Home at long last!

We arrived home on Wednesday evening, and after spending over 1 hour on the airplane (due to a back up of planes because of thunder) were greeted by friends and family. Earl had the lady from air canada, stop the wheelchair so that he could walk on crutches toward everyone. He was very proud and very happy to see everyone.
We are definetly happy to be home and I think Darby is pretty happy too. I don't think he will want us to go away again, any time soon. Sauer was happy to see us and surprisingly did not, I repeat did not jump up on Earl. The air conditioning was not working so Darby and I slept downstairs. Earl doesn't mind the heat so he slept in his own bed, with a fan. The next day, Bill came over and had our air conditioning working in no time, but it took until this morning to feel like it had cooled down. I h ave some pictures to put on, but have to get caught up around the house before I can take the time. Love Debbie & Earl
Earl can have visitors and phone calls!!!!!

Tim and the Spokeman Tour

www.spokemantour.com
this is Tim Harriman visiting with Earl at Mt Sinai in Toronto. Tim is riding his bike across Canada to raise awareness of Childhood Cancer and to try and make September named Childhood Cancer Month. We were very excited to have a visit with Tim as he has a busy schedule and it was a big surprise as Mt Sinai (Earl) was not a scheduled stop! Thanks Tim and Heather!!!! For all of our friends and family we ask you to log on to Tim's site and follow his journey. If you can support him in any way, that would be great.

The Great Escape!!!

Hi Everyone,

Well, our time is up here at Mt Sinai, 3 days short of 3 weeks. Earl will be discharged tomorrow. It is kinda of a weird feeling because they have been so good to us and we have made many friends. Earl is getting around fairly well on crutches, although he is a big winer, and the time has now come for me to stop catering to his every need and encouraging him to take care of himself. We will be coming home on Wednesday July 25th @ 7:28. I thought it might be nice if some friends/family could come out to meet him at the airport. Darby is trying to organize a little homecoming, so call him if you have questions 487-0077 or 799-5104

We will have a few days of fun in Toronto, and will be going our to dinner and then to the musical "We Will Rock You, to the Blue Jays vx Minnesota Twins, and either on a harbor cruise or the Hippo's (boats that drive on the road and go in the water)
On Tuesday Earl will have an x-ray and then he will see Dr. Wunder one last time.
(this is night we go see the Jays)

Well take care and we'll see you back home. Earl wants to have a bbq, so we will be intouch.

Thanks for all your prayers, support, emails, caremail, and calls
Love Debbie

Hi Everyone,

Earl sat up and left his room for the first time today. He went to the lounge and checked out some hockey sites and then returned to his room and sat up for lunch. During his physio today he walked with a walker out into the hall and then back to bed. His therapist wants him to start walking to the bathroom and sitting up for meals from now on. If things go well over the weekend, they will start Earl on crutches and stairs on Monday. Wow, I can't believe how well he is doing. There is a possibility that he will be discharged on Wednesday, but we will stay in Toronto for the weekend so that he builds up some strength to travel. This way we can take in a few outings and be close to the hospital should we need them. Earl really hasn't had much of a summer, and then he will start chemo once we return, so we thought it would be nice to have a few activites in Toronto. He is sure looking forward to showing everyone how well he is doing.

Take Care,
Debbie

Earl is feeling great!!!!! The Dr's took off the dressing today, and are very happy with everything. They also took out the epideral and so Earl is now on oral pain killers. He is looking forward to Janine coming and to some visits from family and friends.
He is watching movies now on his new dvd player and looking forward to getting around again.
Thanks for the care mail. He loves it and so do I

Love Debbie and Earl

Hi Everyone,

Sorry it's taken so long to post an update, but the computer in our lounge on 11 south was not letting me post. I have located another computer so here you go.

Earl had his surgery on Thursday July 5th, and after 7.5 hours it was an amazing success. Everything went just how they planned and the prosthetic fit like a glove. Apparently Earl has very strong bones and it was quite a task for Dr. Wunder and his team to carve the bone and make the fit. They gave Earl an epideral and then put him to sleep (he also has a personal pain pump, which he held on tightly to for the first 12 hours or so). When he woke up in the OR they said he was chatting and happy that the tumor was gone. He really has experienced very little pain, and they are now weaning him off the morpine/novacaine and switching to percocet. Each day they reduce it by 25%. They expect to start some physio today and would like to try and get him up by Monday. Dr. Wunder says that under best case Earl could be out of here in 2 weeks, but if he is here for 3 weeks, they will start his chemo.

Dr. Wunder is not too concerned about the nodules they found in Earl's lungs, and says that due to the fact that the tumor responded so well to the chemo, they are unconsequestial. He and Dr. Wong will keep a close eye on the lungs.

Earl does have a phone in his room 416-586-4800 ext 4652

You can also send him care mail https://www.mtsinai.on.ca/CareMail

Dale was here on surgery day to keep me company, Darby is here for the weekend and Earls first foster mom Janine will be here all next week. So we are doing well.

We do like to here from all our friends and family so please keep in touch.

Love Debbie & Earl