Today is a beautiful day at Lake Bernard and I can hear the
sounds of children enjoying the pleasures of the lake as I sit here. It has been a while since I have tapped out a
few words about my family, my health, my life and other less important things
that I am involved in. I have been in a
bit a slump in the mental area but I have also been very busy with company and
activities around the house. The last
two days have been quiet and I have been able to catch up so I thought I might
address my blog to update you.
First and foremost the family is all well and making the
best of our rather wet summer. We have
had fun company for weekends and I am in awe of the food we consume not to
mention the number of empty bottles of wine that get put out each weekend. All fun and it is entertaining to watch
little Kaia and her parents learn new things every day. It is so rewarding to be “Popski” and watch her
development regularly. Gray, Bree and
Skylar are well also and they are enjoying their activities in the mountains surrounding
the beautiful valley of Pemberton. In addition
we had a visit from my sister for 5 days where we chatted, read, ate and drank
together over many meals in the Tree House.
We also had a visit with nephew Greg and his daughter Brooke as she was
in Ottawa for Skate Canada competition.
She skated in pairs and won her category even though they were the
youngest pair in their class. Well done
Brooke. Her sister was in San Jose CA
competing in a swim meet and she managed to set new records on that same
day. Well done Summer.
I marvel at the amount of dedication that competitive sports bring out in individuals and their fa
mily to boot.
I marvel at the amount of dedication that competitive sports bring out in individuals and their fa
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| Bandit at 3 months |
We have a new addition to our family in the form of a beauty
of a kitten. She is 3 months old and she
is way too much energy for an old guy like me.
But I have found that when we are alone and I am trying to read, she
slips onto my lap for an energy building sleep.
She is called Bandit and she has stolen my heart in a short two week
period.
On July 25 I went to the QCH for my 13th session
in Round 3. My blood tests were all fine
except for the WBC count was .1 shy of the minimum acceptable level. Once again we got the go ahead in short order
from the Dr. and we had a very ordinary session with everything going as planned. Once home I rested for the balance of the day
and did some reading to pass the time of day.
I am reading a very good series of books right now and am enjoying my
time with Jeffery Archer as he rolls out the Clifton Chronicles. However, on day two through 6 I had less fun
or certainly less enjoyment of each day.
My side effects were the worst I have experienced to date. I was nauseous, had pains in my stomach, was
constipated, headachy and on one occasion experienced some dizziness and
sweating profusely with water appearing on my body (not just on my brow) that
lasted for a couple of hours. It was
very worrisome but it went away when I lay down for a rest. The
balance of the first week I was very slow with constipation turning to diarrhea
for a few days. All of Dr Auer’s
predictions of post op colon cancer inconveniences happened during those days. And to
top it all off my nights were fitful and not at all restful. At the 7th day I started to feel
better and then each day was a better day after that. When I looked over the rocky period, after
day 7, I realized that I had not used the supplied drugs effectively to combat
the after effects of Chemo. I noted that
for my discussion with the nurse at my next session. As I said things improved after day 7 and I
was very pleased to be out of the woods for the next couple of weeks.
But this did give me cause to question why we do this every
3 weeks. While thinking about this I
took a dip in my positive attitude and resilience and that made me somewhat depressed. My energy level is lower and my initiative
took a hit also. That led to a fragile
mental state which took a great deal of energy to reverse. I visited with some good friends and talked
about some of the issues and was encouraged and reassured that “I look good”
and I do have a positive attitude about all of this. That was very helpful. I have also catalogued more questions for the
Dr. when I see him on Sept 5. I have
another CT Scan scheduled for Aug 28th which will tell us how we are
doing. The results should show stability
or reduction of cancer cells in the key areas of my liver and lungs. If that is not the case we have a different discussion
to have.
Yesterday I had session 14 at the QCH. For the first time, my WBC was above the
normal count and was of no concern to the nurses. I have been using a supplement that my
sister-in-law suggested for about a month now.
It is Reishi mushroom and it is a food supplement that is said to beneficial
to the immune system. I believe it is
working and we will monitor that over future sessions. The session went off without a hitch but an
interesting interaction occurred as I was leaving the Pod after my
treatment. During the session a patient
came in who I had not met but was familiar.
I thought it was Stuart McLean but have since validated the fact that Stuart
passed away from Cancer in Feb of this year.
So I hope it was not Stuart. I
took the opportunity to chat with him and wish him luck with his Chemo
treatments. He informed me that this was
to be his last treatment. I hope that is
the case. We chatted about the death of
Bryan Murray and about the courageous battle he endured all the while keeping
active in his job and public about his condition. http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/ottawa/bryan-murray-celebration-of-life-ottawa-senators-1.4246778 We both agreed that we would be interested in
attending his Memorial service at the Canadian Tire Centre on Aug 24th. I relayed my story of Bryan making public his
diagnosis of colon cancer on the same day that my Dr. gave me my diagnosis of
colon cancer. His death last Saturday
had a deep impact on me and we chatted about that too. It was a brief discussion but one that will
help me along the path ahead.
Today a neighbour dropped by to drop off some soup and muffins to provide some treats over this quiet week. She has been doing this for many sessions and I certainly appreciate her initiative and thoughtfulness.
Tomorrow I get my bottle taken off and routinely that is a
bad day. This session I am staying true
to the prescribed meds and taking extra when I feel badly. My nurse gave me a stern lecture about that
and I will do so to reduce the impact on my body and mental state.
Thank you dropping in to read this and my best wishes for
health and happiness go out to you.
Namaste......
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