6 weeks of treatment completed!
Hi everyone
The last 2 days Sara has spent enjoying the fact that it was a weekday and that she didn't have to go to hospital! Yes, Sara finished the treatment regime for the first 6 weeks on Wednesday with a round of chemo and a blood transfusion which meant we didn't get home until late. Mac McNamara visited with Sara during the evening while she was having the transfusion and it was great to see him and have a bit of a catch up.
Sara is doing well but is still getting tired and resting quite a lot. She has come through this first treatment phase very well and the staff at the hospital are very pleased with how she has done. Many, many thanks to all the staff involved with Sara's treatment over the last 6 weeks in both radiotherapy and CHOC - we have all felt well supported by the friendly staff.
So Thursday and Friday were relatively a quiet couple of days for Sara, but there is a bit going on this weekend! Friday afternoon Caitlin visited Sara and stayed for tea with Sue and Willis. It was really good to see some more Twizel friends and fantastic for Sara to catch up with Caitlin, just talking and having fun. Sara also got the other part of her Twizel rowing kit - a peaked Maadi 2006 Twizel colours cap personally delivered by coach Dean! The evening was finished off with the close match between the Tall Blacks and the Aussies - what a great game and cool to watch. Yes, basketball is the big game in Twizel and Sara is a keen player so she stayed up to watch the game.
Today has been a busy R& R day. Rob got up early and started this blog, then got distracted and went off to check out the surf while the girls caught up on some zzzzzzzss. Hugo, Jane and Harry visited around lunchtime and we sat and talked and watched the yachts having a sail on the estuary. Kate rang and we all talked with her which was great - she only has 3 days of work left and will be home two weeks tomorrow. Tonight we had tickets (courtesy of the Child Cancer Foundation - thank you Cynthia) to the Warriors match. We have just got home from that and Sara had a great time especially in the second half when a lot of the action was down our end. It was fun despite the fact we haven't really watched it before and certainly wouldn't choose it as our mastermind topic!
Tomorrow we have Aunty Haybale - Helen (Rob's sister) and friend Henry Kavale visiting from Twizel. We also scored some tickets to the Canterbury Rams / Otago Nuggets basketball game at Westpac stadium, so we are off to that in the afternoon. What with a bit of Games watching it really is a weekend of sport! Yes Bob, we will be cheering for the Rams, with our Canterbury blood!
We are on at least a 2 week break now from any treatment but will be staying around Christchurch for the next few days as Sara has a blood test, a possible transfusion depending on this test and healing touch and art therapy on Monday and Tuesday. The oncology staff are in the process of working out the plan for the next phase of treatment during this break. So, we are going to just enjoy the free time over the next couple of weeks and take it as it comes.
Enjoy the rest of your your weekend, whatever it may bring - and good luck to our Twizel rowers, Sara is there in spirit even if she can't drown out the rock band from the sidelines!
TTFN
Sara Sue Rob and Kate ( in the powder at Angel Fire)
posted by Rob Young @ 7:49 am
19 comments
19 Comments:
Good morning Sara, Rob, Sue and Kate.
Enjoy, your well earned rest family, with the first treatment behind you. Thanks for all the great photo's.
It will be wonderful having Kate home in a couple of weeks, I bet she will be wearing a nice snow tan. What does she have planned next?
Spring is almost here, we have seen our first robins and the snow is beginning to go and form large puddles at the bottom of the garden.
We have a shopping trip to Prince George today but as I look out the window I can see some flurries so the trip may be cancelled.
Thanks for all the sports news, you have had a busy weekend watching it. (smile)
9 months and counting until we are home.
warm fuzzy hugs
Hi Sara and family
Well done - six weeks of treatment behind you all. Great news and all our best wishes for two weeks off and see what is planned next.
Took Jacq up to Timaru and she has had her first hip op on Friday am. Went to see her after the op and she didn't quite believe that her leg was still there as she couldn't feel it. Had to lift the covers and show her her foot!
