We're outta here

It's moving day and mum is looking the best I have seen her in months ! I think it's the adrenaline of the move that is keeping her going . I was hiding out in our local coffee shop this morning feeling a bit tired and sorry for myself and in bounces my cheerful mother ordering coffee for our cleaning lady Maria and herself . She's in good spirits because I suspect she feels in control finally. No more stuff lying around everywhere and all the evidence of "sickness" has been packed away in a large box labelled "pills" .

Here we go again.....

The final pack-up is on Thursday . Mum is not moving alone however...I am following along with Colin and the dog because I cannot move into my own condo until September 15th. This moving thing is really getting us all down. We are existing on a steady diet of fast food regularly punctuated with Tim Hortons Coffee . There are boxes everywhere, we have very few clothes to wear and now I have a raging ear infection and feel like my head is going to explode ..... mwwwahhhh ..... In spite of these difficulties, mum is actually holding her own .Providing she does'nt overdo it , she is sleeping less during the day and is managing the logistics of the move very well. She went to the bank this morning and is off to the lawyer to sign all the paperwork tomorrow. This is quite impressive considering how little energy she has had recently. It's also not the easiest having a lively twelve year old around the place . When mum gets really fed up , she just sticks a sign up on her bedroom door which reads "Do Not Disturb " and hides out for a while. We get the message !

A a sense of teamwork and good humour gets us through but I am seriously starting to feel a bit demented and very stressed.

Last Days of summer holiday

It's getting to be that time again. Next week Colin is attending an academic camp at Appleby College for math and French and then he starts his new school, Ridley College on the following Wednesday . I took this photo this morning at the pool with Colin and his dad . It's one of his last few days of "freedom" before Grade 7 starts . I know for a fact that he has not put pen to paper once the whole summer apart from writing down his "cheats" for his computer games . I have put very little pressure on Colin because I have been focused on mum and going up and down to Buffalo. I'm afraid he will have a distinct adjustment period once school starts . He has got very used to the "easy" life without mum and grandma nagging .....it's all going to change very soon !!!

Montreal

Ann, is one of the friends that mum and I "share". She is one of those incredibally happy and positive people and we both enjoy her very much. On Wednesday we went for a short trip to Montreal. Ann had a job interview to go to and I wandered around the shops . It was really lively , especially as we stopped off at the pleasant Gananoque Inn on the way up and Chez Piggy in Kingston on the way down for some good food and conversation ! Meanwhile, mum was feeling a bit low back in Oakville. She and Doug went out for lunch , but mum felt a bit naseous and had to go home early. This nauseau is not a new symptom but I feel it is something that we need to bring up at the doctor in Buffalo on September 4th.

Moving Again.....

Mum's flat is covered in boxes all ready to move to her new condo at the Granary in downtown Oakville. Fortunately, mum has hired a lady who helps people move and is responsible for all the logistics of the move, the packing up and all the unpacking and furniture arrangement at the other end. I think moving into her new place is going to give mum a real boost and something new to focus on.
Mum has started to eat a little better now,her appetite is returning a little and she has more energy . She still tires very easily but I think she is better at pacing herself . Without doubt, the fatigue is the worst symptom that she has had to deal with. It is literally life sucking and overwhelming . Any improvement in her energy levels is a great sign and helps to make her feel more normal .

The Weekend

Weather here is a bit cooler . Mum went over to Doug until tomorrow. He is doing much better since his surgery. I went out for a day to Elora which is a pretty little village on the Grand river. It has a number of very old stone buildings and is the site of Elora Gorge, a "mini" Niagara Falls. It was great to get out for a day and make the most ofthe dwindling days of summer.

Love ......

There's one "person" who is the complete object of mums affection and that is Charlie , our dog. He adores his grandma and the the feeling is very mutual. Dogs are really wonderful when you feel ill or tired, they instinctively provide just the right amount of comfort. Charlie likes nothing more than to be snuggled up in bed with mum. If she gets up he follows and when it's time for a walk he waits at the door with eager anticipation. There's been days when the only reason that mum has got up is to take Charlie down to the lake for his "walkies". Today , we managed a fairly long walk down to the lighthouse. We stopped off at the bowling club on the way home and mum had a chat with a couple of her friends. It was lovely to see her socialize a little bit and feel more engaged in life .

A Great Day !

After the good news this morning we headed off to St Catherine's and to Ridley College where we stopped for lunch in Jordan on the way . We had to buy Colin his school uniform for the upcoming year and so we decided to make a day of it .
Mum did really well considering she has not really had too many full days out .
After a short nap once we returned , we all went out again to a restaurant in Oakville .

I just hope that I am not being too optimistic but I just hope we are starting to finally turn the corner.

Good News !

Despite mum feeling very tired, we do feel that things are slowly starting to improve . Her CEA blood test which is a tumor marker has decreased from 6.2 in July to 3.8 . This is an indication that she is responding to treatment. In addition, her 27-29 test was 21.7 in July and is now 8.7 .

