Getting tired

End of weekend report:

• We found the perfect small recliner yesterday; it will be here in two weeks
• We enjoyed another episode of Call the Midwife yesterday evening - what great drama!
• Today, we headed to the cottage for the day with Yvonne and Bella to do some seasonal chores - put the kayaks under the cottage, put the snowfence around the cottage posts, bring all the latex paint inside, and so on

It was lovely today and the fall colours were beautiful. The lake was wild with wind and waves - gorgeous to be up there. Bella loved racing around the yard and then trotted behind Yvonne and me as we rode our bikes down the road. Great fun.

Yvonne and Val

Val, meanwhile, is baring up to the new realities: more joint pain and significant fatigue. She was the driver this morning and was wiped out from that activity. Instead of leaping into action on arrival (as she usually does), she actually lay down and rested in the gazebo (which was a wonderful 21 warm degrees inside). Then she supervised Yvonne and me as we did the chores.

So. Life goes on and we continue to do things, but Val is moving more slowly and with greater pain. Her hair is now almost all gone - not quite, but almost. Her spirit is willing, but the body won't necessarily cooperate.

Thanks to each of you who have sent messages and emails; they are greatly appreciated - for the information you share and the connection they make with us.

Here's hoping for a gentle week to come...
Amanda

Reclining

Just a quick hit on a rainy Saturday morning: We are off to find a comfortable recliner for Val to use in the sun room. We have comfy chairs and a good sofa, but for that in-between resting pose, we have nothing.

Yvonne has suggested The Urban Barn, where she bought her compact and comfortable recliner. Here's hoping it's a quick and easy trip there and home again.

Val is wearing an
under-cycling-helmet liner,
one of the buys from last weekend's

hat shopping trip. 

Some new pain is manifesting itself in Val's joints, particularly the left ankle which was badly injured many years ago in a rafting accident. If you don't know the story, make a note to ask Val about it sometime. It's a good one!

Chester is miffed that he's not yet made it into the blog, so here he is with Val snoozing Friday afternoon.

Of cardboard and cucumbers

The day after chemo session no. 2 went well, with Val up and about and going for a walk with Jacki in the neighbourhood. She was also able to feed herself and do some laundry and the dishes. Excellent activity, and much appreciated by me!

For supper, we had our standard fall-back meal of cheese omelettes, steamed potatoes, coleslaw and broccoli, with cucumber chunks on the side. Val, normally a huge fan of my omelettes, said hers tasted like cardboard - but then so did everything else...except the cucumber, which tasted delicious. We figure this must be chemo taste (or lack thereof). Do you think she can survive on raw veggies in a Winnipeg winter???? (just kidding. she'll keep eating, and eating well, don't worry.)

Val describes this disappearance of taste as very peculiar and a tad distressing, given her general gusto for good food. Oh well. If that's as bad as it gets for the moment, we'll take it!

My students are all yawning in class these days, and I am not taking it personally. Or trying not to, anyway. It's week 5 of the term and everyone is already trying to figure out how to make it through to December. Is it Thanksgiving yet??

Holly on her look-out post in the sunroom.

Holly did not escape outside this evening, and she's not happy about being indoors while Chester is out there, romping in the dark.

 That's all for now...
Amanda

Session 2 completed

We're at the end of the day on which Val completed session two of chemo and all is fine. The port worked fantastically well.

Mendel took Val, stayed with her and brought her home. Yvonne visited during the session, as did Dr. Marni Wiseman, our dermatologist who is at CancerCare every Wednesday. Very nice woman, and she and Val had a good catch-up.

Yvonne came for dinner. Holly (the cat) went missing mid-evening but is now back in after I found her hiding in the front junipers.

We're a busy household here! I'm now done for the day...
Good night.
Amanda

Numbers are good

Pre-chemo blood work complete. Numbers are all good. Chemo session two will go ahead tomorrow (Wednesday) as planned.

Val now back home and sleeping with Chester, the cat, after some anxiety leading up to the blood-work session.

And she bought another addition for her hat collection.

Hair raising tales (2)

On Saturday, we went hat shopping. Val claims to have the smallest adult head in the world, so finding the right style and fit is a challenge, but MEC in downtown Winnipeg produced a few good options.

