Post Round 3 Session 1 continued.

It is Tuesday now and 7 days have passed since my first go-around with this cocktail.  During that period of time my body has returned to somewhat normal operation and my mind is clearer for sure.  Yesterday I notified the Nurse of the various effects that I have experienced over the last week.  In most cases all of the reactions/effects were as expected but one was of concern as it was not in any of the material or expectation.  It had to do with some blood in my stool that should not have been there.  I, personally, am not surprised as that area has been the focus of many new activities starting up after the removal of the Ileostomy.  I await any further comment from my nurse.

Today I feel more normal and I am now waiting to see my dentist as I work through long planned appointments this week.  I had one with my “eye guy” yesterday but was unable to chat with him as he took an extra day off and I will see him in January instead.  His team conducted their normal baseline glaucoma tests.  There is one test in that series that is video-game-like test where you click every time you see a light flash in a sphere.  For some reason, that test drives me crazy and it lasts forever.  Apparently it is only 5 minutes per eye but it is irritating – perhaps only to me.

Over the last couple of days I have received a tremendous amount of support from the folks I sent my note to on Friday.  Please be assured that I appreciate all of the support and enjoy hearing from each and every one of you.   It is nice to catch up and hear about what is going on in your lives too so please do not stop dropping a line.  I also got a lot of support for the blog idea and only time will tell if it is an effective tool to communicate and share information.

To that end we spent the weekend at Lake Bernard doing some of the winter-ready tasks that have been left undone until now.  With the help of Andrew on Saturday Freddi, Tara-Lee and I wrestled the docks into their winter position in hopes that we do not have as much damage by the ice as we did last year.   I believe we will still have several weeks without ice in the lake but we will be ready when it comes.  Tara-Lee and Kaia were with us for most of the weekend and they provided us with lots of entertainment and diversions.  All in all a good weekend.

I have been pondering my situation over the past few weeks and have resolved to get some things out of the way.  These are things that most people have already addressed but in my “invincible suit” I have left some of them undone or at least incomplete.  So I am turning my attention to such things as a complete financial plan, a current will and last testament, a complete “death book” and of course the needed Bucket List.  Don’t get me wrong, I do not have any information that you are not aware of but I am feeling conscious of my mortality in this current situation.  It is also something that I felt was only fair if I tidied up some of my affairs to make life easier for Freddi and my family.  This, I remind all of you, is something you should address and have behind you regardless of your current situation.  I admit that I have been lax in these areas with the exception of ensuring that there were traces of effort along the way.  Tomorrow I am meeting with my financial house representative to structure the diverse information about assets and liabilities. This is one task I have been avoiding as I was always comfortable with the knowledge that there was something to manage and therefore there was no need to worry much about this.  However, the state of semi-retirement has caused me to think more about this and I am seeing the cracks in the mortar on this uncharted and not so well thought out plan.  Tomorrow I have to face some smartly dressed young math major at the office in a big building with lots of glass and stainless steel and admit that I have done a crappy job of managing my finances.  Then I will have to listen to this wiper-snapper tell me all the things I should have done.  I feel very much like Stephen Leacock when he wrote of his Financial Career https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9IV6xT00ZZ4 .  I expect it will all work out in the end and we will get to a plan but not without some squirming on my part. 

Some of the other things I mentioned will be addressed as we move forward getting our proverbial stuff in order.  I am particularly fond of thinking about the Bucket List as it seems to be less responsible than the others.  I wonder why that is .......

On Thursday of this week I am departing for my Christmas visit to Pemberton to deliver the Rodier Christmas gifts for the family.  That trip has recently become a tradition and I thoroughly enjoy the visit each year.  To enhance this trip this year I am going to be accompanied by Tara-Lee and Kaia.  This should be a lot of fun as we work through travel and visiting together.  I know TL and Kaia are good and easy travellers but it will be different as usually I do it alone.  I am sure there will be some fun events as we work our way across the country.  We plan on returning on Sunday as I have some tests that must be completed on Monday to allow for a second session of Chemo on Tuesday.

Once again, thank you for your support and feel free to correspond through email.  I will do my best to respond in a timely manner.   Be well and happy.......