Test results Tomorrow?

We hope to find out Shania's test results tomorrow. She will get her Bone Marrow Aspirate and Bone Biopsy done tomorrow also. I am taking the day off work to be there, Shania wants to show me cujo's corner(cujo is Curtis Joseph who played goalie for the Toronto maple Leafs)which is where she will get this procedure done. These test weeks seems to take forever and and it doesn't help when they are delayed either. Shania has peach fuzz coming in on her head and has eye lashes again, which she is very happy about. We've gotten so used to seeing her without hair that when we see pictures of her with hair it seems funny. I will update tomorrow about her results.
Shayne,Karen,Shania&Shannon.

Kindness past along

Shania's Thursday and Friday tests were changed do to schedule mix ups, so Tuesday and Wednesday are her next test days. Shania,Shannon and I were up early this morning so Shania suggested a breakfast in bed morning for mom, so I cooked up some back bacon while the girls cut up some fruit and did an arrangement with them. Shania made up a sign "dont come out if you wake up" and slide it under the door. Once everything was ready , Shania got a scented candle and they all had breakfast in bed watching Max & Ruby on the TV in our room. I went back to work a couple weeks ago seeing that Shania had greatly improved and was off the IV all together. Karen is going to remain home until Shania goes back to school, sometime near the end of March. Hopefully she doesn't get sick between now and then. Karen and I would like to thank the people at my work(Bombardier Aerospace, De-havilland Division, Union 112&673) for there generosity while I was off work. I left early on Friday to go skating with the Karen and the girls, on my way out I saw my union rep and he told me about someone at my work, who had terminal Cancer. And how when they had collected money and presented it to him, that he thanked them very kindly and requested that the Union give the money to someone at work who could use it more than himself. So when they found out about Shania and our families struggle with cancer, they included this kind mans donation with what had already been collected by my friends at work. He passed away two months after Shania was diagnosed. It's people like this that make the world a better place to live in. Kindness like this passed along does makes a difference. lt definitely did for us and we will not forget this!
Thank you, sincerely.
Shayne,Karen,Shania&Shannon.

Test time again

Shania goes back to Sickkids for lots of post Bone Marrow Transplant tests this week. Monday she will get a GFR(Kidney test), Echo(Heart test). Tuesday CT(cat scan for cancer), Bone Scan(for cancer lesions), and blood work to see where her counts are. Wednesday Physio. Thursday Audio(to see if she has lost any hearing from the chemo), MIBG injection(Radioactive fluid to illuminate any cancer during the MIBG scan) this is the test that lets us know that Shania was cancer free before her Bone Marrow transplant! Friday MIBG Scan(Please be clear!!!!), and finally her Pulmonary(lung capacity)test. And also a Bone Marrow Aspirate and Bone Biopsy on Febuary first. So Shania will have a busy week coming up, she will get these test every three months after that. Shania won't be declared cured of this cancer until after five years. Stage 4 Neuroblastoma is a hard cancer to keep gone, so every three months we'll be on the edge of our seats. This life lesson for us is to live each day to the fullest and don't hold anything for later! We brought all our camping gear in from the garage and cleaned it up. Shania and Shannon wanted to set up the tent down stairs, so thats just what we did. You don't realize how big a tent is until you set it up in your house, but we had fun doing it. We hope to camp our way out east, and visit Shania and shans Great Aunt Sandy in Nova Scotia. She was diagnosed with liver cancer just recently and it seems to have Metastisized to her Bile ducts. This was after surviving Breast cancer a couple years ago and skin cancer just last year. She does a family news letter to keep everyone in touch with each other. Almost every week she would send us a card of support and love to help us get through these last eight months of treatment. Words can not say how much we appreciated your kindness and support. We love you Aunt Sandy and our hearts are with you, we hope that you and Shania are well Enough for a visit this summer.
sincerely
Shayne,Karen,Shania&Shannon.

The giggles

Shania and Shannon are full of the giggles today, it's nice to see these two sisters being silly and just having fun together. We got some snow today and they can't wait to get out and go tobogganing, but we'll have to wait until it's a little less slushy out there. We all went skating on friday afternoon when it's not to busy at the rink. We were a little concerned about her getting hurt, but she wanted to go, so skating it was. Shania Brought her friend Meridith and Shan met her friend Liberty there. We had a great time chasing each other around for a while but Shania got tired and took it easy after that. She was exhausted that night and slept very soundly, and the exercise did her good. Kim Shania's physiotherapist is coming tomorrow to help her with the stretching and check on her progress since she got out of the hospital. We're hopeing that nobody gets sick now that we are into cold and flu season, Shania's immune system is still very compromised, and if one of us does get sick we will have to wear a mask. But right now we are happy to have giggles and dimples.
Sincerely
Shayne,Karen,Shania&Shannon.