Taylor's foot is healing well and only another three and a half weeks in the cast for that particular injury. Up to Chch early April for bone specialist for his wrist.
Autumn has truly arrived and a little frost again overnight last night.
Have a good peaceful and restful time. Must be magic watching the waves.
Love and hugs
Connie and Taylor
Hi Sara,
A great weekend for you - a big milestone for you all and celebrations all around!!!Well done for getting through all that and still coming up smiling and fighting.
No doubt you will be thinking of all the rowers this week. Good luck to them all - hope the weather is kind to you and you all do fabulous times. I was disappointed in the paper the other day when they went through all the Timaru rowers that are rowing this week, but didnt bother to mention the Twizel rowers.I look forward to hearing some great results.
Have been avidly watching the Games on TV - just love it. Disappointing today that Sara Ulmer didnt get a look-in with the medals - a lot of tactics happening there. But we won the netball!!!!!!!!!!Even better that it was the Aussies we beat.Hope you got to enjoy some of the games on your time-outs.
You will be looking forward to Kate coming home, not long now. Just in time for our cooler autumn days.
Hope Jacqui you are feeling good after your op. Rest up and enjoy people running around after you when you are home.
Its late and I must go to bed. We have a group of boys over from Japan for about 6 days to get a NZ experience. We get them each year and they get billeted out and go on a farm, rafting do the Ropes Course at the school and a couple of other things.We had a BBQ at school tonight with all the host families - a fun night.
Take care and enjoy your time off.
Hope you have some funtimes and hope we get to catchup sometime soon.
Hi Sue and Rob - love from us in Geraldine.
Cynthia, Victoria, Mike, Ben, Andrew and James.
Yes, good luck to every rower no matter what school you are from that reads Sara's blog. Give it heaps - not sure of rowing terminology but noticed some phrases made it into the netball last night - something about 'staying in the boat'??
And dear Youngs you have all 'stayed in the boat' over the last 6 weeks. You deserve every medal going!!
All our love the munros xxx
Sue, Rob, Sara, Kate
I agree that you Young's deserve a medal - most certainly gold. It's a cold cloudy day here today, not our best weather for the visiting rowers. There are vans and houses all around the town with names of teams/schools taped onto windows. I even saw the name Cheese on a window just around the corner from the doctors. Quiet at school this morning as senior teachers are off for NCEA training so only juniors at school. A tummy bug is making its way around Twizel. I hope it avoids my family and as many other people as possible including the rowers of course. We had another trip to Dean's Dad on Saturday. More than 4 weeks in hospital and still on oxygen. We did manage to take him for a wheelchair walk in the gardens, his first time outside in all that time. Hopefully he can come up to us soon although he will feel the coolness as he finds it cold here on days we think are hot!
On the family front, Josh is counting down to double digits on Wednesday, I don't remember turning 10 being quite so exciting. And all 3 boys look like they should be in the army (Dean cut their hair yesterday, Kyle screamed as much as ever, he finds it terrifying). Sue, Brian has been telling me all about the books you sent, he is delighted. We have been reading a story about the discovery of the takahe, adventure in the outdoors, right up his alley.
That's it, take care. Oh and hi Trish.
- Sandy
Hi Sara, Rob and Sue,
Great to get the updated news.
Hope you all enjoy your well deserved rest. Glad to hear that you had a chance to catch up with your friends Sara. Enjoy.
I didn't get to call you this weekend as I was in Prince Rupert. It is known as the City of Rainbows, but it was sunny all weekend. Lothar and I were there for a wine tasting event on Friday night at the Crest Hotel. Saturday mornings breakfast entertainment was 50 plus bald eagles having a feeding frenzy by the waterfront right in front of the hotel.
Spring is coming to Kitimat, as the snow is melting fast. At Angle St we still have some snow but many folks have spring bulbs up and no snow.
Katheirine is counting the days to her move. 21 days or so. She is planning to job hunt in and around Kelowna.
