Day out (and back in)

So yesterday being Joshua's last day of freedom, I decided we should try and get out and about. Googling the nearest and easiest to reach green places, I found the 'Mount Coot-tha Botanic Gardens' (Mount Coot-tha being the highest point in Brisbane - although at 287m it's 'mountain' label is slightly dubious).

As we only have a five-seater, I drove the boys while Libby and Bethany took the bus and train to the nearest station. Should be simple, right? 👦

Why is it that you always believe the sat nav over the evidence of your own eyes? Or is it just me? Even though I could see the sign in front of me saying to turn right to the Botanic Gardens, as the sat nav said turn right in x00 metres I, of course, waited. Unfortunately, by that time there was no right turn and I was heading South on the M5...So, of course, we added an extra 10 minutes on our journey doing the old 'exit at the next junction, go round the roundabout, go back the way you came' trick...

We eventually found where we were going, and I dropped off Joshua and Caleb at the gardens and then went looking for Libby (taking Ruben with me, much to his annoyance - our level of trust with Ruben is not that high at the moment...) Libby and Bethany had helpfully left the station and found their way to a hospital close by - the theory being that this was a better landmark to find. Which I did, but unfortunately it was rather a large hospital so it took rather a lot of mobile phone communication to actually find each other. But we did eventually, and then we trekked back to the Botanic Gardens - coming within a hair's breadth of repeating the whole 'M5' experience. Libby agreed that the signposting was not entirely clear (so I retained some self-respect...)

So about an hour and a half after leaving, we all ended up together at the Botanic Gardens. This was about ten to four, and reading through the guide we discovered that most of the exhibits closed at four... The other unfortunate thing was that by the time I got back with Libby and Bethany, Joshua was already beginning to fade. However, he gamely walked around pushing his wheelchair for a bit before sitting in it for the rest of the trip. The gardens were a bit of a let down really - although maybe in a different context we would have enjoyed them. The cafe was closed for renovations, which was a major downer - coffee and ice cream were significant drawing factors in the first place. The sun also chose to start hiding at around four, which also made us less inclined to hang around.

So what with all that, after about half an hour we decided to call it a day. I ordered an Uber for Libby and Bethany on the way back and the whole thing took about 10 minutes. Some things are just worth paying the money for...

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So it's Sunday and we're back in the hospital. Libby was slightly disconcerted to arrive at the hospital at 8.30 this morning (Uber again 👦) to find that no one appeared to be expecting them. However, I think they finally worked out that Joshua was supposed to be there, and told them to come back in an hour while they played musical beds with the very full ward so Joshua could have a room. (Very glad that Joshua is still sniffing, otherwise he would probably have ended up sharing - he has standing instructions now 👦).

This gave Joshua the opportunity to see bits of the hospital he hadn't seen, like the school and the rooftop gardens. It was a good day to do it, as Sunday is always nice and quiet.

Eventually they got into a room and we started Round 2 - which is remarkably similar to Round 1 - except that we are probably a lot more relaxed about it, as we know what to expect and know that as he is not on any new drugs he won't (God-willing) have any new side effects. Still, we are praying for each drug as it gets infused.

Thank you for your ongoing support and prayers. Please keep it up. Despite what I might have written in earlier posts, I don't claim to be a prayer expert and do believe that prayer is impacting Joshua's condition during this treatment.

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Because I may not have mentioned it before, Joshua's hair is now getting quite thin - and very soft, like a baby's 👦 The first few days of it falling out were a bit of a nightmare - a bit like having an ill-groomed dog moulting in the house. The rate of loss seems to have slowed down now though - not sure whether it will pause now until the same point in the next round, or continue to fall out. Either way, we have the beanies ready 👦