Rest Time

Maggie and Daddy got right to work on
the fruit basket!

I had a great visit from work friends yesterday.  They brought a great card signed by everyone, a movie pass and a fantastic fruit basket.  Thanks very much everyone!

I've been done the chemo and radiation for nearly two weeks now and I feel I'm starting to heal nicely.  My burn has subsided enough to go to the Montreal Motorcycle show last week and I felt better every day after that.  The last three days my burn has been good enough that I've been able to resume cardio activity.  I'd like to continue with that as much as possible as exercise is supposed to help my healing. 

I'm still napping daily but only for an hour instead of two hours and I don't feel as tired like I just got out of the microwave oven.  You know that feeling when you stick your head in the microwave for 15 minutes?

Headaches are another side effect I've been experiencing but I can't complain as they don't last more than 20 minutes and they only hit me every few days.  My wife gets them a lot worse and it looks painful.

The days are getting longer and tomorrow marks March 1st.  I have an appointment with my surgeon next week and March is my month to rest up for the surgery in April.  I know when I have the surgery, that'll really knock me flat on my ass so I'll take every day that I feel 80% and enjoy my time to rest.  So far, I've been resting quite a bit.

Burn Is In Control

Whitney Houston passed away on the weekend.  Poor Whitney.  Cripes, The Rolling Stones are still alive!  The next morning, I was struck with so much diarrhea I couldn't take Kate, our five year old, to her ski lesson.  I had to use the ensuite for some of it so I could give Erinn orders and persuade her to get out of bed to take Kate to her lesson.  Mission accomplished.

The next night, I had diarrhea even worse.  From 10pm to 2am.  It's funny when it actually keeps you from going to bed and even worse that I was in physical pain.  It was like my lower bowels were on fire.  Today, however, I can celebrate three days in a row of no diarrhea.  I'll take that.

Diarrhea and fatigue have been my only constant side effect.  I'm technically not out of the woods on side effects from either chemo or radiation but  I'm feeling pretty confident that I'm in the clear.  I stopped taking the chemo pills on my last radiation day six days ago and, aside from the burn irritation, I feel 80% many days so long as I get a 2 hr nap daily.  Today I even did cardio which was my first time in over two weeks.

Other side effects that I did not get were mouth sores, dental problems, hair loss, scaly hands and feet, itchy hands and feet, black hands and feet.  Yikes.  Of course, I'll be on the chemo bottle again after surgery for half a year.  That will start in May.

Tomorrow is the Montreal Bike Show.  I'm going.  Snowstorms are nothing compared to waking up and not having diarrhea.

These are two of my motorcycles and the start of buying brand
new once I graduated from University.  Cycle Canada phoned me
today to follow up on some details for an upcoming article on me
these two bikes.  Stay tuned.  They say the May issue.

Chapter 2 Complete



When you're done your radiation stint, you ring this bell. 
It reminds me of chow time!

 I guess I should call Chapter 1 "Hey, You've Got Cancer!"

Today was my last radiation session.  What a relief.  Five weeks has come and gone and all I have is a wicked ass burn as a souvenir.  Oh, and fatigue and diarrhea. 

I dropped my dad off at the same hospital today as he had a follow-up from his eye surgery (thanks for loaning me the car, dad) so I was about an hour early for my radiation.  To my surprise, they took me early.  That's when the diarrhea kicked in.

I told them I'd be five minutes, I made a pit stop then walked into the radiation room.  I popped a diarrhea pill in front of them and told them it was just a diet pill.  I dropped my pants, got on the table, they spent about five minutes lining me up and then I had to abandon ship as I jumped off the table and ran down the hall asking them to give me four minutes.

I didn't feel so good but I was able to return and endure the last radiation.  I've been lucky, my side effects have been minimal.  I've only had about six days of diarrhea and, thankfully, not in a row.  My bad nausea has been in the early weeks and my fatigue is pretty consistent throughout but a 2 hr nap every day helps that.  The burn has been bad but this last week it's been tolerable as I started adding Palmolive dish soap in my Sitz bath.  It's tough on dishes but soft on hands.  My ass likes it.

The burn isn't pleasant.  I've had blistering and broken skin.  It hurts.  And it'll probably get worse next week but after that, I like to look at it as recovery time and I'll nap every day during that six to eight weeks before surgery and try and give Erinn a break from the kids.


These two girls were the radiation technicians that I dropped my

pants for most often throughout the five weeks.  Anne-Marie on the left,

me in the middle and Erinn on the right.  Thankfully, Erinn spotted me
going to the washroom right before Radiation #10 and we addressed the
full bladder issue then.

