August 31

Just a short update of August, as I'm behind in my lukesjourney blogging... ayiyiyi.

Spent August 12-18 at Dr. Swingle's in downtown Vancouver, and stayed at a nearby hotel that had a kitchenette and separate bedroom. It was walking distance so every morning Luke and I would walk the 3 blocks to the clinic. We'd spend the hour breaks searching for GFCFSF restaurant food or jumping in the spray park at the bottom of the stairs of Bute (on the boardwalk). It was intense having 3 sessions a day and when I was with him, Luke was most cooperative so I would take my book, or we would do Luke's games together, or he would watch a video or a show on the iPad. Most of the sessions were spent with the blinking glasses on and headphones (click here for a photo), rather than the video games... but that was okay. We'd be done at 3pm every day and go back to the hotel and meet up with daddy and Joel who spent a lot of time on the golf course (Joel did 18 holes 3x at the pitch-n-putt at Stanley Park, 100 yard max. holes). It was great that they could bond. We'd either make dinner in or order in so it was fun to try "Robson Street" dining. One night we went to the Lonsdale Quay by seabus and the boys loved that. We had Mexican food at the quay and then came back home. We didn't stay out too late most nights as it was really hot and the days were long enough.

One of the counsellors at Swingle explained that Luke had made a lot of progress in the week (nothing we could see right away).... and that Luke's statistics (they have numbers that chart and graph everything all over Luke's brain) said he was very intelligent, but just needed focus and concentration. He also graciously (and thankfully) explained that the effects would take a few weeks to be noticeable — comparing it to the time it takes for antidepressants to kick in for a depressed person. It was tough to go through the following weeks as I watched Luke regress in many ways, sometimes doing things that he'd done a year ago (like make strange noises to himself in the mirror at the trailer). The last two weeks of August were a rough time for me, partly because I had been with the kids 24/7 all summer and was a little burnt-out, but also because Luke was not himself and it was soooooo discouraging. He also had a sport camp for a week right after Swingle and he was quite naughty (running away)... behaviours I had hoped were behind us. Dave and I started to jokingly refer to Swingle as Dr. Swindle... haha... BUT he did not swindle us... we were just impatient. Luke ended the summer with a recurrence of the virus he had at spring break (which kicked him hard internally)... so I gave him the miraculous Dr. Wagstaff drops to help his body cope and chelate. By this time school was almost starting and I was worried about Luke's regressive behaviour and going through the wringer again at the school. I needed to let go and let God and I needed a real break personally.

Continued in the next month...