One is a piece of tubular headgear, which is a remarkable item that can be worn about 100 different ways, it seems. See for yourself at MEC's tubular headwear (or check out BUFF how-to videos online). Val chose the Spa Green Ellipses design - good colours for her. The others are beanie type hats in lighter materials.

We came home and Val played around with these new items. On and off they came. She tried the tubular item several different ways; she is a natural for the 'pirate' version. But in the end, she opted for her navy blue Tilley winter hat for our outing to the symphony. It was cool enough in the evening to need the head covering outside, and in the symphony hall it was warm enough to not require anything.

At the end of it all Val pronounced that, if you're going to look like a dork (which she claims to in most head gear because it tends to emphasize the smallness of her head), you have to stay true to your own style of dorkiness, i.e., peculiarity. Thus the Tilley hat.

The symphony was wonderful. Superb playing of Rachmaninoff's Piano Concerto no. 3 by Andre Laplante, followed after intermission by Holst's The Planets with the women's choir from the University of Manitoba. The musicians and singers deserved every moment of thunderous applause we gave them.

It's a busy week coming up: furnace is being cleaned tomorrow (morning's are now cold enough for a blast of heat), blood work for Val on Tuesday, then chemo session 2 on Wednesday. Here's hoping all continues to go well...

Some of you are asking how I am doing and if I'm taking care of myself. I am fine and I am taking care of myself. Going to work every day is good for me and coming home with time and energy to give to things here is good for me, too. I am reading a Kate Morton novel (light) and also enjoying a serial story featuring my favourite pony book character, Jill. It's fan fiction, an entirely new genre for me, and it's fun to read each new chapter as the author (Jane Badger) posts them online. I discovered that Jill has  her own Facebook page, which is how I came to find the fan fiction. Who knew!

That's all for today.
Amanda

Hair-raising tales (1)

The insertion of the port into Val's upper right chest area went smoothly. Some pain resulted, mostly managed with regular Tylenol. The nurses and doc were all very friendly and competent, according to Val, who came out of the procedure with her usual post-IV-sedation merry mood and short-term-memory incapacity. I have come to know this stage of the post-op recovery only too well. Val is quite charming and quite funny on those drugs!

Home to lunch - Val was ravenous, then sleepy. I went to the college. Yvonne came over to "Val sit". I presumed Val would simply sleep the afternoon away and all would be quiet. Well. Not quite.

Photo montage of Val's evolving hair style.
Chester, the cat, wasn't sure what to make of it all! 

I came home around 5pm to discover an energized house: Unbeknownst to me, Yvonne has hair-cutting skills - and the scissors to go along with them. She and Val had set up a hair-salon in the sun room, and Yvonne had proceeded to give Val a spiky Mohawk-style hair cut.

I was greeted by two giddy women who were truly pleased with their work. And so was I. Val had enough product in her hair to give a really good effect, and she no longer would have those long red hairs falling out by the handful (which began in earnest in that morning's shower).

The process didn't end there, however.

Yvonne ordered in dinner and then continued with the cutting. See the photo montage for the final effect. We think Val looks rather distinguished with such short hair.

We realize the fall-out will continue, so today is hat-shopping day. We will see what the local shops can offer for daytime and indoor wearing in this fall season. The wonderful warm 'Jeannie Beanies' knitted by Val's yoga frieand Jeannie are beautiful and fit Val's tiny head splendidly, but they will be too warm for, for example, tonight's symphony outing.

Stay tuned for the continuation of the Val, Hair & Hats story...

Turning a corner

It's a busy week coming up: Val will have the port inserted this Friday (6 AM admission, but she should be home before lunch time), which will make the regular chemo sessions easier (no IV poking each time). Tuesday is blood work, then Wednesday is chemo session no. 2.

Val began to feel a tingling sensation in her scalp recently and, today, she experienced her first hair loss. Ah, well. We knew it would begin eventually...

Chemo brain is making an appearance in our house. This evening, while making dinner I was searching furiously for the tongs with which to serve the green beans. Val claimed to have washed them up earlier and put them way. But where? I opened many drawers. No tongs anywhere. I even checked the fridge to see if she had put them away in a crazy place.

Then I looked to the left of the stove, behind the serving dish I had put out. Yup. There were the tongs. Put there by me. Ahem. Pardon me. Is chemo brain contagious, do you think?

