Good day to
you. Thank you for taking the time to drop into my Blog area for a few minutes.
I appreciate that you are interested in what we are doing and that you find my
ramblings entertaining enough to return. I find it more difficult to get to the
tasks these days as, for some reason, I do not have the drive that I once had. I
was eager to get the day’s list of things to do and spent pretty much all day
doing small or large jobs to get them off the “ToDo” List. None-the-less today
I decided I would sit down and update you on some things that I have been
thinking about.
As with
everyone else in the world, I have opinions and new findings due to the
Covid-19 trials we find ourselves. Unlike some others, I will not use my blog
to expound on this subject as there is far too much information and dis-information
in social media these days to satisfy anyone’s desire for insights. I will
restrict my input today to matters of health and happiness in the Rodier
compound.
In my last
update I mentioned that I had an appointment to see (or in this case talk to
over the phone) my Dr. to get my results from my CT Scan of March 27. The appt
was intended to be an update on my results of my scan and then to set the stage
for the next period without Chemo. The call came at the scheduled time and we
chatted about current affairs for a couple of minutes. His reality is quite
different being a front-line worker with many of his patients being prime
targets for the current virus that is plaguing those who are operating with
compromised immune systems. But he seems to be adapting well to the changes and
he seemed well based on our conversation. I have had a unique relationship with
Dr Jonker over the years and I always ask him about how he is doing before he
gets a chance to ask me that question. He did get his turn and he asked me how
I was doing to which I responded that I was doing very well and appreciating
the time away from Chemo. I explained how all systems seem to have regulated
again and my lifestyle and wellness were on track. He was happy to hear that
but had to get to the results of the test before he commented on my enthusiastic
response.
He explained
to me that my results were worrisome and then he went through the points one by
one.
My lungs were not of concern or were “unremarkable” in the language of the
technician. The liver masses were the concern area of this CT Scan. There were
substantial growth indicators in the tests and in some cases up to 60% growth
from my last scan. He mumbled through the statistics which I listened to but
did not retain as I knew where we were heading. He asked me what I thought when
he was finished talking numbers and technical talk. I paused for a minute and then said that I was
unhappy to get a result like that. In addition, I told him that I knew that we
were heading back to the Cancer Centre to re-start Chemo. But to satisfy my
curiosity, I asked him what he thought would be the situation if we waited 3
months before we returned to Chemo. His estimation was that there was a 25%
chance that I would be having some difficulties with liver and bile duct
functions if I delayed Chemo for another 6 months. That told me that the issue
was important but not critical at this time. We chatted some more, and his
words once again indicated that decision either way was a decision about “lifestyle
vs survival”. Hmmm we have been here before. When put in those terms I usually
feel confident enough to pick lifestyle and move on as before. However, this
time I decided to re-start Chemo treatments. We talked about schedules and I am
now scheduled to return to QCH for treatment on April 21 and every three weeks thereafter.
We finished our call and I started to think about where we were heading. I was
unhappy as I have been enjoying the freedom to eat and drink what I want when I
want. I have also been enjoying the good solid sleep I have been having over
the last few weeks. Most of all I have been enjoying the freedom and ability to
do whatever I felt like doing as I have few limitations due to my physical state.
That freedom was an uplift for my mental state, and I have been quite happy
with all things in general. I was not feeling the same way after my call with
Dr Jonker. Within 24 hours of the call my body demonstrated its response to the
situation as my bowel took on a life of its own like the reaction I have with
Chemo. I found that weird and annoying, and within 24 hours the reaction went
away. I found this physical reaction to be a simple psychosomatic reaction and
happily it was over before it became too serious. Today I am resigned to the
Chemo schedule and will see where it takes me. I am hoping that I will be able
to minimize the side-effects of the Chemo and hope that the internal effects of
the Chemo show some improvement in late June when I have my next CT Scan.
In the real
world, we are experiencing a slow spring transition. The lake is trying to “ice
out” but the cooler temperatures at night seem to be winning as the ice is thinning
but certainly not giving way to open water. I am Ok with that as I need to
float my assembled floating docks in front of my shore dock frame which is made
of aluminum and is currently touching the water due to the increase in water
height this spring. The force of the ice from the windward area will likely
cause some damage and I do not need that type of stress right now. With the
floaters protecting the aluminum I may be able to protect its integrity.
However, each day we are faced with high westerly winds. These winds compound
the difficulty of doing what I need to do with the floaters, and I am hoping
that I will be able to find a window to get this done before the ice
disappears. There is lots of movement of
the ice mass on the last days of being in the lake. It is that brief period
that causes damage as the ice mass is very heavy and “convincing” when
it decides to move things. Aluminum does not do well against the ice.
We have
been doing well in isolation as we have supplies, food ideas, BBQ gas, and lots
of things to do to keep us busy. However,
I find that we spend quite some time reading, watching movies, and sleeping. This
is very much like a vacation but at home.
I do hope
you and yours are well and happy and that we will soon find some relief of the
current situation.
Be well …..
and thank you for dropping in.
