BBC Animal Voiceover

Watch this with your kids. Very funny.

The Smell of Cancer - An Update

Cancer still stinks. Thanks for all the suggestions for solutions to the smell issue that you posted in the comments. I tried a lot of them. I tried rose hip oil in my drain. It smells fine in the bottle but once it's in the drain it smells like rotten roses. It's an ok alternative to just plain nasty. For instance, when I used it, people can still tell there's a smell but they think there's no possible way it could be coming from a human being. I've tried layering the drain in ziplock bags but that doesn't really help either. Just putting vapo-rub under my nose isn't an option since I have to consider the well being of any poor co-worker who is forced to sit in my office for any length of time. Without a solution I would soon find myself without anyone to help me out at work.

Yesterday I did find something that helped. I went to see the ET nurses (ET in this case stands for enterostomal therapy) at the Foothills hospital and they hooked me up. The set me up with a paediatric ostomy bag that I can fit over the drain. It works well at controlling the smell BUT it provides no real anchor for the drain. With no anchor for the drain, the tube moves in and out when I move around and that hurts like hell. So my options at this point are: wear a bag and be in pain or be somewhat comfortable and smell like a family of skunks. I will work at trying to find a way to anchor the tube in the bag but I'm not sure how to do that. I'll have to get my thinking cap on.

On a related note, I went to see Dr. Buie today. Luckily I had Penny with me so she could ask him all the tough questions and put some gentle pressure on him to try and solve this drain thing. He said in no uncertain terms that surgery is the only way to fix the problem. The likelihood of it healing up on its own after nearly 2 years is basically non-existent. But even with that in mind, there is no clean cut answer. The ideal scenario is to put up with the drain until I get a cure and then have surgery to remove all the damage. Even then the surgery is risky due to the amount of scar tissue in the area from previous surgeries and radiation. Interrupting chemo now to have the surgery would be risky since I could have a complication (more likely now with chemo on the go) and spend the remainder of what could be a short life in the hospital. However if my CT scan on January 4 shows that the chemo isn't working then it might be a good excuse to stop and have some surgery while we regroup and come up with other cancer-killing options. We also discussed a less invasive surgery which wouldn't really solve the problem but could make the situation better in terms of pain and smell. The bottom line is we have to wait for CT results January 4 to make any decisions. Wait wait wait. A common theme these past two and a half years.

A Guy

A guy goes to the supermarket and notices an attractive woman waving at him. She says hello. He's rather taken aback because he can't place where he knows her from. So he says, 'Do you know me?' To which she replies, 'I think you're the father of one of my kids.' Now his mind travels back to the only time he has ever been unfaithful to his wife and says, 'Are you the stripper from the bachelor party that I made love to on the pool table with all my buddies watching while your partner whipped my butt with wet celery?'

She looks into his eyes and says calmly, "No, I'm your son's teacher."

The Smell of Cancer

I hate the smell of cancer. I guess the disease itself doesn't smell but all the treatments have a smell. The antibiotics have a smell, the chemotherapy has a smell (and a taste), the anti-coagulent they put in my port after chemo has a smell that I can smell without using my nose. The chemotherapy daycare unit has a smell. The hand sanitizer has a smell. The bandages and associated packaging has a smell. But the worst smell, by far, is my drain. It smells like a hyena with dysentery threw up on a pile month old salmon carcasses. Normal rational thinking might lead you believe that my ileostomy might be source of such vile odours. But you would be wrong. A bag full of shit has nothing on my drain. I'm running out of options to try and tame the smell. I've tried bags and bags inside of bags. I've tried deodorizers of all makes and strengths but nothing seems to do the trick. The only thing that comes close is if I use an ileostomy bag to cover the drain. But the flange that I have to stick to my belly hurts like hell to have in place. So i'm left with the choice between debilitating pain or eye-watering stink. I must apologize to my colleagues at work who have had to sit next to me on the days I chose not to be in pain.

I' hoping to find someone who can help me through this. If you're a nurse and you can refer me to someone with a strong stomach and an intimate knowledge of solving drain issues drop me a line. I would love to hear some opinions from a professional or anyone!

I write this having just got my chemo for the week. It's only been a few hours but I'm feeling fine. The real crap will start tomorrow morning when I get out of bed feeling hung over and smelling like a family of beached belugas.

Chosing Alternative Therapies - Like Picking a Good Junior Mining Stock

For my cancer treatment so far I've been relying on the doctors (and nurses!) at the Tom Baker Centre here in Calgary for most of my treatment. I've dabbled in the natural or ‘alternative’ medicine arena for some things like reiki, juice plus and improvements to my diet but have never fully committed to incorporating full on naturopathic therapies into my care; until now. In the past two weeks I've been gathering information on naturopathic cancer treatments from various sources and have consulted 2 naturopaths formally and one informally (thanks Louise!).

All in all the process has felt a bit like trying to pick a good junior mining stock. No matter how much research you do and who you talk to, every company seems to have a good story (and a snazzy website). While some confidence can be gained by digging deep into the details, if often comes down to a gut feeling or in some cases, a guess. And so it is in trying to pick the best alternative therapies for treating cancer. I can only hope that in some of the stuff I try, there is a little gold.

Last Monday I did a phone consult with one guy name Dr Ghazali who works in a clinic in Fort Langley BC. I sent him all my info ahead of time and we spent an hour on the phone. He is certified as a naturopathic oncologist. He knew all about my chemotherapy, treatments and surgeries and asked a number of relevant questions about my care to date. He was well prepared and had a very organized plan for me to follow. I had originally wanted to talk to him about the hyperthermia treatments they offer there but I ended up getting lots of other great information as well. He gave me a diet to follow (whole foods), gave me a list of supplements to take and went over the options available for additional alternative therapies. He suggested full body hyperthermia (in Germany!), IV vitamin C and IV mistletoe treatments. I really liked how he said "if I were you, this is what I would do". I hate trying to pry opinions out of doctors. Anyway, he was great, knew his stuff inside and out and had a solid plan for me.

The other naturopathic doctor I met with was Dr Drobot. He came highly recommended but fell short of my expectations. I did a $1000 plan with him which basically told me a) my liver is stressed b) my immune system is suppressed and c) my gut is stressed. So what he told me was that I have cancer and am on chemo. The tests he performed were: live blood cell analysis, urine test, computerized regulation thermography, heart rate variability, digital pulse analysis and bio impedance analysis. After the testing, we sat down and talked about the results for an hour. He never really laid out a detailed plan. He sort of directed me to a few websites, suggested a few treatments (vitamin C, miseltoe, hyperthermia and ozone) and gave me a few supplements. Basically I was supposed to do a little reading and think about what I had learned from the tests (nothing really) and decide on what supplements/treatments I felt like doing going forward. It didn't feel like a good experience at the time and I didn't come away feeling empowered like I did after my conversation with Dr Ghazali. Dr Drobot did suggest a few things that Dr Ghazali suggested too so I'm starting to believe in some of this stuff. There definitely seems to be some similar themes from the doctors, from books and online. The common themes were: IV miseltoe, IV vitamin C, and hyperthermia, as well as a few supplements and a better diet.

In the end I have decided to do the following:
-eat a whole foods diet

-limit my sugar intake (we’ll see how that goes over Christmas)
-take a variety of supplements
-Avemar
-Juice Plus
-Essiac tea
-Cod Liver Oil
-Green Tea (5-10 cups/day OR an extract in pill form)
-Melatonin (has some anti-cancer benefits as well as helping with sleep)
-Tumeric (the spice – comes in pill form)
-Unda 243
-Unda 20
-Regulat (these last 3 were suggestions of Dr Drobot I plan on running this by Dr Ghazali to see what he thinks)

-Take regular IV vitamin C and IV miseltoe treatments here in Calgary
-Look into whole body hyperthermia at a clinic in Germany in the new year

-I will of course also continue with my regular chemotherapy regimen at the Tom Baker

I'm really not sure if any of this will do any good but it sure feels good to be proactive about the whole process because there is no worse feeling than the hopelessness of sitting at home waiting to die.

It's December

Which unfortunately means Movember has come to an end. You can still donate on my Movember page if you forgot to do it or didn't have time before now. Thanks to everyone who donated. Together we raised almost $800 for prostate cancer research!

