Sorry for the delay in getting an update out. This past week was very active at time and I needed to focus on resting.
Monday July 18th was a very long day. The
Port was installed and I had my first chemo treatment. I'm glad both were done but on the same day is not something that I'd recommend to anyone. If you have the option I'd recommend waiting a week after the port was installed to get your first treatment.
This is what my port looked like on Monday before chemo. It took most of the week for the bruising to go down and for the cut to start healing. I can still feel the cable running up my neck, still a bit freaked out by this. The VON nurses were good but we all agreed that the surgery pre-nurse should have saved off more chest hair.
Having the port installed and chemo on the same day wiped me out for the week. Spent more time sleeping than anything. So far no side effects to the chemo other than a bit of constipation followed by non-constipation. No nausea or anything like that. The challenge was staying awake for more than 4hrs at a time. So I rested a lot and work any chores into smaller chunks.
The hot weather might have added to this but who knows. The AC was always on all the time so I'm not looking forward to the next power bill.
Over the past week the kids and I saw a few movies with their summer camp and on our own. From the kids perspective do not bother with Zookeeper (the 5 min add for TGIF was a bit annoying) but both boys really liked
Winnie the Pooh and surprisingly
Mr Poppers Penguins . Jim Cary was good but not over the top.
We fly out tomorrow and pick up our RV in the afternoon. The boys have been watching the first 4 seasons of Ben 10 and are very excited about sleeping in an RV. I'd tried to explain this is to a few adults who are not familiar with the TV show but explaining a kids show in an adult conversation is harder than one would think.
We are all looking forward to the week in Lakevale. The fresh air and relaxing setting will be just what we all need. We will be parking the RV behind my parents place on the hill, hopefully we can get a bit of shade.
The only challenge will be avoiding colds or any other bugs that will be going around. My sister Colleen suggested that I go around with a surgical mask on but that might be a bit too much. I'm sure people will understand why I'll be passing on handshakes, hugs and kisses on the cheek.
The Tuesday following Civic Holiday Monday is when we get back, but the next day I'm scheduled in for my second chemo treatment on Aug 3rd. Just chemo and no surgery so this will go better. Given my light side effects so far I'm going to ask if they can up the punch on the second treatment. Short term pain is preferred to long term issues. This will be the 2nd of four bi-weekly treatments until the next catscan is done progress is assessed.
Also I need to thank a very supportive neighbour who has arranged for my file to be reviewed by
Dr Smith and the Tumor Panel at SunnyBrook. Don't expect anything to change but it's always good to get a second opinion from a well respected panel and this will at least set a base line for any future reviews.
Want to thank everyone for their support. I've received many emails, calls and cards (they were great and promoted some great conversations with the kids). Apologies if I've not gotten back to you this week. When I've been out of bed I've needed to be focused one getting one or maybe two things done before getting back to sleep. Thanks again to Tanya's work for a second basket, not really needed but very appreciated. No idea who put this together but you seem to know me well, Tanya will need to consult with you on any future presents.
Don't expect that I'll be able to update the blog next week. I might start doing shorter updates on Google +, let me know if you need an account. Once I get back I'll given an update on the second opinion from Dr Smith, post a few photos and let you all know how things are going.
Thanks again for your support.
