Round 4 Session 7 pending

Today I am sitting in the airport in Vancouver as I await my next flight to Toronto and then another flight to Ottawa.  Our booked travel had us catching a 9:00 am flight in Vancouver after an overnight flight from Lihue.  The first part went off without a hitch.  The balance of the day is in limbo right now.

We enjoyed two full weeks in Lihue Kauai at the Marriott Vacation Resort where we have been members since 1997.  We enjoy the property, facilities, restaurants, accommodations and the folks who work there.  Over the years we have gotten to know some of the staff and we seek them out each year we visit.  Our accommodation this time was on ground floor which was something we said we would try but will likely not do again.  I much prefer having a Lanai and being one floor above the ground.  During our stay we spent a good deal of time trying to feel better and recover from the nasty cold and generally crappy feeling I experienced through Feb.  To that end we spent a good deal of time on the beach reading sleeping and watching the world go by.  We managed a few outings for shopping, touring, and dining out while we were there but we did not do much that would be considered exciting.  Freddi worked at getting me healthy and fattening me up as I lost a lot of weight while I was sick.  It took until we were in our second week before I stopped hacking and coughing and blowing my nose every few minutes.  And today I am feeling way better with only marginal coughing and sinus work.

This whole holiday has been a challenge as I had to search out and coax people to take some shifts for me at WestJet so I could stay away for the entire period.  I spent hours working with people to make that happen and finally it worked out about a day before we left.  It was quite stressful trying to pull all the loose ends together to actually get there.  While we were on vacation I spent more time trying to negotiate some extra time away as flights home were booked solid and we could only find a flight leaving on the 17^th to get back to Ottawa late on the 18^th.  I had a shift to trade away so Michael and I did some trading and I now have to be at work at 4:30 am on Tuesday.

So as I sit here in Vancouver, I am wondering how I will manage the next few days as some re-aligning has happened due to travel arrangements.  Tonight we will get home about 12:15 am and I must be at work at 4:30 am until 9:30 am.  Following that I must go and have my blood tests for my Chemo session and pick up my drugs for the session before I meet with Dr Jonker at 12:45 pm.  After that meeting I will pick up the dog and cat from Tara-Lee and return to Lake Bernard.  The following morning, Wed Mar 20, I have my next Chemo session at 8:30 am.  I must say that I am not looking forward to it as I remember the effects of my last session.

I am seeing a more normalized life after that session as I have my regular work schedule with few conflicts with my regular life.

Thank you for dropping in and feel free to contact me should you have any questions or thoughts about this blog.

Be well ........

Round 4 Sessions 5 and 6 - some vacation too

I have not taken the opportunity to sit down to write to this blog since late January.  It is not that I did not want to or even had a few interesting tid-bits but I just did not have the energy, acuity or desire to sit and write up until the last few days. In summary I have spent a horrendously bad month of February being sick and having no energy at all.  It all started innocently with a mild cold when we were in Cancun and things just got progressively worse.   That is why it has taken me some time to get back to you.  In this update I will outline some of the more important things that have happened and will try to leave some of the more gory details out.

I wrote the last blog just before we departed for a restful week in Cancun area.  We travelled to Cancun to stay in a chic hotel for our first night.  It was in the centre of the hotel Region which means it is in the busiest area of Cancun.  The Loft Hotel was super chic and modern and provided a good haven from the maddening crowds on the streets.  Upon arrival I realized that my strategic packing lacked any semblance of shorts for our 8 day stay in the warmth.  We strolled through the shops and found a couple of new options to fill the bill.  We only stayed at the Loft for one night as we had a reservation down the highway at Azul Sensitory all-inclusive in Mayan Riviera area.  We transported there around noon on Feb 1 which happened to be our anniversary.  The hotel/resort was not very large but a good selection of restaurants and food stations made it worthwhile.  Our suite was situated over the pool area and the accommodation was more than adequate.  On our first evening we had arranged to dinner at the Le Chique which was on property and was reported to be one of the best restaurants in Mexico.  We enjoyed a 14 bite dinner with all the selections provided by the chef.  The courses were small but intriguing as the kitchen team developed not only tasty but beautifully presented dishes.  We opted for the wine pairing and had a long lingering dinner.  It was very special for sure.

