Good morning folks.... today is a snowy Tuesday morning in
Ottawa. It is our first real snow storm
and it has traffic snarled up pretty well.
Once again I have been negligent in addressing this blog and
once again I can only say that I have been a busy boy over the last few weeks. It seems to get really busy at this time of
year regardless of your work or play status.
My time was some play, some work and a great deal of getting ready for
birthday celebrations and the upcoming Christmas period. I feel confident that today is a turning
point to a more balanced life style filled with fewer activities than the
period that has just passed.
Our Holland America cruise on Eurodam was a very restful
period during which Freddi and I were content to read, swim, eat, drink and
sleep. We enjoyed each of the port stops
but did not really participate in any of the excursions. We were happy to walk about and visit the new
environments and generally being low key.
A couple of really good things happened on this cruise. First was the fact that we were able to spend
time with John and Sue in Cayman. John’s
sister Linda was also there and we had met her before on several
occasions. The five of us toured the
retail Mecca that looks very much like a high end outdoor mall before driving
up north to visit John’s favourite restaurant on the shore of the island. They are doing very well down there and
enjoying the warm weather, the sun and just relaxing on the island. They have a very busy period there after Christmas
as their family rotates through for varying lengths of time. Our day was most relaxing and we enjoyed the
chatter over the fine food overlooking the bay on a sunny day.
We also met quite a few folks on the cruise as we were in
“open seating” in the dining room each evening.
We managed a few evening meals in the specialty restaurants but other than
that we ate in the main dining room. The
food was very good and there was a good selection available at every meal. We had a chance meeting with a British
couple, Paul and Susan, at the outset of the cruise and we spent intermittent
periods with them over the cruise. We
had dinner with them on a couple of evenings and went to some shows with them
after dinner. They are very kind and
interesting people and we have committed to stay in touch. It is my hope that they will visit in Canada
and that we will be able to visit them in Kent England when we finally get to
our desired UK trip. Paul is retired from
RAF and Sue is still working as a BA in the Bank so they have limited time to
travel but seem to manage to get away a few times each year. It was a great experience meeting them.
We returned to Canada as planned on the 26th and
life just got busy from the get go. I
made it to the hospital on Monday to get my blood tests done so that Dr Jonker
would have the full picture for our next meeting the following day. Freddi and I went to the Tuesday appointment
with a bit of trepidation as the last few months had been terrific in terms of
how I was feeling. Should the results of
the CT and Blood tests show negative results Dr Jonker would recommend that we
re-start Chemo immediately. As
previously stated I had a preferred scenario and that action was not part of
that set of activities. We chatted with
the nurse assistant who confirmed that I had added 6 lbs during the cruise as I
indulged in fine food and fruity drinks with my share of wine. We all laughed at the post cruise promises to
drop that excess weight. The nurse
checked me out and found me to be in good physical health. She reported her findings to Dr Jonker before
he arrived in our waiting room. He provided
us with the results of the tests and I was instantly disappointed as there
seemed to be some growth in the Cancer in my liver and lungs during the period
without Chemo. He did say it was minimal
growth but it was growth and it was not good news to me. I asked him what his recommendation was and
he said his first reaction was to re-start the Chemo that week. I then asked if that was negotiable as I
really wanted to enjoy “feeling good” for another 3 months or so. A small smile came across his face as I
believe he was expecting this request from me.
He agreed to 2 months and I had to once again explain that I had travel
plans in that period. At the end of the
negotiation it was established that I would have another CT scan upon return
from Barbados in Feb followed by another consult a week later. I was happy with that position as was
he. So I will continue to be Chemo free
for another period and I hope to continue and build on some of the dietary
changes to slow down the Cancer growth more naturally. Unfortunately, I am not a full on naturalist in
my diet and view some of the recommended solutions a little skeptically. However, I am committed to learning more and
trying to be better at helping myself.
There is much to be learned out there.
So with renewed strength, stamina and determination I
continued on my life track and completed 4 shifts at the airport the following
week. I took one of Tara-Lee’s shifts as
she had day-care issues and I was available.
Our shifts are usually 7 hours (sometimes shorter) and they are pretty
much full time busy moving about the airport ensuring that WestJet guests are
being well served and have no issues while they are preparing to jet off to
some other location or returning from another location after business or
pleasure travel. We handle a lot of
wheel chair transports and assist guests with the kiosk check-in process or any
of their inquiries. I enjoy the job and
have noted that I walk around 10 – 15 km per day inside the building.
We had the pleasure of visitors over the last weekend. Gray came in on Thursday last week and Lucy
came in on Saturday to join us in our December birthday celebrations. It was to be a big one as Tara-Lee achieved a
big milestone on the 11th and I added just another year on the 10th.
On Friday evening Brehn coordinated a dinner
for a group of Tara-Lee’s “besties” and we all enjoyed a nice dinner at
Vittoria Trattoria in the village of Westboro.
It was a fun evening with lots of great food and wine and a superb slide
show of Tara-Lee’s life to date. There
were some hysterical pictures from those old days. Gray joined Freddi on a drive to the cottage
for the night. On Saturday I had a 5
hour shift at the airport and I arrived back at the lake in time to have a
great dinner of roast beef with the family at home. On Sunday Tara-Lee and Brehn had invited
their family and friends for some Christmas cheer in the afternoon. That was yet another great social event. We had a nice ham dinner after all left and
Gray and I drove to the cottage for the night.
Freddi stayed behind as she had an early morning at work on Monday. That evening we gathered again at Tara-Lee
and Brehn’s place to go out for our annual Mum’s dinner treat for our
birthdays. This year we went to Gazellig and had a wonderful meal again. Kaia was
very excited about being in a restaurant as she had on her finery and wanted to
walk about and see all of the restaurant guests. Brehn
had his dinner when we had our had our appies so he left a little early when
Kaia showed signs of being tired and ready for bed. We Ubered back to the house when we finished
our great dinner. Thank Mum!
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| MUM's Birthday Dinner at Gazellig |
On Tuesday I Joined Bruce and some lake friends for a tour
of the Chaudiere Falls power plant in Ottawa.
It was recently completed and will add new power sources to supply the
City of Ottawa power needs. It is quite
an operation and it was fun to compare the new against the old style operation
in Station 4 on Victoria Island. It was
a very neat couple of hours and I was happy to join them for the tour. After the tour I had my Christmas lunch with
Denise and Karl as we all prepare for a busy run-up to Christmas. It is always fun to lunch with them as we
have shared stories and opinions for well over 20 years. Old friend are very important friends.
That brings me to now – as I write this in my auto mechanic’s
extra chair in their office, and prepare to meet another friend for another
lunch. The next three days are all work
days so I will likely not have much spare time to Christmas shop and prepare
for the upcoming holiday.
Thank you for dropping in.
I do hope there are few or at least one “aha” in the message and please
do feel free to drop a line and ask any question you might have. Please feel comfortable that I am feeling
great and happy to be on my continued break from Chemo during the holiday season
and beyond our next short vacation.
Love to all of you .......
