Hi kids:

Friday, Dad stayed home from work wanting to get enough rest for the procedures he would need to have done in the afternoon. Because I would need to take the afternoon off, and since Dad wasn’t going into work, I was able to be in the office at 7 am. May sound torturous, but in fact I was able to get a lot of work done, as there were no phone calls and no one coming to the door that early. Believe it or not, but the bulletin was printed at 9:30 am; first ever!

Dad’s first appointment at the St Boniface Cancer Care was at 1:05 pm, but they wanted him there half an hour earlier. We were able to register him in, and then off to the nuclear department. He received his first radioactive injection in the right arm, and 20 minutes later in the left arm with a scan shortly after to see if the ventricles in his heart would be strong enough for one of the drugs. Then off to another department to meet with the oncology nurse who explained how the chemotherapy would be injected. She took an ultrasound of Dad’s veins in his upper right arm, as that is where the PICC (peripherally inserted central catheter) would be inserted. A soft, thin, flexible tube is inserted in the large vein, leading directly to the heart. This way, the chemotherapy can attack all the cancer cells in the body. Down side is, that it also attacks the healthy cells. That is why Dad must go in every three weeks, allowing the healthy cells to repair themselves in between sessions. We were home again by 3:30, time for cup of tea and for Dad to lay down again for a rest before the evening.

Dad was having trouble sleeping, just not able to find a comfortable spot, and moving around is difficult and painful. He was also taken off one of his pain meds in preparation for the chemo treatments. Consequently, neither one of us was getting our proper sleep. My friend, Laurie suggested that we get a memory foam mattress topper. It arrived Thursday afternoon. Imagine a four inch thick, queen size mattress squished into a box 12x12x12 inches. Instructions said to gently unpack it and let it unroll naturally, which could take up to 72 hours. It also said that heat would help it to expand more quickly. So after getting it out of the packaging, placing it on a large surface (living room floor) and pumping up the furnace, we sat there with a cup of tea and watched it literally expand. Twenty minutes later, we had it on our bed and tried it out. Of course, Dad fell asleep while I snuggled down and read my book. Since then, we have had a very good night’s sleep. Thank you Laurie for one of the best suggestions yet! We enjoyed a home cooked supper of cannelloni from one of our church members, Mike.

Saturday, we woke up to temperatures of -30C, -20F and decided it was a good day to spend inside. Trouble is, you can’t get too much exercise in a small house, so we walk down the stairs, around the perimeter of the basement, back up again and around the dining area, and back down five times; gets the blood going.

We are now waiting to hear what the next step will be. We are hoping the scan proves that Dad’s heart is strong enough and that he can get the PICC, hopefully next week. We will keep you all posted.

Love, Mom & Dad