Just a short video (3:50) of some of the scenery from our hike July 17 2022. We frequently walk on the main loop and this time Tanya and Anton joined us.
If the above link doesn't work, you can click this link to take you to a separate YouTube window.
June is gone and July is just barely beginning... and I am still working from home. Wendy was able to go back to the hospital most days of the week. It is a reasonably safe area with everybody being screened and masked at the door.
I have been experiencing a long bout of extreme fatigue the last several weeks. It came on suddenly and I seem to only be able function with about 3 hr of nap every day. We are working on various different ways to alleviate it, but nothing seems to be having an effect. I don't think it is really due to isolation or the extreme heat we have been having. Too sudden and a very drastic change all at once. I will be having another scan to check my lungs in mid July. This time will be a simple x-ray prior to my oncologist appointment. Will also do blood tests a week before - hopefully seeing a change in my thyroid hormone levels as well as my overall energy.
I did decide to get out and do something creative the other day. I went on a solo 5 km hike of the Dundas conservation area and took the time to record another YouTube video (see below). I was mostly just playing around with my DJI Osmo Mobile 2 gimbal (which holds my cell phone steady) and seeing how things worked. Normally an hour long hike, it took me 3 hrs with all the recording and resting. It was a lot of fun, but it was way too hot (38C) by the end of the hike!
July 2nd and the leaves are turning already!
Hermitage ruins along the main loop trail
Yesterday (July 4th) seemed like a big fireworks day in our neighbourhood. I think people were actually celebrating Canada Day, but waited for a Saturday night to have their fun. Maddy was NOT impressed. She was shaking and hiding in corners because of the noise (happens every year). She even crawled away from Wendy to hide and ended up stuck and panting on our end table - she soon realized there was nowhere else to go.
After close to 19 years, I finally gave up my aquarium and fish - just one less thing to worry about each day. We had Adam and his classmate from Canadore College in North Bay work on dismantling and transferring it over to our friends' place just around the corner. The tank and fish are all safely in their new home, with a standing offer to go visit them if I would like!
While Adam was visiting, he and his friend Calvin did a lot of work around the house. Among many other projects, they sealed the driveway and epoxy coated the garage floor.
Of course, the cars needed to be parked on the street overnight. Sure enough, someone broke into our car and stole a bunch of stuff... including my prescription sunglasses and parking cards for the Cancer Centre.
Epoxy coating - done!
Wendy has been baking a few things here and there (muffins, biscuits, etc.) at the same time that I have been doing a lot of baking. We seem to use so much more flour than we used to use (onto our second 10 kg bag since April).
Biscuits
One of the best things I have made in the bread machine were baked Paczki - Polish doughnuts. Normally filled with jam, I used custard. Easy to make and even easier to eat! I have now made them twice since they are so good. Check out my Recipe page for the details!
Paczki (Polish doughnuts)
Earlier this month we had an ice cream BUS (yes, like a city bus) arrive and park directly in front of our house. This has never happened in 25 years of living here. Of course, we couldn't pass up the opportunity. Here are Parker and Wendy getting ready to order.
For those interested, below is my most recent YouTube video (where I, admittedly, get a little philosophical about things). It is just over 10 min long and describes how my perspective on life has changed as I went from cancer scientist to cancer patient. Click the link to open a separate window or the image to play it on this page.
We've been keeping "pandemic busy" and have been getting out of the house for walks as the weather has cooperated. The only time I really went anywhere in the last few weeks was for a CT scan to check the tumour in my neck and to see if it has moved around anywhere. I got the results the next day but wasn't completely sure I was reading the report and the images correctly. Luckily, Wendy and I had an oncologist appointment scheduled for the next week...on the telephone... to clear things up.
I knew it was good news, but the oncologist used the words "you are in remission"! Did we hear that correctly? Yes, we made him say it again.
REMISSION
Just a pretty picture... not showing anything critical!
They can't find evidence for any local recurrence in my neck. It is no longer visible on CT or MRI.
With that news, I was definitely happy! We clearly did the right thing with the treatments I have had, and they did far more than the oncologists had hoped for (and I hoped for). I think I may, however, been less happy than everyone around me. This was partly the result of having a lot of pain right where they say that my tumour ISN'T. It is hard to reconcile that it is not there, yet still be able to feel it. I am clearly a bit reluctant to ride the roller coaster that I know I am on, so my tempered nature seems to be softening my responses to this very good outcome. We have since settled that pain down with a long course of steroids, but this means that I am even more immune challenged and will need to stay at home for yet more reasons. Can't win!
