LIAM'S JOURNEY

Liam was in good humour overnight, giving Jasper a bit of grief everytime he snored!  Jasper had been relegated to the toilet, (had pushed the chair back into the toilet room) and looked very amusing I must admit.  He terrified one of the nurses who didn’t see him in the chair in the middle of the night and when he asked is everything ok, the nurse nearly jumped out of her skin!

Liam hasn’t been feeling too flash this morning, I don’t think he liked the liquid food that they are giving him and decided to power chuck it all up.  I was sitting beside him and the paper I was reading went flying, the table went flying, I went flying and he managed to get it everywhere but on me, what a good boy.  Unfortunately he dislodged his nasal gastric tube in the process so had to get a new one put in, but he was absolutely amazing.  He didn’t want to get it done but he was so strong and let them do it, and for being so awesome the Doctor gave him a much appreciated lemonade iceblock.  He was fantastic and the Doctors said there were a lot of adults who performed and wouldn’t let them do it.  We then went for a spin in the wheelchair down for an xray to ensure that the tube was in the correct place. (it was perfect)

He also had the drain taken out of his neck and we have kept that as a bit of a souvenir, very impressive.  He is still very sleepy and they are just getting his feeds sorted again, but is in no pain, just not quite ready to play a game of rugby yet.

He had his cousins and grandparents come visit today, but we kept things pretty quiet because he is so tired.  With a bit of luck he will feel abit better tomorrow.

Thats all for now, I suppose I should end by saying go the Crusaders (no matter how much it pains me to) cause I’d rather see them win than some Aussies!

Becs, Jasper and Liam the even bigger legend.

Liam is still very sore and very swollen today.  His right eye is swollen shut which is making playing the nintendo a bit difficult.  He is being poked, prodded and the site checked every hour, which can get a bit annoying.  The plastics nurses are teaching the paediatric nurses how to do they checks as they are not trained for post op care of such a major operation so he is feeling a bit like a circus attraction.   

He is being given morphine two hourly to stay on top of the pain which is making him a bit sleepy.  He has been sitting in a lazy boy from late morning and is still there, so is a bit more comfortabel. 

Jasper finished the lego building at 1 o’clock this morning, he was determined that it was not going to get the better of him, but I am pretty sure Liam could have done it in half the time!

Liam has been given his own little walking frame which he used to get into the chair and has a wheelchair which he can get in tomorrow and we will go for a bit of a spin around the ward to stop him getting cabin fever.

He is not allowed to eat until after the weekend so the nasal tube will stay in until then.  For a lad who likes his food he was not particularly happy when given this news!  The Doctors on the other hand are very happy with his progress and quite amazed with just how well he is doing. 

So apart from being a bit bored and over the whole hospital business and wanting to go home and see Coco he is doing really well.

Till tomorrow

Becs, Jasper and Liam the legend.

x

Liam spent the night in the ICU after his huge day yesterday.  He was kept mildly sedated overnight, but every now and then he would sit bolt upright and want to get up.  He had a good night and was monitored closely and had good blood flow to the site.  I sat with him until about midnight and then nipped away to have a couple of hours sleep, while Jasper stayed at the hospital as he could sleep standing up if required!

The doctors arrived to see him about 7.30 this morning and were quite keen to wake him up.  They took the breathing tube out of his mouth and he woke up very quickly.  He was a bit sleepy and very sore but he is such an incredibly brave little man.  His leg is wrapped in bandages, his face is very swollen and he can’t open his right eye, and his first word  was “ouch”.  He hasn’t lost his sense of humour or his manners either, as he was messing with the physios holding his breath when they were trying to check his lungs.

He was transferred into the Plastics ward around 4pm, and will remain here for the first couple of days and then may be transferred into the childrens ward.  We have our own room and he has been playing a wee bit of nintendo and trying to build the lego crane that Jasper bought him today.  As he only has one eye he is finding it difficult and although wants to do stuff can only manage about 3 minute stints before lying down for another rest.  He is not allowed to eat anything until his mouth heals a bit which he is absolutely gutted about.  He is being fed through his nasal gastric tube which will hopefully begin to cure his hunger pains soon but he would much prefer a plate of spaghetti bolognase. 

Jasper has taken over the lego building so it will be interesting to see how that endeavour goes! 

All in all Liam is doing remarkably well, the Doctors are very pleased with him and hopefully he continues on this path.  We are obviously waiting for further pathology reports on what the tumour is, and should get those in 2 to 3 weeks which will give us an indication on the next step.

Thats all from me for now, off for some bacon and egg pie which Julia kindly made for us (without peas!) it is absolutely delicious thank you!

Becs, Jasper and the mighty Liam.

The day finally arived and we got up at 5am to get to the hospital by 6.15.  Liam was great although not to keen on getting out of bed – as if we were either!

He went into surgery at about 8am surrounded by some of the best surgeons in the country.  He was wrapped up in his quilt which in his words “is like having Daddy with his arms wrapped around me”.  We have had an update at about 11.30 to say the tumour is all out and they were beginning the reconstruction.  All is going well so far.  Steve and I are about to head back out to the Hutt, so will update again when I have a chance.

Becs x

 Liam has come through the operation really well.  The surgery took 8 hours which was a lot less time than they expected.  He has been transferred to ICU where he is under a mild sedation and will remain that way for the evening and most of the morning tomorrow, although he turned his head towards me when he heard my voice.  He has lots of tubes and monitors, and has a feeding tube in his nose and a tube in his mouth to help him breath.  We were allowed in with him after they got him settled so have been sitting with him for a while, but he is about to get a chest xray, so we are back out in the family room.

