Fred In My Head 2017

Over this past 2 months we have had a several doctor visits and we have had some positive news.   In early November we met with the Pediatrician in Red Deer to discuss Abby’s headaches and fatigue.   She was coming home from school by about 10:30 every day in September and October.   As a result, we signed her up for Social Studies by home schooling, and hoped that she would be able to get far enough in the mornings to learn Language Arts, Science and Math. The reality was she was really only getting through the first class of the day, Language Arts, and was starting to fall very behind in Science and Math.   She spent so much time trying to do homework for those 2 classes that it was difficult to do a lesson for Social Studies each day.   The Pediatrician prescribed a beta blocker to try and help with the headaches.   We are doing a test of about 2 months to see if it works, and if not, we will then try something else. Nova, our supposed thera...

Generally Abby’s health is well and her attitude is very good. However, we are finding a new normal as not everything can be the way we had hoped. We are well into the school year.   Abby usually only lasts about 2 to 2.5 hours at school.   This is a result of heat, noise and fatigue that contribute to headaches.   We both take turns picking her up, but we are also very grateful to the many friends who have offered their time to pick up Abby from school and bring her home.   Most days she comes home and has a 2-hour nap and then is good for the rest of the day.   This is why we got a family dog as he is her company for a few hours every day. She does a lot of homework because of missing so much school.   We are doing Social Studies as a homeschooling class, but we are really trying to help her stay for Language Arts, Math and Science in the mornings.   The school and teachers have been very flexible and helpful.   The school has provid...

Abby went to Comic-Con in San Diego for her Make A Wish wish!  Actually, all 5 of us went!  And Abby got to meet the cast of The Flash and Arrow! Comic Con ran from July 18 – 22.  Make A Wish flew us down on Wednesday, July 18, and back on Monday, July 23.  We were a little concerned about the heat, but it was about 25 degrees Celsius every day, which was warm enough but could have been worse. The short version is:  Abby got to meet the cast of The Flash and Arrow, we were a part of the 130,000 people who go to Comic Con, we went to the San Diego Zoo, some museums, the USS Midway, a beach, dad got us in a little trouble at a naval base, and we did a whole lot of walking.  It was fun, crowded, busy, and a great trip. The longer version is: Emma flew from Fort McMurray to Calgary where we all flew from.  We arrived at the San Diego airport at after 10:00 pm and we were greeted by a Make A Wish representative to help get us a van and sent to the ri...

 A post by Abby A few weeks ago we went into Edmonton for Race For A Cure. The Kids With Cancer Society organizes an activity every year where volunteers bring their sports cars and drive them for the kids that are part of the society. The child sits in the passenger seat and, because we were police escorted, we could go fast in some places. My driver was really nice. Emma, Logan and I all liked him. When I first saw it I didn’t think the car was very cool, not until I got inside. I probably thought that because I like classic cars a lot more than new cars. I’m borrowing Cinderella, The Jungle Book, Second Hand Lions, A Hundred Foot Journey and I’m also borrowing the first season Eureka. I’m excited to watch them this summer. Since we’re going to Comic Con soon we were getting my costume ready. I’m dressing up as Peggy Carter from Captain America. Lisa helped us make the pants into a skirt, made epaulets and helped with so much more. We ordered the S.H.I.E.L.D pins to put...

We have some very good new about Abby.   When Abby and Mom were at the Stollery Children’s Hospital today, the Dr. said the most recent MRI showed the cysts had decreased significantly and the tumour had decreased slightly! This is great news!   With the speed of growth of the cysts over the past few MRIs we felt like the Dr.’s had been preparing us for another surgery, but these results do not indicate a surgery is needed at this time. New MRI on the left, old MRI on right.  Big white bubble in the centre right of both pictures is 1 of the cysts.   Abby still has hormone production issues, and the radiation is still working on her good cells along with the bad, but we will take this win.

Just wanted to update after last post.  So after spending 4 hrs at emerg the verdict is that Abby has an infection. They put her on antibiotics and sent us home.  They are not sure what kind of infection it is so we will hope that the antibiotics kick it. Also between her shunt and her diet she is prone to getting blocked up so they also did an x ray and discovered that she is full of it!  So no great worries which is wonderful.  I am always much more prone to caution now than the wait and see approach with her.  Everything should be cleared up within a week!  Good news!

Abby has not been feeling well over the last few weeks so today we went to the walk in clinic to have her checked out.  They sent us on to EMERG and she is getting blood work, urine and x rays done to see if we can get her feeling better.  Great news is they were able to get her blood with 1 poke! Yay!  Blood work is always a big stressor! Abby's next MRI is the end of the month and her clinic is June 7.  We are waiting for her sleep study to be done as she is still suffering from fatigue.  Half days at school are typical either from exhaustion, headaches or lately tummy aches.  There is about a 6 month wait time for her sleep study as we have been referred to a pediatric sleep specialist.  She is also on a wait list for the local sleep clinic. We are still doing distance learning for science and Abby is doing very well.  She really is self motivated and keeps me on task!  Even if mom wants to play hookie Abby will not allow it! We will b...