Sunday, December 30, 2012

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!



First off I'd like to wish all my followers a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year, hoping you had a great Christmas with family and friends, and all the best life has to offer for the New Year!

I will start out with an update on my health and treatments. I had round 3 of my Bendamustine treatments on December 5 & 6th. The one hour infusions each day went well with no complications. Since treatments I had worried about when the bomb would drop and I would become ill again. Well I'm happy to report that the extra week my Oncologist, Dr. Kanjeekal added in between treatments seems to have done the trick, and gave my immune system more time to recover and make the after treatment effects much less than they were last round.

I see my Dr. Kanjeekal next on January 4th and my chemo treatments will follow approx a week later. I did my weekly blood work on Friday due to the holidays, and have not heard anything, so all must be well with my blood counts which is a good thing.

Moving on to Christmas and the celebrations we had. First off was the annual Christmas eve at my Mom's where there was a house full as usual, little ones everywhere! We actually ended up going over early and had dinner with my Mom, and everyone else started arriving around 7pm. Too much to eat and too many "goodies" as usual, but a fun time non the less.

Gifts were exchanged and the festivities continued with conversation, playing with the kids, and as mentioned just  a second ago, all the goodies to be eaten! I think it was probably around 9ish when we left as most everyone else were leaving around the same time.
L-R Brenda, Megan, Emily, Andre &
Chirstina

Brenda with granddaughters Megan
& Emily
Me with granddaughter Megan and
Daughter in Law Bonnie.












On to Christmas Day. The day began with Brenda and I exchanging gifts, which wasn't much as we agreed to keep it simple and set a budget. We were both happy with our gifts to each other. I think it was around or just before noon that my mother-in-law and my brother-in-law arrived and the turkey went in the oven. After the turkey went in the oven and we relaxed a bit and exchanged gifts, again keeping it simple, we sat down to an excellent Christmas dinner prepared by Brenda. Once again too much to eat! but too hard to resist not to sample most of it. Then once again all the "treat" trays were put out.

It was overall a wonderful day with family, exchanging gifts, dining and chatting. Also it was an early night for me as I was very tired, too many "sweets" off the treat trays I think!


My Mother in Law Arnelda, my cat
Squeak and I discussing what is on
the computer.
Trying to get Squeak's attention again.












Squeak and I looking at Facebook
updates on the computer!
We now go on to Boxing day and turkey #2. Boxing day is spent with my son and his family. The weather being crappy we decided rather than making the two trips to pick everyone up we would have them call a cab and we paid for it when they got here. Much easier indeed.

After getting everyone up to the suite and coats hung up we sat around for a bit chatting, turkey was already in the oven as the lessen from Christmas day was to put it in earlier! We then moved on exchanging gifts and watch the grandchildren open theirs with amazement, and happiness. After opening gifts we chatted and played around a bit  with the grandchildren, then it was time for dinner.

Again another turkey, an excellent dinner once again prepared by Brenda and enjoyed by all. Once again good food and too much to eat. even though everyone ate well there were left overs which we will be eating for days!

After dinner there was some more conversation and playing around. It was also decided that our grandson Andre would spend the night with us. My brother then came over to pick everyone else up as my granddaughter Emily was going to be spending the night at my brother's place and with his girlfriends kids.Little did I know just how much of a gamer my grandson was.

This pretty much would be how I was pictured trying to
play on the Wii with Andre! lol.
 Soon as everyone left he was chomping at the bit to play his Wii game we got him for Christmas. So after everything was cleared up and put away, we played video games with him. As usual I was wore out and in bed by 9:30pm. Brenda and Andre were still up playing games when I went to bed.

Andre was the first one up after me and guess what the first thing is he wanted to do? Yep, play video games. I told him after breakfast and after Brenda was up we would play again, which we all did until it was time for him to leave. My brother came and picked him up as he was going to be spending the night at my brother's place.

Then it was....wait for it.......quiet! Time to take the time and get down to some plain and simple R&R! We were both wore out and I'd have to say Brenda was more so than I as she was the cook and dishwasher for both of these dinners. Two turkeys in two days! That is a lot of work not to mention all the other foods that go along with it. Kudos to Brenda for pulling off two successful Christmas dinners. Everyone left pleased with the dinner, deserts, and full bellies! So must have been good.

After a few days of rest and as I write this we are planning a late afternoon/early evening tomorrow with friends for dinner and a movie. Someone else's turn to cook! Not sure where we are going or what we are seeing at the show at this point, but I'm sure it will be a great time as usual.

