Before I get into my updates for the past few weeks, I am going to do some soliciting. As you now may be aware, I am having another comedy night to raise money for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society of Canada (LLSC). I started doing this last year and was able to raise more than $16,000 in my inaugural year. I am starting much later this time, given all that was going on with me, so I have set a lower target of $10,000. My foundation is called Laughter 4 Cancer, www.laughter4cancer.com, and I host a comedy night at Absolute Comedy here in Ottawa, On. Tickets sold include a $25 tax receipt from the LLSC and all proceeds go back to them. This year’s event will be on Thursday, November 21, 2019 starting at 7:30 (comics go on stage at 8:30). It will not be as elaborate as it was last year but I am hoping to at least have a 50/50 draw and maybe a silent auction (depending on time, effort and volunteers I have to organize it). If you are interested in coming, tickets are sold through Eventbrite at (old link removed). If you would like to help out, you can send me an email at [email protected]. If you cannot make it but would still like to donate to the cause, you can do so through my LLSC Light The Night Walk page at (old link removed). Every little bit helps! Thank you for your support.
And now for the part you have been waiting for.
So, Sunday, Sept 22, was spent watching two miserable games. I was hoping for something better given that it was my Mom’s birthday but no such luck. Both the Senators and the Redblacks games were terrible to watch as they both lost horribly. I did get a chance to call my Mom for her birthday. Interspersed within these games, MA and I were able to make it to Pat’s godchild’s christening. It was a really nice event and we got to meet a lot of Pat’s family who were very welcoming and friendly.
Monday, Sept 23, was another trip to the hospital to give blood and talk with Dr. B-B. My blood counts are still holding steading without the need for transfusions and injections so it is going well but they are still low and require close monitoring. It was decided that I would skip next week’s appointment as I will be in Toronto to see Dr. Kuruvilla later in the week.
Tuesday, Sept 24, started with hockey in the morning. This time though, I was in nets and it was not smooth. I am still very tired and did not have much stamina to keep up with the plays. Needless to say, I was scored on a lot but it was still nice to be there. It was the first time I was in nets since early March so I was very rusty. I am sure that there was a pile of rust on the blue paint once I got off the ice but I was too tired to look or do something about it. Later in the day, I had another bandage change at the “Home Care”. Though it is getting better, my wound is taking a long time to heal. Spent a good part of the night looking for feed for the Sens – Canucks game that was not being televised on the 1,000 channels I am currently subscribed to with my cable package. Go figure!
I can’t remember what I did on Wednesday, Sept 25, so I don’t have much to say. Skipping to Thursday, Sept 26, it started with me being disappointed again by watching a Sens game that I recorded the night before. For a change, it was a good game as my Sens won against the Canucks. The rest of the day was spent wasting time until it was time to head out to my hockey game. Though I played, I was still sucking wind so I struggled to play all my shifts but was still able to play the entire game. The beer and wings were good afterwards though.
Friday, Sept 27, was another wound care day. Mary Ann and I headed to “Home Care” to have them look at my injury and replace the bandage. It was a short visit but still did not provide the news I was looking for being that it is healed and I can stop going for these visits. I was at least hoping to have a bandage that could allow me to go into a hot tub as it was Boys weekend coming up and there is one at the chalet where we are staying. After this appointment, I headed home to pack up for the weekend. MA and the kids were also leaving that day to go to Toronto for a University fair so no one was going to be home for the next few days. In the early afternoon, I headed to Wakefield and, on the way, I stopped off at the Super C, on the Quebec side, to pick up some last-minute food items and some cheap beer. The chalet we were staying at is at the base of Edelweiss Mountain near Wakefield. The rest of the night was spent enjoying the company that was there, eating some amazing food, playing ping pong and, of course, drinking.
