Ringing the Bell

Monday, September 19, 2011

 

It has been a full week now since the last update on Laurie's health. I am pleased to report that she is maintaining course for her recovery plans. She is now participating in more activities around the house and we venture a little further each day along the road on her morning walks. Her sleeping is going well and her sickness has not returned since her first two days of radiation. A good balance of resting, eating, drinking and exercise continues. She did take time to down load the photos from the BlackBerry to the home computer. I took many pictures of her along her journey that she had never seen before. In fact, she really did not know that I had taken them. Some of the photos are very poignant and I was not sure how she would react. Not to my surprise, she simply went through them and asked the occasional question or two. I was more struck by some of the photos than she was and I was the photographer!

 

The appointments last week were at the end of the afternoon which meant commuting to the hospital was typically slow in both directions. Once at the hospital, the sessions went well. Laurie must be close to being a model patient for the radiation staff. Always pleasant and undemanding and a good listener. She is taking everything in perspective. There are other patients in the waiting room who appear to be suffering more, at least outwardly.  It seems to me that many of patients are there alone and not with any family or friends. This must be difficult for some of them.

 

The bell to signify the last of someone's chemotherapy sessions rang twice last week while we were present. In the first instance, a little boy of perhaps six years of age, head completely devoid of hair and quite red, had finished his treatments. He was a little small for reaching the rope on the bell but his father pulled the cord and the three or four staff there with them all clapped and smiled as we did. He seemed to be in good spirits and I wondered just how rough a start in his life that he has experienced and what his future may be like.   The second ringing was from a woman whom I would estimate to be in her fifties or early sixties. It is difficult to give an age since the treatments may dramatically affect the person's appearance. She rang the bell with vigour and cried and smiled while doing so. The sound of clapping accompanied her joy and I am sure that there is emotional sentiment from those thinking of her and the completion of their own treatments.

 

Last week also saw us visit her neurological surgeon at the Civic Hospital. This is a rudimentary follow-up that we were anxiously waiting for. He is a very genuine doctor who took his time with Laurie. He is very interested in seeing the results of his labour, starting with the healing of the incision on her head. All is well there and he seemed pleased. He conducted a number of physical tests with Laurie and asked her about how she was feeling. Overall, a nice meeting to have had. The next meeting with him will be after Laurie has completed her radiation sessions at which time another MRI will be taken. He will review the baseline images taken just prior to the sessions starting and the images after her six weeks of treatments. It is good to know that there are several doctors who are following Laurie's progress and doing their own assessments.

 

Like many of you we find that weekends are something that you look forward too. Not only do we not have the drive into Ottawa but there seems to be a fall fair or event taking place every weekend. These activities offer variety to our weekly routine and with the nice weather here in Eastern Ontario we have some choice. Last weekend we went to a nearby apple orchard and bought some nice fresh fruit. We did not pick ourselves this year but many of those there were doing just that. We did some walking by the Rideau waterway and St. Lawrence River where Laurie was identifying plants and birds. We met a mink at one point that seemed as curious about us as we were of it. It seems to me that there are many events taking place in the small towns and villages that the city folk travel too with anticipation. I am not sure how many of us country bumpkins are heading into the city on the weekend. I believe that there is a special appeal to being in rural Ontario in September, especially with sunny skies and comfortable temperatures.

 

Treatment number 12 was today along with a consultation with her radiation oncologist.  Monday is his open clinic from 13:30 to 15:30 when patients can see him. I am not sure where the onus lies on prearranging the topics of discussion. The wait was quite long, well over one hour in fact. He came into the consultation room with his usual vigour and confidence. He seems to have an overabundance of patients which means that his time is carefully rationed. As Laurie appears to be doing quite well, he does not spend more than a few minutes with us. We think that he must be devoting his time to those patients where things are not working out as well. This is quite understandable and we hope that all of his future Monday sessions with us will be short ones.

