Are we on the "upside" of things?

Things have been quite fine the last couple of weeks. Cal handled the chemo pretty well, especially the first 2 days. He did have some nausea and fatigue on Monday and Tuesday, but nothing near like it was before Christmas. We are thinking we can contribute this to a couple of things - it has been more time since he finished radiation and he missed one chemo treatment when we were away. It has been so wonderful to see him almost back to himself. Although...I think my perception of the "old self" has changed over the past few months. His bloodwork was good. A few things high or low, but only slightly. The liver enzymes that were quite high over the past couple of months are near normal, and the CEA - his blood cancer marker - was the lowest it has been since he was first diagnosed in 2005! It has been a few wonderful days! And....one more great thing.....wait for it......his hair has started growing back! Just some peach fuzz right now, but growing more everyday! We aren't sure whether it will come back black or grey...but who cares! It is coming back.

I have returned to work on a part time basis. The first week has gone fine...the 2nd week pretty good. I am not sure how it will work out over the long term, but as long as things are stable with the cancer and medical appointments I feel the best thing is for me to work. The doctors won't say anything more than they have about prognosis, so until things change, we will continue to believe that he will stay stable for quite a few months yet - maybe longer. Much too long for me to not work! We will continue to take our holidays and I plan to not let anything interfere with that. I feel like I have "recharged" a bit so will continue working for now. And of course, when Callum needs me to be home, I will be home. 

Callum had an MRI of his brain today. Hopefully we don't hear any results until next week - if we don't hear anything for about a week it usually means all is well. 

I haven't done any shopping for our grandbaby for nearly 2 weeks - oops - make that only a week! It is so exciting to have that to look forward to.

So, for now....we enjoy and embrace the many positive moments and good news so that we may gain the strength to "shoot the rapids" of the next bump. 

"All human wisdom is summed up in two words - wait and hope."  Alexandre Dumas

Happy New Year from Scotland!

Happy New Year everyone!

I suppose I am a bit late with that - but it is kind of Ukrainian New Year's tomorrow!

I am now in Glasgow, Scotland. We have had a whirlwind tour for the last two weeks. At some time I will add up the miles to see what we have covered. 

It is about 8 pm local time and Callum, Jamie and Stuart have gone to the Aberdeen - Kilmarnock football (soccer) game tonight. I have stayed back with Vanessa as she has come down with a nasty cold and flu. She is really trying hard to tough it out and take nothing since she is pregnant, but she has quite a sore chest and stuffy nose. Jamie has been suffering with the same flu since last Friday. He has taken many meds to help break the fever and get some relief, but he had a lot of pain in his chest and back for a few days. Such a shame on an all too short holiday!

Our plans were to go to Edinburgh tomorrow, Callum's birthday. We wanted to take the kids to see Edinburgh castle and Holyrood Palace. Vanessa has plans to meet with her friend Lacey on Thursday for supper or after supper. However, we have decided to take an easy day tomorrow and try to give Vanessa, Jamie and Callum a rest day. Callum wasn't sure he would be able to take in the soccer game and go to Edinburgh the next day. They have to travel by train about 30 miles south of Glasgow to the football pitch and kick off was scheduled for 7:45 pm so it will be a late night for them. So, we will see what Glasgow has to offer tomorrow and see if we can make it to Edinburgh, or possibly Stirling, on Thursday.

We have had a great time. We first spent a few days with Peter and Sheena in Fraserburgh. This included a shopping trip to Aberdeen - I dropped a few $$ in Baby Gap and Disney Store!  We headed to Grantown-on-Spey on Sunday, Jan 4.  Callum, Jamie and I stayed at our cousin  Nicola's/Aunt Fiona's place, and Vanessa and Stuart stayed at Auntie Sandra's and Bob's place. They are only about 2 blocks from each other so were easy to walk to. Except for the wretched icy streets and sidewalks! There was freezing rain on rain on freezing rain for a day or so and walking was difficult. Callum had a little tumble but is no worse for it. We had lovely meals and enjoyed our visit. Nicola has a 20 month old girl so it was fun watching her for those few days! We had some extraordinary visits with Nana Campbell. It was such a special time for her and our children to meet. She is 90 1/2 years old, is physically frail but her mind is sharp as a tack!  She is living at Nicola's and Fiona's so they are kept busy looking after her. Nana Campbell told us many times how well they take care of her, and how lucky she is to have them there. We only wish we had more time to spend with her, but she tires easily and we really wore her out in those 3 days. 

We then returned to Fraserburgh on Wed. Jan 7 - thanks to Auntie Beryl, Uncle John, John and Mhorag - who drove us both ways. We had a lovely dinner with them at the Fraserburgh Leisure Center before heading back to Peter and Sheena's place. Thursday, Jan 8 was a miraculous day for us all, but especially Jamie and Callum. It was Jamie's birthday and Peter had arranged a trip to St Andrew's. Unknown to us, he had also planned to stop at Carnoustie. We were able to walk a bit on each course and enjoyed reliving memories of past British Opens.  We dropped a whole lot of cash at the St Andrew's gift shop and I am sure pretty much everyone was wishing they had their clubs - even though it was quite cold -as you can see by our choice of outdoor clothing for the day!  We finished the day with a visit to the cathedral and castle (or what is left of them) and a wee bit of shopping before heading back to Fraserburgh. A good time was had by all and Jamie says it is the best birthday he has had - since his birth! Friday was a "do whatever you want" day and Saturday was spent getting ready for the good-bye party for Peter and Sheena who are off to Qatar for a 5 year stint. 

Sunday was an easy day with dinner with Peter and Sheena, their daughters and families - Debbie and John, Kerry, Cieren, Catelynn and Camryn. Monday was spent packing and now here we are in Glasgow. 

Callum has been very well. At times tired, but so are we! He is a trooper - no complaining and doing his best to take in every experience and opportunity. 

We are having a truly wonderful family holiday filled with many treasured memories.  And with very little talk of the "c" word we can, at least for now, believe that it will be just the first of many, many other family holidays and visits to Scotland. 

"Yesterday is but a dream, tomorrow is only a vision. But today, well lived, makes every yestereay a dream of happiness, and every tomorrow a vision of hope. Look well, therefore, to this day, for it is life, the very life of life." The Sanskrit