 Two days ago at radiation, I was asked into the Supervisor's office.  It felt like I was being called into the Principal's office.  Robert Brown just wanted feedback.  After 20 seconds he said "Oh, you're that guy!  We've had two staff meetings about you and I apologize profusely for what we put you through.  You should not have had to repeat your CT Scan, we should not have had to tattoo you for nothing then mark you with Sharpies and your first radiation session shouldn't have taken 3 hours.  And all with an empty bladder for the first nine sessions!"

He was very nice and clearly not every patient has these problems.  I take it that future patients will get the checklist of questions before they get radiated to ensure everything is as it should be.

I have tonight's chemo pills to take and then that's it for the pills.  Next week, when I'm feeling more out of the woods, I'll list off some of the more exciting of the ten pages of side effects I could've had.

My Executive Assistant

It was highly recommended by friends at work that I get someone to accompany me for my cancer appointments.  This is helpful as your head isn't quite in the right frame of mind as you're likely finding out some dizzying facts (ie: you have cancer) and what to expect, how to prepare for tests, etc.  A second set of ears is always good and someone who can take notes during the appointments is always helpful.

This sort of happened on its own and my wife prepared a calendar, took notes at appointments and had questions prepared when we first discovered I had cancer.  I sat there in the doctor's appointments digesting the bad news and unbottoning my pants and bending over a barrel whenever required.  My mother is also a retired nurse so she accompanied us to pretty much every doctor's appointment before the radiation and chemo started.  Between my mother and wife of 16 years, I was in good shape.

My wife calls herself my Executive Assistant.  Pretty funny since she's always made much more money than I have but since we had kids, she hasn't worked in 3 years.  This is a part time job in itself and the cancer treatment is nearly a full time job for me if you include the increased 4 hours of sleep I now require every day.

Happy Valentine's Day, Erinn. 
The kids ate the Smarties so your cupcake is
decorated with my diarrhea pills.

I've filled out a lot of forms during this ordeal and I've kept a copy of everything.  An interesting question that comes up is my past medical history.  When was I last in the hospital and for what.  This includes tonsil removals when I was ten years old and everything in between.  I figured the Ontario Health Card would have a database of all those items.  What a laugh!  There is no such database.  Doctors don't necessarily have copies of reports which they need.  For example, nobody has received my MRI report so I had wisely left the hospital with my own CD copy.  (And, that appointment came, thanks to my Executive Assistant.)  Now we just burn a CD for whatever doctor we're about to see.  That's how they've all gotten my MRI results.  And they all say thanks.  Some other reports, mind you, have made it across to the necessary people.  It is just not a given that necessary reports will make it through to the right people.

Another thing to track (thanks Marg!) is medication taken and reactions.  Thankfully for me, that's been a rather short list.  I hope the list doesn't grow.  But, the point is that there is no database of what has worked for the patient and what hasn't worked.  It is up to the patient to keep track.

Now that I write this, I just remembered I haven't taken my chemo pills.  Oops.  My Executive Assistant has the night off.

Four Weeks DONE!!!

I had my 20th radiation session yesterday and, as I walked in the door, I bumped into my THIRD set of motorcycle instructors who are there for their own cancer.  Ian and Celia.  Celia has a blood cancer, I believe, that was a problem 10 years ago but she's not too worried about this latest flare-up.  So, that's Frank and Helene, Tony and Lynda Hendriks and now Ian and Celia.  All these people I've met by accident at the entry to the Cancer Centre in the last four weeks.  And, man, I quit teaching in 2009 so I don't even know the new crew. 

Almost done going to these places!!!

The burn is bad enough that I don't do cardio now.  In fact, that was the only exercise I was doing, although daily, so now I'll do more PlayStation 3 and TV watching.

I have one more week to endure and then I expect the burn will flare up the week after.  But, it can't because I want to go to the Montreal Motorcycle Show that weekend so I must be healthy for that!

Thanks to everyone for the well wishes and the burn tips.  Freezies, eh?  We actually have lots of those even in winter for the kids.  "Nope, you can't eat that.  Daddy needs it for his ass!!!"

Radiation DOES Burn!

Well, the burning has begun.  On the weekend it was noticeably worse and continues on the worst side of better every day.  I only have seven sessions left but I'm told it'll get worse a week or two after my radiation is complete.  Ugghh.  And probably every day until then.


A few days ago I made a mistake and, because I'd been feeling fine aside from my radiation burn I indulged in a couple of bowls of Raisin Bran, one of my favourite breakfast meals.  MISTAKE!!!  It was Revenge Of The Pinecones all over again.  Ugghhh.  I've seen Jack Bauer extract information from people with things at hand like the the plugged in cord from a bedside lamp to find out where the nuclear bomb is but I recommend Raisin Bran and a radiated rectal tumour next time.  Far more effective.  Just feed them the Raisin Bran then wait 4 to 6 hours.  They'll sing like canaries.



Maggie surprises her parents with the delights of an empty cardboard box.
After one week of empty box play, she finally added some toys.