Sunny, smiles and hugs to you all. Ruth Lothar, Katherine and Stefan
Hey man
Had a quiet weekend aye? You weren't very quiet when i was there! Bummer abou the rams game, but good to here you enoyed the warriors game!
Well maadi going just fine at the moment. I came 7th in my single and zoe came 6th. lol not so good! but then we won our u16. Our u17 dub was really random! We were coming 3rd then chch girls high cut intoour lane and stoped us from passing them. then The crew coming 2nd broke there oar( yeah i know, they musta been hoofing it) so we came 2nd! But we actually bet the chch girls crew in the south is secondary schools, and there steering broke in that race aswell! oh and then at the end of the race we almost ran over the rescue boat who was resuing someone who hurt thier back. It was all very exciting! Anyway we had a day off today and antoher one tomorrow, so our semi's are on thursday. Zoe is sitting here telling me not to give too much away about our races!
I hope this works because waynes computer dosn't like us very much, it took us ages just to get into here!
Hows the builder? I wanted an update on him! Any more eye contact made? lol
ME and zoe have been making friends with tripod!Its waynes cat with only one leg! actually its MY friend, zoe makes jokes about it!
Right we had better go have tea, in our cool house with green and black writing all over it!
Love caketin and zobo! xoxoxo
(",)
Hi Youngs et al
See from Caketin and the Zoester that they have been AWOL from school today and will be again tomorrow! What is this mid term break or something? Two days swanning about at the lake with no races! There's important stuff like English, social studies and history to be done! Heck - even on the days they had races they were probably only racing for under an hour. Sounds like the ideal 'sport' in my opinion. (Stir stir stir) I'm sure that the Villa Deputy head girl has brought heaps of homework. Z and C were supposed to get some, but weren't desperately keen to pick it up for some reason.
Heard that you haven't had a great couple of days Sara. Tough break after planning your 'chill out fortnight'. Just too much live sport over the weekend I guess, either that or Povall's wisecracks have finally driven you round the twist.
Not too much at this end. NCEA day came and went. Bought a pair of cycling shoes in Timaru, so now I wait to see when it is that I forget my feet are clipped in and come a cropper. No kayaking this week because there's some minor sporting event on at the lake where the participants get scared if a kayak ripples past. Only other bit of news was that a guy who said he wanted to buy my old kayak, turned out to be a Nigerian wanting to fleece me of five hundred bucks. Long story involving an entirely unbelieveable tale about his wife, a surgeon and couldn't I please send money by postal order now, and he'd pay me back when he paid for the boat. Yeah right.
Hope things improve at your end soon.
LOL Granty
Granty Granty Granty!!!!!
Midterm break...?? Nooooo!!!! Its Maadi!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Umm..... ONLY the MOST important time of the year!!!!! AND we will TRY to excuse you for your absolute ignorance of not realising that the two days "swanning about at the lake with no races!" was actually for Mental Preparation and Visualisation of the wins to come!!! Im sorry to say that English is NOT going to help us cross that line any faster (at this point and time anyway) and by the way we're MAKING history here we don't need to learn about it ... WE'RE IT!!!
And by the way Kayaks belong on rivers not cluttering up world class rowing venues!!!!
Also, "probably only racing for under an hour" its quality not quantity!!!!!
Yes im sure the Deputy Head girl at Villa is doing lots of homework as well, thats exactly why we're going to come home with GOLD!!! Unfocused you see!!! You have to stay focused!!! We have the POWER!!!
Its not "Povall's wisecracks" that are driving me around the twist its your UN-understanding of the "swanning about the lake" in preparation for the EVENT!!!
Anyway im sure u will be able to get back to English, social studies, history and other horrid things like that.... as soon as THE WEEK ENDS and the girls have come up and shown me the GOLD!!!
Have fun in the english room with no CAITLIN ZOE OR SARA HEHEHEHEHEHEE!!!!!
It is the English that I hate ... NOT you!!!! I puzzle at how someone can like english so much!