 

Waiting in the hospital is something that you must adapt to. It is amazing to me how many National Geographic magazines from the mid 1980s to the late 1990s are there in excellent condition. We are typically careful about what we handle in the hospital and take precautions that others may feel are unnecessary. However, with Laurie's decreased immune system she must be vigilant in minimizing her risk to catching something.  Some people seem to wait with impatience and others simply fall asleep. I tend not to be able to read as Laurie usually does. My mind wanders. I look at the other patients and the doctors and hospital staff and think about different things. I know that there are people there who are just beginning their journey and the apprehension is there to show this. For others, it appears that they have just finished work at the office and they stopped in to get their usual treatment before stopping at Swiss Chalet for a take-out. Still, for them, there is a story that lies in their recent past. I seem to be the only person who is taking notes, at least those of the written kind. My small binder is quite full now and yet I am adding paper weekly. Not just my daily updates but notes relating to upcoming appointments, prescription renewals and the names of new support staff that Laurie can call upon if needed.

 

As mentioned, we had a long wait between Laurie's 12th radiation session and the meeting with her radiation oncologist. My mind wandered again back to grade school and to poor Harry. You see, after Harry's regrettable performance relating to his essay on summer fun, he landed himself in more difficulty with Mr. Connors. This time, Harry had to write a 500 word essay on "The air inside a ping-pong ball". It amazes me that I can still remember this sort of thing and I wonder if Harry does to. The essay itself was not presented to the class as his first one was. So, I can not report now what Harry was able to write on such a topic. This is what I was wondering about during our lengthy wait having gone over my mental assessments of the waiting room persons and activities. It is strange that the subject would even be imagined. What could someone, especially in grade seven, write on this? I put my mind on to the subject and it is not an easy one to deal with. I could not even reasonably put my first words together. I know that I would have received an F- from Mr. Connors for my lack of original thinking.

 

This week's appointments are quite diverse for timing. We have two days where we will be part of the rush hour crowd. Three of the appointments are at new times and it will be interesting to see the hospital at those times and what may be different than during our usual hours. I am sure that some new faces will be there in the radiation waiting rooms. Perhaps new radiation technicians will be there as well. There are always two of these people taking care of Laurie and they always seem to be congenial and quite young. The latter feeling is probably simply due to my age. I know most of them by first name basis even if they are in the hallway somewhere outside of the radiation area.  Laurie will be taking her fifteenth session this Thursday (September 22nd). This date will be a half-way milestone and one that I am sure she will be most proud of. She does not show much emotion throughout her sessions as she has accepted that these are integral to her recovery. The only time that she has really shed a tear or two is when she is playing a song on her guitar. I think that doing both of these things are good for her.

 

I need to think of something special to do to mark her milestone achievement. This is a more practical subject to consider compared to meeting Harry's challenge and I can put my mind to it over the next few days.  I know that there will be no deductions for brevity, poor grammar or spelling. Whatever this something special is I hope that she will be as pleased with it as I am in her achievement. 

 

 

Passages of Time, this year and last

"Time" is a word that most of us cherish. It is used in a variety of ways but perhaps none more meaningful in context when one considers recovery time. Many usages of the word "time" refer to the moment or of an instance. I think that we are essentially expressing time in this sort of dimension now. It was seven weeks ago today that Laurie had her operation. Think about what you have done over those seven weeks. For us, the variation on what we do is quite minimal. This is frustrating but we realize that progress is taking place in the proper direction; however slow it may be.  Being at home with Laurie, I thought that I would have time to do all sorts of things - including the issuance of more timely updates. However, the day is quite fractionalized and I seem to have lots of little bits of time to do specific things. Finding more substantial periods of time to engage in non essential tasks, like writing for instance, are difficult to find. For someone who likes to keep the cars clean both inside and out, I have failed to vacuum or wash them since the end of June. There is just no time for this sort of activity.

