I managed to get in a lot of visiting in one day - many cousins, a few aunts and uncles and even some familiar faces I ran in to along the way. Ellen (my mom's cousin who I lived with briefly in Regina years ago) also took me to a few shops I'd never been to. Dad and I had a lot of fun on the ride there and back, creating games that made the time fly. Overall it was a really nice unexpected change of scenery. I forgot to take pictures of course, until the ride home when I realized I had my camera - here's an "old friend" who got stuck in the hood!
My energy has continued to improve and last Friday I even played a few hands of poker with some of the PwC girls. Saturday I attended my PwC "coach"'s annual "I Survived Shannon" party and Sunday had Jack, Davis and Dana came over (Daddy was out of town). I was having moments of deja vu of my former life!
The busy schedule continued this week. Monday included physio, lunch with a friend and speaking for an hour to a class of nursing students at Mount Royal. Every time I tell my story (which is so long I now use Powerpoint) where some benefit is taken from the audience, it energizes me. Tuesday morning I had a significant and interesting visit at the hospital with Deacon Frank, a volunteer with Pastoral Services that has known me since 1997 when this journey began. In the afternoon I saw an eye specialist for a post-transplant exam - I now have drops but otherwise things look okay. Wednesday I had a CT of my chest followed by bloodwork, a visit with Dr. Brown, and then my Day 100 bone marrow aspirate. All went well, except for a bizarre reaction I had later than night (it resolved by the next night). I should get results of the tests in the coming weeks. I also managed to catch a cold, so I'm hoping my new immune system knows what to do. Overall I continue to feel improvement in strength and stamina - which obviously allowed me to do everything I did in the last 2 weeks!On a less exciting note, some of you know Tasha and her husband's roller coaster took an unwelcome drop last week when Ryan's MRI showed his brain tumour to be considerably larger than the MRI 2 months ago. He is scheduled for a number of tests in the coming week to determine treatment options and strategy, and they are both summoning more strength to get into fight mode yet again. Some more positive news from their corner...Tasha's article came out in the October issue of Flare this week - I understand it hits Calgary newsstands Tuesday. Tasha is also leading a committee that will host a unique and hip event in Calgary for Rethink Breast Cancer on October 23rd, 2008. I'll definitely be there! If you want tickets you can buy them online at www.rethinkbreastcancer.com
Speaking of events, I wanted to let you know I won't be attending the Light the Night walk by Leukemia & Lymphoma Society this year in Calgary. The distance is a little beyond my reach. As well, I have not been involved with the local chapter since last February when the volunteer chapter board was disbanded and my role as co-chair was no longer available. I understand many of "Tricia's Trotters" will be walking, in Vancouver and Calgary, and I cheer you on in spirit! The Society is doing excellent work in patient services and moving research toward a cure.
As I've successfully reached day 100 on both paper and in my quality of life, I am happy to report I'll be visiting the team of doctors in charge of the clinical trial from Memorial Sloan Kettering in NYC to show them their "product". October 2nd Mom and I will visit New York again and meet with the MSK doctors. They have been in constant communication with Dr. Brown and the team here at Tom Baker throughout the past year, and are pleased with the results they have been forwarded "on paper" to date. I'll be excited to show them the "off paper" success of their experiment so far.
It's been two weeks since my last post. Calgary has been warm and the leaves on the green trees have been changing into gorgeous rust, orange and yellow colours. Change is in the air, and I'm so grateful I feel tangible, positive changes in my mind, body and spirit. I love Fall.