For the next 6 days we settled into a routine of pool time, meals, rest and sleep that was very much appreciated by both of us.  We tried all of the restaurants and returned to one several times and tried to avoid the buffet as much as possible.  We had some very nice sunny days and we managed to tan well in a short time.  During the stay I started with a little cold but gave it little thought.  Overall the stay was very pleasant even though we had to attend a sales presentation of their product.  We managed to get out of the presentation unscathed in only 90 minutes.  Some people were disappointed but they are not part of my family.

Upon return to Ottawa on Feb 8^th, we hibernated at Lake Bernard and enjoyed a quiet time at home.  On the Monday I did my blood tests as usual in preparation for a chemo session on Feb 12^th.  The session went as planned even though I had a cold and cough.  My session was uneventful and I returned home after the session to rest for the next two days before the bottle was to be removed.  At this point I was now dealing with side effects of the chemo and a mounting attack on my body by a more severe cold.  This all came with intense coughing, sore throat, runny nose, nausea, diarrhea, cramps, head ache and insomnia.  All of those things defeated any appetite I could muster and left me feeling pretty punk overall and quite incapacitated.  On Thursday I convinced myself that I was feeling better and after having my bottle removed I went to my 6 hour shift at the airport.  I was full of different drugs and sucking on candies and cough drops to suppress any coughing.  Apparently, I did not fool anyone at work  as many stayed well away from me and I chose to stay away from them.  This was a mistake as it did not make me feel any better any sooner.   Needless to say the cold took control and I spent many sleepless days and nights coughing and hacking up stuff.  I was really sick and stayed at home with my dog. I did manage to get to my GP to see about the cold part.  She listened to my chest and took some blood tests.  Apparently my chest was OK and my blood proved OK as well.  One day rolled into a week and then finally on Feb 25^th I contacted Dr Jonker’s office to beg off Chemo for the 26^th.  I truly felt that if I had chemo that day I would die with the effort.  My body was revolting in many ways and I had lost interest in food and water.  Dr Jonker’s team arranged with CCAC to have a portable pump IV installed on my body for 3 days to ensure that I was properly hydrated.  That was a nuisance but it made me feel better and encouraged me to drink and even eat some small morsels.  I had booked off my shifts at work and managed to do very little throughout this period.  My focus was to try and get better so I could get away on our vacation in early March as planned.

The upshot of all of this is a lingering cold, loss of a number of pounds off my body and reduced appetite and no interest in wine or beer.  Now that is sick in my eyes.  By March 2 I was starting to feel strong enough to resume my work at the airport.  That day was a short shift and I was pretty happy when it was over.  The following morning (Maar 3) was departure time for our annual two week respite in Hawaii. 

After a long and torturous day of air travel and layovers in Toronto and Vancouver we managed to get to Lihue HI as scheduled at 10:30 in the evening.   Big thanks to the WestJet in-flight staff on our last leg as they moved us up front to enjoy the Plus service for our 6 hour flight.  They were fine folks and took very good care of us.  Upon landing they even sent us packing instead of staying to help groom the aircraft for its return flight.  Knowing the HI routine we were able to get out of the airport with a vehicle in less than 30 minutes from landing.  We drove to the Marriott, checked-in, unpacked and were in bed in record time.  Both of us were exhausted.

I am currently writing this sitting on one of our terraces (we are on ground floor this time) and enjoying the warmer climate of HI.  We have been here for three days now and we both are still a little shell shocked and not really too energetic to get anything done.  We managed to connect with good friends before they left to return to Minnesota, eat some small meals and get a lot of sleep.  I am feeling better today and hope to be even better tomorrow.   The weather here is cooler than we have ever seen it before but we are lucky as I heard that California is getting flooded, Florida has wind chill reports out and some parts of the U.S. are getting record snowfall.  I am content to be here and believing this is as good a place to rebuild as any in the world.  Today I am going out in search of a long sleeved shirt as it is cool in the evenings.  I managed to pack shorts for this visit so I am set.

When we return to Ottawa I have blood test on Mar 18^th and chemo on March 19^th.  It is my goal to be healthier, heavier and happier by that time.

Thank you for dropping in and I do hope that my next entry is more upbeat and enjoyable to read.  I felt I had to fill in the blank for February but hope never to re-live the period.

Love to all .....