 

A decade ago, this date was a moment in time that most people around the world will recall. Canadians in eastern Canada were particularly affected and likely recall the events of September 11th, 2001 with more feeling and emotion than others may do. I can recall exactly what I was doing on that fateful morning when the seemingly unbelievable news traveled through the office. It was certainly a time of apprehension and anxiety for us living north of the 49th parallel and a nightmarish time for those living in New York, New York Washington D.C. and around Shanksville Pennsylvania. Time is supposed to heal all wounds but something tells me that the survivors and the families of the victims of 9/11 will forever be dealing with the tragedies that took place.

 

For Laurie and I, we are primarily thinking of the week ahead. We try and remember the successes of the previous week while writing our upcoming activities. In order to help us manage time and tasks we have a small white board and different coloured markers. Laurie is the scribe for this. I have kept and continue to keep notes for each day since July 22nd. I am now at page 99. Typically, Laurie is a note-taker. I was reminded of this when we were in the midst of packing for our move in August. Field books for every work related trip taken and for every endeavour related to bird outings and breeding atlases, bio-blitzes, recreational walks and cycling excursions, amphibian counts and the recording of the bird specifies and critters that visit our bird feeder each year. We both take a clean diary with us on our holidays and this is the only time that I really take notes. This is something that I have always seemingly done on holidays as far back as I can recall. What is quite surprising is that I actually have all of the summaries in one place. Although we write our diaries independently, there is a fair amount of overlap, except when it comes to botanical observations of course. You may find that there is a treatise on the local craft beer in my diary but then see several thoughts on whether a plant that Laurie found that day is introduced or native in her book. They are fun to reread but seldom did there seem to be any time to do this before.

 

Each morning now, Laurie is reading our trip diaries from our trip to Scotland in 2010. Not the whole diary mind you but just the notes that correspond to the current month and day but one year ago. So, this morning after a tasty breakfast she read aloud the bits of history, road travel, food and drink, natural history and the degree of manner of our B and B hostess for September 11, 2010. It does not take a long time to read through the notes unless the penmanship is a little off or the notes become decreasing more illegible as they extend to the bottom of a page and a fresh one is desired for the following day.  I have taken my diary notes for this day (Sept. 11, 2010) and entered them at the bottom of the more current events relating to Laurie's progress and well-being. You can certainly tell how much a life can change in the course of a year looking at the notes from then and now. We both feel that one day we will be looking around to buy new diaries for a trip to a destination that neither of us has even really contemplated at this time.

 

The last status covered up to September 4th.  Generally, and above all, Laurie is dealing with her radiation and chemotherapy sessions very well. Over the past week, the scheduling was such that we needed to be at the radiation clinic for 16:40 or 17:00 each day except for the holiday Monday. This scheduling allows Laurie to spend most of the day doing what she pleases, including sleeping in a little.  The actual radiation activity only takes three minutes; however the round-trip is taking about three hours. This is still time well spent no matter what possible view you take on the situation.  So far she is experiencing very little of the radiation and the chemotherapy side effects (I have just knocked on the desk here). The initial sessions were very difficult but since Monday, September 4th, she has not been physical ill. We still minimize the risk of her becoming so and are vigilant in terms of dealing with the possibility should she become so.  She has not suffered redness or acute swelling. Her hair is seemingly growing with speed as opposed to the opposite. Her level of energy is OK all things considered and her spirit and attitude are positive.

 

Laurie's memory is improving but there is still ground to cover. For instance, the game of twenty questions presents quite a few challenges. This game involves different levels of cognitive thinking and memory and is one of the more difficult exercises that we are now doing. Her vocabulary is coming along in three languages - English, French and Latin. Her speech therapist is not coming the week of September 12th but will come over the following week. She is reading a lot. We unboxed some more cartons and pulled out some reading material for her. She seems to like reading but has some problems in recalling the names of the books that she recently read. I sometimes wonder if she is absorbing the stories or simply reading the words. We did play some cribbage and she did very well in assessing her cards, making a strategy and taking her points. I was very impressed with this task which we do not treat as such.