By the way, I'm thinking about taking a week off from chemo. I think my body needs to heal. I've had lots of nose bleeds lately as well as lots of blood in my drain. I also feel tired and my recovery from the crappy part of chemo is taking longer and longer with each round. A week off would help my blood get back to normal as well and give my immune system a bit of recovery time. I don't think a week off would hurt my mental health either.

I met with a couple of naturopaths this week. I have lots to digest and will report on my findings here very soon as promised.

Women Support Movember

Since you ladies can't grow a moustache, some smart person on YouTube came up with a way that you can show your support for dudes growing facial fuzz. It's brilliant and supportive and fun. You can check out the video here if you haven't seen it already.

I'm at the hospital now getting round number who-knows-what of chemo. I feel pretty good but I know I have a couple of crappy days ahead. I met a dude here who has a similar cancer and path as my friend Daryl. It's a shame how easy it is to talk with him about his prognosis, picking out a hospice and the impact it has on family. It's hard to really think about but the words come out so easily. It's funny how the human psyche works.

Penny is in Phoenix with her ball team enjoying some well deserved rest and retail therapy. Hopefully she gets some of the Xmas shopping done too!

Pat Burns Dies of Colon Cancer

Pat Burns, the celebrated NHL coach, passed away today from colon cancer. He was diagnosed in 2004 and battled valiantly for 6 years. The cancer (like mine) spread to his liver and eventually his lungs. He was 58. You can read the whole story here.

That's not a bad looking moustache Pat, not bad at all.

Movember - Half Way

Well here is my half way picture for Movember. It could be better but it could also be much much worse. At least the only time I have to see it is when I look in the mirror. I feel sorry for Penny and the kids, they have to look at my facial rodent all day. Don't forget, if you want to make fun of me and my 'stache at least donate a couple of bucks first.

Things are good despite the lack of posts this past week. I did get a spot of strep throat on the weekend but my standing order of antibiotics at the pharmacy seems to have made short work of that. The extra chemo sucks but it's manageable. I long for the day that I can have a real break from the stuff. We're looking into some naturopathic stuff too. I'll let you know how that goes when it happens. That's all for now.

CT Results

Well, it's not really any surprise that my CT showed that I still have cancer. My wildest fantasy would be to have one of these scans and really puzzle the doctors by having no visible tumours. This time it didn't happen but there will be more of these scans in my future so I'll keep hoping that someday my fantasy will come true.

Last week's scan showed, as I suspected, that the tumours in my lungs had grown. They range in size from 1-7mm and affect all lobes of both lungs. The radiologist who reviewed the scan did not comment on the number of tumours in my lungs or their specific locations or the relative growth of individual tumours relative to my last scan in May. I believe the scan then showed multiple tumours ranging in size from 1-5mm. If I put my post secondary math skills into action I can arrive at the conclusion that the largest tumour grew by 2mm between scans.

The real question, for which there is no clear answer at this point, is this: Is the chemo working? One might infer from the growth of the spots that the chemo is ineffective but I don't believe you could draw that conclusion yet. Since my last scan in May I did no chemo in June, one round in July and one round in August. For September and October I was on chemo full time. So did the tumours grow in June, July and August when I was doing little or no chemo and then stay stagnant while I was on chemo in September and October? Did they grow for June, July and August and then shrink in September and October? Or is my cancer slow growing and has been growing slowly and steadily since my scan in May regardless of the fact I've been on chemo? The answer to those questions is not really clear at this point.

So, looking ahead there are 4 options.

1) Stop chemo altogether.

2) Stay the course and continue my modified FolFiri + bevicizumab protocol (no IV pump)

3) Go back to an unmodified FolFiri+bevacizumab protocol (with IV pump)

4) Take part in a phase 1 clinical trial.

Option 1 is appealing in the short term but may not yield the best results.

The main difference between option 2 and 3 is that right now I don't have to wear an IV pump home for two days after I get the rest of my chemo. This IV pump is set up to deliver a steady dose of chemo (5Fu) for 46 hours. The oncologist I visited at the Mayo clinic said I didn't need the 5Fu and that I could cut it out of my treatment here. I was game for that since having the extra chemo infused for two extra days prolongs the length of the side effects I have. The side effects aren't terrible but still, that's 2 days of my life I'll never get back. The problem with cutting the 5Fu out is that at the beginning of my treatment 2 years ago I did 5 weeks straight of radiation and 5Fu. I wore that damn bottle for what felt like an eternity and it made me feel like crap. When they did my liver resection my surgeon said he could see that the spots in my liver had been partially killed somehow (I forget the exact words he used). Since the radiation I had was focused on my colon (yup, it's as fun as it sounds) and not my liver, the only thing that could have messed up my liver tumours would be the 5Fu. So with that in mind, perhaps going back to the full dose of 5Fu might be worthwhile.

The 4th option is for me to take part in a phase one clinical trial. The first phase of a clinical trial is one step (small) removed from animal trials. This particular trial is for a drug that was designed for use in patients with advanced stage cancers that can't be treated with other protocols. It is non cancer specific, meaning they don't know exactly which cancers it will be effective in treating. While it might be exciting to be part of a trial, I'm not keen on abandoning ship on my FolFiri treatments just yet. Dr Lupichuck also hinted that there is another clinical trial coming to the Tom Baker Centre that is specific for colon cancer patients. She said it's a couple months away from being started and would likely be better suited to my cancer than the current clinical trial.

In the end we decided to go with option 3. This option means wearing the IV pump home for two days after treatment and possibly feeling a little more crapped out than my treatments over the past few months. So the plan is do option 3 for two months and get another CT scan. That scan should give a more conclusive answer as to whether or not this chemo protocol is working for me.

I forgot to mention the good part about my CT results today. The scan showed no visible cancer anywhere else in my body (yipee!). It also showed that my abscess (the one with the drain) has not enlarged over the past 5 or so months. This means the drain is doing its job and keeping the fluid from accumulating down there and causing an infection.

If you were me what would you do? Feel free to leave a comment.

The Birthday Dance Party

Monday is Carly's 5th birthday. This year we decided to try something different for the party. A local multi-use space called Brite Studios opened up this September near our house offers hip-hop dance themed birthday parties so the thought we'd give it a try. Carly goes there for a dance class once a week and we knew her teacher (a U of C dance student and director of dance at this location) would put on a good party. The facility is used during the week as a preschool that provides before and after school care as well as other activities like dance and karate. The multi-use rooms can be rented out at night and on the weekends for other activities as well. So we rented the place for two hours for the party and that included the instructor, a room for dance and a room for food/cake/games. It was a great set-up and the party went really well. Having twelve kids over to the house for a party would have been stressful but having the party at this facility made it super easy for Penny and I to plan and execute.

Instead of gifts this year we asked all the kids to bring 10 dollars. We thought Carly could have half the money to buy one gift for herself that she really wanted and then the other half she could donate to a charity of her choice. It was the first time we had really explained to her what a charity was and that there are people out there that can't afford a place to live or food to eat. The charity she chose was the Ronald McDonald house at the Children's Hospital. We've had friends that have had to rely on the Ronald McDonald house in the past and it is one of a few places in Calgary where Carly could really understand what her money will be used for and who it will help. We plan to make a trip up there to show her around which will hopefully enhance her understanding of why its important to give to others. I'll let you know how it all goes.

Congratulations Levi!

Exactly a year to the day before I was diagnosed with cancer, Levi (the son of my friends Ashley and Dave in Comox) was diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukaemia. Following his diagnosis in Victoria he was flown to the Vancouver Children's Hospital where he stayed for a month and underwent a barrage of tests. After that month he was able to return to Victoria where he received 6 months of horribly debilitating chemotherapy (his doctors told him the chemo was so strong that it would kill an adult!). At one point he was so weak he couldn't even walk. That spring he was moved onto a lower dose of chemo. For that he got IV meds once per month and took daily chemo pills for two and a half years. His progress was tracked with quarterly lumbar punctures that tested for the disease in his spinal fluid. But now, after more than three years of treatment Levi is FINISHED HIS CHEMO! While the side effects could take up to six months to subside he is looking at getting back into the normal life of a ten year-old. In fact it's been so long since he's been "normal" he says finishing chemo is a little anti-climatic.

