LIAM'S JOURNEY

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!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

A very quiet couple of days for us.  Liam has been happy enough at school and not doing himself too many injuries.  He lost another tooth about 5.31am yesterday and of course had to come running in and wake me up to show me.  It was one of the ones on the side where the tumour is, so not sure if it was ready to come out or if the tumour has pushed it out.  Either way his mouth looks a little bit creepy now as you can see the tumour alot clearer.

 Coco is settling into a routine well (sorry Fashion Aunty Amy not named after Coco Chanel but after Budget brand Coco Pops!!!), she is finally figuring out that the carpet is not for going toilet on.  She is so lucky she is cute otherwise she would have ended up as a mop by now. 

We have spent today painting and shifting firewood so the bodies are a tad sore, and we are now sitting relaxing with a nice glass of wine and a beer watching the rugby.  We have a family lunch in Waikanae tomorrow and Aunty Jo and the beautiful Molly and Maddie are up from Christchurch as it is two years since we lost Matt on Monday, so will have a couple of quiet ones for him then too.

Take care

Becs and co. 

Nothing to report today – Liam still running around like a lunatic, he tells me he got 2nd in his class for the practice of the cross country they did yesterday, if that is right he is not doing too bad at all considering his sinus is totally blocked.  Must get that athletic build and the stamina from me! 

First two nights with Coco have gone really well, she slept in her crate in Liams room last night – at his insistence – and we didn’t hear a peep.  No wee accidents either, however she walked out into the lounge and promptly did the business on the carpet. 

We have a pre op appointment on Thursday (22nd) at Hutt hospital and then we need to be there at 7.15am the following Wednesday for the surgery – very early start for us.

Take care

Becs

Liam got a special surprise today, Coco our new puppy arrived from Auckland.  She is absolutely beautiful, and Liam and Ashleigh just love her.  She is a Lowchen and is about 10 inches high.  She is a little bit timid at the moment while she gets used to her new home, but she is gorgeous and as you can see from the photo more than happy to sit on Liam’s knee.

 My friend and I were like two little kids going to pick her up from the airport.  We went out for lunch and were giggling like school girls. 

Liam has taken a real shine to her and it was his choice to call her Coco which I think suits her really well.  It will be nice for him to have some company to cheer him up when he is a bit sore or feeling down.

Hope you all have had a good day

Becs

Hi everyone, not too much to report today but thought I would ‘blog’ (am even getting into the lingo!) anyway. 

I wanted to reiterate my thanks to all those who helped make the day on Saturday such a success.  We had so many helpers – Carol, Tracey and Jax using their charm to sell sausages, kebabs, raffle tickets and drinks, all those who helped cook, collecting money and monitoring the kids jumping on the bouncy castle, without all your help the day wouldn’t have been anywhere near the success it was.

Liam was also given a few very special items, Grandma had organised him a signed Chiefs rugby jersey, and Glenn, Debbie and Tammy decided that it just wasn’t right for him not to have a Hurricanes one so he is now the proud owner of one of those too!  Talk about spoilt.  Thanks Grandma and the Stevens/Evans clan for getting him those, they are off to the framers this week.  Liam was also given a signed Jonah Lomu book which he is very impressed with and will no doubt have his nose in for many days to come.

He is still feeling ok, but took a knock to his portacath today playing tag, so is starting to realise that he needs to slow down a bit.  The next two weeks are going to be a long wait unfortunately. 

Will update the blog when I can but won’t really have anything new to report until the 28th.

Hope everyone is well and all those in New Zealand are rugged up and keeping out the cold. 

Becs and co.

Result – Police 27, Waikanae 26

 What a fantastic day!!  The Kapiti Coast turned on great weather for us, the sun was shining and there was very little wind.

We had a huge turn out and as you can tell by the scoreline the game was very well matched.  It will be good to see the Police name added to the back of the trophy.  Ty and his team of helpers (Ozzie, Sean, Quiney and Stu) out did themselves, we had a coffee machine, sausages, kebabs etc all in a huge marquee, a bouncy castle which kept the kids occupied for hours on end and at half time there was an attack display from two operational Police dogs. 

After the rugby finished and we got through prize giving we all headed down to Murphys Law at the Waikanae Pub for a bit of a knees up.  The proceeds from the drinks were also given to the fundraising and it looks as though we may have raised as much as $5,000 this year.

Liam had a great day, I hardly saw him between him and Zac Bowman being the ball boys and running up the hills to climb the trees. 

A fabulous day was had by all, and a very entertaining evening which stretched into the wee small hours for some of us.  I will post some photos soon.  Thanks to all who attended or sent donations and to all those who donated goods or lent a hand.

Becs

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We went to meet the surgeon today – Dr Charles Davis who was very pleasant.  Unfortunately what he had to tell us was not so pleasant!  Liam will undergo surgery on May the 28th.  That is 2 and a half weeks away because they have a backlog of surgeries from the Junior Doctors strike.

They are going to be taking out the whole of the area around the eye socket, cheek and jaw including all his teeth.  This will be reconstructed with bone from his tibia (in his leg).  There will be a fair bit of titanium holding it all together but he should bounce back and be running around within 3 months.

The bad news was that they still don’t know what it is.  They think it is a myoepithilioma but as that comes from the salivary gland and there are none of those in the sinus cavity it is all a bit strange.  Therefore after removal they will do another biopsy to figure out exactly what it is.  This will be another wait of about 6 weeks until we know the results which will tell us whether or not he needs chemotherapy and radiation.  There is still a chance that it may be benign so fingers crossed for that result.

It’s going to be a big day tomorrow and the weather is still looking promising.  I hope to see all those that can make it at Waikanae Park to see the Police win this year! 

Take care

Becs

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Hi all,

Well it certainly appears that the article has done the rounds of  papers of the country.  It is good that the local ones have given lots of coverage for the fundraiser so hopefully we get a good turnout, and the weather looks pretty promising. 

I was interviewed today by Classic Hits radio regarding it which will be played tomorrow morning.  Thankfully it will only be on the Kapiti Coast station as I really didn’t enjoy doing it!  Goodness only knows what I said but I guess I will find out in the morning, I hope I didn’t sound too strange.

Liam received two playstation games from cousin Emily (thanks again Em!) so has been busy testing them out for the last half an hour.  Not sure if I will see much of him until dinner time.  He is still doing okay, he is complaining of a few headaches but I guess that is not surprising given the tumour is about the size of a mandarin, I bet most of us would have been complaining a long time ago. 

Off to the appointment with the surgeon in the morning, and with a bit of luck he will have the histology report that I can get my hands on and read to possibly get a better understanding of what the tumour actually is.  It will be nice to get the ball rolling and take one more step to removing this horrid thing.

The rest of us are doing well, we are past the shock of it all now I think, and moving forward day by day.  Ashleigh is pretty stoked as those that have given gifts to Liam have not forgotten about her so she is doing pretty well from it all! 

On that note, just to say thank you again to everyone offering support, all the lovely gifts and messages that we have received, it really does mean a lot to Jasper, the kids and I.  Hope to see you all down at the park for the game on Saturday – and maybe afterwards for a beer at Murphy’s Law at the Waikane pub.

Becs

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