 

On tap for this week are the five scheduled radiation appointments (numbers seven through eleven). Monday the 12th we see a cancer out patient social worker. After this we will visit her radiation oncologist. This latter meeting is something that we will do every Monday before her radiation session. Later in the week we meet her neuro surgeon at another hospital. This meeting was to be held last week but even surgeons need summer holidays. We are not sure what will be discussed but he did require that CT scan that Laurie had about ten days ago. We feel that it will be an assessment of her progress as he sees it. Laurie is still very unclear about what had happened and can not really remember events that took place with her initial trip to the hospital and her release some two weeks later. In the overall scheme of things this is not very important seeing as I have many pages of notes. She has not read the blog since she does not yet realize that there is one. I am hoping that some day she will read what you have been reading and what she has been living through.  She appears optimistic and more understanding of what is taking place this week. She is now able to sort out her various pills and dosages for both morning and evening. She is quite interested in reading the fact sheets about her prescriptions and asks me time and time again to go over each prescription's purpose and dosage. Her balance is quite strong and she continues to stretch and wishes to take short walks. She does still carry her stick which is something that I have seen her rely on at times. Finally, she wishes to return to the greenhouse and see how her grasses are doing.

 

We did two walks over the past weekend. The first was along the St. Lawrence River at Prescott, Ontario. We took our time and enjoyed the weather and quiet activities surrounding us. It is not often that you do not see a large ship plying the waters but Saturday was one such day. On Sunday we returned to the river but farther east - to the Morrisburg area. We strolled along the path next to the river which had significantly more human and bird activity taking place. Again no lake freighters were seen. There is something calming about being next to the river and we just took our time to take in the sun and the smells. Laurie took her binoculars and was able to identify birds, butterflies and some plants. All this is very good to see and I need to keep reminding myself that it was only seven weeks ago that she was being operated on. 

 

As anticipated, the summary of Laurie's road to recovery is becoming shorter in length as the routine of the days becomes quite apparent. I would like to thank Marian in Nova Scotia for continuing to post Laurie's progress and for dealing with the photos that I have found and sent along. Each time that I see a photo that has been stored in a computer file that I have not seen for years brings back the memories of the wonderful journeys that we have taken together.

 

Time to go. Below is the diary entry from my journal. How much life can suddenly take a turn is certainly evident from what we did then.

 

September 11, 2010 (Glencoe, Scotland).

 

Up at 07:15 and into the shower. It was also a shower outside - in fact pouring! Wondered if the hike to the Lost Valley would leave at 10:00? Had a nice breakfast. There was a couple from Italy and an older woman arriving after 08:00. A nice meal but not the full monty. It continued to rain as we left the B & B heading to the Glencoe Visitor's Centre. Arrived about 09:40 and checked in for the trip. There were five women also doing the walk - four from Germany I believe and one older lady from somewhere in the UK. The two guides were Johnny and Matt. Started off by completely encasing ourselves in anything waterproof. The trip was to go for about four hours. Lots of rain and slippery walking to be sure.

 

There were a few interpretation stops including one that spoke of a hidden person counter. It worked on the pressure of someone walking over a sensor a little bit buried. Took pictures of the area and of the group - constantly in rain. People seemed pleased just to be out and getting exercise (walking, climbing, swimming). Tough going in places - certainly more challenging than say Ben Nevis was back in 1996. Once having entered the Lost Valley we saw a herd of deer, maybe 35 to 40 in all. Had the sandwiches we bought in the village earlier. Passed around the cookies we brought but only the two guides took advantage.

 

The rain had ceased by now but was still ever present. The walk back took a different route most of the way. With all of the rain, the creeks were turned into rivers. We needed to ford one and this is where I got wet. The stepping stones were basically under water and deep enough that it topped my boots, ergo, two very wet feet. Laurie faired a little better than I did but some others got just as wet. Am wondering if these boots will ever dry in the future, at least at the B & B.

