Sunday, May 14, 2017

Day 79 or thereabouts!!

Today is Sunday, May 14th. Or at least it will be once I fall back to sleep and wake up again. ( it is currently 2:30am!)
  I'm not sure what actually woke me up but it was either the stiff neck that has been bothering me or the pain from the kidney stent. The latter has been somewhat worse of late, with increased hematuria, which I can probably blame on the radiation treatment.
 It is, for what it is worth, Mother's Day in Canada. That Day having taken place several weeks ago in the UK. I've never figured out why the difference, nor do I really care. Susanna has the day off so we will probably join 'the masses" and head out for lunch together, along with Matthew if he hasn't stayed up all night watching endless episodes of whatever. Speaking of which, I just finished watching Series Four of Game of Thrones. I have Series 1-6 on disk and have been watching it over the course of my treatments.
  Fortunately my treatments will end soon. I'm not sure the same can be said for G of T, which, I understand will be dragged out for another 2 years on HBO.
  Monday will mark my final encounter with the giant metal alien that has been irradiating my tumour on an an almost daily basis for the last 4 weeks. Or should I say, irradiating the part of my body where the tumour had been located as, apparently, it is now no longer there.
  It will be great to walk out of the Cancer Centre on Monday with the hope that I wont be back. Obviously I  will have to do some follow ups but the first is not for three months. Far enough away that I wont have to think about it for a while.
  Wednesday will require a follow up of my other cancer situation and so Matt and I will drive to Toronto for a visit with the ophth. department at St Mike's clinic. Normally I would go on my own but the examinations of late have been messing with my vision as they dilate both eyes, making the drive home ( west, into the sunset) rather difficult. Hence the need for Matthew as a driver on the return trip. His driving style tends to take a few years off my life and if I had any, I'm sure my hair would be grayer by the time we returned to London. I have to admit, he inherited it from me but I feel more in control when I have a steering wheel in my hands.
   The part about not having hair is now not strictly true as I have a slight covering of "fuzz" where my afro used to be. Also my facial hair is now returning to a normal growth pattern now that it has been almost 2 months since my chemo ended and I am now back to shaving every other day as opposed to once weekly.
   Hopefully I the rest of the week will see me returning to work for a couple of shifts as I try to ramp up to a full day from the current 4.5-5 hour shifts that I have been working. Suffice to say that the last 4 months has been an interesting primer in getting used to life as a retiree. With barely 45 hours under my belt since the diagnosis in January, I can hardly consider myself working any more. Looking back, that is a major contrast to my schedule as a Shoppers Associate when, in 2005 my average week would be close to double those hours. Thankfully those days are over, but perhaps I will get back to a happy medium before the summer concludes.
  Even though I have been "off" for the last 4 months my body feels like it has been working overtime and so I have been giving some thought to a vacation of some type once I have recovered from the stent surgery. I haven't decided what or where yet, but I am giving some thought to a road trip to either Winnipeg or perhaps into the States for a quick trip to the East Coast. As I plan to take Docie along for the ride, the hard part will be finding hotels that will allow animals to stay, although at 5 pounds, soaking wet, I cant see her being much of a bother. More on that decision as the end of May approaches. My current priority is getting back to sleep before the sun comes up.

