Helmut’s Journey

I am so sorry it has taken me so long to write an update. So many things have been happening lately and with Dad doing so well....I keep forgetting. Thats just it...Dad is doing AMAZING! Its hard to believe that this Sunday May 29th is one year since that dreadful day. This year has had many ups and downs and many questions with an equal amount of answers. It has been a year of tests and treatments, trials and tribulations! Dad has gone thru all the emotions, some that he has never experiened before. He has been frustrated and victorious...he is such a fighter. Mom has been such a champion thru all of this...she literally has only had 2 days "off" this entire year...that is when we were camping during his treatments last August...she is a strong strong lady. I am convinced Dad wouldn't be still with us if it wasn't for her. A common saying of Dad's these days, towards Mom is "I love you, but you sure are bossy!"  Over Easter weekend Belle and I were in S...

I will write a longer update later but…MRI results are back AND… THE BEAST HAS SHRUNK!! Thank you for all your continued prayers and thoughts!! Shannon for the Neufeld Family!!

It’s been a bit since I updated the Blog. As I write this David and I are on our way to Dominican Republic for our Honeymoon, yes we have been married for almost 11 years…but better late then never! After the year we have had with Dad and with David’s Mom passing unexpectedly on Feb 12th…we need this time away badly!! Dad is doing as can be expected with an inoperable brain tumour! As I last reported the BEAST has shrunk but it is still wreaking havoc on his body! Dad is very weak and requires a porter chair to move around. This is very difficult for him as he has been independent his entire life! They purchased a lift chair for him a few weeks back, as it was getting to difficult for Mom and Jason to get him off the couch to transport him to where he needed to go! It has been a blessing yet also a curse as now he can get up by himself and walk, which doesn’t always work out for him. He has had a few fainting spells, but his stubbornness doesn’t help matters either! I was able to go to...

After a rollercoaster of the last few weeks, weakness, puffiness and a whole lot of questions of what was going on...Dad had a MRI yesterday and the results... THE BEAST HAS SHRUNK!! Shortest update ever!!

As I sit here and wait for David to get out of his medical procedure I thought I would update the blog. I asked Dad this morning what I should all say and he said to wait for a bit. So I reminded him that I haven't updated since Thanksgiving, so I got the go ahead. As I said in the last update, the fight is real. Dad has gotten quite weak and has had a couple of "Stumbles"...ya I'll call them stumbles.  Because of this he was given a CT Scan to see if there were any bleeds and to give a general view of what was going on. Nothing of concern was found so that was great news. We have to keep reminding ourselves that he is sick, so weakness and instability all come with it. After the last round of Chemo his Platelets tanked to a low of 19 (his Oncologist won't do a infusion until they hit 10). They have managed to climb back up to 48 but at the last blood work had gone down to 46. So they are waiting to hear from the Oncologist for further plans of action. Please pray...

It has been quite a while since my last update, but I'm sure you all don't want to hear all the mundane stuff like what Dad ate today or how many Christmas Movies he has watched in the last couple of months. Maybe you do, but now you have an excuse to call him and ask him over the phone. Dad finished his third round of chemo at the beginning of November and has reached the end of the 23 day rest period between treatments. Last week he went in to Minnedosa for blood work and the results showed his platelets in the toilet again at 50. So that isn't great news but it is to be expected with all the poison being pushed thru his body. Yesterday he had his MRI to see what the BEAST has been up to these last 3 months...the news...is better then we expected. I had mentioned back in November that he had lost his balance and his short term memory was not the greatest. They started him on a steroid at that time as they thought it was do to swelling of the brain. The steroid worked and ...

This update isn't a health update, but just some musings of mine. Today is Remembrance Day, a day that in the Neufeld house was as important as Christmas. It was the one day of the year that we as a family would go to Remembrance Day service wherever we were living. It was a day where my Dad took pride in teaching us kids the importance of the day and what it meant. He would drive home the importance of remembering and thanking all those who fought for our freedoms from our past. As a little girl I loved watching Dad polish his High Browns...even if he did use spit to shine them up. I may have thought that was gross at the time, but they sure did come out shiny in the end. Then he would put on those pants that looked like he put bananas in the pant legs, it always made me giggle that he had to wear suspenders to keep them up, I only ever saw bigger guys wear suspenders, so seeing my skinny Dad wear them was amusing. My pride would always swell when he would finish off his ensemble ...