As for New Years eve, I think my countdown will be around 10 p.m. I could try to stay up but I'm doubtful I would make it to midnight, but you never know, only time will tell.

So I leave you with this, I hope all your Christmases went well, and I wish everyone success and all the best that life has to offer you for this and all of 2013.

HAPPY NEW YEAR everyone!

Saturday, December 8, 2012

Fifty Four



Fifty Four, what exactly is that number to me. Well as of  today (I posted this Dec. 8 2012) it is my 54th birthday and how old I am now. Fifty four, a year away from fifty five and senior status age for many things which in many ways could be a good thing.

Dr. R. Ramchandren
However, fifty four in my case is what I am thinking of as a "grey area", no pun intended. What I mean about grey area is that back on April 18, 2011 I had an appointment for a second opinion about my current cancer with Dr. Rod Ramchandren a Lymphoma Oncologist at the Karmanos Cancer Cancer Institute in Detroit, Michigan.

During the conversation with him we discussed and he offered many opinions on things that really matched up with what I had already been told by my own Oncologist back home in Windsor. The one thing that came up several times during the conversation with the thought of doing an allogenic stem cell / bone marrow transplant. This means a transplant using the cells / marrow of a donor. My first transplant was an Autologous transplant which used my own cells / marrow.

My thoughts of doing an allogenic transplant are fixed and firm, NO! I will not do one even if it's the last option left to me, my answer  would remain a firm no. My reasoning is that the odds of finding a 10/10 donor would be extremely rare if at all, and that the chances of recovering from it would be difficult at best due to my already weakened body and immune system.

What has really reassured me I've made the right decision is the fact that my lead Oncologist here in Windsor sent my file / history to the Hamilton (ON) transplant group which is one of two hospitals here in Ontario that do stem cell / bone marrow transplants. The other is London (ON) where I had my "Auto" transplant in December 2008

The answer from Hamilton came back and in my favor! I would NOT be a good candidate for an allogenic transplant. Some might as why I would be happy with this. Well what I can tell you is I've done the Auto transplant and survived that, even though there were a few hiccups along the way. Let's just say I don't ever want to go through anything like that again! Enough said.

So this being my 54th Birthday my wish, desire, and will is to see my 55th and beyond, even if I only get to December 9th 2013, then I've proved them wrong, and this is not just to prove them wrong but it's my will to live a lot longer that makes this, I'll call challenge for now, easy!

I would like to thank all of you that read my blog and encourage you to share it with others, and I would like to thank all of you that have sent me birthday messages via Facebook, Twitter or any other avenue I'm part of.

In the event I don't get another blog out before Christmas / New Year, I wish you all a very Merry Christmas and an extremely joyous and Happy New Year!

Sunday, November 18, 2012

Rough Times!

Well, I've had my first setback with my chemotherapy regimen of Bendamustine. Friday November 2 I ended up the the local E.R. room at Windsor Regional Hospital with a temperature of 39.5 Celsius or about 103 Fahrenheit. Also had a low sugar count of 1.7

Can't really tell you a whole lot about it from my own perspective as I was pretty out of it and don't recall much, as Brenda filled me in on most of it which I don't recall at all! After being seen by the E.R. Dr. on duty I was sent home with some antibiotics. Saturday I was a bit better as well as Sunday, and felt well enough to go to the Spits game with my brother! Not knowing at the time my blood counts were seriously low I put myself in a bad situation that I normally would not have done.

Well turns out I was sicker than I knew at the time as the E.R. department at the hospital called on Monday to say to come back in as they had my blood cultures report back and I had a serious infection and needed to be admitted and put on high dose antibiotics!

After being in a room about 6' x 8' for 20+ hrs in emergency I was finally taken up to a room where I would be for the rest of the week until Friday. I rec'd a fresh dose of antibiotics every 4 hrs. while I was there and was confined to my room and those entering had to gown up! Seems to have done the trick as my counts rebounded back to somewhat normal conditions and I was released about noon on Friday the 9th.

Since then I have been well but tired. I'm keeping myself in a bubble right now and not venturing out too much other than for coffee with my uncle every day and one trip to Costco.

I now have all the medical aids that were recommended for me by an assessment from a CCAC (Community Care Access Centre) worker. I now have a cane, walker, safety bars in the shower, a (wedge) to extend our toilet height and a M Rail for the bed. Guess I shouldn't have mentioned falling a few times! All for my own good though I guess.