Sunday, May 7, 2017

Day 84- 6 days of radiation left

7:30am Sunday May 7th and there is sunshine streaming through my bedroom window, the first in several days.
    It appears that the recent deluge that flooded much of Quebec and parts of Eastern Ontario has finally stopped.
   The temperature is not expected to climb much above 6 degrees today but at least the sun will sry things up a little and, hopefully, I will have enough energy to take Docie for a walk.
  Saturday was pretty much a right off with almost endless rain. Adding to that a total lack of energy ( I slept from 10pm Friday night till 9:30 Saturday morning) and you have the makings of a lazy day.
 From what I understand, the effects of the chemo treatments are finally wearing off- I wasn't expecting it to take that long. I do notice my facial hair is growing back in a little faster and it is more normal in texture, not the "baby" hair that was appearing initially following my hair loss. The hair on my scalp is still pretty thin and mostly white- not sure if there will ever again be an "Afro" in my future!!
   Luckily there are no radiation sessions on weekends, a chance for the body to recover somewhat.
 I am still down a few pounds from my weight prior to my hospital admission in April, so the radiation staff are constantly on my case to eat more and get back to my normal 160 pounds.
  Perhaps a burger or two today on the barbecue might work towards that goal.
   Tomorrow, Monday will mark my 15th day of treatment, 3/4 of the way to my conclusion.
  Dr Velker has already pronounced me, essentially, cancer free and has decided that once my treatments are done, he'll skip the usual PET scan and just arrange a follow up CT scan in August.
   That just leaves me the stent procedure, May 24th, to deal with and then I can start planning a return to a relatively normal life for the next few months.
   I'm hoping that I can find some time in June to get away for a few days before I work myself pack into a routine work schedule.
   I am already planning for a September vacation in Tuscany with stops in Florence, Siena, Assisi and Pisa. A chance to see another major section of Italy. ( We did Venice in 2016, Rome, Pompeii, Naples and the Amalfi Coast in 2015.
 At this rate it will take us another 3 years to see the rest of the country, but there is clearly no rush at this point. Lymphoma recurrences don't seem all that common and I always seem to manage to bounce back anyway, so I am not too concerned.
   My guidebooks will arrive from Amazon next week and I already have discovered some great itinerary planners so that will keep me busy for the next while. The planning is half the fun. The other half is dealing with the little curve balls that always add a little bit of stress and challenge to the trip. But I'm a pro at that by now having survived a few hairy experiences along the way!!!

Day 100, Earth Day, Record Store Day etc.

Well here I am, 100 days post diagnosis and 20% of my way through my series of radiation treatments. Today is April 22nd, commonly known as Earth Day or Record Store Day.
 While I didn't specifically celebrate the former I did take a buzz around town to see what the sparse collection of stores in London was offering for Bargoons! in their selection of specially pressed vinyl.
 Sadly I came away with my wallet in the same condition it arrived. $48 for a copy of the film sountrack of Quadraphenia did not seem like a wise investment, and none of the items featured on the UK or US websites seemed to be available.
   Considering that my vinyl collection already runs beyond 600 items and my CD collection beyond 1000, I really dont need any more music"platters" cluttering up my life. Considering that I now have 24 hour access to Sirius XM Satellite radio, I dont really need another source of music etc.
  As I mentioned before my tangent into music, today also marked the 100th day of my Lymphoma diagnosis and treatment.
  Last Monday being "Easter Monday" at LRCC my primary week of radiation did not start until Tuesday afternoon. A brief introduction to the procedure by a variety of staff was followed by my being positioned laying on my back on a surgical table, pants and underwear down but covered by a modest sheet that exposed only the tattooed abdominal markers that would align the treatment.
 Some adjustments to my position and then I was alone in the room with the modern day equivalent of a fire breathing dragon which stalked around my lower abdomen planning its strikes. Motionless in foam blocks supporting my legs and strapped to the table I mostly closed my eyes to the sound and light of the procedure, content in the fact that the radiation was eliminating the remainder of any active cancer cells.
  12 minutes later and I was free to spend the day as I wished.
   The treatments continued for the balance of the week, often at different times of the day but always that same basic 12 minutes from start to finish.
  Wednesday's are review days and Dr Velkar ( the Doody Houser of the Radiology team- he looks barely 20) and a nurse map my progress, emotionally, mentally and physically with attention paid to sleep disturbances, energy levels, appetite etc. This week I appeared to have still not fully regained the weight I lost in hospital. This may impact future treatments as weight does affect the total radiation calculation.
   Thursday and Friday's treatments did proceed as normal but I was cautioned that things might change the following week if the weight loss continued to be an issue.
  I should mention that I had continued trying to work at least half days at my pharmacy, albeit with some difficulty due to my continued recovery from my eye surgery and also my general drop in energy level, shortly after noon daily.
  Today, after my brief, Record Store search, I found myself catching some late morning ZZZZzzz's as I waited for my daughter Caitlin to stop in for a visit. Arriving later than planned due to slow traffic on the 401 we had lunch at Archies- fish and chips and then I crashed again while she went in search of an oil and filter.
   My afternoon hovered between light dozing and reading my latest Harry Bosch detective thriller.
  Becoming bored with that I set out to tackle the back yard and the first grass cutting of the season. Miraculously my 14 year old garage sale mower fired on the 3rd pull and I managed to cut my grass without incident- hopefully the hornets nest from last year was no longer active. The 28 stings I experienced last summer was not a sensation I wanted to repeat.
   A barbecued burger for supper and a slice of apple pie will hopefully assist in restoring some of my lost weight and calories. Caitlin went off to spend the evening with a former coworker and girlfriend and I probably wont see her before she heads back to Belleville.
  A post supper spell of kidney pain prompted me to take advantage of my "pen" on at least 3 occasions before I was able to drop into a pain free sleep which kept me "out" between 11pm and 4am.
  Hopefully sleep will return quickly after I complete this days entry.
   Originally, I expected the 100 day mark to be roughly the halfway point of my treatment, and yet now it may indicate much further progress. With my radiation scheduled for completion in early May, I may only need another CT scan or PET scan to declare myself cancer free. However, I still have to rid my self of the rather uncomfortable kidney stent before I will consider myself back on the road to normal.
 I still have to consider the prospect of total knee surgery, currently postponed pending the success of the lymphoma treatment. An abdominal hernia is also something that needs to be addressed in the not so distant future. And perhaps more seriously, an update with my cardiologist and a replacement for the Pradaxa which has been my stroke prevention medication for the last 3 years. ASA 81mg is currently offering a poor replacement but will have to do for now.
  But I'll take my lumps and consider myself fortunate for the present. I'm still on the good  side of 65 for a few more months, which, considering my recent health scares is a big plus!! LOL