Anywho (as cheese would say) id beta go as this is rather tiring for me and im VERY slow at typing!!
So ta ta for now!!!!
Love Sara
Gorgeous blog, Sara. Beautifully expressed - your English teacher will be proud of you and hardly a txt word in sight!
Keep us Nelsonians posted on Maadi. Zoe's school can't afford a rowing team so there's no conflicting loyalties here. Could have something to do with her principal being ex of Twizel and not wanting to compete!! Now there's a thought.
Ditto to The Munros' blog - you've won a few heats yourselves these past few months.
Much love to you all
Mart, Jane and Zoe plus the absentee student studying in the Dunny Din.
Hi Sara, Rob, Sue and Kate-nearly-home.
Sorry to hear you had a dizzy spell Sara. They have had a few down here but not as traumatic as yours.
Great to hear you have finished the first 6 weeks of treatment. We are just so full of admiration for the way you are dealing with it and also for Sue and Rob, you guys are oarsome!
It is the eve before semifinals here. Two meetings tonight: one at 7:30pm with the rowers planning semifnals day and one at 9:00pm going through Board Assurance Statement and Self Audit checklists for ERO. I was in good company both times but know which one felt more enjoyable, and, more educational.
For those wondering what all the Maadi madness is about, its official name is the New Zealand Secondary Schools Rowing Championships. Last year Sara, Caitlin and Zoe went to it in the North Island as an iconic threesome, hence the the three rowers logos on clothes. Also a rowing joke as no rowing is done in threes, they rowed as three different combinations of two. (figure it out, its a good maths problem) They were lucky enough to be hosted by the Villa contingent who also have a Sarah (with an H) alias Cheese (who has a sister Caitlin, they also raced as a double).
This year it is in Twizel and the normal (good word for Twizel) population of 1200 has boomed to nearly 3,000 in a fit of decorated houses and insulation taped vans roaming the streets. The Twizel girls have moved out of their normal (that word again) homes into a Twizel house to recreate their own camp atmosphere, while our number 1 rower recuperates in Christchurch.
Checkout
http://www.schoolrowing.org.nz/maadi.php
or
http://www.rowing-world.com/
Better go now and get some sleep before the 8:20 excitment tomorow; yes folks, its another staff meeting! Followed by some more mucking about in boats at 9:35 and 12:05.
Seen on a rowing T-shirt "I Can go
through (past?) 200 buoys in 7 minutes."
Rest up well you Young ones
Love
Bill Sue Caitlin and Willis
I stand corrected and told Sara! I'm privileged to have a rebuke from the blogster herself. As I'm currently having to borrow Bill's famous pink kayak, I'm probably safer off the lake anyway: the ravening hordes could mistake me for a frankfurter.
I'm currently in the computer room supervising the MG boys (all the girls are at the lake either boat holding or supporting C and Z - who will be hitting the U16 semi in five minutes - or both) Da Boyz are researching Pol Pot. It's a bit forcing blood into stones getting them to take notes rather than just scolling merrily up and down websites. Speaking of Pol Pot though, has anyone out there in blog land got a video or DVD copy of 'the Killing Fields' they could loan me? I'd really like to show parts of it to these year 9-10 guys.
Twizel still nutty with rowers, unsurprisingly. Some delightful individuals from an unnamed girls high school in Christchurch were at the playground yesterday, hurtling one of their number round and around on the roundabout until she threw up everywhere. Nice.
Caketin and the Zoester must be on the way down the lake by now. I think the nine of us in the computer room are probably the last few left in the school this morning. Honestly, the place seems deserted! Back in 1998 we had the old Countdown bus and the whole school headed down to the lake in relays to see the boys compete.
Should probably stop and get the lads off irrelevant sites and get them organised. Again.
In the words of Pooh bear "We'll go and wish everybody a very happy Thursday."
Race must be over. I've just tried to call the office to find out the result. All I got was the answerphone. We are the last people here!!
