Writing the last update on October 31st seems like it was just yesterday. Time is moving very slowly here. Fortunately, the movement of autumn into winter is also moving at a glacial pace. We are appreciating this abnormally warm and pleasant November and are hoping for a continuation of the same. We are pretty much at home most of the time now that the radiation sessions ended on October 17th. It is almost four months now that Laurie's illness became evident to us. A newly posted photo shows Laurie just ten days ago out bird-watching. She is looking much better and she feels that most of her days are OK. Still she has some bad days though but we all have those. A bad day generally means very little activity or interest in things and difficulty in finding words or phrases. Looking back on her journey I am pleased to report that these bad days are outnumbered by the good ones. Two other recently posted photos show Laurie after her surgery. They are not the most pleasant or flattering of pictures but they are part of Laurie's journey. It is amazing to see the difference that four months make in her well-being.
We went into the local clinic for some blood work and have recently seen the chemotherapy oncologist. This was an important meeting and is leading up to Laurie resuming her chemotherapy pills. This second phase begins on Monday, November 21st. The drugs cost nearly $2,000 for the five days and again we are happy that our cost is about the same as a large Tim Horton's coffee. Depending on the success of this phase, she will undergo more of these each month for five additional months. She will be having monthly blood work done. The blood test results are shared among both oncologists, her GP and her surgeon. We are looking for a convergence of opinion on the diagnostics and treatment plan.
We are quite happy with Dr. N. who is her oncologist. He is quite punctual and shakes both our hands upon reception and departure. He is interested in knowing how Laurie is feeling and is very attentive to what she reports. He is excellent at explaining elements in her treatment plan and encouraging in her progress. We are glad that he is part of her cancer team. Dr. N. reported all indications are that Laurie is recovering as well as could be expected. She is very tired most days although we do make the effort to take a walk each day. Her tiredness is likely more attributable to the radiation rather than the pills she takes each day. Given this, it is expected that she will begin to feel less tired in the coming weeks as the time gap widens since her final radiation session. We put up the bird, er squirrel, feeder last week and she is enjoying the assortment of wildlife now arriving there. She is recording the species of birds and critters on a list that we have been using for many years now. She is quite attentive to this and will sit watching the goings on and commenting on things. She is also proactive in writing the day's events which I had begun back in July.
She is continuing to contribute to some household tasks in the kitchen and tinkering with things now and again, here and there. We usually play cribbage every day and it is a sort of gauge of her cognitive levels. One day she may have difficulty in counting and concentrating and the next day she is much better at these things. She continues to read most days. We have gone to the greenhouse to trim, water and talk to her grasses. I am pleased to report that they seem quite happy, especially now that the really warm weather is behind them.
The next MRI is scheduled for next week. This is something that should help to monitor Laurie's situation but we have been told that it may be too early to really get a good picture of things. These MRIs will continue to be an integral part of her future. We are also penciled in to meet her surgeon in December. She is planning to bake some cookies for him which inevitably I will need to perform some quality assessment. Later this week, Laurie is attending a two hour "Look good, Feel good" workshop for women who have cancer. This is something that she requested and we are happy that is going on at this time. This is a female only event so I will find something to do at the hospital for this time.
I am doing my best to balance my time over the various activities here. Caring for Laurie is undoubtedly the priority. I am endeavouring to help out those at the office as much as I can. This work is frequently done late in the evenings and during the weekend. Keeping up with housework is critically important too. If this work lapses then one tends to get a feeling of being overwhelmed. We continue to be thankful for the six hours of home care that we are usually receiving each week. However, there have been some significant communication issues with the health care provider here. I fail to understand why the scheduling person can not pick up the telephone and call us to let us know what the arrangements are or are not. I have been quite proactive in trying to set up appointments to have someone here with two and three weeks advance asking. You have heard of "Untouchables" and "The Invincibles" but have you heard about "The Unreachables"? This is the one area of Laurie's recovery that I feel is lacking. I have gone up the ladder and eventually spoken with the most senior of people who are not pleased with our situation. They will look into this and find out what has been happening, or rather, not happening. However, I can not really say that there has been any of the promised improvement in communication thus far.
I must thank Laurie's colleagues at the Canadian Museum of Nature for their generosity in getting her a gift card. She spent a great deal of time on-line in deciding what she would like to buy. Besides adding some well needed variation to her day, she was pleased to find some programs available on DVD. These include the British TV shows Mindbenders, Kavanagh QC and Lewis. I am equally grateful as I can spend some quality TV time with her knowing that she is enjoying these shows. We continue to watch Inspector Morse each Sunday evening. This is something that we really like to watch even though it is the second time we have been engaged with the series. When I was a young lad, Sunday night programs were The Ed Sullivan Show and Bonanza. I can not recall the starting time of the latter, but I believe it was something like 20:30 or 21:00. If I was good, then I would be able to stay up late and watch Ben, Adam, Hoss and Little Joe and others on Bonanza. The funny thing is I can not really remember many of the episodes. A more recent connection to that show was about three years ago. Laurie and I drove to a man's farmhouse and sat in his kitchen to finalize the paperwork for a car that we sold him. There in the kitchen against the wall was Hop Sing's wooden floor cupboard from the Ponderosa Ranch!
I would also like to thank those of you who continue to wish Laurie well along her road to recovery. Cards and emails still arrive which do really brighten her day. Thank you for your thoughts, kindness, best wishes and your prayers. We keep the candle burning.
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