Stop. Look around

I really can't believe it's December 1st. I realized I better post before I have to do a Christmas one!

Time continues to evaporate and October and November are a blur...work in October included a number of activities including the United Way drive in our office, which concludes with a "slave auction" - my auctioneer extraordinaire brother once again amazed my coworkers and made them laugh as he auctioned and got the bidding up on various items, including my paintings for a child's room, with the grand total exceeding $56,000 at the end of 1.5 hours. It's always fun to have him there, and introduce him as a mortgage broker, auctioneer and a guy who donated bone marrow not once but twice!

Speaking of my bone marrow donors, we finally managed to have a Skype visit with my family and Oliver's family in Germany. After a few technical glitches on my side, we were able to see Oliver, Judith, Noah, Jona, Claudia and her 2 sons! On our end, the boys had fun with the webcam (and I could see Noah giggling) and everyone on our end got to meet everyone on their end. Dad got meet them all finally and say a few words of thanks to Oli, and my brother and Oli got to share a beer as my 2 heroes. Of course mom and I were happy to be reunited with them all, such wonderful friends. The power of technology....I look forward to more virtual visits.

Tasha's Rethink Romp came and went with a big successful bang, raising funds for Rethink Breast Cancer, and getting a dozen or so of my coworkers out for the fantastic night. The theme was Superheroes, and while not everyone dressed in theme, my Gotham Girl costume worked well, although I think I will retire it! I wore it the week before the romp to Shannon's awesome Halloween party, so it got double value.

Certainly a highlight in October was becoming the godmother of Mireya Marjorie Lukiwski on October 31 in Regina - I had an excellent weekend with her and she is definitely one of my favourite girls in the world. I am so looking forward to watching her grow up - we even got another visit in November when Amy, Ellen and Mireya were in Calgary while Amy attended a conference. Mireya is very special and I am a proud Godmom.

My planned trip to Vancouver mid-November started a bit early as news came that Grandma Gunn was not well and in hospital. I flew out a couple days earlier than planned, and after a bit of a roller coaster week, she rallied again and the following week was discharged. It was great to spend time with her, even though she can't say anything and at times was in some distress. I love her very much and often worry about the lack of quality of life she has after being such a wonderful person. But it is clear she still wants to be here, and I know personally that at a point, a person can make the final choice when they want to go. So I guess I'll take her cue and just enjoy the time she is here.

While in Vancouver I also got to visit a bit with Colleen, Allan, Grady and Joelle and saw my good friend Shelley who recently moved to Vancouver. It was great to spend time with Shelley as we don't often end up in the same city lately...but old friends don't change, so we enjoyed a few good dinners, hanging in her fantastic place, and catching up like no time had passed. And while we shared a lot of time at the hospital, it is always fun to hang out with Colleen and her family...I am really looking forward to hanging out in Maui come December 31 as they are going to be there when we are. I can almost smell the ocean now....(and last week when it was -40 I was dreaming of the beach).

My little boys have all been keeping me entertained lately. Jack and Davis got over to my house a couple of time in November, and showed me how to really play the Wii. They loved snuggling on my bed, munching popcorn and watching Spiderman. Talyn and I hung out a bit in October (he likes my Wii too) and I just gave him some signature tickles this weekend. Alex, Doug and Michelle's little guy, saved up room for "breakfast with Tricia" when we met a couple weeks ago at Cora's for waffles. They are all growing so fast.

A couple weeks ago would have been Ryan's birthday and we went for dinner at a restaurant that we went to last year with him. Tonight I will join Tasha, Talyn and some of Ryan's friends and family at a Candlelight service that the funeral home holds. It's good to share some fond memories of him as it's still hard to imagine he's gone.

Healthwise things continue to be superb and my skin issues even seem to be improving. I avoided the neck surgery with diligent work and think I will be able to leave the bandages behind heading into 2011. The experimental drug I went on a couple months ago to help the scleroderma seems to be improving things a bit, so that's positive too. Other than that, the only thing that stops me from taking over the world is my fatigue. 4 days of work and a full life otherwise is sometimes a bit of a challenge, but given my track record I know it's incredible I can do all of that! I celebrated 13 year since transplant #1 this past weekend....

As Ferris Buller said once, "Life moves pretty fast. If you don't stop and look around once and a while, you could miss it."

