Round 3 Session 2 continued

(written Dec 11, 2016)

Today is the occasion of my daughter’s birthday.  That brings a smile to my face as I recall Freddi working diligently in the kitchen in our house in Russell ON as she prepared my birthday dinner for family and friends.  She had been on her feet, setting the table and cooking her heart out to entertain the assembled family and friends.  At one point she told me that we should sit down and that I should serve up the beautiful roast beef dinner to our guests as she was going to lie down since she had been in labour for the past few hours.  To my surprise, she was not kidding and we were on our way to the hospital in short order.  I believe our guests had a great meal and sampled the fine selection of wine but we were not part of that portion of the evening.  Tara-Lee was born several hours later in Ottawa.  That started a life of a cheery little girl who has spent a good deal of her life bringing happiness and smiles to many people on our planet.  To that little girl I say “Happy Birthday” today.

In addition today is day 6 after my last Chemo Session and things are starting to become clearer.  First and foremost, if I follow thee Dr recommendations things will go better.  My side effects have been reduced now that I am taking the drugs and drinking more water.  They are certainly not eliminated but the impact is certainly way down.  I had some bouts of nausea, tiredness, lethargy and of course the usual input output issues accompanied by fairly significant cramping.  It is unfortunate that one cannot predict these issues as that would allow one to better plan the day.  But one cannot plan and one needs to have proximity to bathroom facilities and plenty of drinking water. As I look ahead it is my hope that the effects will continue to diminish and allow me to be more fluid in my activities.

Over the week I managed a couple of outings for shopping as Freddi was off on Friday and we ventured to Wakefield for a quiet lunch at Hibou and some Christmas shopping.  All went well and we had some good food and managed to get some gifts at the various shops in the village.  It is nice shopping in a less busy environment than the malls in the city.  Other than that I was pretty sedentary and I read, cooked and did my Christmas cards by the fire. 

I am smiling as I think about how I was about to start this next paragraph.  My initial thought was that “The big news of the day is ...” when I realized that although big to me it is of little consequence in the bigger picture of life around us.  In a time when people are still talking about the impact of the American election, the issues of Canadian parliament paralysis or moving too slowly, the Pheonix pay system for the public servants and atrocities happening around the world, I am excited by the fact that the ice has moved into Lake Bernard over night.  Although pretty microscopic in importance it is still a big event that only happens once a year – in my world.  But it has happened and now we settle in for a long cold winter period for which we must seek relief from time to time.  My thoughts are turning toward Hawaii for certain now.