Trying

I'm trying to find the energy to write an update but it just isn't happening. I'm tired and in pain and immobile. What else can I say. Cancer sucks.
Dan

South Calgary Health Campus

I had a couple of good outings today. Well, if you can consider going for a CT scan a good outing. Nancy gave me a ride down to the South Calgary Health Campus for yet another zap with radiation to see the status of things going on inside this dude.

That new South Calgary hospital is sure a great spot. Everything from the parkade (huge, underground, well signed) to the hallways (wide, bright well signed), to the washrooms (bright, well equipped for people of all needs) to the treatment areas (big and bright) are well thought out and designed with purpose. My favourite part though was all the seating in the hallways, booths and tables and comfy chairs. I managed to get a good picture of Nancy hanging out having a coffee after the scan. I'll put some results up after I get them sometime next week.

Warm Weather = Trip Outside

Today has been great. The weather here in Calgary has been fantabulous (think 19 degrees and sunny!) so I ventured outside for a walk, twice. I made it to the end of my block and around the corner both times which is way farther than I've made it in the past. Actually since my surgery the only walking I've done has been inside the house or the hospital so today's effort was vastly superior to anything attempted in the past. My mum took a picture so there is some proof that this actually happened...

Slower Than You Might Prefer

stealing my walker

peek-a-boo!

The Incision (those stickers are fentanyl patches)

Standing up without holding onto anything. Next up: walking

That seems to be the theme of the week around here. Slower than you might prefer. We started the week with a long but respectable list of things to accomplish and, sitting here on Saturday afternoon, I seem to have ticked off a bare few items. On the plus side, my mobility has improved, though only a little bit. I'm not dancing and running but getting up and around is easier and my confidence is improving. It's still a supreme effort to go up and down stairs, get to the bathroom and stand up long enough to do anything in the kitchen. Relying on other people to fetch and carry is also supremely frustrating.

On the medical front, I did get to see Dr. Lupichuck but the meeting resolved little. We agreed to book a chest-abdomen-pelvis CT scan ASAP (as of yesterday pm still not done) which should direct us in the next course of treatment. Now the earliest that can be done is Monday.

I am booked to see home care on Monday afternoon. They are the ones that come to inspect your home to see what additional apparatus I might need to make day-to-day living a little easier. Things like handles in the bathroom, raised toilet seat, seat in the shower. Since I've been home more than a week already I've had time to figure lots of those things out on my own. Perhaps though she might be able to show me the best options or the least expensive options because it feels like we are running at this thing blind some days.

I am also on a wait list to see a specialty physiotherapy clinic that deals in nerve pain. I haven't heard a peep from them yet about an assessment and again hopefully that happens at the beginning of the coming week. Luckily my physio friend Heather is looking out for me and has me doing lots of exercises already to maintain some tone in my legs so that when the feeling comes back I can go straight back to my ultra marathon training.