Stop. Look around. Cheers...Tricia

Lights and Thanks

The past few weeks have been very potent - the Light the Night events went incredibly well with even the weather cooperating. Saskatoon was an amazing chance to catch up with family and friends who I see not as often as I'd like, and that alone was a gift. The event itself was excellent, with over 300 walkers and over $85,000 raised in the first year it was ever held - quite remarkable. Our team raised over $3,500! And the pasta party at Vic and Don's after was really a bonus...feasting on delicious spaghetti and meatsauce while hanging out with family and friends. It was also fun for me to have my family and friends hear me tell the "drive by version" of my story, and more importantly recognize them for the important role they play in keeping me alive.

Calgary warmed up just in time for the walk a week later and again we had a great showing at the 6th annual event – over a 1,000 walkers raising over $500,000. The PwC Tricia’s Trotters raised over $11,000 and PwC sponsored at $5,000 so between all the Trotters we came close to $20,000 for research and patient services. Quite remarkable. Again there were a large number of `out of towners` making trips from Regina, Edmonton and Vancouver. Jack, Davis and Talyn were front and centre for the warm up. There was also a fantastic group of coworkers from PwC - a continued demonstration of support I receive from work. As small tokens of appreciation, mom, Mary Ellen (thanks!) and I made chocolate chip cookies as "thank yous" for all the Trotters – when Joelle, Colleen, Mom and I were bagging the goodies with tags and ribbons, I remarked how the last two weeks had seemed like a wedding! Without a groom! We continued the pasta theme after the Calgary walk with a few of us heading to the Old Spaghetti Factory for some well-earned dinner.

The youngest Trotter was 4-month old Mireya, the daughter of Amy and Ryland, and soon to be my goddaughter! Later this month I will travel to Regina to be a part of her baptism, so my meeting with her during the Light the Night festivities was very special – she is a beautiful little girl and I think she will be quite a character as her personality continues to emerge. I was so pleased to share May 21st as our birthday and I will be honoured to be her godmother as well!

The Light the Night weeks were definitely a chance to reflect on life and especially on the past 13 years. I spoke at 5 different events during the last few weeks, and in each case several unique moments and connections, paint splatters, were received and given. I realized repeatedly how crazy my health story is and how more crazy it is that I feel so well despite the story. I met nursing students, patients, survivors and people impacted by blood cancers. One event included meeting Anne Robillard whose 7-year old son Noel who desperately needs a bone marrow transplant. http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/noelyoung

I have posted a link to OneMatch http://www.onematch.ca/, with Canadian Blood Services. Registering as a possible donor of bone marrow is the easiest it has ever been – you go online and you are sent a kit to swab your cheek and send it back in for processing. From that they are able to test if you are a partial match for someone (1 in 20,000 chance) and should you ever come up as a match, they will call you and you are still able to agree or decline. The donation process is a lot less invasive these days as well, with donors receiving a growth shot (similar to an immunization) 4 days prior to collection. The collection is actually of stem cells through the blood, so you are hooked up to a machine that spins the blood and separates the stem cells over a period of a few hours – almost like a really long blood donation. You go home that day, and do not really lose anything as the stem cells they collect are essentially extras due to the growth factor. When Oliver donated, he sent me a picture of him donating – with a smile on his face and sitting in jeans! And the second time Brandon donated he managed to work from his blackberry almost the whole time! Consider registering to help someone like Noel just like Oliver did for me...

The celebrating just continued into October. First up was brunch for my big brother's birthday Oct 4 with the boys, Dana, Mom and Dad and I. Then Mom and I headed to NYC to attend the Sloan Kettering Cancer Center's Transplant Celebration for survivors. Although Dr. Young, my main NYC doctor, was out of town that night, right through the door we ran into Dr. Perales who was the doctor who saw me when I relapsed in 2006. Not long after, I was so lucky to meet the head of the clinical trial that I am a part of, Dr. Farid Boulad. He came over with a big smile, gave me a hug, and said '"you don't know how proud I am of you". It was fantastic to be a part of the continued celebration of survivorship – hundreds of people who looked healthy, were eating, laughing and visiting – and no one could distinguish the survivors from the supporters.

We managed to get in a few additional days of Manhattan fun - meeting up with old friends, shopping, seeing a play, eating well, walking along the river and in Central park and generally taking in some NYC energy. I never lose my love for the streets of that city. (Neither does mom)

It is all fitting that as I finish this post, having arrived back to Calgary this evening, in a few minutes it is Thanksgiving. The past few weeks have been an extended festival of celebrating life, living and the people that help us do it every day. I am so blessed, so fortunate and so thankful for each moment, each person, each paint splatter I continue to experience.

Thank you. Danke. Grazie. Merci. Tak. Gracias.