Saturday, Sept 28, started with some coffees with cream whiskey and a big breakfast. Some of the boys went for a walk in the afternoon while I went into town with Randy to check out the sites and pick up some missing items for dinner. While in town, we checked out some of the local bars to see what the entertainment was going to be like for the evening. Wakefield does have a surprisingly active night life on the weekends. We stopped off at the art gallery in town as there was an artist painting on the patio outside that caught our attention. We chatted with him for a little while before going inside to see some of his other work. I was mesmerized by one of his pieces that was hanging on the wall. Though it was a Leafs themed piece, it was still nice to look at (see picture attached). As we were leaving, we again chatted with the artist, Murray Henderson. We found out that he and his wife live in Peterborough and he has done some paintings and prints to raise funds for Hockey Fights Cancer and Ducks Unlimited. He has raised over $1M with one of his prints for Ducks Unlimited! In chatting with him and his wife, I talked about my fundraiser. It turns out that they lost a daughter to leukemia hence the reason for him doing some work for Hockey Fights Cancer. He offered that the next time I have my event, he might be able to donate something to it. I was very grateful and ensured to take down his info so that I could follow up later. After this great encounter, Randy and I went to the grocery store and headed back to the chalet. Again, we ate like kings at dinner and Randy and I were able to convince the boys to go into town to see one of the local bands playing at the bar. We stayed for a couple of drinks and made friends with the locals before heading back. Some of the boys retired to the hot tub before bed. I found a way to join them but it was really awkward as I needed to keep my injured leg outside of the water. I really missed my hot tub and I was determined to get in this one so I made the best of it. I stayed up really late with Caleb and am not sure what time I crawled into bed but I was rudely awakened the next morning, at what seemed to be too early in the morning.
So, at 11:00 AM on Sunday, Sept 29, Rick woke me up saying we needed to leave. I quickly packed up my stuff into the car and got ready to drive to Ottawa. I was heading straight to Erin’s Celebration of Life ceremony. It was starting at 1:00 PM and it was over 1h away and I needed to stop at Timmies for coffee and breakfast. I arrived at the hall just after 1:00 and the celebration had already started. I stood at the back of the hall until I could find a seat. It was a very touching ceremony and MA was able to join me later, once she got back from her trip to Toronto. At the end of the ceremony, I finally realized who I was sitting beside. It turns out that it was a bunch of my nurses who had taken care of me during my stay at the Ottawa General. I did not recognize them in their civies and outside the hospital. MA and I took some time to look at the pictures and memorabilia that was on display and while we were looking we found a picture of Erin holding Shelly. I was not expecting this but it was really nice to see. We then chatted with Erin’s parents and socialized at bit with the other guests before heading home. It was a short night as I think I was a bit hung over, which could explain how I completely forgot I had a league hockey game that night.
Monday, Sept 30, was a chill day for the most part up until dinner. We needed to eat early as there was a lot going on in the evening. Trying to be ecologically friendly, MA and I decided we would drive Isabelle to work early, dropping her off at 5:00. She has a new job at a local restaurant that one of her friends helped her get. Afterwards, we headed to drop off Geneviève at her job at the RA where she coaches fencing. From there, MA and I wasted time at Bulk Barn before our Therapy Dog Intro course nearby which started at 7:00. Shelly has so been great with me, the staff and other people at the hospital while I was at there that we now want to get her out to see others in need of some dog love. Our course ended around 8:30 PM, so we redid our path in reverse to pick up the girls and head home.
Tuesday, Oct 1, was a hockey morning where I was in nets again. I am already starting to see some improvements in my game from last week but I am still nowhere near where I used to be. So much so that the other goalie took pity on me and switched ends early in the game as I was getting lit up. After the game, I headed quickly to “Home Care” for a bandage change and then home for breakfast and coffee. I was idle for the rest of the day but did make time to book a timeslot for the comedy event that I spoke about earlier in my post.
