The last week was an interesting one, to say the least. Not the news I was hoping for which put a bit of a damper on the holidays. Here is a summary of my last few weeks.
As I mentioned before, I was battling a sinus infection and bronchitis for a little while. It lasted a lot longer than I had hoped. Not uncommon for someone like me with a weakened immune system. What was surprising was how progressively tired I was getting. I was averaging about 10h sleep/night and still having troubles getting out of bed. The antibiotics I was on and/or the bugs I was fighting were really doing a number on me and zapping all my energy. I was slowly starting to feel a bit better by Thursday, Dec 12 (or I ignored my symptoms) to make it out to hockey. It was going to be my last one before the Xmas break so I made the effort to be there. It was a great night and I scored a goal and an assist.
The next day, I rested up so that MA and I could go to my friend Ryszard’s (pronounced Richard) 67th birthday. I had seen him briefly at my event a few weeks ago but did not have a lot of time with him. Also, I had not seen his wife Sheila in a long time so it was great to catch up with the both of them. Unfortunately, he was not looking as good this time. He has prostate cancer and is on an aggressive therapy that is doing great on his cancer but is really taking a lot out of him in the process. He was put on it because he was in such good shape beforehand. Normally, people on this treatment only last about a month before they are taken off and he has been on it for more than 3 months. The party was centered around an open mic jazz night. Ryszard was able to play a few songs on the guitar to start the evening while Sheila was on the flute. They were accompanied by a few other musicians as well and it all sounded great. Both MA and I were tired so we did not stay too late plus we did not know a lot of people there.
On Saturday, Dec 14, it was another birthday party but this one was a surprise 40th for Mags, one of my band friends. It was a later start this night as we were meeting up for about 8:30 PM as she would be there sometime after 9. I drove out to Rockland for the party and waited for her arrival. MA did not make the trip as she was not feeling well this evening. When Mags got there with Sylvain, her boyfriend, she was very surprised to see everyone. It was another band night with her mates from Karmacode playing music with Sylvain signing the songs. Normally, Mags would do the singing but she was given the night off so that she could socialize with everyone for a change. I even got to sing a song but, with my hoarse voice, not sure it was my best rendition. After the band finished it’s set, Sylvain jumped on the turntables and spun some music for everyone to dance to. I wish I had more energy as I was having fun and the music was pumping. If MA was with me, I might have stayed longer but instead I retired around 11:30 to head home. By this time, the rain had turned into some heavy snow which made the drive interesting. I dropped off Rachel, my old bandmate, at her parents place safely and was home before midnight.
On Sunday, Dec 15, I was really feeling tired. I guess all the activities from the last few days were catching up. I did a bit of shopping in the afternoon and when I got back I was wiped. I had zero energy to do anything else. Unfortunately, this was going to be our family Christmas gift opening. Our plan was that we were going to be away for the holidays as we always do, so this would be the only time we would be home to open our gifts. Pat was coming by later in the afternoon to open gifts with us and have dinner. We did still continue with the plans and everyone had a great time opening their gifts. Luckily, I had a lot of help to make dinner though it did not all go as planned but was still good, none the less. We retired to the living room after dinner for Pat’s first Bond movie (he needs to see them all before the next one comes out in April 2020).
We got some really bad news on Monday, Dec 16. It was the first of my doctors appointments for the week. I was visiting Dr B-B, my Ottawa Hematologist, and my blood work results were not good. It seems that the bugs I was fighting knocked out my immune system completely. My neutrophils were 0 and my white blood counts were 0.7! My doctor was very concerned about these results and immediately pumped me with IV antibiotics and prescribed oral antibiotics and more Grastofil to boost my immune system again. The goal was to try to get me healthy enough to make it to Toronto. I felt a lot more tired today and could barely move after the appointment. After hearing all this bad news, we decided that it would not be a good idea to travel for Christmas thus we will be staying home this year, for the first time ever since I have been away from North Bay. I was not sure how much energy I would have nor did I want to be exposed to people who may be infected while my immune system is so low. On top of this, my fever crept in. It was very concerning as I was reading as high as 39.1°C and Dr B-B said I should go to the hospital if it went past 38°C! MA needed to do a lot of running around as the kids had a few activities happening so by the time she got home to take me, my fever had dropped below 38°C and stayed that way. Probably a good thing we did not waste time in the Emergency room however it did give us quite a scare! I would be back at the hospital on Tuesday for a short visit to get another dose of IV antibiotics. The rest of the day was spent resting up for the trip to Toronto the next day. I did wake up this morning with a pain in my right ankle (the opposite one from where I had my infection in Aug). It was a similar pain I had had several times in the past so I was not too worried about it as it usually is gone in a few days.