 

Having successfully managed the Hidden Valley (Lost Valley in the Three Sisters) walk, we got back into the Park Services Land Rover for the drive back to the Visitor's Centre. Said our good-byes and got the hiking ideas from Matt. Back at the B & B and Maureen's offer of a pot of tea was immediately taken up. She also carried away my boots to some secret drying chamber. Having then converted our room into a drying room and examining everything that got wet, including passports, we had a wee lie of perhaps 70 to 80 minutes. It was raining lightly whenever I opened an eye. Egads!  Will it ever stop raining? About 16:30 we headed out to see a sale of free-trade Tibetan things where Laurie bought a nice hat. The girl working the traveling exhibit and sale was from the Czech Republic. Carried on up the road to the village hiking trails where there are three of them all joined up. We walked the Woodland Trail which was 1.5 miles long and very well maintained and sign-posted. Some huge trees, lots of moss and ferns, etc - just what one would expect being in Glencoe. Began to rain again and the umbrella was used to minimize the shoes getting wet. Near the end and the car park we bumped into Ben (the B & B dog) and Ken along with another dog and Ken's friend. After a short chap about the weather and walking, we headed to the B & B via the village store where I bought single cans of beer. Returning wet for the second time in one day we hung up what we could and decided that going to the Clachaig Hotel for dinner was in order.

 

It is about two miles from the village so we drove the single lane road encountering a few cars and people. The Clachaig was quite busy and I lucked into parking in the last real space - almost hitting a car whose driver was attempting to weasel by me. Inside, there were about ten real ales - mostly from Houston Brewing. I settled on a beer from Williams that was excellent. Laurie had a salmon with spuds and veggies and I had a chicken done Cajun style with chips and veggies. Very good place and very busy - even at 20:45 when we headed over to the bar area.

 

The bar was packed with excitement - at least lots of loud talking and laughing. Got a real ale (Warlock Stout) and found a spot before the substitute three person band came on. Actually pretty good all things considered. Several dogs in various states of anxiety were about including some very docile small grey hounds (welties?). We enjoyed the music and atmosphere until 22:00 the departed for the B & B. Maureen welcomed us back and locked up as we must have been the last of the guests to call it a night.

Good things come to those who Ask

Plan B. What a ubiquitous thing that this has become to many of us. It can mean anything from selecting an alternate route to work should the traffic look like you are driving in Manila to what type of Ben and Jerry's ice cream to buy given that your favourite was also many other shoppers' fav. too.

 

Our lives here have many of these Plan Bs. In some cases, we know enough now to have a firm one in mind and even, dare say, a Plan C just in case. These plans have come in quite handy. I will relate some of these in the update below.

 

Given that there is a high level of uniformity now in Laurie's situation, I will dispense with the daily updates. A summary of the events having taken place since the last report will be given - both the highs and the lows of things. There will undoubtedly be some natural chronology required so that the events make more sense in their relationships.

 

Some of the readers had experienced the recent effects of hurricane Irene. Those more eastward of here were sure to have encountered some consequence. We had some very minor edge-of-the-storm action and nothing severe occurred.  I was thinking though that storms like hurricanes, and more particularly, tornados can be an allegory for Laurie's recent experiences. Having come home from the hospital on August 5th after her initial battle with her brain tumour, she has been, generally, getting quite better in all aspects - mentally, physically and physiologically. However, as she entered into the second set of challenges - the radiation and the chemotherapy, she has regressed at times. It was like the tornado hit her hard in July and we entered into the eye and things were looking pretty good. Then the tail end of the storm came upon us and things became quite difficult for her.

 

Sometimes no matter how much one plans, the storm is just so overwhelming that you find yourselves helpless and it does not matter how many plans that you may have though of. Fortunately, we have not reached this point although at times it seemed that we were darn close to that.