Wednesday, Oct 2, was the start of NHL hockey season and a travel day. Coincidently, the Senators were playing the Leafs that night in Toronto and I was going to be in town for the game. I tried to get tickets earlier in the week but there were only single seats left and scalpers were asking $250 per seat in the nose bleeds. So, instead of going to the game, Mary Ann and I ate our very small meal at the Lodge and then sat down in the TV room to watch the game with the other guests. For some reason, the TV in this room was set in “store mode” so it was annoying to watch and I did not have a remote to fix it and I did not want to interfere with the TV while others were in the room. MA and I decided to head to a local bar to watch the game instead. We walked over to Church street, in the heart of Pride District in Toronto, and found a bar showing the game. Unfortunately, they were not playing the sound of the game so we could only watch the video. But we had a nice night out, watched the game, had some beers and ate some wings. Later, we met some locals in the bar and chatted with them for a bit before heading back to the Lodge.
Thursday, Oct 3, was scan day. It started with my PET scan at 10:30 at PMH. I was not allowed to eat or drink beforehand. It was a short wait to get in but I still needed to drink my contrast drink before the actual scan at 11:30. My CT scan was scheduled for 5:00 PM with nothing in between. The technician at PMH offered to do the CT scan there as they had time to take me but, once he looked at the request, he realized that it was for a study and said that I needed to get it done at the TGH as prescribed. MA and I decided to head over right away to the TGH to see if we could get in early. We got to the check in desk around 12:30. The receptionist said that she could not check in yet to see if we could get in early as the coordinator was on lunch until 1:00. We waited around to see what she was going to say once she had a chance to talk to the coordinator. Around 1:25, I went back to her to get an update. Turns out she forgot about us and went to talk with him immediately. Shortly thereafter, the answer was no; we were going to need to wait until 5:00. With this info, we went to get lunch/breakfast and chill in the lobby next door to watch a movie on my iPad. Around 3:30, I got a call from the coordinator asking where I was. I told him that I was right around the corner and could be there in 1min. After getting off the phone, we headed back to the reception area and found the coordinator who brought us to the CT waiting room where I drank more of the contrast drink. Another >1h wait there and I was finally in the CT room to get my scans and finally head back to the Lodge. We had dinner and we were both exhausted from the long day of sitting around, waiting and relaxed in our room and had an early night. Just before bed, I got my PET scan results online but we still needed to wait to see what the doctor had to say about them tomorrow.
Friday, Oct 4, was an early morning as I needed to give blood before my visit with the doctor. My blood appointment was at 9:20 but the latest shuttle that got us there in time was at 8:00. We got to the PMH and I headed to give blood while MA got us coffees. After giving blood, we both headed to the doctor’s office to check in and wait for our appointment at 10:20. The doctor was really late so we finally got called around 11:20 after mentioning that we needed to hit the 12:00 shuttle back to the Lodge. The nurse took my vitals before my trial nurse, Victoria, arrived. We chatted with Victoria about what was going on since the last time I was in and about my wound when Dr. Kuruvilla arrived. When it was his turn to speak, he shared the great news that my tumor had again been reduced by 50% and that I was aligned with the expected path that most people take when on this treatment. He is still a bit concerned with my blood results but is happy that they are maintaining and, in some cases, improving on their own without intervention. He reiterated that it was going to take time, from 6-12 months, before they might be normal again so we just need to be patient. He was very happy with my progress, stated that I did not need to see him until the end of December, gave me the 2 thumbs up before saying that I should have a beer that night to celebrate my progress so far. With the appointment done, MA and I rushed off to catch the 12:00 shuttle so that we could eat lunch, pack and head back to Ottawa. We were on the road by 1:00 with the plans to pick up Pat’s brother, Nick, in Kingston along the way. Nick was to be in class at RMC until 4:30 and would need to go back to his room to grab his stuff before we could pick him up at 5:00. The drive to Kingston was relatively smooth and since we had time to kill, I decided to gas up at the Indian Reserve again. We were about 20min from Kingston when Nick texted saying that he was out of class early and could be ready sooner than expected. Well, it turns out, that by the time we arrived at RMC to pick him up, he was already waiting for us. We packed his bag and continued the drive to Kars to drop him off at his parents’ before heading home. We were home around 6:30 with the hopes that the kids would have made dinner for us. Unfortunately, that was not the case, so we ordered pizza for Pat and the family. That night, Pat, the bartender, was mixing drinks and made me a Whiskey Sour, something I have not had before. It was really good but I think it did a number on me as the raw egg that was in it seemed to upset my stomach overnight. Maybe my digestive system is not ready for that yet.
