Happenings at the Hierls

Being done with cancer treatments has been a mixed blessing.  On the one hand, we are glad this phase is over but on the other, it is a bit scary that nothing is being done to fight it.  By all external appearances, Dennis is the same.  Of course, until his next MRI at the end of the month, it is impossible to know what is going on.  Dennis still struggles with fatigue.  He has days that are better than others but overall he tires easily.  He is finding that when he is in noisy environments or carrying on conversations he tires very easily.  He does what he can when he feels up to it and rests as he needs too.  We are also learning to plan for this.  Mostly that means not to plan too many things or long things into one day.  

One of the biggest challenges has been Dennis’ inability to drive.  We understand this restriction.  The type of cancer Dennis has has a high probability of returning and often the first indicator of the return is a seizure.  If Dennis were driving when that happened, it could be a risk to himself, his passengers and anyone else on the road at the time.  This has left Dennis largely home bound.  Just recently the doctor has approved Dennis to drive a scooter as long as he wears a helmet.  This reduces the risk of him hurting others if he should have a seizure while driving.  We are hoping to work out the details of him getting a scooter that would allow Brooke to go places with him as she will be home with him during summer break.  We have been working with a scooter shop in Madison on this and are close to having all the questions answered.  This will give them some mobility.  It will allow them to get to the pool for swimming lessons for Brooke, to the library, out for lunch, to a park…  Brooke is out of school at the end of May so we would like to have this ready to go by then.  If this does not work out, we will be back to considering an electric bike.

Brooke goes to AWANA and one of the events they do in spring is a pine car race.  Dennis and Brooke engaged the help of our friend Dennis Stewart and built her car together.  I’ve seen the video they took of the day they built it and it looks like they had a great time.  The race is on Wednesday.