Laurie's Road to Recovery

 

Life here in Oxford Station is certainly quiet, and hot. Dry too. The temperature has and continues to be in the low to mid 30s in the shade. The forecast calls for about the same temperatures for the next week. We can use some of the rain that has been over the UK for quite some time. Life is also stable most of the time. Laurie has been gradually improving in her physical health and is now able to walk stairs confidently and we are taking longer walks once again down the road. The continuing challenge remains with the cognitive skills. Laurie has difficulty in recalling events that took place five minutes ago such as what we ate for dinner. She at times has appeared to be more frustrated than I have seen her. Laurie has a speech therapist visit every two weeks and the two of them work away on exercises for about 90 minutes. I am within ear distance of them working and it sounds like Laurie is doing well in some recognition areas but has trouble in others. I am hoping that with these sessions and our own work on improving verbal communication that Laurie's speech improves.

 

There has been some delay in getting an MRI for Laurie. Back in May, the oncologist had put in a requisition for this test. At our June meeting with the oncologist, the MRI still had not been booked. He seemed a little surprised by this and said he would look into it. A week then passed. I called the MRI clinic at the Ottawa Hospital and asked when Laurie's appointment was scheduled for. Well, there was no appointment set. So, I told the clinic person that NOW was the time to book an appointment. According to the oncologists and the surgeon, Laurie was to have an MRI about every three months. The last one was done in March and that was only partially successful in obtaining good quality scans. So, Laurie was overdue. After a few excuses by the clinic person to put me on hold, we finally booked a time for Laurie for early in August. According to the clinic staff member, the MRI report could take up to three weeks to get back. I had concerns about this because we need a follow-up appointment with the surgeon after the MRI report is available. So, we now have the surgeon scheduled for mid September. If there is anything that I have learned about the medical system is that being passive or too patient is usually going to result in disappointment and frustration. I know that everyone involved in Laurie's case is busy but unless you pick up the telephone and ask questions then large amounts of time pass by before action is taken.

 

Today we saw the GP and she felt that Laurie was looking very good. Laurie had her hair trimmed between now and her last appointment which the doctor noticed. I had five issues to discuss with the doctor and once again being proactive helps. Since Laurie is still having some incontinence problems I asked if we could see an urologist. This situation of being incontinent has being going on since last December. Within two hours time after leaving the GP's office we had an appointment for the specialist. I am hopeful in Laurie's progressive recovery but I think the involvement of the urologist is something that someone on her health care team should have been thinking about. The main thing is that we are now booked for late September. The other main issue for Laurie is getting a solid night's sleep. This is still proving to be a challenge even though she has some prescription sleeping pills. She will try another type starting next week and I am hoping that she will sleep better at night and less often during the day. She continues to eat well and is alert to the bird and wildlife activities outside. She continues to have difficulty in putting a name to a bird or a squirrel or a chipmunk though.

 

We are taking more short driving trips each week as Laurie seems to like being out and about. She certainly likes driving in the car listening to the music that we listened to in the 1970s and the 1980s. She sings along with many of the songs which is interesting because she likely could not say what she had for breakfast that morning. This past weekend we drove about one hour to Perth where we visited an antique show. She seems to be very interested in some things and we bought an old Bunnykins dish from 1940 for a price that would make me the "shopper of the day". We went to a restaurant for lunch which turned out well. Besides Laurie attempting to eat her lunch with two forks, she seemed to enjoy the meal and the surroundings. I need to plan where we can stop for washrooms that are convenient for both of us. At any point Laurie could indicate that she needs to stop and go so some thought goes into our route before we leave. We also have visited Prescott which is situated on the St. Lawrence River. She likes this location especially since we pass a Tim Hortons along the way - which is rather good if one needs to stop for something besides a coffee and donut. The large freighters pass along coming from one unknown port heading towards another destination. I often wonder about this and the people on board who spend many weeks at a time away from their families and friends.

 

Laurie is quite curious and wants to participate in things going on around the house. She is now watering the flowers outside almost each day. She has been watching my back yard project with the large tree branch that fell a while ago. I have undertaken the clean-up myself since the insurance company was less than helpful. With the warm weather I try to spend anywhere from one to two hours per day cleaning up. It is necessary to go into the house each half-hour or so to ensure that Laurie is OK. Laurie and I try to watch about an hour of television each day as well. This gets her downstairs and she seems to like simply watching something. We did watch the movie "The Big Year" which she thoroughly enjoyed. The plot is about three men of totally different backgrounds and careers who attempt to surpass the North American record for the number of different bird species found in a year. It is quite relevant to one of Laurie's interests and the movie is quite funny and well acted.

 

This past June second was a special day. It marked the fourth anniversary of Laurie's graduation from McGill University with her PhD. Her degree hangs in our den which is somewhat in disarray. Most of the contents of this room are still in boxes in the basement. I have done very little in the way of unpacking since last June. June is probably Laurie's favourite month. It is the time of year when she went north and did her field research. Long days and bearable temperatures meant that she worked on her collecting and research that would keep her busy for many months later in the year. I think that her colleagues who are currently up north on the Soper River on Baffin Island in Nunavut will miss her as much as Laurie misses being there.

 

Next week Laurie starts her seventh session of chemotherapy. This is when she takes her pills each day for five straight days and then stops for 23 days. According to the clinical trials with the drug she is taking, the oncologist said that the effectiveness may now be minimal. After taking this chemotherapy for six months there may be little benefit in continuing. However, he will keep Laurie on this drug especially since a good MRI has not been available for a long time. I am happy with this decision although every drug has side-effects and if there is truly little benefit in continuing then perhaps the best thing to do is stop taking them. So, I expect that next week Laurie will be more tired than usual. She is tolerating the chemotherapy quite well considering the affect this drug can have.

 

I will be posting another update ten days from now. I know that many of you are on, or planning to be on, summer holidays soon. A nice vacation was always something that Laurie and I looked forward to and I especially miss not having these. I wish you safe travels and sunny skies.