Still Alive

Still alive and - reasonably - well. Sorry, let the blog slid a tad since last week. I managed to get out of hospital Wednesday evening. The chemo was brought forward so I could get out earlier than expected (fee's start at midnight). Haven't been suffering too much from the chemo. Stomach cramps from the first batch of chemo is the only side effect so far. Appetite and energy levels are very good which is a surprise. As it's almost a week since the last chemo my blood levels have dropped which is to be expected. Had to have a platelet transfusion yesterday as they were down to 7 (150+ is normal); apart from that just having daily blood tests and some work-up prior to transplant: heart tests, teeth check-up etc. Another bone marrow biopsy due on Friday - hopefully this should give some indication of what is happening. Fingers crossed it is positive and we can get going on expanding the cords (this takes 16 days).

Jack arrived on Friday and Sam spent a very tiring day flying down to LA to pick him up. His plane was delayed for a few hours so they didn't get back until after 6 in the evening (Sam left at 6.30am). He was very excited to see Sam - plenty of tears were flowing - and excited to see a new episode of Dr.Who on Friday evening. On Saturday we took Jack to the Pacific Science Center (near the Space Needle). He loved it as there was loads of interactive stuff for kids to do. We went to an exhibition called 'Speed' which allowed kids to build Lego cars and race them as well as other speed type thingys. I was enthralled by the footage of the original crash test human; Colonel John Paul Stapp USAF propelled himself over 1000 km/h on a rocket sled and stopped in 1.4 seconds; low and behold he received a collapsed lung, broken bones and temporary blindness in his deceleration tests...surely a USAF student could have been found with the promise of promotion and the warning of 'this may hurt a bit'.

On Sunday we paid a visit to the Lego shop in Bellevue. Jack was mildly excited. He filled a couple of tubs with Lego pieces and proceeded to construct a vehicle of Brinks Mat proportions; impervious to assault. Quite impressive for a seven year old.

Today we took him to see the Fremont Troll under the Aurora bridge. This is a sculpture under the bridge of a troll holding an actual VW Beetle. Jack said 'that's a myth' when Sam asked him if he wanted to see a troll earlier in the day. He enjoyed posing with the troll (as you can see). We then stopped off at the Chittenden canal locks. A fish ladder is integrated into the locks for migration of fish, notably salmon. This is an amazing structure, unfortunately the salmon knew we were coming so were waving their tails downstream until we left. Actually, we did see one, it was floating on the surface and looking a tad bloated. We shall return my pink friends...oh yes, we shall.