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| Fall colours over Lake Bernard |
Good
morning, I am writing early this morning before I address my inbox as I find
that I get taken into "ether world" with ads from Loblaws (searching
for new and special dinner answers), some vacation company (always a fun
diversion), photography offers (I’m trying to find time to pursue this hobby),
News feeds (trying to understand why Helen Mirren was embarrassed while having
tea with the Queen), Facebook ( a place where you can get lost in other
people’s lives), Instagram posts, and of course the messages directed at me for
any of the business ventures that I am involved in. All of this seems to
draw me into an electronic vortex and is a huge diversion from what I sat down
to do. So, I am trying to avoid all that this morning as I feel the need
and urge to update folks on what is happening with my medical situation as well
as other more trivial but interesting things in our lives.
My last
session of Chemo was on Oct 22 and my last blog entry was early in that
process. That session recovery took almost a full week as I was tired and
listless for several days and then the bottle removal caused no end of
confusion for my body in terms of bowel movements, stomach cramps, neuropathy
and ability to sleep soundly. Each day brought new experiences and
reactions, but they petered out after the week. That afforded me the
pleasure of having almost two full weeks of normal physical standing.
However,
since the Oct session had to be delayed by one week due to low WBC count, my
next session would be scheduled for Nov 12th. That is next
week and only a few days before we start our planned November vacation.
In my last discussion with Dr Jonker we discussed this potential situation and
he agreed that we could skip that session and continue upon my return.
So, I have cancelled my session for the 12th of Nov and have set my
next appointment for Chemo on Nov 26th at 8:00 am. That is the
day after we return to Ottawa from our vacation. The net of all of this
is I have an additional two weeks where I am feeling my strongest and most
healthy. During that two-week period I will share this good healthy
feeling at work with several scheduled shifts next week and then on vacation.
The
vacation plans start on Friday eve on the 15th with a short hop to
Toronto on our WJ flight at 6:45 pm and a drive to see and stay with my sister
Lucy. My WJ shift that day ends at 7 pm so I will be asking to leave
early so that we can be on the planned flight. There is one additional flight
that evening should something go wrong with timing and our plan. We are
expecting Richard and Barb to show up later in the evening as they are driving
into Mississauga from Chicago that day. On Saturday the whole Toronto
Rodier clan is gathering at my Nephew’s house for dinner and some fun
chatter. That will include about 16 of us as Tara-Lee, Brehn and Kaia
will be there also. It will be a fun gathering as we have not been able
to coordinate schedules to have us all together since we were at Greg’s cottage
a few years ago.
The next
morning Freddi and I are catching a flight from Toronto through Calgary and
eventually getting us to Puerto Vallarta early in the afternoon. We will
be staying at the same resort but in a different building on the large resort
site. That will provide some new routines as we will be on the other side
of the resort and a bit farther from our favourite breakfast joint just off the
beach. We will get along I am sure, and we will enjoy the vacation time
at the resort. We particularly enjoy going into the old town and taking
part in the food, drink, shopping, history and just strolling through the old
streets. Our return voyage to Ottawa will be on stand-by and we are
hoping to leave on the 24th and will have to spend the night in
Calgary before continuing to Ottawa on the early flight at 9:00ish. That
gets us into Ottawa in the mid-afternoon. That will necessitate a quick
run to the hospital to see if I can get my pre-Chemo blood test done that
day. Failing that I can do the blood test first thing Tuesday before my
Chemo appointment.
Bruce and
I finished the year with our planned number of boats in place. Last week
we pulled our tin boat and the pontoon boat is safely resting in its winter
spot. I still need to cover the tin boat with shrink wrap and to pull on
the cover for the pontoon boat for the season. I am hoping some of those
things will be completed this weekend or early next week. Otherwise they
will have to be December activities. Then there is the wood pile which is
in need of some attention with the splitter. I am planning on using it
this week to get started. We have used a bunch of wood already as the
nights have been pretty cool. I enjoy the fire each evening and it
provides a great deal of heat to the house.
My shift
list came out at WestJet this week. It includes the holiday season and
all CSAs are guaranteed at least one holiday off for their shift requirements
for the period. I was lucky enough to get my first reference and
basically, I am working Sat and Sun mornings with 4 days of “Gate” training in
December. I managed to get both Christmas and New Year off, but I will likely
take someone’s shift for one of those days.
The next
month seems to be a busy time but I can say that about pretty much every month
these days. I am finding that time slips away and am astonished when I
get to a new month each month. I am now going to get on with my day and
enjoy breakfast with Freddi. I might eveen skip the distractions of my
email account this morning as I feel the need to do some outdoor work. I
work tomorrow morning at WestJet so I will be a little late for breakfast
tomorrow morning. Weekend breakfast has been a long tradition in our
family.
Thank you
for your interest and as ever, if you have questions or comments, I would
appreciate hearing from you.
Be well ……
Be well ……
