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.