Making Progress

We've been in Toronto for 12 days now and we are slowly making progress. While the first week was chaotic and emotional, we are thankful that Kenzi is feeling well and her care is going smoothly. 

We arrived last Monday and were given a gift of goodies and a beautiful card from our flight crew at Air Canada. It went downhill after that. Nothing seemed to go smoothly. From frustrating COVID restrictions, to sketchy hotels (which we immediately left), to lost rental car keys. We were all at our breaking point in an already emotional situation. It felt a lot like the first week of Kenzi's diagnosis and there were plenty of tears to go with it. Through the chaos though, we were able to sneak away to Niagara Falls for a night and Wes and I celebrated our 15th wedding anniversary there. It was our only day "off" since we've arrived and we are very thankful for that. 

We had to be back at the hospital last Thursday for Kenzi's first surgery. She was feeling anxious about it, but the doctors and nurses here are wonderful and everything went smoothly. They inserted a chest tube and drained 1.7 litres from the tumour. It was the first time we've seen black on an x-ray (which means air) since we came to Vancouver in April. They left the chest tube in and it has been draining a small amount of fluid since. While they had talked about taking it out, they are leery to do so, in case the fluid returns. Kenzi will get another x-ray on Monday to see, but at this point we are expecting them to leave it in until her next surgery, which is the first week of November. This was tough news to take, because it means we are stuck in the hospital until then, but we are adjusting. We have an Air BNB a block from the hospital, so we were hoping to be discharged so we could all hang out there and explore Toronto together, but in the meantime, Wes and I trade off every other night, since only one of us can sleep at the hospital. Kenzi is feeling well and she's helping the nurses do her vitals, draw blood and flush her lines. She's even leaving notes for the doctors on her door. We are just powering through. 

Even though the chest tube is still in, we were able to go ahead with round 11 of chemo. It was just a one day round and it went smoothly. We are learning that everything is done differently in the hospital here in Toronto. The meds are different, the dosages are different, things that were free in BC, we have to pay for here and all the skills we learned to do at home are done differently. They are probably annoyed with us, but we are trying to do whatever we can the same way we've always done it. We are doing our best to get home sooner, but unfortunately our hands are tied. We never thought we would say this, but we miss Vancouver. Our kids seem to be doing well at home, but we miss them terribly. We are thankful that they can be back in school, see their friends and that they are receiving so much love. 

Right now, we are just trusting that God has a purpose for this, even though we can't see it in this moment. We are taking it a day at a time and are thankful to be making progress, so we can put this whole thing behind us. We are thankful for all the prayers and support we are receiving. The financial support has been such a blessing, with all the expenses of travelling and living here adding up. A huge thanks to our school, Vernon Christian, for doing the Run for Kenzi this year. All the cards and letters from the students brighten up Kenzi's day as she reads them. We are so blessed and it's amazing to see everyone come together to walk through this with us.

I sought the Lord, and he answered me
    and delivered me from all my fears.    Psalm 34:4









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