Today I am sitting at the kitchen counter with a faithful
but tired dog by my side. Bailey is
tuckered out as we just spent a couple of hours outside cleaning up snow that
fell early this morning. Not my
favourite task at -3 degrees as the snow is heavy and wet. Regardless, it is now cleared and the
surrounding area is ready for the freeze to come over the next few days.
On Dec 11th I had my second Chemo session at QCH. The session started at 8:30 am and I managed
to get out of there at about 11:30. My
nurses this time were nurses that I remember from previous sessions and their
expertise was very much appreciated. I
had taken my pre-chemo drugs and they injected the requisite steroids and got
the results of my urine test so they were all set to go. The session followed the same routine as
usual with no diversions or obstacles.
As we come close to the end of the session I got a very strong urge to
pee and must make my way to the bathroom fairly smartly with all of my attached
bags etc. I have learned to do this
fairly efficiently over time. However,
like drinking beer, once you break the seal there are frequent trips in the
last half hour of treatment. I managed
to get away with only three trips this time in my last half hour. An alert sounds when the bag runs out and
sure enough I was “alerting” while I was peeing way down the hall from my
station of the day. Once I returned I
was ‘finished up” by pushing my chemo that is contained in my bottle for the 48
hour pumping into my system. With the
bottle attached and all the paperwork done I set off for my day.
I was hungry but not feeling very strong. I manage to pick up some Thai food (what was
I thinking) on my way to see Tara-Lee.
After I purchased it I decided to make it dinner instead of a
snack. My visit with TL was short but I
did want to wish her a happy birthday on her day.
Once home I managed to do some e-mails for work and to watch
some TV as I needed a sleep. Funny how I
can sleep in the afternoon but not at night when on this stuff! Day 2 is always a quiet day and I busied
myself with Christmas cards and some wrapping of presents. I know I planned to make dinner that night
but decided to make it a simple grilled cheese and soup meal. I was experiencing the usual nausea,
sleeplessness, restlessness, mild headache, malaise and irregular bowel
habits. I have grown to expect one, two
or all of these until I get the bottle removed.
On day 3 I made my appointment at CCAC to have the bottle removed and
then I visited TL again as Thursday was a work day again at the airport.
The shift went by without any significant issues but I was
certainly not myself and I managed to get through the shift by keeping to
myself, as much as possible, and just getting the job done. Typically, day 4 is a better day and my shift
also happened on that day. I was feeling
more myself but certainly not feeling well during the shift. It was a long drive home and right into
bed. Finally I got a good night sleep
and on day 5 I was feeling better but not 100% - 60% would have been a better
number. Day 6 was also a work day and I
managed to be more connected and feeling better for this shift. I have learned to reduce my activities post
Chemo but that is not always the case. I
had a couple of meeting with consultants that needed to happen and I managed to
get through them without any incidents.
Finally, on day 8, I was able to say to myself that I felt
better or at least more like myself. That
is longer than the previous session and I am concerned with the direction of
this trend. I must drink more water and
flush my system faster than I am currently doing. Not being a water drinker is a negative in
this scenario. I am encouraged to drink
more water as we move forward as I do want to feel better faster and clear my
system of the residual chemo in less time.
In my last blog entry I mentioned that I had my first eye surgically
enhanced with the replacement of my lens in my eye due to a cataract. That had me in a position where one eye had
great vision and the other eye was unimproved leaving me with a mixed bag for
vision. I managed to get through the 28
days of said imbalance and found myself back at the Riverside on the 20th
for the second eye surgery. With this surgery
you get very adept with eye drops as there is a pattern of dropping with three
different treatments each day. This goes
on, conveniently, for 28 days. I just
finished with the drops for the first eye and it was time to crank up again for
the second eye. I found myself at my pre-surgical
appointment on Wednesday and I was concerned as I have had the sniffles. With the help of some drugs I got that under
control and the eye Dr gave the OK to proceed on Thursday in the early am. I was happy to be early as there always seems
to be delays as the day progresses as they do about 50 cataract surgeries per
day with four different Drs.
My Dr explained that we were doing the exact same surgery
but it would seem different to me for some unknown reason. He was correct as I remember more of the surgery
than the first time and feel fairly confident that I was awake for all of the
15 minutes it took to complete the lens replacement. I enjoyed my rest afterwards and the cheese
and crackers they supplied with apple juice to get over the fasting that is associated
with this type of surgery.
So, as of Thursday, this 1946 vintage Chevy has LED
headlights installed and they are working well. I do see things differently today as the
second surgery succeeded in giving me 20-20 vision in my left eye. That accompanied by 20-30 in my right eye
gives me better vision than I experienced with corrective lenses. I have been wearing glasses since I purchased
my first pair in California when I was a hippy youth on my “discovering Paul”
trip of a lifetime. That is a lot of
time with corrective lenses. I see more
clearly and there is more definition in terms of colour when I look about. It is fun to read signs on the highway
without having to squint or wait until it is zipping by me. I will have to use “readers” for close up
work, reading, computer work, texting etc but that is a pretty good compromise
for clear vision.
All in all a busy time with lots of interventions in my
life. It is my hope that 2019 will bring
a quieter pace of life and some stability in my health and treatment practices.
I would like to thank you, once again, for dropping in and
reading these ramblings about my journey and as previously stated please feel
free to drop a line should you have any questions or wish any more detail about
what is happening. In the interim, Merry
Christmas and my best wishes for a happy and healthy 2019 for you and yours.
Be well ......
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