The way that Levi has dealt with his disease speaks to his easy-going nature. He has also exhibited patience and positivity typical of someone much older and is an example of how adaptable youngsters are. He seems to have an innate ability to, all at once completely forget his disease yet be fully aware when his next appointment was and if he was getting an LP or not during that visit. This is an ability that I try constantly to copy in my own battle. I think it is this ability that allowed him to adapt so well to his "new normal" and function largely as a normal kid. He's been playing soccer, lacrosse and other sports and, while he does get tired occasionally, he still exudes the demeanour of a happy, healthy 10 year-old.

Sick or not, he is a pleasure to be around and the world is richer with him in it. Congratulations on your last round Levi. You are a great inspiration. And also hats off to Dave and Ashley, I can't imagine how hard this has been for you both.

Back To Work!

Today I ventured back to work for the first time in over two years. In the summer Penny and I decided that it was time to take back what we can of our life from that controlling bitch, cancer. Since I enjoyed my job, we thought that going back to work would be good for our mental health. It would give me something to focus on besides cancer and would give Penny and the kids an opportunity to get back into an at-home routine without me around ALL the time to cramp their style.

I was lucky enough to have Scott and Rick put together a project for me that is flexible, challenging and interesting. I will start out working 3 half days per week but that will increase as long as I can handle whatever fatigue and stress happen to come my way. The project is also flexible enough that I can work from home should the need arise. The bottom line is I'm thrilled to be back at EnCana in a great group with a great project and can't wait to get started. Thanks to everyone involved who has made this happen!

Russell Peters

Vicky and I went to see Russell Peters at Costco tonight. He was signing copies of his new book "Call Me Russell". We had to wait for about an hour to see him but he was polite and goofy and signed our books. Hopefully his writing is as funny as his stand-up.

My CT scan today went fine. The techs are always impressed and the other patients jealous when I remember to bring a pack of Crystal Light to add some flavor to my telebrix (a GI coating CT contrast drink). I almost enjoyed the 2 hours of sitting at the hospital listening to music, surfing the web and sipping on my field berry cocktail.

It's Movember!

Movember (formerly the month known as November) challenges men to change their appearance and the face of mens health by growing a Mo (moustache). The rules are simple. Start November 1st clean shaven and let that soup strainer grow for a month. The moustache becomes the ribbon for men’s health, the means by which awareness and funds are raised for prostate cancer. You can register at movember.com to create your own page and track the growth of your facial fur and donations. This November I'm growing a 'stache in memory of my grandfather who died of prostate cancer and in support of Doug, who is currently (and pretty successfully I might ad) battling the disease. Bring on the mo!

You can visit my MoSpace page here to donate or to register to become a participant yourself.

BC Cancer Agency / Comox

Wood Arch, originally uploaded by DPC Tutt.

This past weekend I took a little trip to the BC Cancer Agency in Victoria. I had set up through my oncologist here in Calgary to meet up with an oncologist there to discuss the possibility of having future chemo treatments there. The idea being that I would be able to spread some of the "feeling crappy" out a bit. Up until now Penny and the kids have had to deal with the brunt of my sickness and discomfortude following chemo. I thought it might be good to rely on my parents (who live in Victoria) for a little care following some of my future treatments.

The oncologist I met up with there (Dr Weinerman) was pleasant, laid back, polite, easy to talk to and ON TIME! The BC cancer board offices at the Jubilee Hospital are clean and bright and not nearly as busy as the Tom Baker Centre here in Calgary. After a mild amount of disbelief on his part at my "crappy luck" he said he would be happy to help out in any way that he can. He said he would be able to set up treatments there in Victoria with a little notice. He seemed to think there would be no problem with paperwork or funding given my history of treatment in Calgary. Overall it was a positive meeting. Hopefully I never need to go there for treatment but just in case, its good to know the option is there.

Following my Victoria appointment I hitched a ride to Comox with my cousin Josephine and my brother Matt. It was a fun trip up and was great to spend a little time with the bro and the cuz. In Comox I spent time as usual with the Daves and Ashely and Katie. I wish I could go more often...

On the schedule for tomorrow is a visit to the Foothills for a CT scan. This one should show if the chemo I'm on is effective at kicking cancer ass. I won't get the results for a week and I'll be sure to report them here as soon as I get them. Fingers crossed everyone!

Killer?

About once a week Carly's kindergarten class meets up with a grade three class at her school. Each of the kindergarten students gets paired up with a grade three student. I think the idea is for the kindergarten kids to have a mentor, someone to help them with stories or art or whatever they're doing on that particular day. On the first day it happened, Carly came home and told us all about it. When we asked what her grade three buddies name was she paused for a moment, got a confused look on her face and then said "Killer??". Of course we didn't believe her but the more we questioned her on it, the more certain she was that she had the right name. So we asked her that the next time she meets up with her grade three buddy could she please ask what her name was because Killer didn't seem like a good name for an 8 year old girl. Sure enough, a few days later she came home with a big smile on her face and told us that she had met up with her buddy again and asked her name and this time she was sure that her name was in fact Killer. "You know mom, Killer. Like someone who shoots deer!". Still not believing that someone would name their daughter Killer, Penny wrote a note to Carly's teacher explaining what had happened and that we were a little concerned that there was a communication breakdown somewhere in this process. Carly's teacher wrote back the same day saying that her grade three buddy was named Hunter, not Killer. I guess this speaks to the way a five-year-olds mind works. We laugh all the time now about that story.

Emend is wonderful

My new anti-nausea drug Emend is awesome. It has thus far prevented any vomiting and has cut the nausea down to a 2 out of 10. It does make me a little dizzy and light headed but that is a small price to pay not throwing up all over the place. It's expensive (~$50/pill) but I guess that's what a good medical plan is for (thanks EnCana/Manulife!).

In the drain department all is still well. I have absolutely no drain pain (I'm living in contented disbelief) and will probably be able to come off the antibiotics tomorrow. This is the best round of chemo I think I've ever had. I hope the rest are just as good.

Drain RELIEF!

Yesterday I went to the Hospital for my standard pre-chemo appointment with my oncologist. We had a few things to discuss including going back to work (more on that later this week), anti-nausea medications and my stupid painful drain. On the going back to work front, my doctor said she would fully support me going back. I guess it's not something I have discussed here on the blog but it's definitely something I've been considering for some time now. I need something interesting to do that gets me out of the house and provides a week-to-week focus for myself and the family that is NOT cancer related. Right now our lives seem to be focused around chemo days and good weeks and bad weeks. It would be nice to think of those days as work days and non-work days instead.

On the anti-nausea front I was able to get a prescription for another anti-nausea drug called Emend. It is supposed to work wonders and was recommended to me by Daryl. I guess he had good success with it and never suffered any nausea. I hope I have similar success.

On the drain front we had a major breakthrough yesterday. As you know I have been having tremendous trouble with my drain at the site where it enters my skin. Up until now it has been stitched in place using a very coarse fishing-line-like suture. In my layman's opinion, the pain is caused by the rubbing of these sutures on my raw flesh. The chemotherapy I'm on slows healing and so the sutures cut through the skin which can't heal and results in constant pain. Every medical professional I've talked to thus far has been hesitant to remove the stitches for two reasons: 1) JP drains are always stitched to the skin to hold them in place and 2) if you take the stitches out, what will hold the drain in place? Well I went to visit my ET (ostomy) nurse yesterday and she had a solution. Her office is on the 10th floor and she deals a lot with drains. Unlike the doctors who just put drains in and never have to deal with problems or issues over the long haul, the nurses on unit 102 deal with drains day in and day out and have real hands on experience on dealing with all the problems associated with them. So Julie (my ostomy nurse) suggested we take the stitches out right then and there and try a specially designed adhesive drain anchor to hold the drain in place. She said they are rarely used for JP drains but that's most likely because JP drains usually only stay in for a week or 10 days, not 5 months like mine. So we took the stitches out and put the anchor in place. It required some adjustment but 24 hours later I can report absolutely no pain! It's a tremendous relief to be able to walk and bend without pain. I'm even contemplating getting out for a run (obviously I will wait a few days to make sure that the new anchor can hold the drain in place adequately). Yahoo!