No more IV

Shania was down at Sickkids today and her platlets,white blood cells,polys were up. Her hemoglobin and red blood cells stayed the same. Which means she can come off the IV at night now and get a better sleep. This being one thing you don't get at the hospital. We got some sad news the other day, that little Jerry past away on Friday last week. I got to play a game of trouble with his big brother while Jerry and his Mother went down to ICU. He was worried about his little brother, just like how Shan worried about her sister. Jerry's mother is a very kind and caring person, always smiling even under such a trying situation as having your child go through a bone marrow transplant. Our hearts go out to you and your family at a time like this.
Sincerely
Shayne,Karen,Shania&Shannon.

I'm happy to be home

hi everybody
it's Shania, i'm so happy to be home because at the hospotil the bed is not very soft, and you don't get alot of sleep there. i bet that my mom and dad are very happy to be home to, because at the hospotil they have to sleep on a couch and i just don't like it there at the hospotil .i am getting i.v. hideration over night so the pump has gone off 3 or 4 times, i'v got to go now bye.
sincerly Shania

Markham fair grounds

Shania just keeps getting stonger every day, she's eating and drinking more all the time. We are going back to sickkids tomorrow for more blood tests and hopefully her counts are good enough to take her off the IV hydration that she is on at night right now. Shania has two out patient nurses right now, Chris comes at night and hooks her up to the IV for the night, Christine comes in the morning to unhook her and do vitals on her, so far so good. We've been planning out Shania's Sunflower of hope Fun Fair, and are signed up for the Markham Fair grounds on April 28th. A friend of ours from down the street Anji Sharp, has graciuosly volunteered to help run Shania's Fun Fair. Anji ran the Reesor park school Fun fair and her Father was the president for the Markham Fair. We are very fortunate to have Anji helping us to organize this Fun Fair. If anyone has suggestions for the fair or items for the silent auction, it would be greatly appreciated. We want to make this a special day for everyone.
Thanks.
Shayne,Karen,Shania&Shannon.

WOW!

Happy New Year
WOW what a year 2006 was, we had quite a roller coaster ride of every emotion you can imagine:fear, sadness, happiness, love, anger, joy, but most of all hope. The lowest of lows and the highest of highs, its been a journey along a path that we have never travelled before, and do not know were will end. We have learned so much in this year past, like how kind people can be, how precious the here and now is, to make every moment count because we only travel this planet but once. I know I'm getting kind of mushy here but it's all the truth, you don't know what you really have until it's almost taken away from you. This lesson I will never forget as long as I live. I have been blessed with an incredible wife and two amazing daughters that have made my life a true dream come true, I love them with all my heart and soul.
Now for 2007, we are already planning some of the fun stuff we want to do together especially lots of camping. Shania can't wait till her central line comes out so she can go swimming again and both her and Shannon love to go fishing, then finnish the day off enjoying each others company around the camp fire making schmors and burning marsh mellows. Also lots of day trips like Niagra Falls(were we got engaged),Wonderland,the Zoo,Mount Nemo, ect...
Hopfully Shania's home to stay, she came home Friday and had to go back for blood tests sunday and today. Her blood counts are still hanging in there, so now she is in isolation at home, but can go outside which she made the most of by going to the park and having a swing ride. It's funny how the littlest of things can mean so much when you go through something like this, I enjoyed pushing her and Shan on the swing, it was nice to do this together again, just simple stuff but it means so much. Shania is eating better everyday, but is still quite weak from the muscle loss. She will start taking vitamin A in a couple of months for three months, this helps her cells mature and die off. We also look forward to putting our full effort into Shania's Sunflower of Hope now that she is getting better by the day. We have 300-500 bracelets to make for the www.rideforkaren.com which is run by the Tobias family in honour of there mother who had breast cancer(another incredible Karen from what I understand) she was a great believer in hope as does Shania also. They sponsor hundreds of kids with cancer to go to camp each year. Karen and I would like to thank the Tobias family and freinds for the support they have given our family it means so much to us. As I said in the last blog Shania has been busy planning out the Fun Fair in April and also we are going to have a plant and perrenial sale in June. Next up is to get her bracelets onto her website so that everyone can order them through there, so we have lots of fun things coming up and look forward to the year ahead.
Again we can't thank all of you enough for the kindness you have shown our family, it definitely has helped us to get us through this and made it into something positive.
Sincerely
Shayne,Karen,Shania&Shannon.