Hi Everyone:
How time flies; we’re already into our second week of the new year and I have completed my 3rd cycle of chemo all three sessions produced side effects which were totally manageable… now, if only they all could be like this. Dr. I’s office had a party atmosphere when we arrived or perhaps it was soon after we arrived as our favourite chemo friends had just checked in ahead of us and the rest followed soon after. The bonds among us continue to get stronger as David Roy, his wife Nanc and sister Linda all happily greeted Gary and I with hugs. We just started settling in when in walked Rick, who is a large 6′ 4″ retired pilot and who almost completed overshadowed this petite blonde, who was patiently waiting to make her entrance. We took a second glance and suddenly realized that it was Marie, whom we had never seen in a wig before and who looked absolutely lovely. Again, more hugs with introductions to the Roy’s as Marie and Rick had missed the last few sessions with Marie holed up in hospital.
Dr. I decided to put an end to all the merriment by having us meet with him to review the previous week’s side effects and reviewing our files. Contrary to my previous week’s position of continuing to pursue more details on the 50% reduction in the tumour size, I decided that patience this time around, would be a virtue and did not raise the subject at all. Besides, I had a list of various supplements that I wanted to make sure Dr. I was okay with as well as having to discuss the impact that my mouth sores were going to have on my treatment for the day. Fortunately, Dr. I decided that he would still give me Abraxane (what a relief!) but that he would reduce the dosage and also adjusted the overall cocktail by removing one of the other drugs.
David fell asleep in one of the private treatment rooms so we were not able to catch up too much with him although we had agreed to find a suitable date when we both were feeling good enough for Gary and I to have dinner with them. I had the opportunity while David was in with Dr. I to chat with Linda, his sister, who had decided to stay in the reception area. Linda is a registered massage therapist who lives in Maine and who has taken an indefinite leave of absence to be able to help David and Nanc. She shared with me that Nanc is excellent on the administrative side of things but gets overwhelmed with having to add the nurturing part of the support. With Linda’s background, she not only gives David a massage when needed but also helps with the overall caring. I sensed that having three of them changes the dynamic considerably and that there is some degree of having to “walk on eggshells”. She asked me about my views on alternate healing therapies and we agreed that we would email each other with more specific details.
We were all very happy that Marie was now strong enough to re-start her treatment. She had, unfortunately, spent her 2 week break over the Xmas/New year period in hospital as she was unable to keep any food down. Eventually, they had to step up her IV hydration to providing her with food as she was getting so weak. She was sent home with a portable pump to continue the “feed” and Marie unzipped what looked like a slightly wider briefcase which housed a larger than normal see-through hot water bottle containing the food that was being pumped into her. As a result of this “feed”, she had regained all the weight that she had lost and was beginning to feel much stronger. Gary and I stayed back to have an early dinner with Rick and Marie to catch up with them. Over dinner, I quickly realized that Marie’s mindset was nowhere near positive enough to get her to the finishing line in good shape. So, for the next two hours, I found my “Dear Miss Abbey” hat and worked very hard at getting Marie to totally re-frame her outlook so that she could start controlling some of the healing through a positive attitude. At the end, Marie felt so much better and told me that it was the first time she had laughed in quite some time…. what more could I have asked for? I had also just finished one of my “chemo scarves” which I gave to Marie. My “chemo scarves” are the brainchild of two very good friends of mine who are great at making wonderful arts and crafts. They had started knitting these scarves and when the time came for me to pack for LA at the very beginning of my journey, my friend gave me all the wool she had left over, with two sets of needles and told me to knit to unwind. This I have done and it’s been great to be able to gift the scarves having received my therapeutic benefit from them as well.
Just before leaving LA for Phoenix, we celebrated the wonderful news that our good friends, whose daughter has patiently been waiting for a double lung transplant, got called in. She was “competing” with another patient who had been called in at least 4 times before but the surgeons decided that the rapid deterioration and age were key factors in choosing our friends’ daughter. Our prayers had been answered. The family had to relocate from Boston where they had spent at least a year (perhaps longer) waiting and at the end of last year, they were advised to move to Pittsburgh where the chances of receiving the lungs would be much better. The more compelling reason was that the strain on the heart was such that if a new set of lungs were not received soon, we would have been praying for a heart and double lung transplant!!! All seems well although the road will still have some bumps with the strength of the rejection drugs etc. Our love and best wishes for a speedy recovery.
With the wind at our back, our drive to Phoenix was quicker than normal especially as we do not have to go through the city of Phoenix to get to Sun City West. The weather forecast for California, Arizona and Mexico called for freezing temperatures overnight with very cool days…. an arctic air mass decided to give Canada a break and instead provide a dose of reality to much of the western USA – the coldest stretch for Phoenix since 1988. We arrived home only to find that our considerate neighbours had insulated and boxed our outside faucets to avoid damage from freezing pipes. A nice thank-you gift will have to be found.
Whilst cool, the skies have been bright and sunny. More of the golfers seem to be walking the course to stay warm. Gary took pity on the poor hummingbirds and refilled their feeders … many homeowners have covered their flowering bushes and shrubs so access to their food supply has been more limited the last few days. We have had the opportunity to watch the hummingbirds and the woodpeckers, who have been trying to work their way through one of the very tall palms in our back yard. The gambol quail have not been seen so presumably they have found a warm patch somewhere to lay quietly. Gary saw a large coyote at dusk loping across the fairway at the back of us totally unafraid and without a care in the world.
On Saturday, we will be headed in to Scottsdale with our friends — the girls to see the Cavalia show which has been extended and the boys likely to get in a round of golf in. Temperatures should be closer to normal by then. Looking forward to seeing Sean next week as h did not make it to Toronto for Xmas.
Sending you our love and best wishes and hoping you will all stay strong to avoid the flu bug that seems to be on a rampage.
Maureen and Gary