So, thanks Julie for making my day and taking away the pain. Solving the problem with practical solutions is always more effective than throwing medication at it and covering it up.

Today is chemo day so that sucks but I'm keen to see if my new anti-nausea drug works. Stay tuned.

Attention CLR

Hi Cheryl,

So many questions for you. Could you please email me

dantutt@telus.net

Daryl Gourlay - Obituary

From today's Herald:

GOURLAY, Daryl John Beloved husband of Jan Gourlay of Calgary, passed away after a valiant battle with cancer at home, surrounded by his family on Sunday, October 3, 2010 at the age of 53 years. Daryl will be lovingly remembered by his wife and four sons: Aaron, Adam, Devin and Brayden, all of Calgary. He is also survived by his loving parents Willis and Doris Gourlay of Arnprior, ON, and his sister Susan Berberick (Mike) of Hamilton, ON. Also left to grieve, are many aunts, uncles, nieces, nephews and cousins. Daryl graduated from Erindale High School in Mississauga, ON and then earned a BSc Honours Geo/Geog degree from McMaster University in 1982. He worked his entire career of twenty-eight years with Encana, thus fulfilling his lifelong passion in oil and gas. Daryl has touched many people over the years. He was dedicated to everything he did, whether it was work, trying to win the hockey pool, catching a line drive or supporting his family. He had a very optimistic attitude combined with a sense of humour and determination. He never forgot his roots and this gave him great integrity to all he did throughout his life. Daryl was an inspiration to many, including his four sons, of which his legacy will live on in them. A Celebration of Daryl's Life will be held at The Calgary Winter Club, 4611 - 14 Street N.W., Calgary, AB on Friday, October 15, 2010 from 4:00 to 7:00 p.m. If so desired, a memorial tribute may be made in Daryl's name directly to the Canadian Cancer Society (Unit 200, 325 Manning Road N.E., Calgary, AB, T2E 2P5), or Colorectal Cancer Research (204 - 5915 Leslie Street, Toronto, ON, M2H 1J8). To e-mail expressions of sympathy: mountainview@arbormemorial.com. Subject heading: Daryl Gourlay. Arrangements entrusted to MOUNTAIN VIEW FUNERAL HOME and CEMETERY, 1605 - 100 Street S.E. (17 Avenue S.E. at Garden Road), Calgary, AB, T1X 0L4. Telephone: 403-272-5555. www.mountainviewmemorial.ca .

Eye of the Tiger

A cool picture of Tiger duffing an iron shot. The photographer must have had nerves of steel to snap this one and then take a ball off his face/camera. My favourite parts of this picture are 1) the periscope on the left and 2) the psycho looking dude with the cigar on the right. It's good to know even Tiger misses the odd shot.

Daryl Gourlay

When I was diagnosed with cancer a little over two years ago, a co-worker of mine at EnCana was diagnosed at almost exactly the same time with the same disease. I didn't know Daryl, or his wife Jan or any of their boys at the time, but we became good friends over the course of our individual battles. Jan actually stopped me at the hospital one day and introduced herself. She knew me from my blog and we had a great conversation for an hour outside the Tom Baker centre. Daryl and I also spent some time in the hospital together. Some days he would totter up to visit me on my unit and others I would venture down to the ER or to his unit, IV pole in tow, gown flapping in the wind, to visit and share war stories about the "Chateau Foothills". Penny and I continue to draw on their strength and humour and are still in awe at how they managed to keep up with 4 boys, all of which were at one time or another playing hockey.

It is therefore with great sadness that I announce that Daryl passed away last night with his family at his side. I don't know what to say or what to write. What can you say? Nothing seems to quite cut it at a time like this. It's just a sad day.

Teamwork

I made a somewhat last minute trip to Comox this past weekend. I went to see friends and to see Katy (wife of Dave #1) in her show. She was playing Eliza Doolittle in a production of My Fair Lady. She was fantastic in her part and was by far the best thing about the show. I'm looking forward to seeing her in her annual Christmas show. Hopefully we can make it out to the island to see it this year.

The rest of the weekend was fun and served as a good distraction from the chemo cycle. We managed to make it to the pub on Friday for a few drinks (see video footage below) but most of the weekend was spent relaxing and eating. Unfortunately tomorrow it's back to that blasted chemo and another few days of feeling like crap. Oh well. What can you do?

Its been a while

I don't know why I haven't updated in so long. I think part of the reason was the timing. We got back from a six week tour of BC, to find that the weather here in Calgary was crap and I was facing an indefinite sentence of slow chemical poisoning by chemotherapy. Summing up all the fun stuff we did this summer on the blog while having little to look forward to was a little too depressing. So I just avoided it altogether. I think I'm over that situation now. Chemo still sucks but now that all the kids stuff (school, play school, swimming, music and dance) has started there is lots to keep me busy. I find that distraction is the most effective method of making the time pass while I'm on chemo. I've also found a couple of unconventional drugs that help with the nausea; one is a prescription drug and the other is not. I only need to take them in the first day or two after my treatment when the nausea is worst and after that it gets more bearable.

This summer our computer died. We debated what to get as a replacement and eventually ended up switching up our Dell for a Mac. So far I'm not as impressed as I thought I'd be. I think most of my frustration comes from being so used to running a PC. I'll give it a little more time before I weigh in with my official review but for now I'm not satisfied that a mac is worth twice the price of a PC.

Dad Life

This is funny.

Mayo Clinic

Mayo Clinic, originally uploaded by DPC Tutt.

Our trip to the Mayo Clinic in Phoenix last week went very well. While we did gets lots of great information, there were no great revelations and overall my prognosis remains the same. The doctor I saw there had taken some time to review all my medical records (I had the Foothills hospital send her 300+ pages) and all my scans. Overall her first impression was that I had recieved outstanding care in ALberta at the Tom Baker Centre and that there was nothing they would have done differently had I been treated there. It was a tremendous relief to hear that from an independant professional. While Penny and I had the sense that we were recieveing good care it's always a relief to find that your feelings are shared by others, particularly others in an objective professional position. So while there were no major changes to be made she did suggest a few things to look at going forward.

Her first suggestion had to do with my chemo regimen. The current plan here is to do 12 two week rounds of FOLFIRI + Bevacizumab. FOLFIRI consists of 3 drugs (FOLinic Acid (leukovorin), Flourouracil (5-FU) and IRInotecan) which are given once every two weeks with the Bevacizumab. Dr. Carlin (the oncologist at the Mayo) suggested I could drop the Folinic Acid and 5-Fu portion of that regimen and just go with the Irinotecan and Bevacizumab. Her reasoning was that the 5-Fu (and the Folinic Acid) are probably not doing anything and contribute an undue amount of side effects to the whole process. She suggested a regime that would include a weekly dose of just Irinotecan and Bevacizumab for four weeks straight followed by two weeks off. The dosage of the drugs given on this schedule is lower, resulting in fewer and less intense side effects and thus a generally happier existence for the patient. When I discussed this option with Dr. Lupichuck (my oncologist in Calgary) she was on board with the idea and said that she had done that with a few patients of hers in the past. But she did say there was one catch... Bevacizumab is a new (and expensive) drug that is used in the treatment of colon cancer. It is only recently (in the last 12 months?) that this drug was approved for use and funded in Alberta. The problem is that it is only approved for use on patients who are also getting Fluorouracil (5-FU). The way their funding approvals work if a patient is not recieving 5-FU then they are not covered for Bevacizumab. Dr. Lupichuck said she would try to push it through without the necessary 5-FU but she wasn't sure that it would work. I could just pay for the Bevacizumab myself but that's not really an option since it's way to expensive and I could just get it for free with the 5-FU.

Dr Carlin's next suggestion was that look into getting KRAS analysis done on my tumor. I don't really understand the biochemistry involved but I'll see if I can simplify it for the purposes of this short discussion. KRAS is a protein that exists on the cell membrane that is involved somehow in transmitting signals into the cell. There are some chemotherapy drugs that can use this pathway to slow or shut down cellular reproduction by blocking this pathway. But in the rapid growth and reproduction of cancer cells, sometimes this KRAS protein/pathway becomes mutated. Unfortunately only cells that have an unmutated KRAS pathway (call a wild-type pathway for some reason) will respond to the chemotherapy. When I talked about this with DR. Lupichuck she said that testing had already been done on my tumor. Unfortunately my tumor has a mutated KRAS meaning that the chemotherapies for wild-type KRAS will not work for me. Dr. Lupichuck did say that there was a phase one clinical trial coming up that I may be able to participate in but the details and timing have yet to be worked out.