Just over a week away till my next chemo, so I hope my blood counts stay good enough to proceed. Seems Bendamustine although less toxic than most chemo is hard on the blood counts and there could end up being more episodes like the one mentioned above and I end up with Febrile Neutropenia again and back in the hospital. Let's hope not though. That was not good times at all, scary when someone fills you in on what happened and what you said or did that you have zero recollection of.

So for now it's staying in as much as possible and watching movies and napping! Until next time..........

Friday, October 26, 2012

This one has been a long time coming.

OK, deep breath and where to start.

I believe it all started about Jan/Feb of 2004. I was still working then for my, I guess you'd have to say "former" employer for the moment, Morrice Transportation,  until my lawyer wraps up my case against them for wrongful dismissal.

One early morning just as I was starting my shift I was headed down the stairs from the dispatch office and slipped and fell down the stairs. I layed there for a few moments until another drive happened to come in and seen me at the bottom of the stairs and notified the dispatcher on duty, who came down to check me out and then called an ambulance.

While awaiting the ambulance I was able to get back up and sit on the stairs and then got up and limped over to the ambulance at their request once they arrived. They offered to take me to the hospital and get checked out and have X-rays. I told them I really did not want to go in the ambulance and they said if I went to the "Urgent Care Clinic" on the west end when it opened at 8am I would probably be able to get in, have an x-ray and see the Dr. in a shorter period of time then going to the hospital anyway.

They then wrapped a "cold pack" around my knee, and I went home to wait until 8am and go to the Urgent Care Clinic. Once at the clinic it was a very short amount of time and I was in and had an x-ray and seen the Dr. He basically said nothing is showing up in the x-ray, however I should see my family Dr. and get a referral to see an orthopedic specialist.

After seeing my family Dr. he put me on "light duty" (No Driving or climbing in or out of the truck) Until I could see the specialist. The company put me on light duty doing mundane paperwork jobs and filing in the office. This continued until I seen the specialist and even afterwards as the specialist suspected a torn meniscus in my left knee, and booked me for surgery, which was not going to happen until December!!

That meant I would be on light duty until then in the office. Over this time period they changed jobs I did in there many  many times and as well started changing my hours all the time as well. Then they stuck me in what was known as the "security shack" which was attached to the building but was mostly all glass all the way around. It leaked when it rained and was hot as hell when it was hot out and freezing once winter came. The did put an air conditioner in there which was little help against the sun beating on the glass all day, and as well there was a heater in there but another needed to be added as the one in there could not keep it warm.

I felt I was being moved around and having hours changed just to "harass" me. I believe they were trying to get me to quit as I was a liability to them and also no good to them unless I was in a truck. This happened to other drivers as well and they all felt the same way. There were a few that came and went on light duty while I was doing it.

In December of 2004 I had the surgery on my knee finally and found that even though the meniscus was NOT torn, it had probably stretched and also there was a calcium buildup on the knee which could have been from the fall.

After being off and at home after surgery for a few months I was forced back on to light duty in the office / garage again until the knee was healed and ready to get back in the truck driving. This happened about Jun/Jul and I was finally back in the truck but ended up on reduced hours (no more than 10 hrs a day) driving. This ended up being a permanent restriction as the company kept forcing me over the 10 hrs so the Ortho Dr. ended up making it a 9 hr restriction on a permanent basis.

After all of this time period and the reduced hours and such, we were basically ruined financially as well which was not a good feeling or place to be in life.

In about April or May of 2006, I was on a day shift on a regular run and just did not feel right at the time and could not put a finger on it. Then in about Jun. of 2006 while spending some time at our trailer/cottage I noticed a big lump on the left side of my neck. Knowing that a fellow camper down the road from us at the trailer park had recently passed away from a lump on his neck that turned out to be cancer.

I went and spoke to his wife and showed her the lump on my neck and asked if it looked anything at all like what her husband had, had. She said yes it did, and as a matter of fact she had noticed the lump on my neck and was going to say something to me about it if it remained there.

Now I was concerned so on the weekend when I was off I went to my family Dr. showed him and asked to see a specialist. I told him my concerns about it. After seeing 3 - 4 different specialists I finally found one that did the proper tests and even went further checking me out. Thank goodness he did. This specialist Dr. Elbreki is the one who found the Squamous Cell Carcinoma on my vocal chord, we were not even looking for that, we were looking for the reason for the lump on my neck, and he decided to take a look with the scope down my throat to have a look from the inside.

