was a great moment to hear the doctor say that everything is good.We have another trip back to Sydney on Monday for kal to have his central line removed.He can't wait for that.His next lot of scans are not until October so after Monday he'll have a decent break from hospitals apart from his weekly physio sessions.

Tuesday, July 21, 2009

More drama's

Due to some problems with the Internet i haven't been able to get on and do the blog in the last few days.In that time we've had another drama but this time it didn't involve Kal.On Sunday afternoon while i was at the club having a few drinks with some of my old footy mates i got a call from Karina to say that Shaylie had had a fall at the park and was in some pain.She'd fallen off the flying fox and the lady that was there and bought her home said it was a nasty fall and she was sure that she had heard a snap.We headed down to Maitland hospital to get it checked out and sure enough the doctor found a fracture.She's been in some pain the last few days but most of the time we've been able to keep on top of it.She still says that she can't believe she broke her arm.On Thursday she'll get her half cast off and have a proper cast put on.

Today Kal had physio down at Newcastle.He worked very hard and his physio team has come up with a lot of different exercises for him to try and break things up.He seems to be enjoying it which is great.

Friday, July 17, 2009

Busy few days

The last few days the kids and i have been out and about spending time together then yesterday it was back down to Sydney.I took them to see Hannah Montana on Tuesday(Shaylie has been hanging out for it) and i took Kal to see Harry Potter today.Yesterday Kallan had a PET scan at Westmead adults hospital and while we were there Shaylie spent the whole time in the starlight room.The PET scan is a pretty long process so Shaylie got to hang out for a good couple of hours.Before heading up to the hospital we called in to Ronald McDonald house to catch up with the staff and the few remaining families that we know.

Upon our return home Karina,the kids and I went out for tea to celebrate Karina's birthday.She had to work during the day but finished early so we could go out for a family dinner.It was really nice.

Monday, July 13, 2009

Latest update

Kal was discharged from hospital last week just in time to attend the last day of the school term.He went for most of the day and enjoyed being around his mates again,although i don't think he was too thrilled that i made him go for the last day.
On the weekend i went to watch Shaylie play soccer and Kal is finding it a bit hard to go to the soccer.He doesn't like watching at the moment but I'm hoping that will change with time.After soccer i headed up to a mates place at Tamworth to catch up and attend my god daughter's birthday.

Today we headed down to Sydney for some scans.We have another one on Thursday and then the following Thursday we head down again to see the doctor who will by then have the results for us.It will be a nervous wait for the results but we are thinking positively and haven't even considered a bad result

Wednesday, July 8, 2009

Slight change of plans

After some more discussions with the team in Sydney we found out that they were unable to get Kal in for the PET scan on the Monday.They were,however,able to make it for the Thursday of next week.It means 2 trips to Sydney next week but i will ask if the CT scan can be put back for the same day as the PET scan.There going to be sick of me by the end of the week but we certainly didn't plan to be in here all week either.Kal also had some physio today and he worked pretty hard too.All his sessions from now will be pretty hard going for him and the physio has booked him in for some hydrotherapy for when he gets his line out.Her plan is to make it so that his sessions aren't all hard work and throw a bit of fun in there as well.

Tomorrow is his last day of antibiotics and at around 5 o'clock he should be free to go.We aren't going to worry about getting a gate pass tomorrow morning because I'm a bit over the drive back and forth everyday so we'll just hang out till 5 and then we're out of here.

Tuesday, July 7, 2009

Some good news

After several days of not much going right for him at last Kal had some half decent news today.The doctors here had spoken to the team in Sydney and after some maneuvering were able to schedule his scans for Monday so there for no need for us to be transferred to Westmead.Small consolation i know but at this point in time it's a bonus.So the plan now is to stay here until Thursday afternoon and then Sydney on Monday morning.A lot better outlook for him.

Monday, July 6, 2009

More of the same

Not a lot has changed for Kal in the last 24hrs.We now know the name of the bug that has caused all the problems but i can't remember it and even if i could i can't pronounce it let alone spell it.We are still yet to hear if we are going to be transferred down to Sydney but the doctor said that being that it is a bug that he has not had before it's highly unlikely that they'll stop the antibiotics early.That being the case it seems that being transferred will be inevitable.I know the nurses at camperdown ward love him but i think even they will be disappointed to see him back in there if that's what happens.The doctor also explained to us that these scans that he's due for on Thursday simply cannot be put back for another day.They are far too important and quite simply they would be completely booked out for months in advance.So we'll find out tomorrow if we're going and Wednesday would more than likely be the day we go.

Sunday, July 5, 2009

Doing Fine

Kal is still feeling good which i would imagine is making him question his stay in hospital even more.At the same time he understands full well the reason he needs the antibiotics.Another thing that disappointed him today was the news that he will more than likely be transferred down to Sydney within the next few days as he is due for scans on Thursday and he won't be finished his course of antibiotics before then.He wasn't too impressed by that.All in all it wasn't a bad day today because while on leave from hospital Karina,Kal and i went to the markets for a few hours.Yesterday Kal spent his break at the movies to celebrate my nephew Isaac's birthday.They went to see Ice Age 3 and by all reports it was very funny.These breaks have certainly broken the monotony of hospital for him.Only problem arises when it's time to go back.

This afternoon I had the pleasure of spending some time with my beautiful girl Shaylie.She'd stayed the night at her Auntie netty's after her night out at the wrestling.She decided to hang around and help Ronnie and Netty with the renovations and then came to visit on her way home.She said the wrestling was "mad" and gave Kal the run down of the whole night.It must of been so hard for him but Shay was so excited and he took it like the champ that he is.

Saturday, July 4, 2009

Kal Heart Broken

It's been a long time since i updated the blog and all i can put it down to is just enjoying being home and probably being a bit of a slacker.But since Kallan has been home he has been enjoying being at school with all his mates and having his family around all the time.We've had a trip back to Sydney to see his surgeon and received a good report.He told us that the scans show that both humerus bones are almost identical in length and that he doesn't need to see us for another 6 months.Since then he's been doing really well and feeling as good as he has been for a long time.

That all changed on Thursday when he started feeling unwell after he returned home from having physio and having blood taken at John Hunter.I told him to have a lay down and try to get some sleep and feeling quite unwell myself i thought that might do the trick for both of us.I ended up taking his temperature and when it read 39.9 i rang the hospital.Even though his chemo has finished they still needed him to come down.He immediately became upset and even more so when i told him i couldn't come with him because i was sick too.His main concern was that it was so close to the WWE and he might miss out on going.The next morning as i arrived at the hospital Mum rang me to tell me that Kal had returned a positive blood culture and that his much anticipated trip to see his WWE hero's in action was not going to happen.To say he was devastated would be the mother of all understatements.He'd been looking forward to it for so long and i decided that i just can't bring myself to going because i wouldn't enjoy it because I'd be thinking about him the whole time and how much he would have loved it.On the flip side i didn't think it would be fair if Shaylie missed out as well so i gave the tickets to her Uncle Ronnie so he could take her.I hope she has a great time.

Kal will now spend the next 5-7 days in hospital having antibiotics with the only plus being that he is allowed home for 4-5 hours each day as long as his temp is down and he's feeling OK.The doctors will have the final say each day as to if he can get out.