As a last ditch effort down the road Dr. Carlin also suggested one other thing we could try called target analysis. This is basically a trial and error experiment where samples of tumor are subjected to various chemotherapies and the outcomes recorded. Any that appear to have an adverse effect on the tumor cells may be given as a course of chemotherapy. Target analysis is not done often (I don't think it's even offered in Canada) and is "very expensive" but when all other avenues are exhausted it may be something to consider.

So, while our trip to the Mayo didn't yield any silver bullets, it did provide us with a solid second opinion and some different things to try out down the road. I can't emphasize enough the peace of mind that has come from obtaining an independant, objective second opinion. Thanks again to all of you who participated in the auction or who contributed in other ways. Your generous donations paid for this trip, and provided us with some peace of mind. Thanks again.

Besides the hospital time in Phoenix we also managed to take in a Dbacks game and do some shopping. Penny got a fantastic dress (for $12.99!!) to wear to Katy and Dave's wedding, I got some shoes and the kids got bathing suits. It was too hot to do anything else (114 deg F). How do people live there in the summer?

"Camping" in North Van

Can you still call it camping if there are high rises across the street?

Reading stories

Dbacks Game

Green Lake and more

Yachting, originally uploaded by DPC Tutt.

So much to update... I guess I'll start where I left off:

The rest of our time at green lake was great. Carly swam so much while we were there. She always wanted someone to go swimming with her. She had no troubles jumping in and swimming around, unlike the rest of us who found the water a little chilly and the entry a little nerve racking. Andrew also took to the water like a fish. He liked being able to walk in and play around at his own pace. He also enjoyed pushing the boats around and throwing rocks for the neighbour dog Bucca to fetch. I had a great time sailing and I even managed to convince Andrew to come with me on a couple of occasions. It was definitely a relaxing place to spend time and I hope we can make it there again next year.

After Green lake we headed to Comox and spent the BC day long weekend with Dave and Ashley (and their son Levi) at their new mansion. Their place is beautiful with enough bedrooms for us all to have our own with a few left over. It was very convenient that we could also leave our trailer in their driveway while we were there. We managed to spend some time on the beach, go for a bike ride, attend 'Nautical Days' in Comox, rent a suit for the forthcoming wedding and belt out a few classics songs on sing star. Thanks for having us guys, we'll see you in a week. We also managed to see Dave and Katy and the renovations they're doing to their house. The last time we saw it their house was gutted and they had grand plans. This time they had a new hardwood floor in and all the cabinets and counters installed. It all looks amazing. Can't wait to see the final product!

Following our sojourn in Comox we retired to the Tutt estate in Sidney. The kids were tremendously happy to see Granny and Grandad and were excited about all the benefits of having two extra doting servants to facilitate their every want. We figured that since we were planning on being in Sidney for a couple of weeks we coupled put the kid lets in swimming lessons at the local pool here. So Penny booked them in online and the classes couldn't be better. Carly, after her daily swimming excursions at the lake, was keen to get back in the water. She was a little apprehensive at first about her quiet muscle-bound teacher but that was soon forgotten and she hasn't looked back. Andrew is thriving as well. He is so proud of his swimming and knows his teacher by name. He loves to show off his newly acquired skills in the bath at night which can be messy for the bath supervisor. They are both excited that Uncle Matt is coming over on Thursday to watch their lessons. You don't know what you're in for Uncle Matt!

The next excitement in our vacation was a trip to the Mayo Clinic in Phoenix. I'll sum that trip up in the next entry so stay tuned!

Mayo Clinic Here We Come

Two Pirates, originally uploaded by DPC Tutt.

I mentioned previously here that we were looking into travelling to the Mayo clinic in Phoenix to get a second opinion about my treatment options. Well, things have finally fallen into place and we have an appointment Thursday morning in Scottsdale. I think I finally got all my paperwork, films, scans, slides and other assorted pertinent medical data out of the vault at the Foothills hospital and sent off to the clinic in Phoenix. I haven't talked with the doctors there yet but they seem to be much more efficient at moving patients and their data around than we are here in Canada. Penny and I fly out Wednesday afternoon and return late Friday just in time to make it to Dave and Katy's wedding in Nanaimo on Saturday. After that we will either be bound for Calgary for chemo next week or back to Phoenix for more testing and treatment. It will be a busy time but we're looking forward to possibly getting more answers, having fun at the wedding and, well we're not looking forward to chemo but it has to be done...

I will provide an update on our travels since Green Lake as time allows. We have a 3 hour layover in Seattle tomorrow so that should be the perfect time!

Hot hot heat

It's was a hot one today. We ate, we swam, we ate we swam, we climbed a mountain (called mount Jack. If we had started at sea level we would have climbed 4000 ft. We started at 3600 ft though so it was a walk in the park) we ate again, swam again and started to drink. We're still drinking. So far so good. The kids are asleep and the crib board is out. Look out.

First couple of days

So far things are going well on our six week odyssey to BC. We left Saturday at lunch time and made it too the Lamplighter Campground in Revelstoke in time to make tacos for supper. The only mishap to report was that we forgot to unplug the trailer from the house before we left. Luckily we had the windows open on the truck so we the heard the cord reel dragging along behind the trailer before all 100 feet of cord unwound and it pulled the plug out of the house.

Our stay in Revelstoke was short lived. We breakfasted there and then made tracks to Green Lake which is about ten minutes east of 70 Mile House (in the South-central Caribou). The weather here has been great. Highs in the mid twenties with some wind for sailing (my parents met us here and brought our sailing dinghy) and some calm, hot weather perfect for a paddle in the canoe or a swim off the dock. Penny and I and the kids are staying in our trailer which is parked out back of the cabin we used to rent as a family 25 years ago. Although the cabin has a new owner, not much has changed. With the exception of the addition of a drilled water well and indoor plumbing, nothing is different.

The story of how we came to rent it again is a good one. My mother, thinking it might be fun to have the cabin for a week or two this summer, called up the original owner, a doctor in Vancouver, and asked him about the old Green Lake cabin. He remembered Nicky (who wouldn't remember an outspoken kiwi?) but told her that he sold it a few years ago to a different fellow and his family. So, in traditional Nicky fashion, she asked for the new guys number and called him up and told him our history with the place. In the end he told her that he didn't normally rent the place out but that he would be happy to make an exception for us. So, here we are with the next 10 days here to ourselves at this pristine place. I wish I could live here.

With the good weather in the past few days there has been lots of swimming. Carly in particular has taken to the water like a fish. Today she swam all the way to the island across the way (a good 300m?) in her life jacket. The rest of us paddled across in canoes and kayaks. She wasn't afraid whatsoever. Her only complaint was that she was cold. Needless to say, she's fast asleep now and will be well rested for another day of playing in the water tomorrow. My brother Matt showed up today to spend the week with us. The kids were very excited to see their uncle Matt. He's been very patient with Carly, indulging her with kayak rides and lots of swimming and has spent lots of time making mud pies and with Andrew.

As you can see things are going well. I know there are a few of you waiting for updates and confirmation of upcoming plans. To you we say thanks for your patience and we will send out some emails A.S.A.P.

Breakfast

I'm having a lime slurpee for breakfast. Yum yum. So far this round of chemo is going well but I still have nausea, diarrhea and a metallic taste in my mouth (hence the artificially flavored iced corn syrup concoction for breakfast). It should be four weeks until my next treatment. We plan to enjoy that time in BC spread between Green Lake, Victoria, Nanaimo and Comox. Now we just have to pack. Happy stampeding everyone!

More Chemo

I'm sitting in the Tom Baker Cancer Centre getting more chemo. The nurses here were really surprised to see me and were upset when I told them why I was back and that they'd be seeing lots of me in the months to come. I told them I wasn't particularly pleased at having to be back here either. There aren't many patients here today so I didn't have to wait long to get in. I really hate being here.

