Last Round of the Antibody Research Trial

Paula and Wren flew down to Vancouver tonight to begin the last round of the antibody research trial. They just phoned from the hospital to say that they have arrived and are getting settled into a shared room, which means that the cancer ward is full. As you may have read in an earlier post, it is difficult to rest at night as there are often many interruptions. With two patients' monitors beeping and bonging all night long, it will make sleeping nearly impossible for Paula. Wren will may get some rest owing to the sedatives that she will receive to reduce the pain caused by the antibody.

What an amazing day today. The sun's energy seemed particularly potent and the whole family soaked it in on the sun deck while chickadees scattered sunflower seeds an arm's length away.  Undeterred by two feet of snow remaining in the yard, the girls pleaded for rides in the swings.

We've been collecting sap from the maples in the forest near our house and making maple syrup. It takes a lot of work, about 6 or 7 hours to make one litre of syrup, but the end result is really quite delicious.  So far we've made nearly 3 litres of syrup from about 120 litres of sap. There is almost 200 litres of sap from 95 trees ready for the next firing of the evaporator in a few days time. The whole family is involved and we all head out to gather the sap every couple of days. Then the girls scrabble around the yard riding bikes or getting wet sticking their heads under the downspout of the eaves trough while I tend the evaporator.

If all goes well, Wren and Paula will be home next Saturday. About two and a half weeks later, we will return to Vancouver for Wren to get her central line removed. Her central line is a pair of tubes through her chest and into her veins that allow for blood work and I.V. medication without needles. She has had a central line for 15 month now, and she has not been able to submerge her body in water for that time. A few days after her central line is removed, the Make-a-Wish folks will fly us to Hawaii and Wren will be able to swim for the first time in a very, very long while.