Wednesday, Dec 18, was a travel day. MA and I headed to Toronto for my scans and appointments to mark my 6 month anniversary after my treatment. The drive was smooth and we stopped off at Mike’s place along the way, Mary Ann’s brother. We spent a few hours with him and then headed to the Lodge in time for dinner which, after the fact, we should have skipped because it was not great. Later that night, I decided to double check the times for my appointments the next day and noticed they changed. Good thing I did because my PET scan changed from 9:00 AM to 2:30 PM!
Thursday, Dec 19, was scan day. Because I need to fast at least 4h before my PET scan, I had to plan my eating schedule accordingly. I slept later than I was expecting given the time I went to bed the night before and was up around 9:00 AM. I took a shower, paid for parking and then had breakfast. I was too tired after all this to take a walk to get a coffee (the coffee provided at the Lodge is worst than terrible!) When MA got up, she too showered and went to get us coffees around 10:00, thank god. I needed to finish my coffee by 10:30 to ensure that I maintained the buffer before my PET scan. Because my CT scan was at 1:00PM, we were taking the 12:00 shuttle to the hospital as it was the closest one that would get me there on time. We got to TGH with plenty of time to spare so I checked in early. This was a good thing as I could drink my contrast drink while I waited to be called for my scan. I got called in around 1:30 and the scans took less than 20 min to do. We packed up and walked across the street to the PMH for my PET scan, or so I thought. I checked in for my 2:30 appointment and waited to be called. When it was finally my turn, the technician brought me where he usually does to get me ready for the scan. This time though, he explained that part of the reason for my time changes was because the availability of the radioactive agent they use for the scan was in short supply. As such, they had double booked the PET scanner and I was being bumped to a different hospital for my scan. I still did all my prep work at the PMH, being the blood sugar check and the radioactive agent injection. After this was done, MA and I packed up so that we could walk back to TGH to then take the shuttle to the Toronto Western Hospital where I was to meet Yasmin who would be doing my scans. It was a 15 min shuttle ride to the TWH and we headed up to the third floor to check in. There was nobody before us and the waiting room was empty with the exception of the three attendees behind the desk. When I left PMH, I was given the impression that Yasmin was waiting for me and it would be quick to get the scans done. I had to wait another 15 mins before she took me into the scans. 20 min later, I was done and headed back to the Lodge, which took over 1h as we needed to take the shuttle to TGH, walk across the street to PMH and wait for the Lodge shuttle. We left TWH at around 4:00 PM and finally made it to the Lodge around 5:20! What a long day! I was pretty tired after that so we ate dinner and I watched a hockey game that night while constantly checking emails to see if any of the results from the scans would show up.
Friday, Dec 20, was another long day. We started the day off with breakfast and then headed to PMH for blood work and a visit with the doctor. Blood work was very quick and the wait for the doctor was not too bad. When I was called, the nurse took all my vitals and I found out that I had lost 6 Kgs (12 lbs for all you older folks) in one week! Though it is a great time to lose that much weight just before the holidays, it is not recommended by the doctors, so I was told. All the antibiotics I have been taking for the last few weeks have been affecting my gut bacteria so I have been suffering from bouts of diarrhea all week, hence the sudden weight loss. When the doctor arrived for my appointment, he did give me some good news. Though none of my scan results were in yet, he was able to look at the scans themselves and they did not show anything remarkable so he was not worried about them. Also, my blood work showed that my neutrophils were up past 2.0 along with my white blood cells so the Grastofil was working and I had an immune system again. My ankle was still sore and I brought it up with the nurse but the doctor did not do anything about it. Little did I know at the time that I should have pushed it a bit more while I was there as it continues to hurt while I write this. He did talk about my low blood count numbers and said this is to be expected with this type of treatment so he is not concerned by them. In some cases, it could take up to 2 years for these to get back to normal and not yoyo like this. After my appointment, we headed back to the Lodge to have lunch and pack up to head home. The drive again was very smooth, given it was the last Friday before the holidays and MA got us home by 5:30 PM.
