Monthly Mom Messages\n
My mom and I touch base by e-mail every morning. I decided to \"mine\" these e-mails for notes that can provide a record of happenings, and state of mind. Here's October 2024:\n\n- Oct 1: Brent and I went for a walk at the dog park yesterday, which was nice. Maybe we'll get out for another walk today, although it looks like it's supposed to rain all day so maybe not. Ugh. I wanted to go camping for a couple of days during my \"strong days\", but the weather just isn't cooperating.\n
- Oct 2: Brent and I have been taking advantage of the good days for this chemo round. We went to a movie and then a pub yesterday afternoon, which was really nice. We don’t have any definite plans for today. Maybe we’ll go out for a walk. \n
- Oct 3: This morning I go in for my blood work and consult about what they're going to do about my final chemo which is supposed to be tomorrow. I want this all to be over with so badly. Brent and I did go for a walk yesterday but I was really slow because I'm still so weak from the fifth round of chemo.\n
- Oct 4: I’m going in for my final chemo today. I’m heave lowered my dose to 60% and I’m going back for a blood transfusion tomorrow because my side effects were so bad last time. I’m so glad this will be the last time. \n
- Oct 5: I got my final chemo yesterday and so far I don’t feel too bad. Today I will get two units of blood in a transfusion. It’ll be my first ever transfusion but it should hopefully help me keep my strength up.\n
- Oct 6: I had my transfusion yesterday. It’s supposed to boost my hemoglobin from 83 to 103. I sure hope it works. In my fifth round of chemo I was so weak and shaky I could hardly stand or walk for over a week. This should prevent that from happening. It would be really good if it worked since I’m supposed to be going to Calgary on the 16th to start cleaning out my apartment. \n
- Oct 7: I slept most of the day yesterday, except for when Brent and I went out for our walk. I felt very low energy but Brent said I was better than a couple of weeks ago, so I guess that's good. So far my nausea isn't bad, which is also good.\n
- Oct 8: I'm still sleeping a lot since my last chemo, but I don't feel too nauseous or anything, so that's good. Just really tired.\n
- Oct 9: My fifth round of chemo made my vision go really bad, which was quite distressing. Now that I'm through my sixth round with a reduced dose, my vision is going back to normal (for me). What a relief.\n
- Oct 10: I think I’m genuinely starting to do better. Yesterday Brent and I rearranged some furniture in preparation for bringing stuff home from Calgary. It’s the first time in months I’ve been able to do anything even remotely physical. Hopefully things will keep getting better. \n
- Oct 11: I expected to be on nausea meds for another full week but I felt good enough yesterday that I stopped taking them and so far I'm doing ok. I would be really happy if I don't have to take them anymore!!\n
- Oct 12: I’m going to try today to have kind of a normal day. Some housework, a walk and lunch out. It will be a lot for me these days but hopefully I can handle it. \n
- Oct 13: Brent and I are doing well. I'm feeling a lot better. We went for a\nwalk yesterday in a place called Patricia Ravine. It was really\nbeautiful with the fall colors (pic attached).\n
- Oct 14: I'm feeling pretty good this morning. I had a lot of nausea yesterday afternoon, but that has cleared up. Brent and I are going to go to a hockey game at noon today, so that will be fun and hopefully I'll feel good enough to eat some hockey game junk like a hotdog or something.\n
- Oct 15: Today Brent and I will be spending some time getting ready to go to Calgary to prep my apartment for sale. We look forward to visiting you on the way down tomorrow.\n
- Oct 16: Well, I think I'm as ready as I can be for our time in Calgary prepping the apartment for sale. We're going to be really busy with social things and cleaning/repairing the apartment. I know Brent will happily to the lion's share if I'm too tired or weak but I hope I'm not. We've been out walking for three of the last four days. Just short walks, but more than I've been able to do in weeks. Overall I feel about as ready as I can be.\n\n
- Oct 17: Brent and I made it to Calgary yesterday. We met with a realtor and a handyman and then went for sushi with Elissa. I think I might have a head cold now. Ugh. At least I didn’t catch it while my immune system was knocked out from the chemo. \n
- Oct 18: Brent and I had a really busy day yesterday with people coming to pick up stuff that I put up for sale, and doing home improvement projects to make the apartment more sellable. We also went for a walk with some friends and then went to visit Scott. \n
- Oct 19: We had another big work day yesterday, and we had some friends over to visit in the afternoon. Brent started working on the kitchen flooring. He worked until almost midnight!\n
- Oct 20: Our current project for getting the apartment ready to sell is still ongoing. For such a tiny area, changing the flooring in the kitchen is a really big job. Poor Brent has been working his fingers to the bone!\n
- Oct 21: I’m feeling this morning like we have really bad luck with the weather. Brent and I have to pick up a U-Haul and load it with stuff from the Calgary apartment, and Calgary is expecting rain and snow all day. We’re leaving Calgary early tomorrow morning and I’m worried about what the roads will be like. We have no choice though - we can’t postpone. Sigh. \n
