Update

Val met with Dr. Brandes (medical oncologist) earlier this week. He is very pleased with her current condition.

The CT scan was clear, her blood work numbers are good, and her skin has healed remarkably well from the vicious radiation treatments back in May. Her fatigue remains significant, which is the long-term effect of the radiation treatments likely aggravated by the Letrazole (estrogen-blocking drug). In addition to having little stamina, Val has also experienced persistent joint pain and a sense of her emotions being flat and depressed. Dr. Cooke (radiation oncologist) called her overall state "Letrazole toxicity".

Dr. Brandes suggested Val go off Letrazole for two weeks and assess her state at that time; two weeks usually is long enough, he said, to reduce the side-effects and give the patient a sense of whether or not the drug is the cause of those effects. At the two-week mark, Val will consult with Dr. Brandes and determine how to proceed.

It seems, then, that the past year of surgery, chemo and radiation has done what it should: Removed the cancerous tumour and killed off obvious signs of cancer cells in Val's body. What her current condition means for the long term is, of course, not 100% clear. However, Dr. Brandes suggested she had a very good chance of not having a recurrence for a long while. Let's hope he's right.

So. We find ourselves in an odd emotional state. Obviously relieved and happy on the one hand, but peculiarly unsettled on the other. Over this past year, we have been pulled along by the urgency of medical appointments and treatments and results and doctor visits. This coming year, we will have to re-learn how to forge our own agenda and rhythm. Most peculiar, indeed.

To be noted is that Val's fatigue is a very real daily hindrance. Wanting to do things is simply not the same as being able to actually do them. We figure this will  be the reality through December.

We'll continue to keep you posted as this process continues to unfold. Thanks for being with us.

xo

Back from holidays

The 31st of August marks our first anniversary of legally married life and is just two months shy of our 21st year of being together. Given what the past  year has consisted of for us - and particularly for Val - these anniversary dates are especially noteworthy for me. (I will leave Val to speak for herself.)

I am not one to laud a relationship merely for its longevity; not always do long years together equate to a good and evolving love. I feel fortunate, then, to be celebrating not only many years with Val, but also our genuinely happy love for each other that has, indeed, evolved over the years into a warm and stimulating companionship that makes life good.

Our holiday time at the cottage was excellent, as it usually is and especially so when we have several weeks in a row to enjoy our spot on Lake Winnipeg with each other. One of the books I read included the line, "...perhaps he saw in us what he wanted for himself, a happy marriage and the time to enjoy it..." And that is what the cottage gives us: plenty of time with each other. Yes, there is a project around every corner, and meals to make and dishes to wash, but even the daily chores seem less onerous and more enjoyable with the expanded time that seems to exist at the lake.

Now it's back to work for me. I'm looking forward to a a few revamped courses this term, and to a technology & teaching conference in Denver in October. I hope you are looking forward to your fall as eagerly.

Val has several medical appointments this coming week. It's been a full year since her first visit with Dr. Brandes; she sees him this week. We will see what he has to say. Stay tuned.

xo

On holidays

We are off to the lake/cottage for an extended time. We'll connect thereafter. Who knows: Maybe Val will even write a blog post in amongst the beauty of the great out of doors. Stay tuned...

Here's hoping you're enjoying your own summer where you are. It's blazing hot here at the moment, and close and humid. Not my favourite weather, but I don't dare complain!

xo

From folks to Folk Fest (by Amanda)

My two weeks in Edmonton with my folks (Anne and Colin) were highly successful: We had fun together and enjoyed each others' company, while also being very productive in sorting out closets and offices and outbacks. The photo below tells the tale: a good number of black garbage bags were sent to the landfill (sorry about that), several more to the recycling depot, and a car load to Goodwill. That boombox on top of the pile was diverted to the electronic waste depot, thanks to a stern message to me from Val on seeing the phone via text.

I happened to be in Edmonton while Wimbledon was on; my mother is an uber keen fan, while my father watches with interest. I haven't followed the tournament for years, but I got into it after downloading the app onto my iPhone and onto my mum's iPad. I would come up from my lower-level bedroom for tea in the morning and find Anne already on her second cup of tea and watching the live matches in progress on her iPad. As the tournament went on, we migrated to the TV to watch the more serious semi-finals on the big screen. 

Anne watches Wimbledon on her iPad. 

Watching Wimbledon on the big screen. 

For Colin, his iPad and his desktop Mac play a big role in keeping him connected to the outside world, as it is getting harder and harder for him to get out into it himself. He is a keen photographer of family and friends, and takes seriously his role to share his snaps with all of us. Here he is consulting with Anne on how to make (the damned) printer do what he wants it to. In the end, he succeeded. Phew. 

Colin gets around pretty well with a walker, and is game to do his share about the house. He sets the table and moves the laundry from the washer to the dryer. On a good day, his (blasted) oxygen tube doesn't get all caught up in this and that, and he manages to move about freely. Other times, tangles catch  him up and expletives can be heard. Nothing much unusual about that in a Le Rougetel house, I must say. 