Thanks again to everyone who participated in the auction and especially to those of you who made it out to the BBQ at Vicky's on Sunday. It was great to be able to see everyone in person and watch the kids run themselves ragged. Thanks for organizing and making it happen Vicky!

Another Cast, Another Sineogram

Sorry for the lack of updates. It's been a busy week.

Andrew's arm is healing well. We went to the Children's hospital yesterday to get another set of x-rays and a new cast. The doctors there were good at showing us the break and gave care instructions that were specific to a person of Andrew's age and energy level. The new cast has to stay on for another 3 weeks. Unfortunately that means no swimming for him during that time. Andrew is coping well and is used to the cast. He still has trouble getting to sleep though without the ability to soothe himself with his thumb.

On the cancer front, I go to the hospital today for a sineogram. That's the test I've had a billion times before where they inject dye into the drain and see where it goes. It will be interesting to see how things look and what the radiologist says.

My family got some more bad news this week. We are not ready to talk about it yet but please keep us in your thoughts.

The picture is from Dave and Ashley's wedding. Good times.

Camping is Fun! (sarcasm)

What a day.

Our plan was simple: go to the hospital to meet with Buie, drop off some extra supplies with the ostomy nurses, pick up some dressing supplies, get my port flushed and make an appointment for chemo then go camping and have some fun. Our meeting with Dr Buie was good. He was very sympathetic to our situation (as usual) and had some great things to say. One thing in particular was of great benefit to us. He suggested that we think of my cancer as a disease that needs to be managed (like diabetes) rather than a terminal illness. He said that while a cure for cancer (colorectal cancer in particular) is unlikely in his lifetime, long term management of the disease is possible and can extent life expectancies greatly, even compared to a few years ago. He gave the example of one of his patients in particular who was in the situation that I am now and he lived 6 years by successfully managing his disease. The crappy part about our meeting was that he thinks my drain/abscess is infected AGAIN. He set me up with a sinogram for next week to see if the abscess is connected to small bowel, large bowel or if it is just an infected blood clot from the surgery. So, the infection saga continues, but at least this drain I have in now is more comfortable. I might even be able to rig up a system so that I can swim!

The rest of our hospital errands went off without any trouble. Actually, that's a lie. It was pretty hard for the nurse to access my port for my monthly flush. I had to contort my body into a variety of positions to try and facilitate access, all without success. Eventually a guy nurse came and had the magic touch. It's good they could get it to work otherwise I would have had to go on blood thinners to clean out the clots.

The real gong show started when we left to go camping. As we were leaving town I noticed that the brake controller for the trailer brakes didn't appear to be working. So, we had to stop at the side of the road and trouble shoot. It turned out to be a loose connection and was easily fixable. I was pretty happy I found it early otherwise it could have been an ugly trip out. Once we got on the highway (#1 West) and got up to speed I noticed that one of our trailer mirrors (mirror extensions so the driver can see back pst the trailer) was about to fall off. It was on the passenger side so, since I was driving, Penny had to roll down her window and try to get it inside without dropping it. We were eating dinner on the go so Penny had to roll down her window, grab the mirror and pull it in while holding a pizza box, texting on her phone, and trying to manage two hungry winey kids in the back seat all while doing 110km/h in long weekend traffic. In the end she got the mirror and all was well.

Once we arrived at the site (at the Bow Valley provincial campground) we set up and put the kids down. On our last camping trip (May long weekend) we devised a clever system for the kids to sleep. We put Andrew in the top bunk and barricaded him in with a bed rail and cushions from the dinette while Carly slept on the lower bunk. We had four night of blissful slumber with that set up in May so we (erroneously) thought the same situation would work for Canada Day. Two hours after putting the kids down I heard a thump in the trailer so I went in to see what was going on. I was greeted by a histerical Andrew with Carly trying to explain what happened. I was a little alarmed and confused at the fact that Andrew had somehow Houdinied himself out of his bunk. Carly was quick to explain that it wasn't her fault and that Andrew had fallen out of this bunk. I tried unsuccessfully for 20 mins to calm him down but he seemed overly pissed off and a little in pain. The only way I could get him to stop crying was to have him sit up in our bed with me holding his wrist. This went on for while and every time we tried to move him or put him to sleep he screamed. It was becoming readily apparent that we were going to need to go to the hospital.

Penny drew the short straw and packed herself and Andrew up and headed into Canmore (about 15 mins away) to see the doctor. Luckily the ER there was dead so they got right in. The doctor did some x-rays and it was apparent that Andrew had broken a chip off his elbow and was going to need a cast. After a little Tylenol 3 (see pictures on Flickr of Andrew stoned on codeine) he got his cast and he and Penny made it back to the campsite around 2 am. After that, things didn't get much better. Since it was his thumb sucking arm that he broke, he spent most of the night demanding we take off his cast so he could suck his thumb and go to sleep. Of course his crying and moaning kept us all awake so most of the night Carly AND Andrew were up weeping. Penny and I (especially me) were nearly crying as well. It was altogether a crappy night and a bad start to the long weekend. Now Andrew is so tired he just wants to sit still although he is pretty proud of his "big oweee".

Ahhhhhh camping.

Auction Success!

What an amazing weekend it's been. The auction (set up and organized by Astrid and Vicky - a million thank-yous each) was an overwhelming success. I think we raised almost $25000! I would like to offer my thanks to each and every one of you that participated. Penny and I found ourselves in tears on many occasions over the weekend as Vicky called, texted or emailed updates. While I would never wish our situation on anyone, I do hope you get the opportunity to feel the love and support from your friends and family like we have over the past 2 years (and especially over the last week). The outpouring of support in the form of emails, phone calls and especially through the auction has been astounding. Thank-you doesn't seem to express accurately our true gratitude it but it's all I have. Thank-you.

In the cancer department I have two new developments to report. 1) I see my colorectal surgeon Dr Buie on Wednesday for my surgical follow up. My recovery is going well but the real meat of our meeting will focus on when I can start chemo. Because some (read all) of the chemo drugs inhibit healing I will need to make sure I am sufficiently healed from my surgery before I start chemo. I'm hoping he says I need a few more weeks but who knows. 2) I forwarded my substantial medical records to the Mayo clinic in Phoenix for them to review as a second opinion. I wanted to have an independent (and out of province) oncologist review my file to make sure that everything I'm being told here fits more or less with what an internationally renowned cancer treatment clinic would do. All that I've read and heard through word of mouth suggests that the Tom Baker Cancer Centre here in Calgary is as good as anywhere in the world but I figure it can't hurt to ask. After all, it is a matter of life and death...

The Auction is on Now!

I just wanted to let everyone know that the auction is on NOW! In order to bid you will need to go to the site and create a username and password in order to bid. It's easy. Don't let a little technology get in the way of a great opportunity to bid on some really cool stuff. Again, thanks to Astrid, techie extraordinaire (with lots of help from Vicky) for setting it all up. Let the bidding begin!

How do we live here?

How do we live here? Of course I don't mean "here" as in Calgary or "here" as in Canada, I mean here as in "How do we live here in this constant state of absolute emotional disarray?". It's no secret I'm sure that Penny and I (and a lot of our friends and family too) have been living in a constant state of zombie-like disquietude over the past couple of days. Emotions slip quickly from angry to sad to frightened and back again within minutes. The end of the day brings relief from the ongoing emotional battle and a deep dreamless sleep that doesn't ever seem to bring all the energy back. Friends and family have been tremendously supportive and helpful in these past few days but that hardly seems like a long term fix. In actual fact, what will happen is these few days of crazy will blend into weeks and then into months and soon we will arrive at a new normal. We did it before with the initial diagnosis, and again when I had to learn to live with an ileostomy. My only hope is that we can find some happiness as a family in this upcoming 'new normal'. We could sure use it.

The Truth

Sometimes the truth hurts. This is one of those times.

I goth the results today from my CT scan on the 8th of June. It showed multiple new spots in both of my lungs. The number and location of these spots combined with the fact there are probably more there below the resolution of the scan, means that surgery to remove those spots is is no longer an option. Since surgery is out, it is very unlikely that my particular cancer will be cured (though not totally impossible). People with this type of cancer at this stage typically live 18 months on average. Sometimes more, sometimes less. So it looks like I will be going back on chemotherapy ASAP to try and slow this thing down.