LOL Granty
Wow - I have just been to watch my first live rowing final. FIRST!!! Go Caitlin! Go Zoe! GO Twizel! Sara, you would have been proud. And what a beautiful Twizel day, not a breath of wind, amazing autumn colours, sun streaming down ... I'm sure lots of people's thoughts were on you today Sara, as they watched our girls do so well. Your presence is sorely missed, and that applies to each of you.
Most of the school were down at the lake today, it was great.
What other news? It's hard to think of any at the moment, I am still pumped from watching the race. Yesterday I had a Reading Recovery meeting in Timaru and then bought Dean's Dad home from hospital. He is still not doing that well. Dean will take him to Nelson next weekend. Josh is now 10, we have the birthday party tomorrow, 4 boys (plus Josh) for an overnighter in tents on the lawn. Torch tig is one of the attractions. Ivan is apparently bringing his Dad's police torch, he should do well! Dean has nicknamed our three boys 'The Three Musketeers' due to their short haircuts, apparently they are some cartoon characters that I can't remember.
Hope things are looking up.
Big hugs
Sandy
Hey there bloggers - can you help? It's Sandy here again.
After posting the previous blog I actually ended up ringing Sue. They had watched the race and were very excited (and jealous of our lovely Twizel weather as it was cold and grotty in CHCH. Sara was, of course, wearing all rowing paraphanelia. Then they got into a hospital lift and a woman said something like 'Oh you're the missing rower that was in the Timaru Herald! So Sue asked me about that, but I haven't seen the Herald this week (being Otago people we of course get the ODT! - Go Otago!). Anyway, I said I would ask around to find what days Herald the relevant article was in, and get someone to send a copy up. Then I decided this is probably the easiest way ... so who can help?
- the bossy blonde one!
Give the Timaru Herald a call. They should be able to help you. There is a link to a Timaru Herald article through the schoolrowing website but it doesn't mention Sara. Exciting stuff!!
Dear Sara
Been ringing more than blogging but thought I'd get into it again.
Thinking of you heaps today. Wonderful race - we are all very proud - but miss you heaps. I had to watch back at school (webcam) with those who were not allowed to go (me dragonlady). The girls kept stopping and still won!
You can imagine Krista and co set up a chant / dance. On St Johns at Lake tomorrow so will be able to enjoy that race.
Who is this builder? What are they building? Not another blot on our view I hope?
John just rang on his way from Queenstown so you won't have your fleeting visit from him. Don't know if I should prepare tea or whether he has a pie under the hood!
ERO next week! We are welcomiing them with your wonderful selfportrait painting hanging in the entrance foyer. Clare has it framed and it looks beaut. Good first impressions!
Have a lovely weekend. Love to you all as always-
Glenda
Hi all out there in blogland, in case you havent heard, our inspiration Sara and her two Twizel team mates, Zoe and Caitlin, won a gold medal in the U16 double skulls today. What a credit to Twizel they are.
At 8.00am tomorrow morning they line up again in the U17 doubles final. Watch this space!!!
Cheers Bob
It did mention Sara in Saturdays Timaru Herald! Well done girls.
Dear Sara,
How's it going? Hope you are getting the lovely sun we had in Geraldine today - well and truly needed!
Were you able to watch the rowing the other day? Great result for the girls and such a wonderful achievement. They would have had you there every bit of the way down that course.
There was an article about the Twizel rowers a couple of days after I mentioned the lack of one, then another on Friday - head of the back page - a good big one, then the next today - a little caption on the front with the words "They did it for Sara".Then a nice big article inside all about it "Twizel girls win gold for Sara".
Well done everyone and hope you got my txts wishing you good luck and then congrats.
I hear that the whole school went down but going by the blogs, it sounds as though there were a few lonely souls left back there!
Do hope you get to spend some time hitting the shops for some retail therapy and some nice outings to the beach and other places.
Do hope to see you soon.
Love and hugs to Mum and Dad.
Love Cynthia, Victoria, Mike, Ben, Andrew and James.
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