Hard Week

Sorry for the lack of posts last week. Things here have been going pretty poorly with us here. We are all sick. Penny and Carly and maybe even Andrew have strepp. Penny also has a badly infected finger. Andrew also has a runny/bleeding nose. I have a whole host of symptoms and have seen a few doctors including my surgeon about it with little success. They're not sure if my illness is surgery related (infection) or not (just a normal flu/cold). Right now I'm on antibiotics to treat a suspected kidney infection but I'm not 100% sure that's what I have. We are all sleepless, show little interest in eating (I'm down to 168 lbs!) and generally feel terrible. Luckily my parents came Wednesday night and have been looking after us. They've done a great job. Oh yeah, and Andrew turned one on Thursday. We didn't have much of a celebration given the state of affairs here but he got a few gifts and we made some cupcakes to celebrate. Happy Birthday wishes also go out to my mum, Penny's dad, and Kate O'Shea.

Language Challenge!

What language?, originally uploaded by DPC Tutt.

This is a page from a book that we got Carly a couple of years ago. Ironically the book is called "First Canadian Words". The rest of the book is in English but this page is in... I have no idea what language (could the publisher have an easier book to proofread?). We still read this page to her (and now Andrew). In fact we read it enough that if we ask Carly to go and get her tandborste and tandpasta she goes to brush her teeth! If anyone out there can enlighten us on what language this is we would be grateful. Just leave your responses in the comments. Thanks.

Under the weather - UPDATED

Well I didn't get a call from Dr Buie last night which means that my WBC and electrolytes are normal. That means that I don't have an infection related to my surgery (very good news) and that my symptoms are likely caused by a cold or flu. In my exam yesterday he didn't find any physical symptoms that suggested an infection either. Penny's mom had a similar cold last week that lasted for about 7 or 8 days. I'm on day 5 so if it's the same thing she had, I have 2 or 3 days to go. Yahoo - I can't wait.

I'm off to Canmore this weekend for a boys trip. The rest of the crew will be drinking and skiing (possibly even in that order) but I plan to stick pretty close to a couch where I can nap haphazardly with complete disregard for anyone other than myself. Hopefully I won't be a downer...

Scottish colonoscopy

This is pretty funny. He's right, the worst part of the colonoscopy is the "clean out".

Under the weather...

I'm not feeling great. For the past few days I've been under the weather with a bunch of flu-like symptoms so I called my surgeon to see what he thought I should do. He's away for 2 weeks starting tomorrow but he agreed to fit me in to his day today. So, I'm off to the hospital for more blood tests, sitting around and doctor consultations. I think its just a cold but better safe than sorry.

Shawndra Turner: 1976-2009

It is with a heavy heart that I write this post. An inspiring figure in my cancer battle, Shawndra Turner, passed away yesterday from a hard fought battle with a rare type of colorectal cancer. She was 32. She left behind a daughter, Ella, 3 her husband Doug and many family and friends.

When I first found out that I had cancer, I opted to tell everyone rather than keeping it a secret. That was one of the best decisions I have ever made as it introduced me (through a couple of friends) to two cancer survivors, one of which is Shawndra. Shawndra has documented her entire cancer battle in a blog for everyone to see, and was my inspiration to start a blog about my battle. I thought it was a great idea to record the battle as it happened, with the emotion that goes with it. Her blog served to keep friends and family up to date on her care, it served to educate people about the signs of colorectal cancer, it served as inspiration to others fighting this terrible disease and it will serve as a detailed memoir to her daughter, Ella.

Shawndra had a very direct way of writing and made a point about having the symptoms of colorectal cancer right at the top of her blog for every visitor to see. I found that both of these things made for a very effective blog and I have tried to replicate both of those things in my blog. When Shawndra found out she had very little chance of a cure she accepted that and shared the details with her readers. She was always frank with her posts and shared good news and bad. It was obvious she loved her husband and daughter and she will be dearly missed by them.

Shawndra, you have been an inspiration to me as I have made my way through this terrible maze that is colorectal cancer. I will miss your stories, your wit and your detailed posts about treatment. Thanks for your guidance and insight.

Alberta wins the Tim Horton's Brier.