I had another bandage change scheduled at “Home Care” Saturday morning, Oct 5. MA joined me for the appointment and we found out that I would no longer need to come back. The wound has healed enough that they do not need to treat it anymore and I would just need to change the bandage a few times in the coming week, should there be any “stains” still on the previous one. I still can’t go into the hot tub until my skin is in better shape but it will happen very soon. I made a turkey that afternoon as they were on sale earlier in the week and then MA and I went for a walk with Shelly in a local park. After dinner, I sat down to watch a hockey game and then to bed for an early night.
Sunday, Oct 6, was a relaxing day. I spent most of the day getting my website updated so that I can start selling tickets. It took a good part of the day to get all this setup and ready. I sent out the emails to the people who attended the year before along with others who I thought might come or at least donate to the cause to let them know what was happening and how they could support the cause. We had turkey leftovers for dinner and retired to watch TV that evening.
Monday, Oct 7, was another joyful day. It started with me visiting the hospital for another session with Dr Bence-Bruckler. I had to go on my own as MA needed to bring the kids to other doctor’s appointments. I did my blood work prior to seeing the doctor. Dr B-B was very happy to see me and again give me the great news about my results. She too was very happy with my progress and said that we could cut back our appointments dramatically and ease up on the blood tests. She said that I would not need to see her until early December assuming that the biweekly blood work did not show any issues during that time. That was great to hear as it means that I have more time to do other things like rest. After this appointment, I headed home for a quick bite to eat before leaving again to visit with my urologist. I was supposed to see him at the end of Aug but the appointment was pushed back a few times. I had started to see him early on in my fight as my tumor was blocking one of my kidneys and it was impacting its performance. He was able to look at my PET scans from last week and was also happy with what he saw. He is still concerned that the kidney may have been blocked for too long and might have some damage but is happy that the tumor is reduced and that my blood work shows that it seems to be working well. He prescribed a kidney performance test and another appointment in the new year to review the results of these tests so that we can see how well my kidney is doing and react accordingly. While all this was going on, I was already recording ticket sales for my comedy night. The day was topped off with another orientation session with the Therapy Dog training. This time though, MA and I decided to not do like last time and we just went on our own and let G drive herself to her coaching gig.
Tuesday, Oct 8, again started with hockey with me in nets. I had a much better game than last week and was making more saves. I also felt better in nets and was not sucking wind too much this time. I got home and spent most of the day following up on emails and ticket sales for my event. I got a call from my long-term disability insurance company asking how I was doing. She also asked if the doctors have started talking about a going back to work plan and I told her none of the doctors have even mentioned going back to work but insurance companies like to speed up that process. Looks like my summer vacation may be coming to an end soon. Oh well, it was fun while it lasted, right? I did have a bit of good news late in the day. I took off my bandage and there was nothing on it so I do not need to have bandages on my leg anymore. Hard to believe that a minor rubbing of the skin took 8 weeks to heal. I guess immune systems really do help keep you alive and well.
The plan for the coming week is to play hockey on Thursday and make a cheesecake for the long weekend. We are heading to my mom’s place for the long weekend which will give us a chance to spend some time with her and my brother’s family. It will also give Colleen, my sister in law, some beloved cheesecake as she has been craving it since last year when I made it for the first time. I will also spend a bit of time on my charity activities to get more sales and follow up on emails. Remember, to reread the top part of this post to get your tickets, provide a donation or offer help and support to my cause. I really appreciate all that you can give.