He immediately booked me for "Day Surgery" to do a biopsy on the mass in my throat. December 2, 2006 was the day of the biopsy and I had booked off work for this and was going to be off for about a week, however due to complications with the soreness in my neck I going to be off a little longer. That all was not going to matter soon, it was about mid December when the results of the biopsy came back and the confirmation that it indeed was cancer!!

Soon after I was referred to see a Radiation Oncologist at the Cancer Center. I seen the Oncologist who is still my Oncologist, Dr. Schneider and he was recommending 25 days of radiation which he felt would permanently eradicate the disease as it was caught early in the "Pre stage 1" status. During this whole time we were still looking for the reason for the lump on my neck. After a couple of needle biopsies on it which all came back inconclusive I developed another lump and this one was on the right side of my neck. I was in about my second last week of radiation when this came about. This time Dr. Schneider referred me back to Dr. Elbreki who by the was is an E.N.T. specialist (Ear Nose Throat) and he booked my right away for surgery to remove the lump for biopsy.

The surgery was done within a few days, and I continued radiation which was now getting to be painful as my neck was starting to "burn" and peel. the swelling from surgery was not helping either as it made my treatment mask much tighter on that side, which made it tight on the area of the burns as well. Thank goodness only a few days of radiation left. It had become so painful  I was in tears and begging them to hurry up during those last couple of treatments.

During this time the biopsy results from that lump had come back and it was confirmed that it was cancer as well. A second cancer at the same time!!!  This time it was Lymphoma, to be specific it was a T-cell Histiocyte Rich Diffuse Large B-cell Non Hodgkin's lymphoma.

But before I go any further we need to catch up on what was going on during this time with my employer Morrice Transportation and the union CAW Local 195.



       





When I had went off on December 2nd 2006 I had filed an application for S&A benefits. Seemed quite simple at the time. Took them in to the surgeon/specialist Dr. Elbreki to fill in his portion to say I had "Day Surgery".  "Day Surgery" is the important term here. According to the benefit application, if you have "day surgery" you are entitled to benefits from the day you had the procedure  otherwise there is a one week hold back period.

Apparently the Dr. checked off two boxes differently but having said that the paperwork he filled out made it clear I had day surgery. Well after two weeks and no cheque for being off yet I was getting worried. It was now a week or so before Christmas and finances were already in the toilet and we were hurting financially. After several calls to the insurance company and Sue Saputo at Morrice Transportation, I was told what I had was a "procedure" and NOT day surgery!! Therefore I was not entitled to any benefit until I had been off a week or more!!

Mike Dunning
I immediately went to the union CAW Local 195 and spoke with Mike Dunning who at the time was Financial Secretary of the local. He stated that this should not be a problem to get resolved "slam dunk case". Well days before Christmas I still had nothing and I was going to be without a cheque until after Christmas now, so yeah, Merry F@#KING CHRISTMAS.

Right after the holidays I again contacted the insurance company, Morrice Transportation and CAW Local 195. Still nothing!! The union was now changing their position and this was no longer a "slam dunk case" and I  had no case at all now because I had a procedure and not day surgery according to the agreement definitions. Bull Crap!!

I at this time was very sick and was left to do all this running around myself. Our National Rep Jack Robinson from CAW at the time was now involved. He stated if I could get something in writing saying I had Day Surgery he would take on the case. I went to my family Dr. and got a copy of the paperwork from the specialist saying I had a surgical biopsy on my throat which was day surgery. This at the time cost me $50.00 for the letter!!

Apparently according to Jack Robinson  this was not good enough and did not make it clear I had "day surgery" and to get something more definitive! What!! it says I had "day surgery" how much more definitive  did he want! He would not say, anything other than we needed something better. After another letter $25.00, it was still not enough! I told him at this rate I would end up spending more than what I was going to get!!

The company Morrice Transportation was not any more helpful than the union was. Seems they were doing everything they could to make sure I did not get paid for that week. Well, I ended up going back to my family Dr. and asking the receptionist if she could go through my file and please find something, anything that said I had "day surgery". She ended up finding a copy of  Dr. Elbreki's surgical notes he did during the surgery from start to finish. Put me on the table, put me under, positioned my head this way, used this and that.....etc.