Congratulations to Kevin Martin and his Alberta team on winning the Tim Horton's Brier this weekend. The final game, against Jeff Stoughton from Manitoba was not quite as exciting as some of the other games in the playoff or the round robin but it was entertaining none the less. The final score was 10-4 and brought Martin's brier winning streak to 26 games straight, the most in brier history. His record at this year's brier also automatically qualified him for the Canadian Olympic trials later this year. Until then I guess I'll have to find something else to watch on tv.

Did I just do a post about CURLING?

I'm not usually a curling fan but my current physical state has resulted in me spending an alarming amount of time in front of the tv. There are at least three big sporting events taking place in the month of March: the world baseball championship, college basketball (March madness) and curling (the Scott Tournament of Hearts and the Tim Hortons brier). I'm not a huge fan of any of those sports but somehow when I was in the hospital I started watching curling and haven't been able to stop. Its addictive in an annoying way. Last night was the first playoff match in the men's Tim Hortons Brier which is being held at the Saddledome here in Calgary this week. The match was between Alberta (Kevin Martin) and Ontario (Glenn Howard). It was an exciting match the entire way through. There were lots of exciting shots and high pressure draws. In the end the match was tied at 6 and went to an extra end. Kevin Martin had the hammer and on the final stone he needed to draw to the button for a single point and the win. As he was throwing the final rock he said "I'm a little light guys, you gotta go!" so his team had to brush the stone the entire length of the ice. In the end the rock ended up about 3cm closer to the button than his opponents rock to score 1 point and win the match! It was a very exciting game to watch.

The other playoff matches take place today and tomorrow. So, if you're stuck at home, incapacitated and don't know what to do with yourself, flick on the tube and check out the curling. You'll be pleasantly surprised at how exciting it is to watch a couple of bald guys with brooms chase rocks down a sheet of ice.

Pathology

I spoke with my medical oncologist yesterday on the phone. She was calling to see how surgery went and to discuss the general plans for my upcoming chemo. When she asked me if anyone had reviewed the pathology report from my surgery with me I had to say no. Honestly most of the doctor discussions I had when I was in the hospital revolved around "when can I go home?" and not "talk to me about the details of my surgery". I knew surgery went well but beyond that I knew very little. So, she preceded to review the pathology report with me.

She explained that they look at three main things in the pathology. They look at the tumor itself to see what effects, if any, chemo and radiation had on it. They look at the margins of resection (the edges close to where the surgeon made his cuts) to see if there was any cancer near the edges (cancer near the edges means there is a possibility some got left behind) and how far the cancer extended through the tissue wall and into adjacent tissues. And they look at the lymph nodes to see if the cancer invaded the lymphatic system.

Pathology said that there was still cancer at the tumor site (the chemo and radiation didn't kill it all - it rarely does) but that it was vastly reduced in size compared to before my chemo and radiation treatment. This is of course good news as it suggests that my particular type of cancer is very sensitive to chemo and radiation. The pathologists found that there was no cancer anywhere near the margins of the resection and there was also no sign of the cancer invading adjacent tissues or organs. . This is also good news as it means that there is a high probability that the surgeons removed all the cancer from that area. The best news is that the surgeons were able to dissect and remove 28 lymph nodes from the area surrounding the tumor site and none of them showed any signs of cancer. This all means that the chances of the cancer reappearing in that area in the future are very low.

My medical oncologist summed up the pathology report by saying that it "looked very good". Its great to have this good news to focus on.

It's been a month since my surgery and my recovery is going well, although it is not without its challenges. I'm working slowly at 'reintegration' into the family. Before surgery I was a functional family member but now I feel more like a third child for Penny to look after. While things are improving, its frustrating not being able to lift kids, bath kids, cook and clean. I'm slowly learning what I am able to do and what I have to leave for Penny to do, but when those things change on a daily (and sometimes hourly) basis it can be frustrating for Penny as she never really knows where she stands. Is Dan able to feed the kids tonight or is he too sore? Can Dan drive Carly to school or does he need to nap? Does Dan have the energy to supervise Andrew or does he need to lie down? I can only imagine how frustrated she must be. She's doing a great job though and I sure appreciate all her hard work and patience. Thanks a million Penny.

Saturday

Being home is great. I'm still not feeling 100% but with each day that passes things seem to get a little better. I still have some pain/discomfort associated with where they placed the drain. My muscles in that area feel bruised which makes it uncomfortable to sit or lie in one position for too long. Getting up for frequent walks and forcing myself to sit rather than lie seems to be helping though.