I had an enjoyable time going through an old suitcase of my grandfather's into which Anne had put, in carefully dated envelopes, piles and piles of family photos. I left loads for Charles (my brother) and Katy (my sister) go through, but I brought a bunch home for my own files. Below is a rather sweet one of Katy (left) and me; I must be about a year old, which makes Katy about three. 

I am off to the Winnipeg Folk Festival this coming Thursday, which leaves poor Val alone yet again. If only she could enjoy what she considers the wailing of folk music, then she could come along! Her energy comes and goes, though I think it's true to say that the mind-numbing brain fog is over. However, the ups and downs of the returning energy is hard on the mind: So much to do, so much willingness to do it, yet not always the necessary amount of energy to actually achieve it. All positive thoughts continue to be gratefully received... 

Brief update

An overnight trip to the lake saw us knee-deep in dandelions and swatting bat-sized mosquitoes. But neither of those natural wonders stopped us from enjoying the view and the change of scenery. Not even the occasional heavy downpour dampened our spirit, though it must be said that poor Val is still beaten down by radiation-fatigue fall out. Nonetheless, she whacked down a bunch of thistles and held the ladder while I climbed onto the roof to clean out the (very bunged up) eaves troughs. That's what we call a good time!

I head to Edmonton tomorrow (Monday) for two weeks with my parents. Here's hoping that Val and Holly will take good care of each other in my absence. 

A break in the clouds of fatigue?

Val said this evening that she is beginning to feel a bit more like herself; that cloud of radiation-induced fatigue is possibly beginning to lift. She is maybe starting to feel just tired, rather than bone-numbing, head-clouding, zonked out tired. Here's hoping! 

Maybe our visit to Riding Mountain National Park this past weekend helped move things along? For sure we had fun! 

Val, Yvonne, Bella and I had a lovely time (in a crummy little cabin, but we came to overlook the inadequacies after an evening cocktail) enjoying each other's company and the lovely scenery in this gorgeous national park. The pictures below tell the tale.

Amanda and Bella, Yvonne's dog - a lovely 4-legged
travel and hiking companion. She did 9km
with Yvonne and Amanda
on Saturday around Moon Lake.  

Val and Yvonne cooling off their feet in Moon Lake on Saturday afternoon.
Yvonne and I had just finished the 9km hike, while Val had come to meet
us there, having done short bits of two different trails. We were all
bushed after our exertions and spent the rest of the afternoon rehydrating, reading
and preparing (then eating) supper. 

Bella stuck close to us, always. 

Val holding forth on matters of flora and fauna: She knows a lot! 

Sunday morning on the Brule Trail - a lovely gentle amble. Really nice. 

Val on boardwalk by the marshy lake
halfway around the Brule Trail. 

On the marshy lake - really windy! 

Amanda hiking, with Bella. 

This is how it goes at our house sometimes...

It's a bit later on a Sunday evening than ideal to be sitting down to eat, but it's been a bit of a dreary, grey, drizzly Sunday. We both did a bit of this and that - some yoga (Val), some garden tidying up (me), a walk (both of us), some reading and a nap (me) - and somehow it's past 6:30pm before anyone is in the kitchen putting food together for a meal. 

Yesterday, I had bought some 4-cheese ravioli to have on hand for just such an occasion, so that's what I pulled together for supper: some rudimentary tomato sauce, the pasta, and some lovely local asparagus (picked on Friday, bought on Saturday, cooked on Sunday). Some nice white wine remaining from Saturday's supper. It was going to be ok. Not gourmet, but decent. 

But as we're eating, Val tells me that, actually, ravioli, is her least favourite type of pasta, and, anyway,  when we last had that delicious dish with pasta and asparagus it wasn't with ravioli, was it? 

We both wracked our brains for what the other type of pasta was, but couldn't come up with it. 

So, I do the logical thing. I go to my collection of Fine Cooking magazines on the living room bookshelf and I pull down the mag holder. And I pull out, on first try, the correct copy of the magazine from which I first cooked that original pasta dish. 

Turns out it called for tortellini. "That's it," I cry, "tortellini." 

I look over at Val and she has her hands in  her (very curly) hair and is shrieking: "That is not fair! I cannot even find my shoes, but you can find - immediately - the magazine you need to come up with the answer for the type of pasta in that dish. Give me strength!"

What can I say? There's a fine line between being organized and being compulsive, and I believe I am happily on the correct side of this line....

On a less amusing note, it seems our fridge has stopped its cooling function. I will have to call a repair person in the morning. Oh joy. Oh well. At least the freezer is still functioning...

Val is now 10 days out from her final radiation treatment; she is still experiencing heavy fatigue, and the skin burn remains itchy and uncomfortable. Frequent treatments of aloe direct from the plant, some cortisone cream and moisturizer are all helping, but she will be glad when she's through this experience. 

As you may have noticed, she has not written a blog post for a good while; she will return when she has the gas (physical and intellectual) to do so. In the mean time, she is following through on her commitment to teach a yoga class or two; this takes some of her energy, but it also gives her some energy in return. A fair trade, indeed.