On Saturday, Dec 21, I went grocery shopping for the weekend and part of the week. It was decided that we were finally going to celebrate Cassy’s birthday and have her special dinner tonight. She selected ham and scalloped potatoes with a caprese salad. This aligned well with what I was already planning so it was a good start. Unfortunately, this dinner took a lot out of me to make and I was exhausted for the rest of the night. I could not get my wind back and sat in my chair for the rest of the night not moving. Sunday, was much of the same so MA made dinner this time while I rested some more.
Monday, Dec 23, we received a surprise visit from the newlyweds, Richard and Li. They got married on Saturday! They stopped by for a quick visit in between MA’s massage client visits. We were able to get the details of how it all went and saw some pictures of the evening. The remarkable thing was that they had the ceremony and reception at the location of Richard’s old garage that he owned when he and his dad were mechanics. Several years ago (when I had a great mechanic ☹), Richard owned a garage in town that he bought off his dad. The location was bought out by a developer and a new high rise was built on the site with a restaurant on top, overlooking the city. It was a fitting place for their wedding! After they left, I headed out to give blood and came home. My ankle seemed to be a bit better today as I was able to walk up the stairs at the medical building to give blood. However, it did not stay this way.
During the night, I was having a lot of trouble sleeping because my ankle was hurting so much and I could not find a comfortable position for it to be in without pain. At around 2:30 AM, I got up to chat with MA, as she was up too, to see what could be done. I was desperate and very tired at this time. I took some Tylenol (which I had been avoiding due to it masking any fevers I might get) but, at this point, I needed something to help me sleep. We also decided to put on the air cast we have. Both these things worked and I was able to sleep the rest of the night. I was up relatively early and spent most of the day doing nothing. We had a surprise visit from Pat in the afternoon which was very welcomed by Geneviève as he joined us for our traditional Chinese Food dinner on Christmas Eve. If you do not know the story of this tradition, here it is. More than 40 years ago, we used to always go to my grandparent’s place on Christmas Eve and sit around their very tiny kitchen. The extended family and friends would stop by throughout the afternoon to visit while Memère Cantin would prepare dinner. After a while, her health was not good enough to make the dinner so we all decided that it would be best if we just get Chinese takeout. It was so rare that we ate this meal back then that we would be craving it for months beforehand. Now, we all look forward to it every year! With this in mind, I did some research online for a location to purchase our meal. We decided on one and MA went to pick it up. The place was called My Favorite Chinese Food but, I can honestly say, it was not. It was OK but not MY favorite. We all stuffed our faces and then retired to watch another Bond movie. On the plus side, my cough/bronchitis/infection seems to be getting better.
Christmas day was uneventful. We had a very quick visit from Richard and Li who dropped off breakfast. They provided us with a cinnamon roll like bunt cake and some oranges. They only stayed about 3 mins as they were heading out for other visits. It took a while for us to break into it as we waited for everyone to be up. Finally around 12:30, we were able to devour it! Throughout the day, we prepared the turkey and fixings for our evening meal. Isabelle went to her friend’s place while the rest of us lounged at home all day. My energy levels were doing ok most of the day and I was able to get everything ready but when it came time to cutting the turkey, I died. I had no more energy and could not do it. I was drained for the rest of the night. Dinner was great and we all enjoyed it. Just was not the same without the rest of the family though.
Geneviève will be heading to the in-laws on Boxing day while the rest of us hang out at home. Friday, Geneviève gets her wisdom teeth taken out. Sunday, we will be heading to Rick and Karine’s place for a holiday party. New Year’s Eve will likely be spent at Mary Ann’s soccer friend’s, Celynne’s place. After that, back to the old routine.
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! PS. I was interviewed during my comedy night in November for a local newspaper. It finally went to print recently. You can read the article on my new website! www.laughter4cancer.com or directly at https://capitalcurrent.ca/survivor-organizes-fundraiser-to-beat-back-leukemia-with-laughter/.