April 9-11th


Sunday afternoon Matt and I drove to the Best Western on #7 for what will hopefully be a relaxing nights sleep before my surgery on Monday morning. A vegetarian dinner at Congee Queen will hopefully supply enough energy to get me through the next 24 hours.
  We arrive at St Michaels Hospital at 9am and I am prepped and deemed fit enough to undergo the surgery and laser which will hopefully repair the current retinal detachments in my left eye.
   Surgery commences at roughly 11am and I am oblivious to most of the discomfort until the last half hour or so when I can feel the cutting and slicing. I recall the DaliEsque slicing of the eyeball in the surreal film of the "1920's as I sit, somewhat secured but less than comfortable with what I am feeling. A distant voice calls for "more block" and my body calms for a few moments, although the sensation of stitching is further notice that my depth of anaesthesia isn't that great.
 Eye patched and vitals stable my son drives me back to the hotel where the next few hours is mostly a blur.
   Tuesday morning a 6: 45 appointment declares the procedure a complete success and we make our way back to London for a day or so of rest.
   Crazily we return to Toronto 2 nights later for a show at the Danforth- Crash Vegas celebrating the 25th anniversary of their Red Earth album. A great evening, albeit somewhat impacted by frequent eye irritation and an urge to hit the bathroom at least hourly due to some stent irritation.
  Thursday a visit with Dr Hussey to review the whole stent situation gives me news that I dont want to here, the stent replacement may be just that, a replacement and not a removal but I wont know until  they have me under the knife in late May!!! SHIT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

April 4th-6th Day - Day 114 approx.( Hospitalized! Damn it!!!)

This is not how I planned to spend the day, but considering how crappy the weather is, why not. Right now I have a view looking southwest from the 7th floor at LHSC. I got here last night with a temp of 38.3C and they didn't seem to impressed when they got my blood work back. While I was "admitted" at about 7:30pm I didn't get transferred until this morning at 9:30am. Laying on a gurny in emergency is not the most fun way to spend an evening. Adding in the chills from the fever made it all that much more fun. Between alarms going off and pages for various "codes" there was little point in even trying to sleep. Added to that was the pain in my arm from some student botching my IV not once but twice and we had all the makings of the night from Hell!!!
 Unsure what was going on and with my neutrophils at 0.6 they started some IV antibiotics which will continue till at least midnight tonight. The plan is to get out of here by tomorrow sometime but plans don't always translate into reality. At least the fever is gone but I am still "essentially" under quarantine till they determine I don't have The Plague!!!
  8pm April 5th - still in hospital, again something I hadn't been planning but at least they "may" let me out tomorrow instead of keeping me till Friday as originally planned.
  Even though all tests and cultures came back negative they still insisted on switching me to oral Amoxi-Clav. And GP's get most of the blame for overusing antibiotics!!!
 Thank God my kids have been bringing in small quantities of real food now and again, Eating this crap since Monday ( or rather staring at it and thinking WTF!)
  Saturday.
     It has been just over 2 days since I escaped the confines of LHSC and my body is still trying to recover. I seem to be averaging about 4 naps a day as I struggle to get back to some semblance of normal after my 3 day "incarceration"
   With eye surgery scheduled for Monday I am concerned that my little setback will result in the surgery being postponed- hopefully not.