The surgeon was very happy with the way things went, they took out a few lymph nodes which looked a bit suss but they have all come back clear.  They gave me his incisor tooth in a container so he could give it to the tooth fairy, but of course you need to believe to receive!  He has kept his one front tooth but the rest have gone.  They did the surgery through a small incision in his eyelid and through his mouth so he has minimal scaring on his face.  He has a wee tube in his tear pocket as that was infected with tumour and that will stay there for a few months and then be removed – probably about the same time as they do the construction of his jaw for his teeth I would imagine.

He is pretty swollen and it is difficult to see him like this, but he is wrapped up in his quilt and we are doing okay. 

Thanks for your wishes and messages, we are now looking forward to getting into the childrens ward and out of ICU.

Becs and Jasper

x

I had to go and pick Liam up from school this morning and take him back down for further blood tests as they forgot to do one of them yesterday.  I was not very impressed and Liam to say the least was not happy.  He got through it though and then was most put out when I told him he had to go back to school!

I am now running around like a headless chook trying to pack the things we are going to need over the next 2 weeks.  We will head into Wellington to stay the night tonight and will then be up at about 5am tomorrow.

I will update the blog as soon as I can tomorrow night, but we are not expecting him out of surgery before 5pm.

One sleep to go, better keep packing.

Becs

The above picture is of Liam’s memory quilt which was made lovingly by his Aunty Vickie and is made from all of Matt’s clothing.  What an incredibly special and precious gift, Victoria has put in so much work and the words thank you seem so inadequate.  It is difficult to find the right words to say how we feel about it, but it is something that Liam can keep forever to remember his Dad, and will be cherished and treasured for many years to come.  We sat there this afternoon and could pick out which piece belonged to which shirt, and the little stories that go with each of the logo’s.  It is a truly very special gift. 

Liam had yet another blood test after school today, he was very brave and got a certificate to prove it!  The test is a general check and to cross match the blood he will need during the surgery.

The hospital phoned and they want him in surgery by 7.15am now so we have to be there at 6.15am.  They asked if we would like to stay Tuesday night but there was a very quick no said to that, we will just get up early!

We also picked up the jersey’s from the framers today as well and they look fabulous and Liam is going to hang them on his bedroom wall.

He has been given lots of little gifts that should keep him occupied for a while, thanks to everyone –  I hesitate to name you all as I know I will forget someone, so please know that we are very appreciative of everything everyone is doing for us.

I think I am keeping the Rescue Remedy company in business at the moment as we count the days down.  2 more sleeps to go.

Take Care

Becs and Co.  x

Oh dear, not the result we were looking for all dressed up to the nines in our Hurricanes gear.  Nevermind of course there is always next year.  Can’t see those Crusaders doing as well next year without their beloved Robbie – time will tell!

Liam had a great day yesterday, went to his friend Keenans birthday party and then stayed at a friends for the rest of the afternoon.  Ashleigh went to her friend Maxines for the day and I headed into Wellington to catch the girls playing netball. 

Jasper and the girls came out here and now all the kids are in the spa and we are getting organised to go to the Bowmans for dinner this evening.

The framer who is framing the jerseys rung on Friday and advised that he is not charging for the work.  Didn’t quite know how to say thank you so thought if I posted it on here anyone who is thinking of getting framing done that you might like to give your business to them.  There is alot of work involved in framing them so it is a huge gift.  They are Perfect Picture Framers and are located at 12 Parata Street in Waikanae. 

 3 more sleeps to go till D day.

Take Care

Becs

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!GO THE HURRICANES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

We went over to Lower Hutt hospital armed with our mile long list of questions today.  I have to admit we got most of the questions answered and were there for a good 3 hours.

 We have been told to expect the surgery to take anywhere between 8 to 12 hours.  It is certainly going to be an incredibly long day, and thanks to Maryanne we have a couple of passes to Les Mills gym so will probably go and get the endorphins flowing there for a while to pass some time, may do a bit of retail therapy too no doubt.  The Registrar and House Surgeon both went over again what is involved in the surgery in great depth.  It was alot of information to take in and just reinforced the fact that it is a very difficult and intensive procedure.

Liam will go straight from surgery to the Intensive Care Unit where he will be for at least 2 days.  He will have a nurse all to himself and they will monitor him every 30 minutes to check that both the surgery sites have good blood flow and that the reconstructed tissue is not dying off.  After he is released from ICU he will go to the childrens ward at Hutt Hospital when he can start receiving visitors and will stay there for about another week. 

He will be visited there by a school teacher when he is up to it (he thought he was going to get away with no school work – ha ha) and they will follow up when he is discharged and is recovering at home.

He is off for a blood test on Monday and cross typing for his transfusion blood and then into hospital early Wednesday morning.

There was lots and lots of information given to us today which would take me all night to type and probably freak everyone out too much, so will leave it at that for now! 

After the hospital we went up to St Benedicts school in Khandallah where the girls go, to deliver a bag of lollipops to Mrs Goodalls class (room 9) who very thoughtfully made Liam a get well card each.  They put so much work into all of them and Liam wanted to thank them for their thoughts and to tell them he has them hanging from his bedroom wall.

Thats all from us for now, I hope everyone is doing well.

Becs and co

(above is Liam in his Dad’s “courage” Waikanae rugby jersey)

It is two years today since we lost our beloved Husband, Daddy, Son, Brother and friend.  It is hard to believe that it has been two years already.  I found a novel way to pass the day – have caught a vomiting bug so have spent the day tucked up in bed sleeping.  It has made the day go past without having to think too much about missing Matt.

 Liam and Ashleigh got themselves ready for school this morning with me giving instructions from bed.  They made their own lunches, but not entirely sure that what they put in them was what they told me they did!

Thanks Carol for picking them up from school and Jo for making them dinner.

Apologies to those who have rung today, I haven’t been answering the phone.  Hope to catch up with you all soon.

Becs