I thought perfect! how could they now say this was not "day surgery" and NOT a "procedure"!. This time I got the a copy of that paperwork for no cost. I took it directly to Vito Saputo who was the Human Relations Mgr. at the time. I asked him to send it to the insurance company and for a copy for myself to see if this would be acceptable.

Well, wouldn't you know, finally proved I was right and had day surgery, however now almost the end of December and still no cheque yet from the insurance company, went the whole month of December with zero income!! I was told the cheque would go in the mail along with the rest of Decembers payment right away. I did not receive this cheque until around the 5th or 7th of January as I recall.

All this while I'm undergoing radiation treatments daily which make you dead tired. I did ALL the running around between  Morrice Transportation  CAW Local 195 and the Dr.'s offices all my self with no help from any of them whatsoever. So much for the Union taking care of their own.

This was only the beginning of my troubles with Morrice and the CAW. There was more to come!

I believe it was around May or June of  07 that I got a letter from Morrice Transport that they were laying me off, and as a result my benefits would be discontinued one month after the layoff date! What? how can you layoff someone who is and has been off work on sick leave already! Again I filed a grievance with the union CAW Local 195.

After having my grievance denied by Morrice Transportation at levels one and two, after some discussions with the union CAW Local 195 I was able to get them to agree to take this case to arbitration, which they did, and they were also able to get it expedited  as well due to the nature of my illness at the time as I was very ill.

It only took a matter of a week to get an answer from the arbitrator which is rather quick. He ruled in my favor!! Told the company Morrice Transportation that they would have to reimburse me for any out of pocket costs related to health care and prescriptions for the time the cut my benefits until the current time. He also ruled the layoff would remain on file and should I return to work and they layoff still be in effect, then they could lay me off. Also ruled all my benefits be restored and remain in place as well. They also had to have my Long Term Benefits restored as well.

This in my own opinion was Morrice Transportation testing the waters to see if they could get rid of me, as I had become a "liability" to them. That's just how they think! seriously, beings there was an increase in their insurance premiums due to the high cost of the drugs I was requiring at the time to sustain my life!

At the next contract negotiations with CAW Local 195 they actually changed our prescription coverage from a $3.00 co-pay to a 20% co-pay with NO cap! At this time I was requiring a drug called Neupogen which is a drug used to boost ones white blood cell count. I had been fight low counts for some time, and this affects your immune system and pretty much leaves you without one! Any little infection or cold would immediately put me in the hospital in isolation and on strong antibiotics to fight off the infections.

These shots of Neupogen that I had to take were NOT covered as part of my chemo treatments as they only cover the cost of drugs given intravenously. These shots were not cheap, they were just over $2.700.00 per shot, and I need one every three weeks! Remember I was on a Long Term Disability pension at the time, and these drug's that were costing me a $3.00 co-pay were now going to cost me around $600.00 out of my pocket now!! Every three weeks!

I even took my receipts to the ratification vote for this new contract with this clause in it. I told the guys what I was going through and that if they voted in favor of this not only would they be signing my death warrant so to speak but they would be in this same situation as me should they or their spouse ever get a life threatening illness.

Seems it didn't matter as they passed the contract! Guess a life threatening illness is something they did not worry about at that time. Hope none of them or their family ever get this sick. They will wish they never favored that contract. They actually had to put a clause in there to cover the period of MY long term disability as they lowered the length of that again too, to three years now instead of the current five which I was on. This clause allowed anyone currently off on Long Term Disability to collect for the remainder of their current term.

This was done as there is a clause which states an employee is entitled to ALL benefits as long as they are in receipt of S&A or LTD. Which means they can now cut all of your benefits off after your LTD expires at the end of three years leaving you with nothing.

Let's fast forward now to March of 2012. It was about a week and a half before the end of the month and I received a letter from Morrice Transportation informing me that my long term disability benefits would expire on March 31 2012. However my group life insurance policy would remain in effect until age 65 or my death if prior to that. This is something I already knew because SSQ Financial Group, our insurance carrier for short and long term disability had been keeping me informed of that.

Morrice Transportation however went further. Not only did they remind me that my long term disability payments from SSQ would be expiring, but that they would also be cutting off and ending all my remaining benefits with Green Shield as well. This includes dental prescription and other health benefits. Not that, that was far enough they went on further in this letter to say that "due to my unfortunate circumstances and the length of my illness" they would also be "ending my employment with Morrice Transportation" as well.

