Weekend

I was sitting with my Dad and Step Mom today here at the Ronald McDonald House and the Weekend Manager asked my opinion on what we should have for dinner tonight.. there was nothing on the menu. You see, normally there are donations for dinners every night, places like Boston Pizza or even a group of students from the University will come in and just make some food in the gigantic kitchen they have here. So I suggested make your own pizza with salad. So he went out to the store an bought all sorts of stuff to feed about 30 people.

We spent 4 hours getting these pizzas and salad made. The reward was well worth the aching feet and back.. people were just so thankful and grateful for a home cooked meal. The pizzas tasted great! Then someone dropped off this delicious banana cake, and this wonderful woman who is a Relief Manager came in and baked about 4 dozen cookies. The house smelled like home on a Sunday.. families were sitting at dinner tables talking over each other and children giggling and running around. We are all going through hell, but find this wonderful sanctuary here at the House.

When you arrive here they go through all the rules of the House, and one rule is that you cannot be sick. No cold or flu, or they will ask you to leave. Completely understandable considering many of the kids here are from the Oncology world and are Neutropenic, or have little immune systems. Even for the parents as we don't want to risk catching something either. So today I watch this teen boy walking around... and around. Goes into the kitchen and makes himself some food, then wanders over to the games area and wants to play with Lyric. He sits about 3 feet away from him. About 10 minutes into the game he starts to cough and sneeze. Immedietly I panick and ask him, do you have a cold? He says yes....

Oh... No.... in slow motion I replay in my mind the cough and sneezes and realize they are in direct line with Lyric.. then I start to panic thinking about the typical 3 day cold turning into a 3 week cold in the hospital.

I then told him that he was not supposed to be here. (Oh, and let me add that I don't have a cold after all. It is allergies and this lovely Hamilton air..lol) So we go to the office and I said, I am so sorry to say but this guy is sick and just coughed and sneezed on my son who has NO immune system whatsoever. I said if he would at least stay in his room, then it wouldn't be so bad.

Right away they called over to the hospital for the parents to come back. They told the parents that the boy had to leave. Apparently he was 15, and they knew he was sick and was trying to hide it. They told him to stay in his room...but apparently he didn't listen. I felt terrible, I said to the Manager, can he not just stay in his room? He said, no. There are too many risks to children like yours.

So then we had to sanitize the whole place, of which I hate doing. I don't believe in using that Lysol stuff, but when you have these germs all around you now and you don't want to spend a month or so in the hospital trying to get over a cold then you do.

A little off topic here, but both my kids just fell asleep in record time.. Lyric was about 1 minute, and Avery about 2. Now they are both snoring. hehe. Lyric of course thinks he NEVER snores.. no way mom, not me!

I was called by my Social Worker yesterday, she told me that there is going to be a meeting Monday or Tuesday with the head of Infectious Disease, the Social Worker, the Oncologist and myself. She urged me not to do anything yet in regards to my basement. She had a very interesting conversation with the Infectious Disease Doctor (who knows everything about mold, living with mold, and treating fungal infections)..she said it may look good for me. Of course now I am very curious.. and hope that it will be deemed safe for Lyric to go home.

As usual, it's the waiting that kills me! Meanwhile I will keep myself busy here at the House! Today I finally met some folks I always see at the hospital. They have a 1 year old who has ALL Leukemia. She's so little.. she just had brain surgery to take a mass out. But she is doing well.