- Oct 22: For the first time in 23 years my apartment is empty. Brent and I have a U-Haul packed up and ready to go today and I’m so glad we didn’t get the heavy snow they were predicting. We did get some but not too bad. Brent will be driving the U-Haul and I’ll be driving Nemo. \n
- Oct 23: We had a good journey home with the U-Haul yesterday. We did some unpacking but we still have more to go. We have to return the U-Haul today and then we’re meeting our friend, Nancy, for a movie. It should be a good day. \n
- Oct 24: I have to go back to the cancer hospital today to see my oncologist. After this I won't have to see her every single time I go in for my infusion, but I think she wants to check up on how my hemoglobin is doing after it got so low after my fifth chemotherapy. I had a blood transfusion right after my sixth one three weeks ago and I feel so much better that I'm sure the hemoglobin is better, but it will be nice to see what it actually is.\n
- Oct 25: Brent will be coming to try and fix your furnace without me today. I have my infusion this afternoon and while he plans to be back here on time to take me we didn’t want to chance it. If he’s not back on time our neighbor will take me. \n
- Oct 26: I had my first Herceptin-only infusion yesterday (no chemo - yay)! I’m not supposed to get side effects from it so hopefully that’s true. So far so good. \n
- Oct 27: I'm still feeling fine, so still hopeful that the Herceptin infusions aren't going to affect me like the chemo did. I'm just really sad today from hearing that Brian passed away. \n
Monthly Gratitude Posts:\n\n- Oct 1: I'm grateful that the seroma seems to be gone. I'm still going to wear compression until I start radiation because I don't want to get overconfident and have it come back, but... so far so good!\n
- Oct 2: I’m grateful for the pretty fall colors along the walking paths\n
- Oct 3: I'm grateful to Nemo for being such a great little car for all of these years and kms (over 350,000km now).\n
- Oct 4: I’m grateful that the pandemic didn’t wipe out all the Indian buffets. Had a wonderful last lunch yesterday before I go in for final chemo today. \n
- Oct 5: I’m grateful that the two doses of Dexamethazone that I will take today, and the Pegfilgristim shot that I will get this afternoon will be the last ones I will get forever. It feels very home-stretch-ey\n
- Oct 6: I’m grateful that the blood transfusion is supposed to boost my hemoglobin from 83 to 103 and it feels so far like it is working\n
- Oct 7: I'm grateful to have an absolutely wonderful pharmacist right across the street from where I live.\n
- Oct 8: I'm grateful that the aftertaste from yesterday's onion hopia has worn off.\n
- Oct 9: I'm grateful that my vision seems to be going back to normal (for me)\n
- Oct 10: I’m grateful to not be in the path of a natural disaster.\n
- Oct 11: I'm grateful to be coming off of nausea meds a week early\n
- Oct 12: I’m grateful that today I will be taking the cancer patient signs down off of our doors. Since I’m done chemo, my immune system won’t be compromised regularly anymore so I don’t need warning signs.\n
- Oct 13: I'm grateful to be feeling like I'm starting to live again. We walked the length of Patricia Ravine yesterday, which isn't much, but is better than I've been able to do in several weeks.\n
- Oct 14: I'm grateful to have been able to walk about 3km for the second day in a row. We walked around Ft. Edmonton Park yesterday.\n
- Oct 15: I'm grateful to Alan, Angela, Anna-Lisa, Brent, James, Janet, Jeff and Tim for getting me their Last MAN Standing music on time for me to properly prepare for the event on the 19th. Thanks y'all. \n
- Oct 16: I'm grateful to be finding some new favorite restaurants in Edmonton after the pandemic took away all my old favorites\n\n
- Oct 17: I’m grateful that Brent is so handy and helpful. Getting my apartment ready to sell would be overwhelming for me without him.\n
- Oct 18: I’m grateful that, with all the apartment stuff we did yesterday, I didn’t hurt myself. It’s a lot but things are coming along. \n
- Oct 19: I’m grateful for beer\n
- Oct 20: I’m grateful for the opportunity to share a lovely afternoon of music with Michell, James, Jeff, Angela, Sandy and Brent\n
- Oct 21: As our week in Calgary draws to a close, I’m grateful for wonderful visits with wonderful friends. Elissa, Val, Lynda, Scott, Joel, Sharon, Susanne, Dave, Wendy, Angela, Kim, Leonard, Cindy\n
- Oct 22: I’m grateful for my packing, lifting, moving, loading, taking superstars Brent, Ryan, Sandy and Kijiji. For the first time in 23 years my apartment is empty.\n
- Oct 23: I’m grateful that Calgary didn’t get as bad of a dump of snow as they made it sound, but I’m also grateful that Brent put the winter tires on Nemo before we went to Calgary. We all made it back to Edmonton safely (us, Nemo and the U-Haul) \n
- Oct 24: I'm grateful that I'll be seeing Lovely NP today and not Obnoxious D\n
- Oct 25: I'm still processing that I made it all the way through chemo. It was awful and I'm grateful that it's over and done with and today's infusion will be Herceptin-only.\n
- Oct 26: I'm grateful for Brent Stephens' mad manly skills. He fixed my mom's furnace yesterday and saved her an expensive service call and/or having to buy a new furnace. Not today, thieving HVAC company... not today...\n
- Oct 27: I’m grateful to have made it through chemo with gratitude. I’m going to take a break from gratitude posts for a while.\n
- Oct 12 - Living again
Walk in Patricia Ravine
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