Saturday, February 26th

I have been in a Time Warp!  Michellie and I enjoyed the evening with the Krochko's.  Dave Krochko headed to bed at 8:30 and by 9:15 I was doing the head bob myself.  Michellie was rejuvenated and sat up with the bunch to look at grad dresses and chat and giggle etc.  Michellie tells me she finally closed her eyes at 4 am. 

I awoke at 8:30 with a full blown migraine, after a bathroom break and water I stumbled back to bed to not know anything until 11:30!  The afternoon has been a write off as well.  In a fog, Michellie and I hunkered down to watch movies on the big screen in the basement while everyone went about their busy days.  The sun was shining in Cole Harbour, but there were accidents on the highway, and a full blizzard blowing on Cape Breton.  David couldn't see even the driveway and he describes a skating rink at the top of the driveway and at the bottom.  So, even if I could have driven, there was no point in driving.  I slept through most of the afternoon movies, and Michellie just giggle and sighed at the sad state of her mother.  By evening I was able to stay awake for a whole movie, and now at 11:30 I am ready for action.  Kinda mixed up I think. 

We just finished watching "Crazy, Sexy Cancer".  It was really good.  The ideas in the movie and the thoughts and experiences Michellie could identify with.  Gone are the innocent and naive days of thinking you can live any way you want and you are invincible.  Most teenagers do not come out of this phase until their mid 20's, so Michellie identified with having lost a decade of selfish oblivious time.  But, she also has the opportunity to make a difference for herself and for her friends, so some thought can go into this.  We talked about our friend Melody's sugar Fridays.  In order to cope with keeping the sugar to a minimum, Melody allows herself to indulge on Friday's with her favorite sugar treats.  Michellie is pondering this, as she has not had a chocolate chip cookie since December 11th, but who's counting.  (She knows that you cannot have only one, and it is impossible to not eat out of the bowl either!)  But, I should qualify this with the fact she is trying to get rid of her intense acidic stomache with ice cream.  The drugs, vinegar and water have not helped, so next best thing - go for the ice cream!

Tomorrow we hope to make it home.  If the roads are good, and the ice is not covering the highway with the minus temperatures, we will give it a try.  We should make it home just in time to turn around and head to Antigonish for the day 8 of chemo, which is Wednesday.

Once we finish Wed/Thurs next week, then we are in recovery from Round 4.  We have a Pet Scan and a CT Scan, as well as an oncology appointment and dermatology appointment scheduled for the 22nd of March.  This will help the doctors determine if Radiation is necessary or if it can be eliminated.  The cancer is not showing on the scans, but if there are even a few cells left undetected, they can continue to multiply and we can have a reoccurence.  So, they are hesitant to pull out the radiation if it means a better chance of eliminating the cancer all together.  So, for the medical establishment, it is just wait and see where we are at.  If we need radiation, it is 14 days of about 45 minutes a day.  It would require the extra days to do the set up and preparations, and then Mon - Fri for 3 weeks.  All of this would need to be in Halifax.  That is pretty much April.
 
So, for now, we are going to embrace keeping the sugar count low to not assist the cancer cells in any way, and we are going to balance the food and energy to keep the organs repairing and strengthening.  And, we are embracing all of you for your wishes and prayers.