 

The last update was sent on Friday, August 26.   Since then we have encountered three delays in Laurie's start date for her radiation therapy. The original plan, Plan A, was that Laurie was to have her first radiation session on August 30th. As the day arrived and we were preparing for this major event, the radiation oncologist's nurse called to say that the treatment would be cancelled for that day. The rescheduled appointment was for August 31st. The first postponement was reasonably explained. On Monday, August 28th, she had a CT scan and also an MRI. Upon review of the images, the oncologist decided to change the instrument that Laurie would be treated with. So, this meant that they had to find a spot in the queue for her on this other instrument. Makes perfect sense and there would be benefits for her on this other instrument.

 

So, August 31st was to be the new launch date. Then, we got the word; "Houston, we have a problem". I could sort of sense this when the telephone rang and we were actually on the road to the 17:00 appointment. Apparently, the equipment broke down or in more technical terminology, there was a systems malfunction. Good thing that she was not being radiated on when the system malfunctioned I thought. So, we made a smooth exit off of the highway into the town of Kemptville which is where we rely on the pharmacists and grocers. Being somewhat disappointed, we took a Plan B for our new found time and went to see about some medication that was awaiting us at the drug store.

 

The prescription in question was related to Laurie's regular medication that she took before her illness struck. I saw that she had only about two weeks left of her pills and decided to reorder early. Apparently, this was a wise thing to do. The issue was that the pills were on back order for about six months. This originally caused us some consternation but the pharmacist reassured us that she would contact Laurie's GP about a suitable replacement. After several days of waiting, I called the drug store to see where we stood. There was still no decision made because the GP had not gotten back to the pharmacist. So, I told the pharmacist that I would call the doctor and get things moving. After leaving two messages at her office I felt that getting somewhere will this medication replacement may not be so simple. It looked like an Abbott and Costello routine at this point.

 

After over one week of inactivity, in my eyes at least, the pharmacist called and said the replacement drug was ready. This brings me back to the swift exit off of the highway on August 31st. I will not pick up a new medication and leave the store without speaking with the pharmacist as I did on this occasion. The replacement drug were little white pills that were all ready to go. We learned in a question and answer session that the active ingredient was suspended in some type of peanut based agent. Well, seeing that Laurie is highly allergic to peanuts then a problem was at hand. Plan B had failed and could have been much worse. If we did not learn of the peanut presence and Laurie had taken a pill then she would have been in anaphylactic shock and a call to 911 would have been made.

 

So, making our concerns of what we felt to be inadequate record keeping to the pharmacist, we left with nothing. Noting that there she had only about four or five days worth of her original pills, I went to Plan C. This was because the pharmacist told us that there was nothing else that she could provide. So, I called a drug store in Ogdensburg, New York and enquired as to the availability of her original pills. Well, they had plenty of them. Now Ogdensburg is only about a 30 minute drive from here if you obey the speed limits. The only stipulation to me getting the pills was that I needed a note from Laurie's GP explaining the shortage of the pills in Ontario (along with the prescription of course). So, this was my Plan C. However, the doctor's letter was integral to the plan and I was not able to contact her and messages left were not returned.

 

I explained to Laurie's case manager the situation we were in and my Plan C. She was agreeable to hunting down the doctor and getting this letter. In fact, the case manager would drive it down to the house. Brilliant. Then, the pharmacist called. She had talked with the GP and a substitute medication was identified and in fact waiting for us at the pharmacy. Good grief. With only two days' worth of pills left, the timing was rather tight. So, back up to the drug store and the new drugs were picked up after an interrogation like talk with the pharmacist.

