So Far So Good

I just want to make a quick post to let everyone know things are going well so far on our Summer vacation. Our first stop in Vernon was great. We hit the pool and the beach and met up with friends and Penny's aunt and Uncle. On Wednesday we drove down here to Christina lake to meet up with our neighbors and have had superb weather. Lots of beach time and bike riding and beer. We're here for another full day before we make the trek to Green Lake. It will be a long drive. Hopefully the DVD player is working and the kids can watch some movies. Holiday travel has sure changed since I was a kid. I remember the days of no a/c, no movies and slower speed limits. If you were lucky there was am radio to listen to or if you were really lucky perhaps a tape. Pretty soon they'll be disappointed that the movies aren't HD.

Kenny Chesney

It was a bit of an outside-the-box idea but getting tickets to see Kenny Chesney close out the Stampede last night at the dome was a great decision. Earlier in the week I picked up some great tickets to the sold out show on kijiji for about 20% LESS than face value. Penny and I went out for supper (sans enfants) before the show at the Boxwood (great food - very cancer diet friendly) and then walked the six or so blocks over to the Stampede grounds. We missed opening act Doc Walker (not too sad about that). Kenny was fantastic. He's a great entertainer and gave off the impression that there was no place he would rather be than there on stage last night. He's got a great voice and his songs sounded smooth and clean. The funniest part was the drunk couple that was sitting in front of us. The dude kept turning around to talk to me but the combination of his slurred speech and loud music meant I didn't understand a single word he said. Not one. I left there wondering what he was talking about and he probably left there thinking we were best friends. When Kenny Chesney comes back to Calgary - go. It's a show not to be missed.

Decision Made

Like the beer add says, Canada has two seasons: Winter and July. We spend the winter months shovelling and freezing and waiting for July when we camp, swim in the lakes and cavort about in shorts with a significantly minimized risk of being snowed on. For our family, summer is no different. It is a time to enjoy the hot weather with family and friends and perhaps a cold beer. We visit a lake or two, get the trailer out for some summer camping and maybe visit the stampede. Nowhere in that list of decidedly warm weather activities does making one's self sick on chemotherapy appear.

Our plans for a summer holiday this year are to spend the last week of July camping and visiting friends in the Okanagan, followed by a two week stint with family and friends at Green Lake in the Caribou region of BC. If ever there was three weeks of activities that made optimal use of our Canadian summer then that three weeks of bliss is it. Doing chemotherapy before or during that time could be done, but would significantly change the flavor of the summer. I would feel like crap which would mean Penny would do all the work. The kids pick up on my chemo sickness as well and are more sedentary and less excitable. In effect, starting chemotherapy now would significantly dampen, if not ruin our summer plans.

In a perfect world, I would never have to do chemo again. Actually, in a perfect world I would never have done chemo or ever have to do chemo. But the reality is, chemotherapy has and will extend my life significantly, so it must be done. There is an option to do a less intensive regimen including only one or two drugs at lower doses but what is the point? I may feel a little better but its not like I'll be running marathons. No, when I go back on chemotherapy it will be as aggressive as I can handle. I'll feel like crap for a few days every two weeks but in the long run, I will live longer and maybe be around to enjoy a few more Canadian Julys.

So the plan now is to stay off chemo until August 15th in order to enjoy our summer plans. At that point I'll probably have another CT scan to establish a base line and start back on the full scale FolFIri chemotherapy. Until then I plan to get out and enjoy the summer.

Funny story: The other night before we sent the kids to Victoria, we invited our neighbors and their kids over for a little play since the kids won't see each other for more than a week. Andrew was really excited about them coming over but he chose an interesting way to show his excitement. He grabbed the nearest book, opened it up, ripped out a random page from the middle, crumpled it up, shoved it in his mouth and ran around the house screaming. It was hard not to react by laughing hysterically. I hope in the years to come we can find some way to direct that explosive excitement towards some useful, less destructive purpose. Like running or weight lifting.

CAT Scan Results updated

After my last post I returned to the hospital and met with Dr Lupichuck again. She had time that day to sit down with a radiologist at the foothills that specializes in chest radiology and go over my scan. His interpretation was much the same as that of the first radiologist but with much more detail. He thought that I had maybe 12 or 13 nodules spread over all 3 lobes of both lungs. This is the same number that were identified in one of the scans I had about a year ago. All of the nodules appeared to have undergone moderate growth in the order of 10-20% in diameter. He concurred with the first radiologist that there were no new nodules anywhere else in my body, including my bones, which is a very good thing. Dr Lupichuck also commented that this type of cancer tends to be more aggressive for some reason in young adults than in older people, but for me this didn't seem to be the case. I take these results mostly as good news. The growth is bad but not excessive and the fact that there are no new spots anywhere else is a relief.

The difficult decision of what to do regarding treatment still remains. I know I will have to go back on chemotherapy at some point - that is a given - but I have a hard time knowing if now is the time. I would really like to stay off it for another 6 weeks so that I can enjoy the summer travels we have planned without having to travel back here for chemo or worry about barfing in a lake. But is staying off it now going to make things worse later on? I suppose only time will tell. What to do? What to do...

CT Scan Results

From the written report:

"Adverse change with progressive enlargement of the pulmonary nodules throughout both lungs, largest in the right lower lobe currently measures 1.2 cm diameter as compared to 1.0 cm March 2011"

"Remaining thoracic, abdominal and pelvic findings as detailed above are stable."

Although these results weren't great, I think the wording of the report makes it sound a lot worse than it actually is. Dr. Lupichuck and I were a little disappointed at the lack of detail in the report about the pulmonary nodules. Some commentary on the presence or absence of new mets would have been nice. Also some more sizing information on the existing mets would have been good too. She is going to speak to a radiologist about having a closer look at those two things and is going to meet with me again this afternoon to discuss those results and treatment options going forward. On a positive note, there are no new mets anywhere else. More results and treatment plan still to come.

Writing-On-Stone Canada Day long weekend

Milk River Paddle, originally uploaded by DPC Tutt.

We spent this Canada Day long weekend at writing-on-stone campground in southern Alberta. We went with Penny's brother James, his wife Gill and their kids, Jamie and Emileigh. So far, I have to say this is my favourite place in Alberta to camp. It had lots of activities and the fact that we had great weather didn't hurt it's ranking either. The one down side is one that I've never experienced before. Growing up in BC and Vancouver in particular the one reliable problem one runs into when camping is rain. Not so at Writing-on-Stone. The problem there was pollen or seeds or whatever that cotton-like stuff is the poplar trees shed at this time of year. There was so much of it. Jamie and I had allergies but the worst part was that it stuck to everything. It got in your food, your beer, into your clothes, eyes and mouth. It got stuck on the barbecue on the truck and even to the chains on our bikes. It was seriously annoying. The petroglyphs are pretty cool and the interpretive centre is fantastic. We didn't pay to do the guided tour and access the off-limits to the public rock art but if you go it's probably worth the money and the time if you don't have little ones around with short attention spans. But, besides the fluff and a few pesky skeeters, the weekend went well.

Tomorrow is my checkup and CT scan results with Lupichuck. I will report the results here ASAP. Fingers crossed.