And then, this morning, a similar occurrence.  I didn't know why until Erinn pointed out that the raisins I've poured over my oatmeal will do the same thing.  D'uhhhh...I'll have to read the pamphlet the Dietician gave us.  I think on the Dietician visit, I learned from her and she learned from me.  I would've thought a Dietician would know there was caffeine in Diet Colas but, hey, she learned something from me.  I learned the difference between soluble and insoluble fibre.  Now I will embrace it!

Only seven days of radiation and chemo left.  I saw the radiation doctor yesterday and he noted my burn is bad but I'd stay on the same cream I have until it gets worse.  They have some other creams I can use but they'll keep them at bay until I need the stronger stuff.  Good enough.  So long as I know there's something stronger for when the burn increases.  Because, he says it will get worse.  He told me to get a Sitz basin.  I now have one.  It, like the pills tray, magically ages you 40 years when you use it.

Hey, on the weekend, I also flirt with diarrhea.  So far, the pills they gave me have kept that in check.  I'm lucky on that and the queasiness returns but, again, the Gravol-type pills have kept that in check.  Funny, if the Gravol-type pills don't cut it, then I have these syringes that I jam deep into my muscle.  I didn't ask which one but I should get a book called Self Medication for Dummies.

Three Weeks DONE!!!

I just had my 15th radiation session this morning so I only have two weeks left (ten sessions).  I'm counting off every day.


On Mommy's night out, Daddy and the girls watched Monsters Inc.
Kate put on her favourite Monster costume for the occassion.



I've been feeling good the last few days and even was able to go out for lunch a couple of times with friends.  I'm almost walking on eggshells because my immune system is down quite a bit and both kids have been taking turns being sick but, so far, I haven't caught anything.

I'm also doing well with the side effects.  I only had one flirtation with diarrhea last weekend but I took pills and that kept things under control.  Fingers crossed about the future. 

I gave Dr. Kendall, the radiation oncologist, polite feedback last Tuesday when he surprised me about that tidbit of info about the cream.  I spoke with him about the full bladder thing and he admitted they failed me on communication.  He is pretty concerned about it.  When the bladder is full, it pushes things up so that my bowel is moved out of the way of the radiation beam.  As that was not the case for my first nine sessions, I am at a much greater risk of diarrhea.  All he can do now, he says, is monitor me. 

The weekend is also good because I'm not on chemo pillls when I don't get radiation.  I met with the chemo doctor on Wednesday and, since all is well, I don't have to see her again until May, a few weeks after my April surgery.  I basically have ten days left to stay on this treatment plan without them pulling the plug due to side effects.  Fingers crossed!

My Monday to Friday intake of chemo pills.
This pill box allows me to get Senior's Discounts everywhere.

Surprisingly, I'm not on any pills aside from the chemo pills I take after breakfast and after supper.  It's actually four identical pills each time just due to the small size of them to meet my recommended quantity.  I suppose it would sound better if it was one pill in the morning and one in the afternoon but the pill would have to be big enough for a horse.  And, hey, I swallow these.

The pill box has an amazing effect on the person taking them.  It's identical to getting behind the wheel of my parents' motorhome last summer--it instantly ages you 40 years!!!  I hear 41 is the new 81.

I was worried about weight loss.  A friend from work went through Ovarian Cancer all through 2011 and she lost 20 lbs when she didn't really have any weight to lose.  I normally weigh 190 lbs when 180 lbs is a trim size for me so I packed on the pounds all through December.  It wasn't hard to do with Christmas thrown in there.  I haven't really lost any weight or lost any hair yet. 

196 lbs at the end of 3 weeks of Radiation and
Chemotherapy.  Ready to lose a dozen pounds! 
But let's stop there...

Radiation Halfway Point

In two hours, I will have crossed the halfway point of my radiation.  Only 2.4 weeks remaining and I can't wait!

On the weekend, a radiation burn developped to the point of it being extremely uncomfortable by Sunday.  On Monday morning, I ran right over to see the nurse after my morning appointment with the gamma rays.  Ahh, cream.  Sooooooo goooooooood.

Funny, the nurse said I should always have had the cream with me.  That's the way I would've preferred but I was specifically told to wait until I burn then make an appointment with the nurse to be told what cream to buy.  I came home and told Erinn I must've misunderstood.  Erinn says no, we were told exactly that.

Funnier thing yesterday when I saw Dr. Kendall, the radiation oncologist.  I told him about the burn and the goodness of the cream.  He looked at my burn and said not to put the cream on for my radiation sessions as I had just done because it amplifies the effect of the radiation and I'll be getting too high of a dose.  Grrrrrr.....  That would've been a good tidbit of info to have when I was told about the cream.  Thankfully, I only had one session like that, merely half an hour before seeing the Doctor.