Obi - prognosis

So it's been a tough week. There's good news and there's bad news. The good news is that all the tests that have been performed have come back negative. Basically, this means that the cancer hasn't spread to any major organs, nor is is present in the lymphatic system. The bad news is that the one o the tumours was malignant. Also, for some other strange reason I've contracted some strange allergic reaction to something. My skin is quite warm to the touch and red. I haven't been able to eat anything all day. Roger says that no appetite for a dog can be quite strange, especially considering the number of things I have eaten in the past (we won't list those unmentionable things here). 

So basically the melanoma has been found in my mouth, but only in one place. The tumour that was removed over 10 days ago was malignant, but the other growths have come back negative. Tracey and Roger are quite concerned about me. They'll probably be taking me to the vet again either tomorrow or Monday. To get a diagnosis for oral cancer is quite a blow, but my current condition has left us baffled. 

Roger took some photos of me a few days ago, here are some of them:

Baseball.

Malcolm is playing his first year of Minors this year. He's having some difficulty adjusting, fingers crossed things will improve. It comes down to his fear of getting hit by the ball when playing catch. I've been trying to help him, but he's very unmotivated and extremely stubborn. Roger would like him to continue to play little league, at least until he's 12, but we'll have to see if he continues to have fun. Here are a few shots from his first game. He went 0/2, but hopefully things will improve as the season goes on.





On Thursday we had some bad news on Thursday afternoon. A visit to the vet was due after Roger found some growths in my mouth. They were removed on Friday and biopsy results should come in on Monday. If the tumors are malignant, then we'll have to decide whether or not to start treatment. Good news is that there's a very effective vaccine on the market that has been working well.

Disneyland 2016

Despite coming home with colds, the family had a great time in California. The kids were fearless in their attack of all the big attractions at Disneyland and California Adventure Park. The weather was fantastic with sunshine everyday and warm temperatures everyday. Lots of great memories.

Here's the slideshow:

Climbing and stuff...

Last weekend was Carter's 4th birthday. We went to a climbing facility just across the bridge called Funtopia. It was really great. Melody's competitive nature had a chance to surface with competitions of who could get the up wall the fastest happening at every turn. Maybe this will be an activity she can focus on.

Here are some pics from Carter's party:

Parenting is hard.

Most days there are still blow-ups and maybe that's normal, but we'd be lying if we said it's easy. Ultimately, you try your best to do the right thing and hope that things will eventually sink in and turn around. We know that we're lucky to have what we have, but again it's not easy. The constant refereeing can become so tiresome and stressful. On their own the kids are so fantastic. They are both doing well in school, seem to have a very normal social existence and most importantly seem to be developing well. If Tracey and Roger were to eliminate the one main issue in the house it would be the sibling rivalry and the general mean spiritedness that continues to rear its ugly head. Despite all of this, they still try and give the very best to these two kids. Here's our little trip to the park followed by some pictures from Auntie Shannon's birthday last weekend. Games night was a lot of fun, it was the first time that Roger and Tracey convinced Grandma to actually go to bed and not wait up on the couch.

Family flu

This past week has been especially tough on the family. Roger got hit with the flu on Sunday night and Family Day Monday and Tuesday. He was running a high fever for three days. The kids seemed to get it on the Tuesday with lower grade fevers themselves. Melody's had it for almost a week now and the cough is just relentless. Malcolm luckily got off with some minimal symptoms, but stayed home last Thursday as well. Both kids did manage to get through Friday as they didn't want to miss any Valentine's Day celebrations. With so many kids away I think festivities suffered anyway. As a special Valentine's Day surprise, Tracey and Roger put on a sort of hunt with a super big surprise at the end. They arranged a series of clues throughout the house with some small V-Day gifts along the way. Anyway, here's how the clues read:

We love you both We think you're the best Now search for a place
Where Obi can rest Here you scrub a dub dub Splash and get wet
It's one of your favorite places I bet

When this is on it makes lots of noise
And we have to be careful not to suck up the toys
This place is chilly and Keeps our food icy
Ice cream lives here
But nothing too spicy

We sit here when it's time to eat
Now look for a clue under your seat
When the mail comes It lands right here

The end of the hunt is now quite near
M&M we love you a lot,
But life would be better if you never fought
How about a trip with us and some friends
To a place where the fun never ends

Go to the computer room and find your last clue!
Hi M&M, It's been a while
Can you come to our place
For some fun and a smile? Love the other M&M

That's right folks, we're heading back to Disneyland for Spring Break.

Here's the video:


Disneyland Treasure Hunt from Obiwanhavanese on Vimeo.

Escape Room...

The so called "dream team" is getting pretty good at these 'escape rooms'. They did one a few weeks back at a downtown location called "Smarty Pantz". They even made it out in half the allotted time. Lucky for them, they managed to win a free experience for next time. They solved the room at 21 minutes! It was an interesting experience with a better quality experience this time. They solved puzzles, worked together and solved the mystery. Apparently the next one is more of a murder mystery where they start out handcuffed!

Happy Birthday Tracey

Tracey's birthday week is over. She had two celebrations, one with the kids and grandma and the other with a games night at the house. No one ever believes that she's 46, probably a testament to all the good living. It's probably due to good genetics too. Here are some pictures to commemorate her birthday.

Malcolm's Photography

Roger has always tried to pass on the gift of photography to the kids and at times they seem interested and other times not so much. Malcolm has shot several rolls of film so far and recently shot a roll of Kodak Tri-X black and white film. He's got a little Konica point and shoot zoom. Here are some of his shots. As you may expect, his sister is the main subject most of the time.

The best of 2015.

I've shot over 15k personal images in 2015 and I narrowed it down to some of my favourite ones in this slideshow. Happy New Year and best wishes in 2016.

Merry Christmas from our family to yours.

There are always ups and downs over Christmas, unfortunately most of the downs have to do with the kid's behaviour. It's a difficult time of year to be dealing with all the outbursts, tantrums and downright disrespectful behaviour during the holidays. We'd like to think that the threat of Santa not visiting is enough to curb their behaviour, but it's not. Perhaps it's all the excitement and build-up over the holidays as well. The holidays are always filled with lots of events, we try to do lots of things to keep up with tradition. Tracey and I hope that one day the kids will appreciate all our effort. This year we added to more things to the Christmas bucket list including Canyon Lights at the Capilano Suspension Bridge and the Peak of Vancouver at Grouse Mountain.

Christmas concerts

We had to split the Christmas concert viewing this year into two, as Melody did the primary one and Malcolm now being in grade 4 was in the intermediate one. It's always such a frenzy at the primary concert with parents jockeying for position to get their best shots with their phones and tablets! Both kids did really well, it's hard to imagine next year that Malcolm will be leading the school as a fifth grader because next year his school will be moving to a middle school system. The kids did well in their performances. Grandma even continued the tradition and went to both concerts!

Burnaby Village Museum with the Lees.

As part of the annual bucket list we made it to the Burnaby Village museum with the Lee family. The rain cleared just in time for us to enjoy our visit there. Even though we have gone to the museum a number of times, we saw an exhibit that we haven't seen before. Thankful to the hospitality of the Lee family as they hosted pizza dinner afterwards.