It is Late Night TV time and I am living the effects of the
steroid shot that starts my Chemo Treatment.
I am sleepless in Lake Bernard on day one of each session. But as ever I am getting ahead of myself once
again.
The last two week were busy as we got more boats either
ready to go or at the docks of their owners.
We worked long hours with the company of some 4 million black flies in
the field. Thankfully the bug shirts
were a good investment in our personal sanity as bugs truly do under your
skin. We had some additional help along
the way from Bruce’s extended family members which provided a good boost to
meet our commitments. Naturally,
seemingly small tasks turn into longer ones and prepping boats for deliver is
no exception to that rule. It is still
fun so we do not worry too much about the setbacks. Thankfully too, the dragon flies arrived in
squadrons on Friday and over the last weekend.
Their arrival signals the devastation of the legions of black flies by
the superior flying and eating machines.
Bug shirts are away for another year.
During my third week “good days” I managed to have a few
lunch and after work meetings with friends and business acquaintances. I enjoy those brief meetings as it keeps me
somewhat connected to the work world.
These are great people who have become friends throughout my working
career in Ottawa and I treasure visiting with them to share stories and laughs. I also had a business opportunity that I
agreed I would be able to participate in and a proposal was submitted. Unfortunately the client department had a
change in direction and this work was put on hold. I say unfortunately but I have to admit that
I was feeling very pressured and probably not able to deliver at the level that
I feel comfortable with. Chemo brain is
a real thing and the thought process and coordination of coherent thought is a
challenge. In addition, my schedule for
the next couple of months is pretty full.
To add a full or even a part time commitment was very unnerving. Well I worry no more as this planning
activity will be pushed to a period in the ongoing project that will make it
impossible to effectively plan and execute a training strategy for upcoming
roll-out. Not an unusual approach ..... Unfortunately.
Last week on Wednesday I spent a couple of hours at the
hospital to do my CT scan. Not one of my
favourite tests as you must endure a two hour period to drink this horrible
tasting dye to make all things visible and clear during the scan of my
body. I use the time to catch up on my
reading and I spike the drink with a juice additive to make it almost
bearable. The scan itself is about 5
minutes in length and the routine process is not very exciting. Regardless of all of this it is an important
test and one that I had been looking forward to. The CT scan gives the Dr. a window on the
activity of the active cancer in my body.
They can measure progress of the treatment or lack thereof in some cases. So that was last Wednesday and my results
would be interpreted for me the following Monday.
Over the weekend we worked like demented slaves getting
things done around the house. The
weather allowed us to get some boat prep time in, some work on the bathroom
renovation, some gardening, some cleaning of the cabin for guests, normal
laundry chores, some great meal prep and delivery and of course time with
Tara-Lee and Kaia. Like all things
during a crunch period, all tasks took longer than expected and some hurdles
presented themselves during execution.
As a result my Monday visit to the city became chook-a-block full with
trips to the Pump house (not a bar) to get a new Waste Pump for the septic
system, Apple Store to see if the planned obsolescence was kicking in with the
4-5 things that were going on in my phone and of course my bloodletter visit
pre-chemo session and the visit with Dr Jonker to get the scan results. All meetings and chores were completed with
precision military execution and only a few hic-ups. I did take some time to summarize my Dr
Jonker meeting in a text to family which does an adequate job so I will include
it here.
“Good meeting with the
Dr. Short term we go ahead tomorrow even though my WBC are less than
acceptable. He is going to reduce the dose of the bottled stuff to
compensate and the Neupogen (sp) will be increased to 7 days from 5. All
this so my cycle does not interfere with the wedding. I am happy. Longer
view is less positive as my 3 week cycle will continue with CT results showing
no new growth and affected areas are stable ( meaning not getting larger or smaller).
So some good mixed in with less positive makes this a good day.”
That led to a 9:30 visit to the hospital to go ahead with my
11th Session of this 3rd Round. It was a pretty regular visit but the staff
and volunteers are precious as they do everything to effectively go about their
duty while providing empathetic expressions to the complaints and discussions
of side effects with all of their clients.
In recent visits I have been visited regularly by volunteers who try
very hard to get me something and make sure that I have what I need to make me comfortable while I am there. Today I asked for steak and eggs and I was
casually informed that they were not available today but the cart did have
Tequila. Banter like that makes the Chemo
Unit, where they poison you intentionally, a place you can enjoy the time that
you are there. Thank you to the staff of
the QCH as I appreciate your efforts.
So that leads me to the fact that I am whacked out by Chemo,
a sleepless night last night, feeling some nausea, sniffle and listlessness from my treatment and
of course the effects of the steroid and I still believe that I can write this
update and make sense. I think I better
get out of here while the getting is good.
My best wishes to all and thank you for taking the time to
drop in.
Love ya........
