Infodump

It's been over a week since we last updated the blog - here's what was, what is, and what may come:

Seven:

The number seven has always a certain mystique about it - seven days of creation, the seven wonders of the ancient world, seven seals, seven dwarfs. This weekend we've realized that our seven-year-old son, from our family of seven, has only seven radiation treatments left. It's hard to believe we're this close to the end of this phase of treatment - we're really looking forward to it being over.

Kol continues to do well - he has had only a few short-term side-effects from the treatments (nausea, hair loss, lowered blood counts) that are either easily treated or tolerated. There are still long-term effects that we won't see for quite a while, but for now, he is such a trooper, and we are proud and thankful.

Travel:

This past week saw me (Kirk) on the road a lot - to Buchanan and back on Monday for a classmate's funeral, to Cypress Hills on Tuesday with Julianna and Mari for the Friggstad family reunion, back to Saskatoon Wednesday evening for appointments Thursday morning, and then back to Outlook Friday evening. Julianna and Mari stayed on in Cypress with my dad until Thursday, then went to Regina to visit their cousins (especially newborn Kjell!), finally returning home Saturday night. This coming week promises to have less of a "road warrior" schedule - we're in Saskatoon until Wednesday, then we'll drive in for Kol's appointments Thursday and Friday afternoons so that he can spend at least a couple days at VBS in Outlook (if his blood counts are high enough). Julianna and Mari are staying in Outlook and going to VBS all week.

Counts:

Speaking of blood counts, Kol's counts were on a roller coaster ride again last week. Tuesday, they were high enough that they were able to resume the final two spinal radiation treatments, but by the end of those treatments they were so low that we had to keep Kol at home all weekend to reduce his exposure to possible infections. Now that the spinal treatments are all done, the blood counts should start rising again - and Kol doesn't have to have daily bloodwork done any more.

Birgitte:

Birgitte didn't come along to the Friggstad reunion last week - she started running a fever the Saturday before the reunion (July 31), and it still hadn't broken by Tuesday morning, so she went to Saskatoon with Kristen, Kol, and Annika. Sandra (Kristen's mom) also came along to Saskatoon, so she was able to take care of Birgitte while Kristen took Kol to his appointments. Fortunately, Tylenol kept the fever under control until it finally broke on Wednesday.

This Monday morning (August 9) is Birgitte's follow-up appointment with her neurologist. We'll likely hear if anything of interest showed up in her recent MRI scan, and we want to talk about the side effects of her medication - this past week, we've really noticed changes in her personality and behavior that seemed to coincide with an increase in her dosage last Sunday. Hopefully we can find out if there's anything that can be done, if these effects are temporary, or if there's more going on than meets the eye.

Anniversary:

Our 16th wedding anniversary was last Friday, so we went out for supper Thursday night at Moxies. Sandra was still with us in Saskatoon, so she watched Kol and Birgitte for us - Annika hasn't started any solids yet, so she had to stay with Kristen. It was good to get a little time together without most of the kids. :-)

BONUS VIDEO!

Kol and I were alone at home Sunday afternoon (Kristen and the girls were gone swimming), so we started playing around with the webcam. It's not a professional production by any stretch of the imagination - the microphone didn't always pick up Kol's voice, the lighting isn't great, and there are a few seconds at the beginning where I stare blankly at the camera until I realize that it's recording - but we had fun recording it, and we hope you enjoy it:

Tusen takk for bønnene deres og støtte - thank you very much for your prayers and support.