 

The rescheduled radiation and chemotherapy start date was September 1, 2011 (just to clarify the actual year) at 17:20. So, getting prepared in all the various ways, we headed up to the hospital expecting the telephone to ring - likely just as I entered through the parking gate. No such call came and on we went. Before the first radiation session takes place, an appointment with a nurse is scheduled. Presumably, this is to go over all of the ins and outs of the treatment which would include some discussion on specific topics - usually the side effects. Our nurse turned out to be a five star person. She not only gave us a nice summary of the basics, she organized future appointments with a dietician, a physical therapist, and a cancer social worker. But that is not all. She arranged for an immediate blood test that Laurie's GP wanted. Then she handled the issue of my calls to the surgeon's office for a refill on Laurie's drugs not been returned. She popped out for a few minutes then came back and said that Laurie's pills would be at the hospital pharmacy counter in twenty minutes. If I had a self adhesive gold star then I would have placed it on her forehead. Laurie and I were most impressed especially since the radiation technologist took Laurie away about twenty seconds after our meeting with the nurse wound up. 

 

Off to the first radiation treatment. We were quite pleased. As it was the first visit for radiation treatment, we were instructed on a number of important aspects. This included using your bar coded identification card to let the staff know that you had arrived. If you wanted to see a nurse or a doctor then the methods to do this are given. Your weekly schedule is given on each Thursday visit which lays out the next five or six appointments. If you have a conflict with an appointment time then the instructions for dealing with this were presented. The arrangement to see the oncologist on a weekly basis was also reviewed. Good thing that I had lots of ink in my pen and paper to spare. Finally, they tell you that you can have all the candies that you wish!

 

The radiation only took three minutes. The added time is due to the preparation part - the fitting of the mask and the testing bit to ensure that everything would go according to Plan A.  So, Laurie came back to waiting room just as the BBC sport highlights were about to begin. We left there pleased that it was one session down and now 29 more to go.  I would be responsible for the chemotherapy part as I had the $10,000 worth of drugs secretly tucked away at the house and had the instructions memorized.

 

Thursday, September 1st was a night to remember. At about 01:00 the side effects began. Poor Laurie. She was sick in the mixing bowl that was placed right beside the bed. This continued almost hourly for the rest of the night. Although she took an anti-nausea pill before the chemotherapy pills, the effects of having started radiation and chemotherapy on the same day proved to be most devastating on her system. So, the night was long and painful. She understood why this was happening to her. All I could do was give another anti-nausea pill every four hours and hope for the best. Morning came and it was as if neither of us really slept at all. She was experiencing what the literature and the hospital staff had indicated might happen after the treatments. To me, there is no "treat" in these treatments.

 

Friday saw her back at the General for her second session. The time was for 17:20 and judging by all of the optimal parking spots available, quite quiet at the hospital. It was Friday prior to the long weekend.  There is a hospital protocol that one sees a nurse after their first radiation treatment and before the second. As arranged, the nurse spoke with us to get a sense of how Laurie managed over the last 24 or so hours. Having related the experiences, the nurse indicated that this seemed somewhat normal but she would like to speak to a doctor concerning a change to one of Laurie's prescription dosages. This nurse also would have received a gold star. Running five minutes ahead of time the technician took Laurie to the radiation instrument. The hospital was eerily quiet. I caught up a little on my note taking and savoured a watermelon flavoured bon bon as Laurie walked back by herself to the waiting room. A little hug and smile and she and I wondered what to do next. You see, she also had a CT scan scheduled for 21:00 in the same hospital. Since the time was only about 17:35 we pondered what our plan would be.

 

As we were contemplating what seemed to be just a few boring options of what to do I caught wind of a conversation from the only other people around. It was a man and his kids and a radiation nurse. He had just completed his last session in an eight week period and the nurse was reviewing some of the possible actions in his future. This man knew that there was a bell in the adjacent hallway that a person who completes their radiation program can ring. I heard this once on an earlier visit and response to the ringing was clapping from those in the waiting room and the staff. However, this being the eerily quiet night it was he went along the vacant corridor and rang the bell. The sound of the bell echoed down the hallways without a response from anyone. We felt that we should have clapped from where we were but did not. This we both regret. I wanted to say congratulations to him as he walked by us but I thought that this would have demonstrated that we had big ears. We thought of him afterwards and all the things that he might have gone through in order to ring that bell. We wish him well in his journey.

