August is over (thankfully) and September is not so bad...

August was a rush, and not always as relaxing as you might expect. We did, however, go to a hockey tournament! Our friend Clara from Manitoulin Island (we went to Iceland with her about a decade ago), was down in Vaughn for her granddaughter's hockey tournament. Quite the unusual thing to do in August, and even more so during a pandemic. This was a completely physically distanced tournament where only the players and coaches went into the arena. Spectators stayed out in the parking lot and caught up on things in the nice weather. No sweaters required!  And they won!

Eric finally got a new bread machine (a Breville) and it has worked perfectly for him. The large amount of yeast purchased at the beginning of the pandemic is almost gone!

Our 30th anniversary of our engagement and Wendy's birthday soon followed. Wendy always likes flowers and Eric usually doesn't forget.

Wendy even got the time to do another puzzle. This has happened a lot this summer.

We took a trip to visit our nieces and their families and got to meet a new kitten. Maddy was not completely certain what that "thing" called Mango was, but they seemed to make peace. Later visits would allow them to be less 'cat and dog' about the whole thing.

For our 29th anniversary, we went on date night and had DQ for dinner. Yes, for dinner. Seems to be a thing for us.  Good when you don't know what to make for dinner. The blue is cotton candy dipped.

Maddy got her next haircut in August, and seemed OK with the whole thing. Would have been worse to be mostly naked and meeting a new cat, we suppose.

Eric had a few more doctor's appointments, with the ENT surgeon who did Eric's thyroid sugery being next. He was checking out Eric's problem with swallowing and will be scheduling a closer look with a scope in October. An endocrinologist was also one of the appointments, and they seem to have identified the fatigue over the summer to be partly due to the steroids Eric has been on. Getting better, but slowly. You might be able to notice some extra weight - Eric is 40lb heavier than the last time he saw the surgeon in November. The steroids have contributed a lot to that gain.

Parker had his birthday (20!!!) and realized that the amount of 'flame-age' becomes significant from this point on. We may end up putting only one candle for each decade after this. He also was celebrating getting his job back (laid off from Purple Bricks during COVID). He will be working full time from home.  He also will begin the online Real Estate course starting in September.

Eric's next appointment was at the Cancer Centre with the medical oncologist, mostly confirming that everything is very good (other than the slowly lessening fatigue and the swallowing). The MRI done was clear and no issues in either the brain or the neck!

September hit and Parker decided he wanted orange juice and peach schnapps. Had quite a bit (plus rum and coke - not a great mixture) his first night. Oddly, the rest of the orange juice has sat untouched for weeks in the fridge...

Wendy received a special puzzle from her friend Carolyn, and it required a little work by Eric getting it from her phone and sending it along for it to be made.

Eric finally stopped working 16 hr days getting ready for the new online term, and was able to settle into his new basement office with lights, cameras, microphones and a green screen. Works very well (especially with his weak voice), although Parker is a little inhibited in his gaming on the other side of the screen. Wendy's desk is near where Parker was standing to take this photo, so it is a little like a call centre when all of us are down there! At least Parker's office for work is upstairs (he works a split shift). Classes are surprisingly less exhausting as preparation for classes, but staring at a screen full of initials (rather than live videos) four days a week sometimes gets old pretty quickly. Getting used to this new environment more each day, and unfortunately, the winter term will also be online (an entire year) as well.

September 12 was a family event day for us. We had Adam come down from North Bay (he started the last course of his program early the following week - for 6 weeks) and all of us went to the London Airshow! It was a physically distanced airshow with reserved parking spots, where we stayed in our 6m x 7m square area and sat with our car during the show. The US Airforce Thunderbirds was the feature act, and all the many US planes flew from their base in Michigan without landing. F35, F22, two Canadian CF-18s, etc. A well organized show without having to lug everything with us to a seating area. We even used the radio to hear the live announcing (which we could actually hear!).  

All in all, not a bad way to end the summer!

June was unusually tiring - glad it is July already

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.

https://youtu.be/T0JUs-tEoD4

Let's hope July will bring just as many interesting things to post about. The weather may be hot, but we are trying to get out as often as we can.

Green snowballs, too hot, not enough heat, too cold, and hint of Group of Seven

Although not much happened this week, it was actually quite interesting. Our garden (and lawn... grrr) started to really fill out with lots of heat and rain early in the week. This is the state of the snowball tree in one corner of the yard - green, but hopefully soon to be white. 

With all the heat, we realized that our air conditioner had stopped working. It was warmer inside than outside, and we ended up having to get a new A/C. Bigger but oddly not much more expensive than the one we had installed in 2001. 