This blog
has been dormant since Jan 27, 2020 when I last updated you on my time without
treatment and what I had been thinking at that time. From then to now we have all seen a
significant change in our lives as we are amid The Pandemic of 2020 – Covid-19. I do not intend to use this blog to
hypothesize on the processes, the outcomes or the impacts of this on our
lives. You are all aware of what it is
doing to our lives and there are scores of reliable sources of
prognostications. As a result I will just
report on life as we know it from here.
Having said that, some of the things I will report here will be
influenced or caused by the pandemic so there is no getting away from it. I will resist the temptation to editorialize
as I go forward here.
To be blunt,
I am well and happy that I have now been three months off Chemo. The only real change is that I feel better
and am less concerned about my body and my mind. I am staying physically active and my job
continues to be a priority in my life.
My bodily functions seem to be working as they should and I have fewer
“isolated situations” which cause bodily functions to operate abnormally under
normal conditions. In short form – my
bowel is operating as it should. I am
pleased with how well I feel and I am becoming a master of good nights
sleep. I find myself going to bed at
9:30 because I am tired and getting up the next morning at 8:30 am. During that time I might have a few short
periods of awareness but mostly the time is spent in sleep states. This is very unusual for me and I am just
enjoying it.
On April 8th
I will be having a discussion with my Dr to get the results of my March 27th
CT Scan. In the interim I will get
some blood tests so the Dr can see how my results compare to the time when I was
on Chemo.
Our
vacation in Hawaii ended on Feb 1 and Freddi and I returned to Ottawa as
planned. We picked up our normal
routines where Freddi left for work at 5:30 am and my shifts were a couple a
week at some ungodly hour in the morning at the airport. I usually worked Thursday and Saturday and I
picked up some other shifts from time to time to help others who had other
things to do. All was going well and the
routine was working well. In February,
Freddi was notified that she was going to retire from Sporting Life. Through discussions Freddi agreed that would
happen on March 6th. That
gave her time to do the proper amount of training of others and leaving her
position clear of backlog issues. So
that happened as planned and Freddi started a significant change from her 23-year
employment period in the sporting goods retail industry to staying at home with
me. Yikes what a change for sure! What was she to do with her time? To distract her I had arranged a “Day at the
Spa” at the Nordique Spa. So we spent
most on her first Monday relaxing, sweating, dipping and eating while relaxing
at the Spa. This was a first for me and
I found it to be a little cult-like with everybody walking around in house
coats and whispering to each other.
However, I relaxed and enjoyed the time there with Freddi. She slept
well that night, as did I.
It did not
last long until she had a whole new agenda to work with. On March 10th in the mid-morning
timeframe, Tara-Lee let us know that she was in labour and was on her way to
hospital to have her second child. We
had been invited to participate in the birth as we had when Kaia was born. We arrived at the hospital about 1:30 pm and
she was in full labour. It has started
around 12:30. She was a trooper and gave a clinic on childbirth to all who were
around. By 3:09 she had a beautiful
little boy and he was on her chest for the first time shortly thereafter. All were well and happy and Brehn stayed with
her most of the first night while she was in hospital. He had done something to his back and was in
full agony, but he pulled his weight through the birth and the support period
after the birth. Somewhere during the
late afternoon, baby boy became Logan Makai as he settled in with his new Mum
and Dad. Freddi and I returned to the house in the late afternoon to take care
of Kaia overnight but Kaia wanted to stay with Anna for a sleep-over that
night. Kaia had been with friends while
TL was in labour so Freddi and I spent the evening at TL’s place by
ourselves. We had transported the
animals to the house as we knew we would be staying for a while to help where
we could. It was a busy second day of
retirement for Freddi.
On
Wednesday Freddi and I went to pick up Kaia and take her to the hospital to
meet her little Brother. It was fun to
watch interact with Logan and Mum and Dad.
They returned to their home late that afternoon and we helped with
dinner and such duties to try to make the house somewhat normal in
operation. We managed to do that for 7
days and enjoying all of the time we spent there.
Then came
Covid-19! This interjected several
issues in our lives as it did for all Canadians. I stopped going to work on March 19th
as my compromised immune system was an issue with work at the airport. This was welcomed by the airline as they were
trying to find ways to deal with the impact of the pandemic on airline
operations. Eventually they decided to reduce operations which resulted in a
reduction of aircraft, schedules and people.
They offered several options to employees for voluntary departures from
the company and 90 % of the required reduction of employee level was fulfilled
by those voluntary departures. As a
result, on April 1 I was laid-off for 3 months or until operations picked up
again. The LOA may extend to 6
months. I was quite happy as I still
have an employee number with hope to return to my job once life starts to
re-establish a new norm.
Freddi and
I are currently home at Lake Bernard doing our duty as a self-isolation
family. Her retirement and WestJet’s
determinations have thrown us together in our small house for the foreseeable
future. I wonder what that will look
like after a few weeks. We are two weeks
in and we are both still breathing. That
is encouraging.
On a more
serious note, I am hoping that you and yours are all safe and practicing good
isolation habits and learning new things about yourselves, your families and
new skills in technology (like zoom) to keep abreast of all your favourite
families through technology. Please feel
free to communicate with me directly if you feel you have questions that I can
answer.
Be well and safe ......