 

Now, I had packed a small cooler bag with some soft nourishment and drinks for Laurie to have between the two appointments. I had left this in the car thinking that a walk would help to fill the two and a half hours of waiting time. Then I thought of Plan B. Why not go and find the Module X on the second floor and find out exactly where the 21:00 appointment will be.

 

Now, I believe that M.C. Escher was a member of the architectural committee that designed the General Hospital. I had in fact been sent a floor plan of how to find Module X.  This map is not to be handled as junk mail. With the map and after a couple of navigational failures, we did arrive in the correct location. A very pleasant person was sitting behind the glow of a computer monitor as we approached. We wanted to know if there was a chance that Laurie's 21:00 could be moved up. The waiting room only had one person and she was on a gurney sound asleep. I explained that Laurie had just had her radiation session and now she was available for the scan. It never hurts to ask so don't be shy about this. After an immediate and short telephone call, we were told to proceed down the hall and take the last door on the right to the CT scan waiting room. It seemed that either there had been about 20 CT scan cancellations or the appointment times are somewhat randomly distribution. What a stroke of luck though. I decided right then to stop on the way home a buy a 6/49 ticket (which being a statistician I did not actually do.) 

 

Expecting more than an empty CT scan waiting room I was found to be wrong. Just the technician was there and asked Laurie to go straight on in - no change into a hospital gown was even needed. A few minutes later Laurie was done. I had virtually no time to look at any of the articles in June 2009 issue of Field and Stream. As we walked along the corridor we talked about the value of having a Plan B. The woman who made the original call for us was on the telephone as we left but she raised a thumb and smiled at our success.

 

So we were on our way back home a couple of hours ahead and thinking about how good things come to those who ask. We also thought about the chap who had completed his treatments and celebrated in relative silence.

 

The illness experienced during the early morning on Friday, Sept. 2nd was reduced by about half during the wee hours of Saturday morning. The prompt administration of the anti-nausea pill after four hours seemed to help a little. Still, the compound effects of radiation and chemotherapy was very stressing to the body. The reason that both treatments began at the same time was explained by one of the gold star nurses. The chemotherapy apparently makes the radiation more effective and thus is prescribed at the same time and not before radiation starts. It was felt that given Laurie's tough first night that the side effects from the radiation were more severe than those caused by the chemotherapy.

 

Meal plans have changed a little now. The traditional three meals a day are still there but the volume of the servings are a little less. A couple of times during the day, some small snacks are taken. This is now likely to be the approach over the next six weeks. I am fine with this since I can now have five meals a day rather than three. Plenty of fluids, focusing mostly on just water, is also an essential part of the treatment period. Rest and light exercise have been, and will continue to be, important aspects of recovery.

 

The weekend was a little better in terms of her sleeping and the level of her treatment side effects. Saturday night was actually a good night with no sickness being experienced. In part, this may have been due to me giving Laurie an anti-nausea pill at midnight and at 04:00. The Plan A is to get up for a few minutes to give the drugs as early as possible according to the prescription and then hope for the best. The Plan B is to try and deal with the sickness as best we can with the guidance provided. Plan C would be to call the telephone number at the radiation area and speak with an oncologist. There is at least one such doctor available 24/7 to offer advice on difficult situations. One result could be that a nurse comes down to the house and administers an intravenous drug.

 

Some friends came over on Sunday morning (Sept. 4th) and we had a nice time. After a while Laurie did show some tiredness and we said goodbye and thanks to our friends who not only brought their friendship but lots of nice home made goodies as well.  The day ended with a episode of Inspector Morse. This will be our Sunday evening tradition as it is good to have such things. Watching these shows I can not help but think of John Thaw who passed away from cancer in 2002 and the ordeals that he faced. I read a book last year written by his wife, Sheila Hancock about their life together. I do not usually read biographies but I did quite enjoy this one. Worth the read if you enjoy British cinema. I will note that to get a copy of the book may require you having several different plans as it seems to be quite scarce.