I continued to make more bread this week. My first one (blueberry+cherry bread) was a complete disaster - the old bread machine appears to be failing, as it didn't have near enough heat to fully cook it. This cheese bread, however, worked perfectly. I waited until the A/C was on before baking this one in the oven. The bread machine was tried again for the next (plain white bread) with a perfect result. The machine (or the operator) seems a little inconsistent. 

I did finally finish the custom stained glass project I have been working on (since 2014...shhh!). We took a drive and socially distance delivered the two panels (32"x10" each) to our friend's house today. The design itself started with a Group of Seven style tree, then expanded from there. It is just sitting in the final destination window, but the light coming through made them look spectacular! 

Looking outside today, that green snowball has now turned white! Of course, it was only 6C when we woke up this morning and our new A/C was definitely not needed. Somehow a white snowball seems more appropriate at that temperature, doesn't it? 

Pandemic living, excellent NEWS, and a video!

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! 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TaX3LHnX9YM

Hope you enjoy!

More pandemic updates and a big birthday

Trying to find things to do during a pandemic is not easy. Since going out shopping, visiting family, or going to a restaurant are not available at the moment, we have been doing what we can to keep busy and keep connected.

Wendy, Sally and I were able to set the stage for a Yahtzee night with our friends Terry and Theresa. We did it using the online meeting software Zoom. They sat in their home, while we sat in ours, and we played Yahtzee (a dice game) together. Physical distancing, but not social distancing. We even set up the webcam so it was on top of our living room TV, so it felt like we were right there with our friends. Life sized! Sally won the whole thing with her beginner's luck!

Yahtzee night!

I have been continuing to make an effort to get back into doing stained glass. The large project I have been working on for a long time (4 years...) was still there and called to me again last week. I have been doing what I can to move it forward, while my fingers have been doing their best to try to stop me, but progress is visible. This project is for our friends Mel and Murray and I plan to finish it before the end of the pandemic restrictions.

It is a custom Northern Ontario scene with deer, hills, trees, water, rocks, etc.

Our hiking hobby has taken a beating, and not just because of my health. All of our local trails are closed to prevent people from getting too close. Many times we have seen people sliding their bicycles under these new barricades - they clearly are not capable of reading.

Our wildlife has been active and getting around, even if we haven't. The deer are out all the time, as are the turkeys. Yes, turkeys. Big things walking down the street, flaunting their newfound freedom from all those pesky humans hogging all the streets.

My 56th birthday happened last week - and if the doctors are correct, that may have been my last. I thought I would spend my first pandemic birthday doing interesting things. The first thing, after a web conference with students and some marking, was to make my own birthday cake. I made my favourite - poppyseed cake with a walnut cream filling.

Early in the morning, our friend dropped off for me a Cuban cigar on our front step. I know, I don't smoke, but it was a bucket list item to have a Cuban cigar in Cuba... that trip didn't happen because of my health. Our friends went and were able to bring this one back for me. Of course, what better day to try something new than my birthday?

Not long after, another friend dropped off (safely, without interaction) some refreshments for Wendy (the Coke) and I (the not Coke). The day was looking very promising and I hadn't even finished the cake!

Here it is cooling.

It didn't turn out to look the way I wanted... but it tasted great. The sauce was too thin and it kind of mushed out the sides.

Later in the afternoon, it was quite nice outside, so I did smoke the cigar and have a beer. The cigar smelled good! Maybe I should try a pipe next...

To compete with fire, Wendy decided to roast marshmallows at the same time. I still made more smoke than Wendy, though.

We had an online drop-in birthday party that evening on Zoom, with the same setup as our Yahtzee night. It was a lot of fun and seemed to become somewhat of a drinking game, as people popped up on screen. It was wonderful to see everyone and hear how they were doing.

This is the view that we had from our end of the party. For a while there, it look like the intro to the Brady Bunch, sometimes looking more like Hollywood Squares. For those not familiar with those TV shows, check them out online. It was bewildering, but it was a blast!

I was very happy with my birthday party and I think we made it a full and very memorable day.


Since my birthday, life has not slowed down! The next day, Adam's friends Neil, Mike, and Nick sent a package over with something liquid inside... he has some very thoughtful friends and they selected a very good scotch to commemorate an important milestone. Thanks, guys!

Wendy was lamenting that her hair was getting out of control, so we decided that I could take a stab at cutting her hair. She was definitely apprehensive about what was happening where she could not see. I said that it didn't matter how well it turned out, as she would be working from home for a long time to come... surprisingly, that comment didn't help much.

A nervous look...

No blood was drawn, and the initial apprehension gave way to a reasonable first time result of me cutting her hair (I have cut Adam and Parker's hair for years).

Not bad... can still see the pink that I put in for Wendy several weeks ago.

Not sure if she will allow me to do it again, and I am considering whether I should have her cut my hair in return...