Apr 28, 2010

Today we went for Adrian’s first hearing aids fitting at the centre near Sick Kids. Because the hearing aid centre is specialized in dealing with kids, everyone including the fitting specialist is very patient & professional. He ran over the features, instructions, warranty and the return policy before showing us how to properly put them on Adrian’s ear. The hearing aids (Nios Mircos by Phonak) have been programmed using Adrian's latest audiogram as a guide which will help restore his high-frequency hearing loss due to chemotherapy. While we have been wondering how Adrian will be coping with the aids, he surprised us all! Not only did he cooperate and let us and the specialist keep on putting the aids on/off his ears, he even showed it off to Grandpa before dinner! But we don’t know how well he’s going to tolerate it in the days to come…

The entire set!




This teddy bear has hearing aids as well...

Apr 25, 2010

Adrian @ Vaughan Mills






It's funny how Adrian pulled us to Ben & Jerry's not for ice-cream - but to take a picture of the ice-cream logo!!

Apr 24, 2010

The bicycle was one of Adrian's many birthday presents this year. It's also the FIRST bike he ever owns and he finally put it into use this weekend. He loves riding it after he knows how to pedal but he'll need more time to learn turning and so on. He's off to a great start for sure!

Apr 20, 2010

As Adrian becomes a BIG FOUR, we noticed there are quite a few changes in his lifestyle:-

- No more bibs! He refused to put them on anymore when having his meals.
- He imitates us by using chopsticks for meals at home.
- He insists to help Mama with washing veggies everyday. He'll ask Papa to get dinner ready after the preparation.
- He has his own preference on clothing these days. He'll get really mad if we got him the wrong outfit that he didn't feel like wearing that day.
- He loves colorful tops like red, yellow, orange... and hated dark colors like black, brown or grey.
- One thing he'll need to get used to... wearing his hearing aids! The hearing aids fitting is scheduled on April 28th at 17:00!!



Apr 14, 2010

Can't believe our little guy is 4 years old today! Because of the recent Orlando trip and the birthday party last weekend, we failed to plan anything special for Adrian except ordering Pizza for lunch at school with his fellow classmates. It's finally Adrian's trun to do the Montessori way birthday celebration in class as well. He's overjoyed by all the celebrations and he is proud to say "four years old" when people asked about his age. Happy Birthday little Adrian... May you grow happy, healthy and remain NED forever!

Adrian got so excited opening the gifts...

Apr 13, 2010

Adrian’s 1st speech therapy session began this morning at Markham Stouffville Hospital. It’s the first time Papa went with us to meet with the SLP and he got to understand more on where Adrian stands from a treatment perspective. We went through the latest updates and the SLP was pleased to know the pair of hearing aids is on its way. Certain hi-frequency sounds that Adrian currently has difficulty making are "f", "h", "s" & "z" and the SLP strongly believes the hearing aids will make him hear better those sounds. The focus of the 1-hr long session is on Auditory Verbal Therapy that Adrian is encouraged to use his hearing to take instructions and imitate sounds that the SLP makes. We, as parents, are advised not to give hints/gestures that Adrian may rely upon when giving instructions at home. The SLP was pleased to see Adrian cooperated during the session. One of the many things we need to work on is to encourage Adrian to use his lips more (e.g. pushing the lips forward) when making sounds.

Apr 11, 2010

Adrian had his 4th Birthday Party today along with his 6 other friends whose birthdays fall within these couple of weeks. This is the FIRST time Adrian got to celebrate his birthday with friends & families in Canada since he was born. Though he still didn't seem to know it's for his OWN birthday party, he enjoyed it tremendously (he loves attending birthday parties)! Everyone seemed to have a good time and the kids had so much fun spending 3 hours in the indoor playground!!!











Apr 5 - 9, 2010

With Adrian’s birthday coming up in less than 2 weeks together with the grandparents visiting from Hong Kong, we had the very first family “vacation” in Orlando.

