Hello Everyone:
Spring is in the air with a smattering of summer thrown in and a bit of a cool stretch just to remind us not to rush out into the garden and do all our plantings as yet. This long weekend in Canada should prove safe for the seedlings to be planted and no doubt a bbq or two will be fired up to get things going for the season.
Our two week recovery period seemed to fly by once more. Our first week in Phoenix found us experiencing unseasonably high temperatures with thermometers reaching 100F on two of the days. With the heat being dry, Gary and I found that the ceiling fans in the house were fine and we did not need to switch the airconditioner on. What helped a lot was that the temperature overnight cooled down nicely; something which does not happen in the hot summer months.
Before we knew it, we were on our way to our one-week timeshare in the San Bernardino mountains about 1 1/2 hours east of Los Angeles. The initial part of the drive up the mountain displayed some spectacular views and by the time we had climbed to 4,000 ft above sea level, we had driven into the clouds and found ourselves in dense fog with visibility almost nil. We breathed a sigh of relief that this white-knuckle portion of the trip was short and we reached our destination safely. The temperature change between Phoenix and Lake Arrowhead required an adjustment from the high 90′s to the low 40′s for the first two days and once the fog lifted, so did the temperature as the week progressed. The chalets are in the community of Lake Arrowhead, the largest privately owned lake in California. The Village itself is cutely laid out and during the summer months, the population jumps from 12,000 permanent residents to well over 40,000. Gary’s middle daughter, Liane and boyfriend, Mat, joined us for a lovely week with most days spent on very interesting hiking trails. Gary and I went on a relatively easy trail which proved to be most educational. We learnt a lot about the history of the area, marvelled at the grandeur of a majestic grove of Sequoias and were overwhelmed by the beauty of the Pacific Dogwoods, which were all displaying their beautiful white blooms – always in time for Mother’s Day.
We arrived in LA in good time to settle back in for the following three weeks. A nice Sunday afternoon walk through the neighbourhood brought back all the familiar scents of the flowers and what greeted us in full purple regalia are the magnificent Jacaranda trees. When we first saw the profusion of purple flowers on these tall trees waving in the breeze, my only recollection was the Jacaranda tree from my time in Africa. We took note of the shape of the flowers and the shape of the fern like leaves and when we got back to the apartment, a quick search on google confirmed that they were indeed Jacaranda trees. The last time I recalled seeing these were in Zimbabwe many years ago.
The week started on a high note with Tris & Alexa sending out their invitations for their destination wedding – set for Nov 9th at Playa Mujeres, a 5-star resort just north of Cancun, Mexico. The choice of destination I knew took into account my ability to fly there relatively easily as would be the case for a number of others located in Vancouver. On Tuesday, I had the first of my chemo treatments for this cycle. Since Dr. I had taken a 2 week vacation, his office was extremely busy having to get all his patients back on track. The chemo suite was full by the time we got in so Gary and I stayed in the private room until some space became available later in the afternoon. Marie and Rick had driven in from Vegas for Marie’s treatment and as their appointment is usually after ours, they were in one of the other private rooms. When we moved in to the chemo suite, we met up with Lindsay, the retired lawyer. I did not recognize Lindsay at first as the previous time she looked the image of a lawyer whereas this time around, she had dressed down and looked more like a hippie with a headband that looked somewhat psychedelic. Rick came across to tell us that Dr. I had examined Marie whose stomach was showing signs of being distended and that he wanted her to have a scan done at UCLA Hospital’s Emergency. Our usual post-treatment dinner with Marie and Rick was postponed until further notice.
The following day, Gary and I were headed in to visit Marie at the hospital and decided to pop in to Dr. I’s offices beforehand to pick up a repeat prescription. When I arrived at Dr. I’s, he had one more consultation left — a potential new patient. Somehow, Dr. I started talking to me about all the new research being undertaken on pancreatic cancer including the leading edge treatments tied in with the genomic sequencing testing. At this point, he is not convinced about the treatments associated with the genomic sequencing testing mainly as he has not seen any valid data yet. He then told me about a very wealthy lady in New Jersey who had asked him to help her select a hospital to donate $20 million towards pancreatic cancer research as her father had just died from this cancer. Even though Dr. I is closely associated with UCLA, he told me that for this amount of money, he had to undertake an exhaustive review of the top 5-7 hospitals which were doing research in this area. The final decision came down to John Hopkins. I asked Dr. I if UCLA was upset with him over this decision and he nodded his head but also said that he had to choose the hospital which was not only the most deserving of this amount of money but where the most likely chances for a potential solution would also be forthcoming. I then very sheepishly reminded Dr. I that he had a potential patient waiting for him and as we walked back out into the reception area, it was quite clear that Gary had done a great “selling” job. The potential new patient, Dave, introduced himself to me and said that he could not believe how well I looked – at that point, Gary laughingly said that I should be Dr. I’s poster-person.
This lightheartedness unfortunately turned to one of sober reality when we got to visit with Marie. Rick forewarned us that the prognosis for Marie did not look promising as the Scan had shown that her cancer had spread quite a bit. You may recall that Marie had experienced many difficulties with tolerating the chemo drugs and so her regimen had either been reduced and on a number of occasions, she was unable to receive the treatments as she was physically too weak. The next few days proved to be a rollercoaster of emotions as I tried my best to provide her with much needed hope and support. Dr. I visited Marie and also advised that the prognosis was not good. In a separate meeting with Rick, Dr. I advised that any additional chemo would be more damaging to Marie. Between the ER team and Dr. I, the collective decision was that palliative care would be the new sad reality. Marie’s only son, a well known investigative business journalist in the Asia/Pacific region, was on his way to LA from the Philippines. Gary and I undertook to pick him up from the airport to give Rick enough time to get Marie packed up and discharged from the hospital so that the three could drive back to Vegas. Notwithstanding the usual chaos at LAX on a Friday evening, Gary and I managed to carry out our small contribution and with heavy hearts, we said our goodbyes to Marie. So many thoughts cross my mind — the reality of this most difficult cancer; that while each case is different, Dr. I just simply cannot win all the battles and most importantly, we have to celebrate each day as a gift.
At this sad and reflective point, we leave you with the following saying:
Memories are always special-
Sometimes we laugh by remembering the days we cried
And we cry by remembering the days we laughed!
That’s Life!
Thank you for continuing to journey with us; your prayers and unwavering support are uplifting for Gary and I as we continue to appreciate each new day.
We send you our warmest wishes.
Maureen and Gary