This feels good and positive . It helps .

It's been a while.....

What can I say about my cousin Frank ? He is one of the kindest, most thoughtful people I know and I can't even begin to describe how special it has been to have him here with us for the past two weeks. He's made us laugh , got us "organized" ,packed up mums entire flat ready to move and has been a deep well of emotional and physical support . We love him dearly and the thought of him leaving on Thursday makes me feel very sad .

In many respects,Frank is our link and touchpoint to the past ....my childhood in South Africa ,years living in the UK and more recently visits to Canada . There are some wonderful, yet bitter sweet memories of people lost to us now -My Aunt May and Uncle Gordon, my cousin Alan , my other aunts Magda and Margaret . All the people in our shared past have created an unbreakable and profound bond between us .

We are connected forever by family , but somehow we have also managed to redefine our relationship. Frank may now literally be at the other side of the earth in New Zealand but we know that despite the distance that separates us, he is always there for us , without question or explanation . This is a true gift and something that is always sustaining no matter how far away we live from one another .

I took this picture tonight . Frank and mum were tucked up in her bed watching "America's Got Talent " ! The three of us had a great laugh - just what we needed !

Summer Time!

Oakville Town Square

Mum Update

Mum had a good appointment in Buffalo . Dr O'Conner said that she did'nt have to go back to Roswell for another month . Despite the fatigue, her blood work looks good and for now things are stable. She suggested that mum goes back on the pain patch which gives a more controlled pain relief and so mum decided to start them again tonight . So.....for the moment, we can just start to focus on other things for a while . That's a huge relief.

Zzzzz........

If I am being really honest, I am finding that the days all seem to blend together now. Mum is beyond tired , it's hard to describe , it's like waves of fatigue overwhelm her and just take over, despite her best intentions to get up and make the most of the day. She managed to get her hair done in Buffalo yesterday and we all went to visit Doug who is recently out of the hospital from his surgery . After the visit,she went straight home to bed. Today, she has basically spent the entire day sleeping .
It's not as if she seems "sick" , n fact she looks reasonably well . It's like she is reaching inward for extra resources to fight whatever is going on and using up all her energy to heal. She decided to not have the pain killing patch on her arm in case that was making her sleepy, but it does'nt seem to make any difference . When she is awake, she's quite alert and talkative , but then she needs to drift off back to sleep.
Frank is wonderful , he is going to take mum back down to Roswell on Tuesday and will make sure he talks to the doctor to see if there is anything more that can be done. When we saw the nurse practitioner last week, she mentioned that they sometimes use a drug similar to RItain in cases of very severe fatigue, but this is obviously a last resort and we just hope that mum will slowly get better over time and start having a few more good days.

He's Arrived!

I picked Frank up from he airport after an eighteen hour flight. He was tired and a bit zonked from losing two days , leaving and departing all on the same day . He had a quick sleep and then we all piled into the mini and drove down to Bufalo for mums appointment at Roswell. It was good that we came because mum had a check-up and some blood tests to check that nothing too serious was going on. She checked out fine and she was assured that the symptoms she is dealing with are more than likely due to the ongoing side effects of the radiation . We decided that she should come back to Roswell on Tuesday for an appointment with Dr O'Conner .

We all ended up having a little rest in the afternoon and then went to dinner at a good little restaurant in Elmwood Village, Betty's. Mum headed back to the hotel and Colin, Frank and I wandered around the little shops and art galleries. There's an arts festival going on in Buffalo so the atmosphere is quite fun this weekend.

It's good to see Frank .....there's nothing like family .

Synchronicity

I took Colin away to Algonquin Park for a couple of days. It was a lovely and much needed getaway. We stayed right in the park at a place called Bartlett Lodge . It is quite idylic and very unspoiled. After dinner last night , we were sitting on the dock when a guy began casting fishing. The first thing I noticed about him was how unusually methodical he was. He cast his line repeatedly with a great deal of patience and assured us that he only caught fish to release them straight back into the lake . We started chatting and it turns out that he is a neurosurgeon , Dr Robert Plunkett at Roswell Park who is one of doctors there that treat patients using gamma knife radiation and a colleague of Dr Prasad. Colin said to him that if we had "problems with Grandma" he would vote for him as a good doctor ! Naturally, we hoped that we would only meet again socially and I said I would be sure to say hello if I saw him at the restaurant at the Doubletree . Like so many of the people we have met from Roswell, he is an exceptionally pleasant and down-to -earth person.

On the way home, we coincidentally met up with my friend Maureen Doherty at the legendary Webers Hamburgers on the highway just outside Orillia . We happened to call each other on the phone as she was heading north and I was heading South . It was good to have a meet quickly and it gave me a sense of normality as I caught up with all the latest news.

Back in Oakville, mum is still feeling very weak and the only really good news on the horizon is that Frank is arriving from Auckland tonight . The timing of his visit could not be better and it works in very well with an appointment tomorrow at Roswell .