As I mentioned in my last blog, our niece Coral held her 3rd Annual Hockey Fights for Kids Shinny Tournament on Family Day, February 17th. We couldn't have asked for a better day for it! Temperatures were around -3 C and the sun was shining brightly. Our team, Justin's Warriors, were excited and ready to play! The tournament was just for fun - no score keeping. Although, Justin will tell you which games we won! There was a great turnout and Coral raised just over $14,000 for Children's Hospital CK5! We're so proud of her for all of her hard work.
The past few years, Trevor and I have made it a priority to take an annual winter vacation. Just the two of us. It's a nice getaway from the kids and time to reconnect with each other. A week ago, we had been talking about getting away someplace warmer, even if just for a few days. I've had enough of the bitter cold and mountains of snow and just feel the need to get away. We talked about Vegas. We could go for 3 or 4 days; I knew my parents would stay with the kids. I was actually letting myself get excited about the idea...then my heart sank and I started to cry. "I just can't leave him...", I said to Trevor. He said, "Yeah, me too." Justin's condition is unpredictable. He could get an infection or a virus at any time. I know that he would be in good hands with my parents, but I would never forgive myself if anything were to happen while we were gone. Then, suddenly, I had an idea. Why not take the twins with us? We could plan it between chemo treatments, as long as Justin's oncologist was on board. The next few days I made some calls and we were good to go! We are Vegas bound on March 26 for 5 days, 4 nights! The twins are so excited. Unfortunately, Brennan will not be able to join us as he is now a working man and can't get the time off. Oh well, he'll join us in Italy!
Justin's next chemo treatment is scheduled for March 18th. I'm confident that his counts will be where they need to be, but prayer wouldn't hurt! As we head toward chemo #12, we are getting excited about soon being done with hospital admissions and weekly Cancer Care appointments. It's a little bittersweet, though, to be honest. All of the staff at CK5, Child Life and Cancer Care have become so important to us over the past 9 months. They have become family. They are there with a joke when we need a laugh, a shoulder when we need to cry, an ear when we need to talk, perspective when we're at our wit's end. And then there are the other families that we have met along the way who are dealing with their own child's disease. All of these people who have taken this journey with us, side by side, will be so hard to say goodbye to.
Eleven down, three to go!
Hockey Fights for Kids Tournament
February 17th, 2014
(Justin's favourite colour)