1st day
- Flight leaving Toronto at 06:30 arriving in Orlando before noon.
- Lunch at Chef Mickey in Contemporary Resort
- Rest of the day at Epcot Park.
- Shows/Rides: Honey, I shrunk the Audience; Journey Into Imagination With Figment; Maelstrom; The Seas with Nemo & Friends
- Adrian passed out completely around 18:00, skipped dinner and went straight to bed. Woke up in the middle of night in the hotel room wondering where he was…. He needed to sleep with Mama the rest of the night until 05:00.





2nd Day
- Since Adrian woke up so early that morning, we hit off the park - Disney Hollywood Studios before it opens at 09:00
- Shows/Rides: Lights, Motors, Action! Extreme Stunt Show; Playhouse Disney – Live on Stage; The Great Movie Ride; Toy Story Mania; Voyage of The Little Mermaid; Beauty & the Beast – Live on Stage.
- Resting at hotel for an hour or two late afternoon then walked to explore our hotel neighborhood. Stocked up eggs, water & Milk at 711 and had a seafood feast!






3rd Day
- Early rise to Magic Kingdom before 09:00
- Shows/Rides: Cinderella’s Golden Carrousel; Country Bear Jamboree; Mad Tea Party; Mickey PhilharMagic; Monster Inc. Laugh Floor; Peter Pan’s Flight; Pooh’s Playful Spot; Snow White’s Scary Adventure; The Barnstormer at Goofy’s Wiseacre Farm; The Enchangted Tiki Room – Under new Management; The Magic Carpets of Aladdin; Tomorrowland Speedway.
- Resting at hotel after parade and back to MK for dinner, SpectroMagic & Fireworks at 22:00.







4th Day
- Animal Kingdom
- Shows/Rides: It’s Tough to be a Bug; Kali River Rapids; Kilimanjaro Safaris; Maharajah Jungle Trek; The Boneyard; TriceraTop Spin; Finding Nemo – The Musical
- Left the park after the 15:45 Jungle parade. Adrian napped at hotel and we headed off for outlet shopping until 23:00!







5th Day
- Flight departed at 12:10 arriving Toronto before 15:00.

Apr 1, 2010

Adrian complained of leg pain after the shots last night and went to bed early. We woke him up at 06:30 to get ready for his appointments today at Sick Kids.

1. Before the 1st appointment with the ENT doctor at 10:00, Adrian had his hearing test again with the audiologist. He cooperated and did really well at the test. The result echoes with his last audiogram and confirms the need for high frequency amplification. The audiologist went over different options of hearing aids and provided her recommendations. Later we met with Dr Papsin, the ENT specialist who signed the ADP (Assisted Device Program) form and again recommended the need for the hearing aids for Adrian. He couldn't be in a better position to emphasize the need for amplification since he, too, has hi-frequency hearing loss! After meeting with the doc, we were brought to another room where the nurse was trying to clear Adrian's ear wax by flushing both his ears. The doc later came to finish the last part by scooping the rest out. Adrian was so calm and people there were so impressed on how brave he was!

2. Next comes the appointment with Dr Baruchel. It's also our first time going to the new relocated Haematology/Oncology clinic. Adrian had a fun time exploring different areas in the waiting area. But we didn't get to meet Dr Baruchel for some reasons (he didn't come in for the day) and we were seen by a Nurse Practitioner. We were advised the last urine result together with the Cardiac Echo test results were all normal. She'll yet to find out when our next appointment is going to be (either 3 months' or 6 months) and we'll receive the appointment slip in the mail.

One of the sections in the waiting area is the "Kitchen".


Adrian asked why the tap wasn't working... hmm, it's a toy!


In the consultation room...


3. Lastly, we paid a visit to the hearing aid centre nearby and got the ear molds done for Adrian. The hearing aids will take 2 weeks to come and we'll visit the centre again for the fitting. This is going to be our birthday present for Adrian... :)