We are planning to go to the symphony this Saturday and then attend a BBQ with our friend Yvonne and others on Sunday. Here's hoping the weather holds and Val feels up to all the outings.

Stay in touch. We love hearing from you.
Love,
Amanda

Day 8 and still good

It's day 8 past Val's first treatment and she is feeling well enough to have abandoned me in the city and gone to the cottage with our friend Yvonne for a few days of lake-side quiet and beauty. It's wonderful, isn't it?

Val has been feeling a few minor side-effects from the chemo, but nothing that some basic OTC (over-the-counter) drugs can't help her manage, and she hasn't experienced any hair loss yet.

I am very grateful for all the messages and emails that come in, but am not always able to respond in a timely fashion or, indeed, respond at all, I'm afraid. But that doesn't mean your communication is not appreciated. I love hearing from you, so please keep it all coming.

The happiness of our marriage ceremony continues to buoy me up, so I'm sharing a pic of the small group that helped us mark the occasion. Picture yourself in there somewhere, for surely your spirit was part of the event.

My teaching is going well and I am finding my rhythm. Though I will confess to already looking forward to the Thanksgiving long weekend!

Love,
Amanda

No news = Good news

Well. That's the word of the day. It is Val's birthday and she feels well.

Heather and Gracie have just brought over a magnificent birthday wild-blueberry pie. Yum!

We really didn't know what to expect after the first treatment, but so far it has been essentially smooth sailing. Val was out on her bike yesterday, and again today. She says she feels normal, so we are simply enjoying this state.

I will continue to post our news on this blog, but less frequent postings can be taken as good news, I think.

Please continue sending along your thoughts and prayers and vibes. All welcome, all the time.

Day two survived

9:15 pm

End of day two of cycle number one. No major incidents to report.

Val experienced chills and fever in alternate waves throughout the day, but that was expected, and was managed with minor drugs (Tylenol).

We ate dinner together, and are now closing down the day.

Saturday is Val's birthday. Yikes. What a whirlwind these last few weeks have been...

Good night.
Amanda

Chemo session one is done

9:15pm

Well. We both survived the first chemo session. It's true that dreading the unknown is often worse than experiencing the actual thing. So it was with today's 'first'.

Val had no immediate adverse reaction to the two drugs given her - that's why the day was so long, because a couple of hours were built in for observation to ensure her heart or breathing weren't negatively affected. We know that the impact of the treatments will build over time. Fatigue will come, as will assorted other horrid things. But today was good.

The nurses were fully present and kind and capable. Randa drove us to the appointment for 8:15am, I was with Val all day, and Mendel came along and stayed and drove us home by about 2:30pm.

Yvonne dropped in for dinner and now we're closing up the day. Jacki delivered some groceries. We are well taken of for the moment. (We're still working on figuring out what the larger long-term needs are going to be and, once we know them, we'll organize lists and rounds and schedules and so on.)

Who knows what tomorrow or the following days will bring, but for the moment we're content with having had today pass as it did.

Goodnight.

Week One: Sunday, September 1, 2013

Cutting the cake

Quite the week, it’s been, as we decided to get legally married to mark our 20^th anniversary together. 

For me, the precipitating event was filling out the Pharmacare form to register for the chemo drugs: In ticking off the ‘marital status’ box, I thought to myself: “Gee, it’s too bad I can’t tick off ‘married’.” I’ve never thought that before, but the recurrence of Val’s cancer is certainly a compelling reason to have such a thought, I believe.

That evening, the Monday of the meeting with the oncologist, I said to Val that we should get married. Our friend Jacki was there and she said, “Is that a proposal?” and I said yes and then Val said yes. But it took our friend Yvonne the following evening to really convince us that we should do it; she did so by pulling out a notebook and beginning to plan how we could make it happen.

With her help and skill, we pulled together a small gathering of friends on Saturday, August 31^st, at our house, with our friend Randa officiating as the marriage commissioner. It was a lovely event, and we’re only sorry we had to keep it so small, but that’s what the circumstances called for.

Now, with rings on our fingers, we are looking ahead to Val’s first session of chemotherapy this coming Wednesday. We are both anxious, of course, and are now getting serious about making lists of friends whom we’ll ask to help us out with driving and feeding and general daily tasks.

Thanks for being with us as this process unwinds...