It's crappy news I know. It ruined my day too.

Home Sweet Home

I got released from the Foothills penitentiary last night at about 7:30. It took forever for the nurses to sort out the paperwork and attempt to get some pain meds for me to take home. It turned out that Dr Buie forgot his triplicate prescription pad when he came up to see me and sign the paperwork for my release. In light of that, he asked my nurse to give me a dozen pills to get me through the night and in the morning he promised to call in the prescription to my pharmacy. So when my nurse went to get the pills, her charge nurse reminded her that it was against one of her nursing codes to give out that much medication to a patient. So in the end she had to page Dr Buie (who had already gone home) to come back, find his triplicate pad, and shoot back up to the unit and give me the script. When I found out this kerfuffle to get me drugs had escalated into a full blown goat rodeo I called home to get my mother to look through my medicine cabinet to see if I had enough pills left from a previous surgery to get me through the night. After finding the right glasses, getting a chair to stand on, and wading through the bottles and bottles of drugs in my cabinet, she informed me that I did have enough pills at home. So, my nurse page Dr Buie back and told him that I was fine for the night and he could stop looking for his pad. We reviewed my discharge instructions and I got to go merrily on my way out into the rain and home. Home sweet home.

BP Oil Spill Spoof

Jen did a very thoughtful thing this morning and came to the hospital for a visit. She brought her iPad for me to use for the day. It's awesome. I want one for fathers day...

Check out this video spoof on YouTube. It is workplace appropriate.

I'm feeling great today. The doctors have pretty much agreed that I can be released today pending multiple successful urinations and an established pain control plan. I seem to have both things in order so all I need now is Dr Buies signature on the dotted line.

Tuesday Night

It's Tuesday night. I had a good day. I had lots of visitors, got my
epidural out, got my iv out, got my pee tube out (the nurse let me
pull it out myself - ouch!), started oral pain meds and ate lots of
real food (can you call hospital food real?). Now i'm high on
painkillers (not as fun as it sounds) and the nurse let me have one of
the magical little blue sleeping pills. So overall i'm feeling relaxed
and comfortable. I'm even a little excited about the prospect of
heading home tomorrow even though I know it is by no means a slam dunk.

See. I told you it was a good day.

Pee Bag

It's 6:30 on Tuesday morning and my nurse just came in and turned off
my epidural. I'm now switching over to the oral pain meds and hoping
they will keep me comfortable. It takes a little while for the
epidural drugs to get out of my system so I should know just before
noon if the new pain management system is working. Fingers crossed!

Yesterday Penny brought Andrew and Carly in for a visit and we had a
picnic lunch in the elevator lobby together. Of course I have to push
my iv pole with me wherever I go. One of the things that hangs on the
bottom part of the pole is the bag of pee that comes out my foley
cathter. When Carly saw the bag she asked what it was so I told her.
Well at first she laughed pretty hard at the fact that dad was peeing
into a bag but then her mind started to kick into gear and she fired a
barrage of questions my way. Why do you put your pee in a bag? How
does it get there? Where does the tube come out? Does it hurt? Can I
see? Make some go in there now. Can I touch the bag? Then she giggled
again and said "it's funny that you pee in a bag dad!". The frank
honesty and commentary of a child is priceless. It made my day
yesterday.

Day 4

So far day four is going well. My pain control by means of the
epidural has been exemplary. The plan is to take the epidural out
tomorrow (eek!) and use narcotics in pill form to control the pain.
Removal of the epidural equals removal of the foley catheter which I'm
happy about. The part I'm not thrilled about is having to deal with
more pain.

I don't think I gave details of the surgery and the hardware it left
me with so I'll do that now. The surgery went as well as it could go.
They made the incision in the same place as before (pubic bone to 2
inches above the belly button) so I didn't end up with any new scars.
Once I was cut open like a cod, he could see that one loop of small
bowel had slipped down into the pelvis and had become fused to the
abscess. Once he separated the two, he could see that the small
intestine was in really good shape with only a small hole that had
connected it to the fistula. So instead of having to cut a couple of
inches of bowel out completely, all he had to do was stitch up the
hole. This small fix is likely the reason that I didn't have problems
with my digestive system starting up again. While he was in there dr
Buie also removed a bunch of adhesions (scar tissue) from my bowels.
This will hopefully reduce the chance of getting a blockage in the
future.

Once he was finished with the scar tissues he flushed out the abscess
with saline and placed a different kind of drain called a Jaxson-Pratt
drain into the abscess. Instead of coming out my butt cheek, this
drain comes out my stomach and connects to a small bulb-like device
for storing any fluid that might come out. So far this new drain is
much more comfortable than the old drain. I just hope it does it's job.

The only other thing dr Buie said about the surgery was that they had
a "good look around in there" and there was no sign of recurrent
cancer. He also said that overall my pelvis looked good (why thank
you!) and it is very likely that if the abscess heals, I will be able
to have surgery at some point in the future to reverse my ileostomy.
Yahoo!

I've had a few visitors already which has been a good change from the
usual hospital actvities which are either lie in bed and stare at the
ceiling or slouch around the halls pushing my iv looking like an ugly
bearded scantily clad hunchback pole dancer. So if you have nothing to
do, I would appreciate a visit. Foothills hospital, 10th floor, unit
102, room 1072. That's all for now.

Day 3

Today was apparently a really nice day outside. I wouldn't know since
I'm stuck inside at the Foothills. My day went pretty well despite a
mostly sleepless night (par for the course here at the hospital). I
was up at about 7am when Penny got here. We met with the resident on
call shortly after that. There wasn't much to discuss with him so we
immediately got on with our day of sitting, lying and drinking small
amounts of clear fluid. Later in the day I progressed to walking and
snacking on pb and crackers. In a fit of madness (actually it seemed
like the best thing at the time), I asked the nurses to take me off
the epidural and put me on patient controlled iv pain meds. That
lasted all of 4 hours before I kindly asked them to turn that
beautiful pain-reducing piece of epidural magicness back on. Since
then things have been good. I had supper (on the menu it was called
chicken noodle soup but it was devoid of noodles and tasted like very
salty oatmeal), went for a few walks on the unit and even cleaned
myself up in the bathroom. As usual it's been great to have Penny here
to help me out. I realized how much she must like me today when we
found ourselves both very excited and highly entertained at the fact
that I was passing gas (a good sign my bowels are back working). Yer a
good wife Pen.

Out of Surgery and Feeling Good!

I'm out of surgery now and upstairs in unit 102 in a 4 person room.
The surgery went perfectly according to plan and I'm feeling
surprisingly spry. Penny is here keeping me company and helping out
the nurses. I have an epidural (magic!) and am hooked up to a variety
of other hoses and wires. I will try and post an update a day through
my recovery to keep everyone in the loop.

Just went in..

2 pm start time. Dan in good spirits as always. Expect a 4 hour
surgery. Will post with more info tonight.

Penny

Comox Wedding and Surgery Tomorrow

This week has flown by. I haven't had time to make a detailed post of our trip out west so I thought I would post a short summary of our time there instead. So in the spirit of 'less is more' here are the facts:

• We flew to Comox via Vancouver this time. Not recommended with kids but the flight was half the price of Westjet's direct flight so what are ya gonna do?


• We stayed with Dave and Katy (thanks) and used their car (thanks) and gave them a decidedly frank introduction to life with 2 kids (sorry).


• Dave and Ashley's wedding went off perfectly. Penny and a few of Ashley's friends convinced the bride to wear white. The ceremony was intimate and short - exactly what a wedding ceremony should be (in my opinion).


• Dinner was at the Golf course (Crown Isle) with lots of entertainment for the kids (golf balls and sand traps - luckily they didn't find the golf carts). We retired to Dave and Ashley's place for the reception which actually turned out to be more of a drinking competition.


• The most shameful part of the night was that we left our kids to sleep at Dave and Ashley's house, in their master bathroom ON THEIR WEDDING NIGHT! We were drunk and didn't want to deal with trying to get car seats into a cab (probably a wise decision) so we left the kids there (but why in the master bathroom of all places?). Luckily Dave passed out before Ashley made it to bed so there was no harm done but we still feel guilty.