 As well this letter was NOT sent out two weeks in advance as per the Canadian Labor Code. If I were terminated I should have received two weeks pay for the improper notice and as well I would be entitled to two days pay for every year worked there which would be twenty days pay for the ten years. Nov. 2002 till March 2012 when I got the notice. They did not pay me anything!  That was until a lawyer got involved.

At that time I bet my wife they would all of a sudden send out a cheque within two weeks when they found out I got a lawyer involved! I was wrong the cheque arrived two days later!!  Unreal. Then it was only for six days severance pay?? Not even close!  I tucked that cheque away until this gets resolved as it should.

Nice huh! Of course I immediately filed a grievance with our local chairman at Morrice, Ben Longpre who filed the step one grievance in a timely manner. It of course was denied with no explanation. I then asked Ben to go ahead and file a Step two grievance. This is where the company Morrice Transportation and the union CAW Local 195 meet and try to resolve the grievance at that level face to face.

I don't even know if or when this meeting was held. I have not been kept informed at all what has been going on with this grievance. all I can tell you is that all the time limits as set forth in the collective agreement have not been met with regard to level 2 or even level 3 which is arbitration and where we should have been months and months ago! Unless there have been changes in legislation and laws, a collective agreement is a legal and binding document, and in this case has failed me as these time limits have not been followed as they are set in writing within the agreement.

Around the end of July or August I contacted a friend who works for a lawyer and is a paralegal for him. My friend came and took my information and all the written documents I had with regard to this issue. I also signed several release of information documents and also stated that I would like to sue Morrice Transportation for wrongful dismissal and harassment, and also sue the union CAW Local 195 for misrepresentation, or in this case NO representation.

My friend took all my information to her boss the lawyer, and as of this writing that is where we are at. All of my documents and information is in the hands of the lawyer and I am awaiting word in writing from them as to where we stand with the case.

I would be curious to any opinions out there with regard to whether you think I'm right or wrong about this and what I'm entitled to or asking for. Media persons are welcome to contact me as well for this story. Please leave a comment below. You may not see your comment on here after sending it, as all comments come to me first for moderation before I post them.

Saturday, October 20, 2012

Whirlwind Past Three Weeks!

I see I haven't written since September 20th, so I guess it's time to update now that things have settled down and I can take a breather!

A lot has gone on since I last wrote, and my journey with chemotherapy has commenced once again. Bendamustine (Treanda) was approved for me on a compassionate basis. This was not easy to get and I have to thank Debbie Gammon in the Cancer Centre Pharmacy for her hard work to get this and also to get it funded for me.

It all started with blood work on Sept. 28th, followed by an appointment with my Medical Oncologist Dr. Kanjeekal to go over my blood work and treatment plan for this round. To start with, my Haemoglobin and Platelet counts were still quite low which explains my tiredness lately and also why get out of breath so easily now.

My first treatment of Bendamustine was on Wednesday, October 3rd. The infusion last about an hour and everything went well, I even brought Peanut Jr. along with me for company! October 4th was day two and once again it was an hour infusion of Bendamustine. All went well this time around also. Now comes the wait until the next treatments. I will be on a 28 day cycle with this, and I believe it will be a total of eight cycles, I will have to reconfirm that next visit as I'm not 100% sure of this.

Me and Peanut Jr. at Chemo!
Prior to my first Chemo on the 3rd I also had a pre surgery assessment at the hospital. This was to get everything in order for the surgical biopsy of the node on my left jawline. All went well as at that time I was still not sure the surgery was even going to happen because of my low blood counts my Oncologist thought it might be best to cancel it for now. But at my request to continue she put it in the hands of my E.N.T. Surgeon Dr. Elbreki.

After Biopsy.
Dr. Elbreki was also concerned about the low counts and if they were at at number comfortable for him he would proceed. If not I would agree to a blood and or platelet infusion and then proceed.
All was fine the day of surgery on Friday October 5th, which was the day after my last Bendamustine infusion. The surgery went well and we did it with just a local anaesthetic and "twilight" on hand to use mildly if needed. After about 45 minutes in recovery I was allowed to leave after eating some cookies and drinking a ginger ale.

Next up was an appointment with my Palliative Care doctor Dr.Giddings. At this appointment it was decided that due to all that is going on and still have some pain in my hands and feet, we would increase my medication by a few mg. just to stay on top of the pain going on.

