Hi Everyone:
Gary and I made it back to Toronto…. brrrr….. how quickly our bodies had adjusted to the temperate climes of the west coast. Nonetheless, the warmth of being with family and friends will more than make up for the difference.
Firstly, my apologies as I have a huge backlog of emails to catch up on and I have missed a few birthdays…. you know who you are … my belated best wishes and…. there are many coming up… you know who you are (what an easy out!!!)… all the best to you when your special day arrives. And, the backlog may get bigger, as we have such a short time to get in all our peripheral medical/dental/eye appointments before we have to leave.
It is only today that I am feeling like I am getting back on track after a very tough reaction to my 3rd session which was last Monday. This particular cycle of chemo proved quite different with Round 1 having hardly any side effects, Round 2 behaving as expected but Round 3 decided that I needed a bit of a reality check … in case I was beginning to feel that all of the issues surrounding my situation was not the slightest bit serious. By Wednesday after my chemo, I found the gastro area very tender and inflamed…. I have visions of my pancreas donning boxing gloves and saying: “yeh, I know that a 70% reduction in the CA-19 is pretty darn good, but I’m fed up of having to deal with the unknown cocktails coming down my way, so it’s time to fight back and rebel a bit”. As a result, I could not eat or drink anything without pain/discomfort and tenderness in the area. I called Dr Bill as Friday was near and I could not see us making the flight. He had me in the next day, took some blood, gave me a physical and also some IV fluids for hydration. Since I had not eaten or drunk anything to speak of, everything had calmed down a bit. I was to call the next day to let Dr Bill know how I was feeling….not too bad as the fluids had helped, I had not eaten anything and the psychological need to make the plane probably put everything on the backburner. I was prescribed some pain meds which I used when needed.
I slept, with mask on, for 95% of the flight home. For the rest of the weekend, I tried to use Tums to manage the discomfort but decided that the best course of action would be to give my pancreas a few more days of rest so had very little to eat or drink. Even so, you’d think that my system was pretty empty but I still managed a very mild bout of vomiting and runny tummy! Poor Gary felt so helpless but it was comforting having him plough through our mounds of mail and trying to catch up while I slept through most of the weekend. Then, on Sunday afternoon, I decided that my pancreas had gotten a decent break but might need a bit of help with some enzyme supplements and that it was time I started trying to eat again to regain my strength. Initially, I started out by taking a Tums followed 5 minutes later by the enzymes and then by some soup. Any minor discomfort that followed, I took another Tums…. good for the nails but then I thought – what about kidney stones? (have not checked this out yet). By Monday, I stopped the Tums and once forgot to take the enzymes ….. pain again…. so the enzymes do help! This morning, my first soft scrambled egg with a slice of toast….. wow, now how delicious was that.
Tris is coming over for a visit and a bite to eat later. He’ll join Gary and have some beef stew from the freezer. I’m thinking I might just make a bit of pasta with a plain tomato sauce… treading carefully to keep things simple. I’m making up for the lack of meat with a good protein powder in a small smoothie I made this morning. My mantra for my diet the next day or so will be – “keep it simple, keep it small”.
I feel my energy returning and I know that every day going forward will bring me closer to my normal energy levels. Again, this is my recuperative and rebuilding week so while I’ve lost out on a few days this time around, as we’re now in to the Holiday Season, I should be able to absorb all the calories that abound.
Gary and I will drive back on December 20th and so for us this year, we have asked Santa to make a detour and will meet up with him next year. We will, however, have a special Xmas dinner with our children on the 18th at the same time raising a glass to my 60th! Sean, who has his busiest time of the year in Vancouver will be missed but we will do this in January in Phoenix when he comes to visit.
On this festive note, I send you and your families all the very best of the Holiday Season with continued good health throughout the new year.
Our warmest wishes and thanks for helping us get this far.
Maureen and Gary