Unfortunately, we did also find multiple very small spots on my lungs in each of the lobes (there are 5 of them, look it up - I am still a professor!). Could they be metastatic cancer or some other issue? We don't know, so now we wait for the next scan in June. I can't be (and am not) worrying too much about them at this point, as this cancer typically spreads to the lungs. It frequently does this before you first find the original tumour. Either way, I'll take it as it is.
Just for the record, the picture from my CT is just for its artistic merit. I didn't include one with the suspect spots, mostly because I am doing what I can to not believe that they are real. Maybe I don't want to jinx things!
In other family news, our elder son Adam was home from North Bay and he turned 24! I baked him a red velvet cake (his request) and we had a very minimal party for him. He doesn't like his picture being taken, so this is all I have for you. He has since returned back north to keep working on his online courses (not done until later in May - they have a different term length for his program). Not sure when he will be back, but he is hoping to finish off some of the practical work for his courses before the fall. All of that is up in the air and will hopefully be more clear in the early summer.
Unfortunately, Adam was our primary grocery purchaser and errand runner. Although we sent our younger son out to the pharmacy today, we are making do with respect to errands at the moment. We have some great friends and neighbours who have helped us out by dropping off food at our door. I even have enough yeast and flour to bake any time I want! Life truly is looking up.
The gardens and the lawn are growing like you wouldn't believe. This is just a picture I took on a wet morning. The garden is a profusion of colour (I have to admit that I had nothing to do with it!), but it is looking good. When it is warm enough, we hope to sit out there to enjoy it more.
I had a minor milestone today - May 1st. At the end of 2019, I was given the grim prediction of having a 50/50 chance of making it through April. It was only through my completely weird turn of fate (yes, I am comfortable being weird - and I am good at it!), that I was able to reach this milestone and truly reflect on its significance. Here is what my milestone and the garden looked like this morning.
I posted a video on YouTube today (it is just under 9 min long - sorry!). It may explain in a different way what has been going on in my life the last several weeks, so it is pasted below as a link and an image. Click whichever one works best for you!
It was a nice and quiet long weekend, so Wendy and I did a couple of hikes with Maddy in the Dundas Trail system. I took one of my old cameras because my good camera was missing (more below). The shots below may be a little better than from my iPhone, but not drastically so.
Got to keep taking photos of these, while they last!
Just an interesting pattern
Dandelions look more delicate as they age
Parker survived another grass cutting episode without any visible damage to anything. He did get freaked out somewhat by the 'frickin wasps' (his emphasis...) that were flying through the back yard. They appeared to mostly be bees, but he wasn't believing the biologist on that one. He spent a lot of time bogging down the engine on the lawnmower. In fact, I think Parker had to restart the lawnmower at least a dozen times - it stalled every single time he plowed into the really tall grass. And there was a lot of it! I did say to him to go slowly, but he decided the pain of mowing the lawn would go much faster if he went much faster. No such luck.
Adam was away at a cadet Field Training Exercise (FTX) from Friday afternoon until Monday after supper. Below is a picture of Adam on top of a shelter that he build this weekend. Below that is just a photo of him working in the office at cadets. Apparently an FTX is considerably more dirty than office work - he had to change before he could eat dinner on his arrival at home.
I should note that it seems like Adam really likes to use my good Nikon SLR camera... now I know where it was all weekend...
Adam on a structure he built
WO2 Seidlitz
Stanley was away from Friday until Sunday morning, but on Monday he really enjoyed having a day off from school. He stayed in his PJ's the whole day!
Tonight we were asked to go at the last minute to a concert at Parker's school. He claims he didn't know that there was a concert (with him in it) tonight. Luckily, the grade 8 jazz band was the first act and we were able to exit from the back discretely. The principal even held the door open for us as we left. I took a few photos of Parker on stage (with the old camera again...). Some of these have him focused on playing his trumpet, and some are with, ahem, a little less focus.
Parker playing trumpet (centre, back row)
Parker with focus
Getting ready to play
Waiting to play
Still waiting to play
Tired of waiting
If you are interested in seeing and hearing a 36 second excerpt from the concert, that video is pasted below.
He mostly posts videos of himself playing Minecraft (a computer game he loves) but he hasn't really had much luck getting sound to work. He recently posted a video of himself jumping in snow, and that is posted on his YouTube channel.
Every year the Bachelor of Health Sciences program raises money for charity with a "pie in the face" of the associate dean. I usually keep well back from the carnage (they do it during the class that I teach) but the associate dean had other ideas this year. He offered to match donations if myself and Chari (who teaches with me) would agree to become targets.