My other main complaint is a complete lack of muscle tone in my abs. As you can imagine, having been sliced and diced they are in rough shape. They don't hurt at all, they just can't support the movements they used to be able to. For instance, trying to sit up in bed is an impossible task. In order for me to get out of bed I can't sit up, I just have to kind of roll to one side and flop onto the floor at which point I can use other muscles that function properly to get to my feet. It seems like maybe I need to see a physiotherapist about my muscle rehab. I have no idea what exercises I should be doing (if any?) to get my useless abs back into some semblance of shape.

Its amazing how much changes in three weeks when you have young kids. Being back at home now I feel completely out of touch with what they like to eat, drink, play with and wear. During my hospital stay Andrew pushed out a new tooth and now likes to have orange juice with his breakfast. He doesn't have a hope of fitting into any 12 month clothes and he's perfected the hammer-the-pegs game which is now one of his favourites. Carly has taken to making up stories and games to play although they rarely make sense ("dad you sit here and count to ten and I'll get the green block and put it in the school bus after I have some juice"). She has learned to change the channel on the tv from treehouse to "news" and her new favourite drink is Boulthouse strawberry-banana smoothie. Now that was only 3 weeks. Imagine being one of those Canadian troops serving in Afghanistan. If you had young kids and went away for a six month tour of duty there would be almost nothing the same about them when you came back. Now granted they can skype and video conference and all that but its not the same as being with them, day after day seeing all the little things that change. Because it's the accumulation of those little changes over time that can make you feel out of touch.

Going Home!

The doctors pulled my drain out this morning and my PICC (a type special IV central line) will be pulled out before lunch. The doctors are just finishing up my discharge paperwork and the nurses need to sort out my medications and then I can GO HOME! I've spent 23 days in the hospital and undergone some terrible things in that time. It has definitely been the hardest physical and mental exercise of my life. It feels great to have this phase of my cancer treatment done but I know there is more of the same coming down the road. In the next few months I plan to enjoy my time at home and make the best of spring in Calgary. Thanks to all of you for the support over these past weeks.

Home time?

Today the doctors suggested that things are going well. My ileo output is behaving and the drain is doing its job and can maybe be removed tomorrow! They also said that if all goes well tonight I could even be headed home tomorrow for good! Yahoo! I had a day pass today so I spent about 7 hours at home and had a great time. I had lunch and supper there, had a nap and played with the kids. It was also great to hang out with my dad and Penny in a non-hospital setting. I'm feeling great, my appetite is back and I'm gaining some strength. I've lost a total of 24 pounds in the last 22 days, mostly muscle but my love handles seem to have shrunk too. If only I could choose where to put the weight back on...

I'll post tomorrow after I meet with doctors and let you all know if I'm homeward bound or not.

A Little Something...

I was checking out our flickr site myself tonight and saw the huge activity it is having daily, and thought I'd better get a few new photos up there for the faithful checkers! There was already 3 viewers before I finished uploading!

This photos and another just like it are of the screen they have in the waiting room for surgery patients. It reminds me of the arrival and take off screens they have at airports. It's rather ingenious. Astrid and Stewart joined me to distract me as I waited while Dan was in surgery. The screen shows the patients initials (DT) and their Dr's name (BUIE, W). Dan was bright green, meaning "patient in OR" and then changed to pink "case closing" so they were finished and putting the staples in. They had many more from "PT IN PACU" (patient in patient after care unit) and so on. It took us some time to figure out all the acronyms. Was so great to have the up to the minute information though.

Thanks for checkin' in on us. Make sure you scroll down, Dan posted today too.

Best day yet

Today has been a good day, probably even the best post-op day yet. Penny brought me some greasy hash browns for breakfast which seemed to start things off right. My body seems to be craving grease and salt. My diet over the past 24 hours has consisted of plain Lay's potato chips, McDonald's fries and a cheeseburger and to drink, Gatorade. It sounds terrible but the salt and/or grease has done my body good as my ileo output has decreased markedly. I can't wait to tell the drs in the morning about my greasy secret to success.

I had my X-ray session today to determine if my drain is placed in the optimal spot. I don't have any results from that yet but I'm optimistic it will be good news. The X-ray folks took their time and went out of their way to be sure that I wasn't in any pain.

I'll let you all know tomorrow about what the plans are going forward with the drain.

As usual thanks for all the support in the form of food, blog comments, emails and visitors. Its been great to feel your support during these past few difficult weeks.