5th treatment

Tuesday, April 14

I know I should have posted this before, but life got in the way of writing. The week in question was a busy week. Rosalie had an MRI scheduled for her knee the same time I was scheduled for my blood work. Wanda, my second self,and personal escort came along to make sure Rosalie got in for her MRI on time. As soon as I was finished, I rushed up to the imaging department to fine Rosalie. Shortly after I arrived, she was called to get changed.

She was not impressed with the giant baggy pants. They are one size fits all, made to accommodate the largest man. She is 9 year old girl who is very sensitive to how her clothes fit and feel. I could sense disaster coming, but Wanda was able to cheer her up and make her feel OK. Off we toddled to the big fancy room. I thought that I had had an MRI before, so I did not explain it correctly to Rosalie.


She had to lay on the table perfectly still. Check. She could pick a radio station to listen to with big comfy headphones. Check. The machine will make a very loud banging noise. EEhh - not good. Wanda and I received ear plugs and the noise was disconcerting to me. Rosalie did all all right at the beginning of the first 5-minute session, but she was getting uncomfortable towards the end. I couldn't hear her, but she was mouthing "how much longer?". The technician came in and helped her calm down, and gave her a face cloth with which to cover her eyes. After that, she was much more calm and did manage the next two sessions fine. It helped that she was imagining the machine as a giant doughnut.

That part off the day being over with, we went downstairs for my pre-chemo appointment with Dr. Dunne. The complaints from the last session were reviewed and then we were released. When I got home, I received a call from Dr. Cameron's office (Rosalie's orthopedic surgeon) asking for her to come to his office the next day. She mentioned the word, "urgent". After some give and take with her, I was able to get an appointment at 8:30 am, right before chemo.

Wedensday, April 15

Why did she say the appointment was urgent? I have learned to hate that word. No worries, though. The doctor saw her, went over her MRI results, and everything checked out. She has a lot of fluid on the knee, a bruised bone, and torn cartilage. Since she's young, she should heal without any medical intervention. He even gave the OK for her to join the Track and Field club. What a relief that she will be fine. Thank you, God.

The next day was chemo and Evelynne joined me for this one. She and I played "Apples to Apples" with a volunteer. What a good game! We had the junior version, but there is an adult version and it meant for 4 - 10 players - perfect for our entire family and parties. We also played "Snakes and Ladders 3-D" - very fun! The volunteer really took to Evelynne and offered her every snack available. She had cheese and crackers, a Popsicle, juice, and ice cream. All in all, it was a pleasant way to spend time.

Saturday April 18

A weekend of skating, in Port Alberni this time. Lucas skated in his singles event, in a new level this time and placed second. Just he and I went for the drive, so that was nice. We stopped for a giant ice cream cone and went to the waterfront. Port Alberni is in the centre of Vancouver Island, 50 kms from the east coast and 95 kms from the west coast, but is on an ocean inlet that flows all the way to the open Pacific on the west coast. It's a beautiful spot, nestled in the mountains.

I decided to skip the cone, but Lucas enjoyed his!

My son and I

The team - Kanon and Lucas

Korin, Lucas, Yuzuki, and Kanon

"I hate getting pictures taken, Mom. Will you please hurry", although I don't think he said the "please".

Sunday April 19

The whole family drove up the next day for the 8:00 am pairs event. Lucas had to be there by 7:00 am, which meant we had to leave by 6:00 am. You can imagine what it's like getting 4 kids out of bed at 5:30, to be on the road by 6:00 am. Not easy. They snacked on the road, and we got there in plenty of time. They skated really well, and received the gold medal. I love watching them skate.

Now you will remember that I had chemo on Wednesday. Day 5 always seems to be the start of my troubles. Guess what day Sunday was? By the time the kids skated, the results were posted, had the medal presentation, I was famished and beginning to get kind of shaky. We drove off in search of food, and I felt a bit better after that, but was starting to get very tired. I slept some on the way home, ate lunch once we got home, then climbed right into bed. I thought I would have a little nap, but slept the afternoon away. I could not open my eyes, nor could I move out of bed even if I had wanted too. It wasn't a feeling of being tired, more like completely drained of every energy cell. It's a strange feeling. It lasted most of the way through Monday as well. I got out of bed to do errands with Norm, but stayed in the car most of the time. I was up and at 'em by Wednesday, and saw Dr Carr on Thursday (those details are in the previous post).

Sunday April 26

Victoria had a soccer tournament on Salt Spring Island this last weekend. Norm took her for the Saturday games, and the family plus Grandma came on Sunday. She played so well! What a tough girl. Victoria really took a beating on Saturday, doing a crash onto her shoulder and getting kicked in the shin. She can get up from a fall faster than anyone I know and is able to beat the person who caused the fall to the ball. Their team was playing up a year, so all these girls had already hit their growth spurt. Vitoria has not - she is small for 11. A lot of girls from the other team are already 13 and very big. That did not matter to my small, quick daughter. Her team played two games on Sunday morning and we were able to explore the Salt Spring fro the afternoon. Another gorgeous place, but expensive. At the farmer's market, someone was asking $18 for a loaf of lemon poppy seed bread. Crazy. It's an island populated by both hippies and the wealthy. Since we don't fall into either of those categories, we will visit again, but could never live there. 18 bucks for a loaf of bread- can you imagine the house prices? We walked along the waterfront, near Ganges, and vowed to come back with our boat to tour through the Gulf Islands. It's a beautiful area. Here's a link if you want to see what I'm talking about: http://maps.google.com/maps?t=h&hl=en&ie=UTF8&ll=48.862633,-123.49288&spn=0.039356,0.111237&z=14

And some pictures:

On the ferry, heading toward Vesuvius, Salt Spring.

Looking East from Ganges Harbour

Monday, April 27

A very nice weekend, and back to business on Monday. Victoria felt that she didn't get enough exercise over the weekend, so she and a friend, along with Norm and Rosalie, rode their bikes to school, a distance o about 7 km. They also rode back the long way, another 12 kms, then she had soccer practice that evening. By then, she was tired.

Tuesday April 28

I had my mammogram yesterday. They did both breasts, and next week, I will have an ultrasound only of my unaffected breast - the left one. I have a bad feeling about the mammogram. I peaked over to the screen and I swear I saw a lump. The images of both breast were up, so I don't know what I was looking at. The technician asked me a couple questions that made me think, uh, what's up now. Maybe it's just scar tissue, I don't know, but I'm not going to get all crazy about it yet. Dr. Carr will phone if there's anything, and so far the phone has not rung. My ultrasound is next Thursday, so all will be revealed by then. In the meantime, I am going to see the cardiologist in Victoria today for him to go over the previous tests I had on the 26th of March. I am looking forward to a nice drive with Wanda, and a visit with Joelle and Claire.

That's all for now. Cheerio.