Chemo Port placement.
This was followed on the 11th of October by another surgery at Hotel Dieu - Grace Hospital to insert a Chemo Port which is used for the infusion of Chemo and for blood work when needed. They had a bit of trouble getting a vein at the first chemo treatment, even after warming my lower arms and hands with warm blankets. So thus the port in order not to have to poke around looking for veins all the time.

I had mentioned to my CCAC worker when she asked,  that I had fallen a few times and was having episodes of lightheadedness, She said that she was going to send out Physio and Occupational therapists to assess the apartment for my needs to stay safe and for what my personal needs would be for keeping safe as well. The Physio consultant came on the 12th of Oct. and determined that I should have a proper cane and as well a wheeled walker for getting around outside the apartment.

C.A.L. the Doors L.A. Woman
Finally a break in all of this whirlwind of activity! We were given tickets to us by my Facebook friends, Alicia N-Dana to see Classic Albums Live, perform The Doors album, L.A. Woman in it's entirety. It was an awesome show and the seats were fantastic. These guys are good and you'd have sworn you were at the real thing!  They followed the Album set by a short intermission, then came back to perform a whole host of Doors classics. It's just wonderful to get away from it all to listen to some good music and forget just for that time, all that is going on in my life.

"M" Rail.
Back to it all on Oct. 19th when the Occupational Therapist came to assess the apartment for my needs here. After her inspection and talk with me, it was decided that my needs here were to get an "M" rail for the bed, an elevator ring for the toilet to raise the seat 3 1/2 inches and also for a shower / tub chair.  She said all these would be delivered and set up for me in a few days, which they were on the 18th. With the exception of the shower seat, the M rail and the seat elevator are great additions that are really helping me, but the Shower chair just doesn't feel comfortable, so I may be sending that back after 30 days. I have all of these free for 30 days to try out, and then the option to purchase them at a discounted price or send them back.
So we'll see how the next days go to see how I feel at the end of it and if I'll be purchasing any of it or sending any of it back.

My Social Worker
Nancy Hannon!
My Dietitian Donna Danelon
and I at the Cancer Centre.
The morning of Oct. 19th was very busy with appointments. It started with an appointment at 9am with my Social Worker at the Cancer Centre, Nancy Hannon. I discussed with her the the options I have with regards to the equipment I just got, and that I will also look on Ebay or Kijiji to find out if I might be able to get the same items used or new at an even lower price, which I will do.We also discussed all that has been going on with the chemo starting and just the overall whirlwind of activity over the past weeks. I then went over to the Lab for 10am to do my weekly blood work. after that was an appointment with my Dietitian, Donna Danelon. The topic of discussion has been and still is the rapid weight loss I've been experiencing and the fact I need to eat, even though I have no appetite at all. She also sent a prescription upstairs to the Pharmacy at the cancer centre for 5 cases of Ensure, this will ensure that I'm getting the protein and calories I need to try to maintain my weight. When all of this started just over three months ago I was approx. 330 lbs.and now currently as of this writing I am down to 262.2 lbs! Too much too fast but with no appetite, I just don't know what more to do.

Wednesday after all of that we had tickets that I had purchased ahead of time to go see Led Zeppelin, Celebration Day which was filmed in 2007 but just released now. Again after a busy day and whirlwind of activity, I was able to get away from it all and lose myself in some great music.

What an awesome show it was, age has not affected them at all, if anything it's made them better. Jason Bonham did his dad proud replacing him on drums, John may you forever R.I.P. and know that Jason has got it!  What a night it was, so now the DVD is on my wish list!! Thank you Led Zeppelin for letting me "get away from it all" just for a moment.

Thursday morning I had my follow up appointment with my E.N.T. Dr. Elbreki and prior to the appointment I had removed the bandage and during a shave I accidentally "caught" the stitch and pulled it out, however he said it all looked good and he went over the Pathology report with me which was back. No real surprises but there were some new things that have come forward. It appears I have a "coexisting and clonally identical classical Hodgkin lymphoma and nodular lymphocyte predominant Hodgkin lymphoma". A mixed up mess it is, but then again what's "normal" about me!

That pretty much brings things up to date and where I'm at now. So the journey continues, my next chemo treatments are on the 31st of October and the 1st of November. This is all after my follow up with my Medical Oncologist Dr. Kanjeekal and blood work. Stay tuned for my next writing it as usual may come at any time!

So for now "Trust your Journey" as "You'll never know how strong you are until being strong is the only choice you have".