• We had a couple of trips to the beach and river. After one particularly wet episode at the beach with a starfish Andrew rode home naked in your truck Dave. I don't think he peed in there but you'll know for sure after a week of hot weather this summer.


• Comox is great. I wish we could find some way to live there.

That's about it. I can't wait for our next trip out there.

My surgery is scheduled for tomorrow afternoon. I will ask Penny to post an update here when all is said and done. Thanks for all the warm wishes.

Date!

We're still in Comox but I found out today that I got booked in for my surgery this Friday, June 11th! I'm pretty excited about getting it done so soon and can't wait to get over it and enjoy the summer. I will post more details about our trip and the surgery plan when I get home.

Still no Date!

It's getting a little frustrating trying to get a date for my surgery. Originally it was supposed to be next Tuesday but I'm not holding my breath on that. I talked on the phone with Dr Buie's scheduling administrator last week and she assured me she was doing everything within her power to get me some surgery time. I paged Dr Buie on Monday and politely reminded him as well that I was still waiting for a date and he said they were doing their best to find the time to slot me in. I know there are cutbacks and what they speak is the truth but it's frustrating to have to sit around waiting. You'd think I was used to that by now...

I spent the day at the hospital yesterday getting a few things done. I had a CT scan to see how things went with the chemo (no results on that for a few weeks yet), picked up a few supplies from the pharmacy, got my port flushed (the port-a-cath equivalent of having your oil changed) and got some exciting new ostomy supplies. Well it's exciting for me anyway. I had been getting severely itchy with my last type of bag so they switched me to a new onewith a different adhesive that is hypoallergenic. So far it's much more comfortable than the old type. Hopefully it proves comfortable in the long run as well.

Tomorrow we're off to Comox for Dave and Ashley's wedding. We're excited about getting out to the coast although the weather forecast is not so great. We are in the midst of packing and have an embarrassingly large pile of stuff to bring. I'll have to go and help Penny get it down to just the bare essentials so they actually let us on the plane. Have a great weekend all!

Best So Far

I was inspired by the last entry to try and find our most awkward family photo. So far this is the best I've come up with. This is me and my brother probably taken some time in high school. I"m not sure where that pink shirt with the white polka dots went but I'm glad its gone.

The First Rule of Moustache Club - You Talk About Moustache Club

After running a few errands this morning I headed to Indigo to see if they had a magazine I was looking for. They didn't have it but in the process of looking around I came across a book of pictures entitled "Awkward Family Photos". It was one of the staff pics so I picked it up and had a look. It's based on pictures and commentary from the popular website of the same name. It made me laugh out loud until I had tears running down my cheeks. I retired to a private corner of the store to keep turning the pages. A staffer came around re-shelving books and, seeing that I was crying, asked if I was ok. I showed her the book I was looking at and we both had a good laugh. If you have a few minutes to fill in at work and are looking for a website that won't get blocked by your firewall, check out awkwardfamilyphotos.com. It's great!

"Camping"

In Alberta the May long weekend signals the start of summer. While people on the west coast have been cutting their lawns since mid February, those of us here in the "real Canada" generally can't even put our snow tires away until the beginning of June. In fact while the May long weekend here in Calgary eschews in the start of the warm month(s), it is also synonymous with snow. Typically on May long Calgarians take to the mountains and campsites in droves, eager to get the Coleman gear out of hibernation and put it to use. This year we avoided snow while camping but as I sit writing this the snow is accumulating steadily outside.

Last year we bought a travel trailer to take camping. I'm not actually sure you can call it camping when you have an air conditioner, a furnace and hot and cold running water right at your fingertips. To avoid confusion and for the purpose of this post I will call it camping but don't be picturing a small tent and freeze dried meals. Anyway, our foray into camping last year was largely successful and a great hit with the kids, so we are hoping to have a repeat performance this season.

We got our trailer out of storage a few weeks ago and got it all stocked up and ready to head out. For the May long weekend we had booked a site at Mount Kidd in Kananaskis Country with our neighbors and their friends. We all have travel trailers so we decided to rent one of those large double sites in the hope that we could fit 3 trailers on it. Penny and Nancy planned well and the sites were plenty big enough. We were all a little rusty with the setup but by 11:30 pm on the first night we were all set up on our site for the weekend.

We awoke to sun and wind on our first day with the temperature hovering in the high single digits. The wind was cold and made activity outside difficult but the kids braved the low temperatures for a few hours during the day to play outside with sticks and rocks. Having a total of 7 kids there was great. They entertained themselves and each other and always seemed to be doing something that involved dirt. Saturday, Sunday and Monday were much warmer and the kids spent the better part of each day outside. They would habitually retire to one of the trailers in the mid afternoon to watch a movie on someones laptop but even that didn't keep them inside for long. The kids spent lots of time on their bikes, launched some model rockets and took turns with some remote control cars. They basically only came back to the site when they needed food.
All things considered, the weekend was a great success and a reasonable start to the season despite some minor setbacks (we ran out of propane on the last night, our friends had a dead truck battery when they went to leave and the other friends had their departure delayed when their slide out wouldn't close). We are looking forward to a great camping season and perhaps some warmer weather in the months to come.

In other news, playground construction has begun on a $250k playground in the park behind us. The weather is terrible but construction seems to be proceeding well. I still haven't got a date for surgery yet and with every day that passes the likelihood of getting it done on the 8th of June as I'd hoped seems less and less likely. I'll keep you all posted when I get a date.

Everybody Makes Mistakes

Even Robert Munsch...

There and Back Again

Sailing around the world is a major feat of skill and endurance. For centuries early explorers did not care how long it took them to circle the globe. They were simply happy to make it back to their home port with enough sailors to handle their ships. These early circumnavigations were full of danger and excitement. Sailing in uncharted waters, trying to find food and water and skirmishes with natives along the way kept things exciting. Since Joshua Slocum's first solo circumnavigation from 1894-1898 the goal has been to do it faster. Constantly improving technology over the centuries has enabled longer, more extreme voyages in smaller and lighter boats. Now a solo sailor in a state of the art boat with the latest in navigational gear and nutritional supplements can make a round the world trip in much less than a year. Magellan would be amazed.

While technology including sophisticated real time weather mapping and super accurate GPS has made sailing easier and faster in the past few years, I don't think it has made it significantly safer. A modern sailor still has deal with storms, gear malfunctions and major breakages while navigating the multitude of islands, islets, reefs and other (often larger) boating traffic. Electronic navigational aides might make finding your way a little easier and faster but sooner or later the batteries die or salt water corrodes your precious GPS or laptop interface. At that point the modern sailor is faced with finding his or her way with simple tools of the trade that have been used for centuries: a sextant (no this is not a portable canvas abode used for the conception of little sailors) and a watch. Given this, it is obvious that the dangers of long haul blue water sailing have not changed in millennia despite the recent invention of a few dainty (yet handy) electronics.

These dangers of solo sailing make Jessica Watson's recent voyage nothing short of amazing. At 16 years old, Jessica has become the youngest person to sail solo, non-stop and unassisted around the world. She left Sidney, Australia in October of last year sailed East and North across the equator then turned South and headed East around Cape Horn, the Cape of Good Hope and around the South side of Australia before ending her 210 day odyssey back in Sidney on Saturday. She detailed her journey in a blog she updated daily from her 34 foot boat, Ella's Pink Lady. It is estimated that she has more than a million dollars of endorsements including a book deal, waiting for her as she returns to her normal life in Australia.

Congratulations on a successful journey Jessica. Your perseverance and optimism have inspired me in my cancer journey.

A Great Night

Thanks to all of you who came out to the Saltlik on Saturday evening to help Penny and I celebrate the end of chemo! We had a really fun time and enjoyed seeing everyone that has helped us through this ordeal. A special thanks goes out to Vicky and Astrid who helped Penny with the logistics and organization. Thanks also goes to those who travelled to be at the party, especially my parents, my brother Matt, Josephine, and Heidi and Mike from Edmonchuck. It was a great night and we hope to do it all again except maybe next time it will be for a different cause...

Time for Golf