Going, going, gone

So here goes how life has changed over the last 4 weeks. Sorry that this is all about me but it's difficult to think of much else at the moment.

Chemo is very difficult to explain. Actually getting chemo is very painless and the nurses do their best to make the day as pleasant as possible, time passes by playing games, watching netflics, reading, eating. Each drug is administered seperately and needs time between to observe any reactions. I start treatment somewhere between 9-10am and am finished after 3pm. These times will change as I need less observations. 

I'm on 3 different drugs so my experience will be different to others but generally day 1 is ok, then days 2-5 are very blurry, i can't concentrate, sleep, i'm very restless, hungry, vivid dreams. The first treatment I ached alot but each time they slightly change the drugs they give you to help with the side effects so with more steriods this time I've had less pain but more restlessness. 

I have to keep an eye on my temperature and go to ER if it gets to 38degrees. On day 9 it hit 38.7 degrees and i was admitted to hospital because the chemo was doing too good a job and i had 0 immunity. I was released on day 11 and to try and stop it happening this time I'm now on another injection that David has to give me on day 2. 

When I feel better i get frustrated that I have to be careful going out so I go to shops when they are quiet and i wear a mask and have to use tonnes of hand sanitizer. I generally end up sitting in the car and sending someone in with a list!

So the hair is the most asked question. Yes it's gone. It started falling out in great handfuls after 2 weeks and when it looked too much like i had a bad case of mange David buzzed it down to #2 so it was easier to manage. Hats are ok, though a little hot inside so I prefer to go egg head when I'm home or places where im not freaking people out too much! wigs are itchy and uncomfortable. I did borrow a few from the hospital and have washed the best one which now needs cutting and styling, it is sat on my shelf and is affectionaltely called the ferret! I will get it styled and then I have the option to use it but really with winter here woolly hats are my favourite.

We are still planning to come to the UK for Christmas if all continues to go well but obviously won't know till we set off.

When I was in hospital a lot of people from the church come over to finish our roof, stack wood, tidy up, clean the house etc. this made a huge difference for when i got home, thank you again everyone.

Me at start of treatment

Starting to thin

falling out

 

getting bald

#2 cut, i think i look like my brother David here. It continues to fall out so I have a lot less now.

David brought me some wigs to try!

the ferret! All the wigs seem to have lots of fringe (bangs) and you have to be careful round the oven, wood stove and dishwasher!!!!

The start of the new normal

Winter is coming faster than we'd like. Everyone is busy getting wood in, tidying up outside before the snow covers everything and making sure everywhere is as weather tight as can be.
David has just got a new toy to help with some of these jobs and to plow us out this winter.

Meet Tommy the skid steer! I think a few people in this household are going to have lots of fun with this.

Our life is pretty surreal at the moment, David says it's like living in a parallel universe half the time. Numerous times a week we end up sitting in some hospital waiting room waiting for some appointment or other. 

My treatment plan is much clearer now since getting all the results of my recent tests back. My CT and bone  scans both came back negative which is great news. It means all the treatment from here on in is preventative. 

My oncologist has decided that I will have 4 courses of chemo, followed by 1 month break then 21 days of radiation, after my chemo has finished one of the drugs they are giving me will continue to be given to me for a total of 17 treatments (approx 1 year) this drug will still be given through IV but it isn't a traditional chemo drug so the side effects should be minimal. 

I can't say I'm looking forward to the following few months but I just want to get it over with now. They were really struggling to give me injections for all the tests I've had recently. Since having surgery they can only use 1 arm to inject me which happens to be my left arm which has not got good veins. It became so swollen and bruised last week and was quite distressing when an IV popped out in a scan, that I opted for a port to be permanently inserted in my arm while I'm having treatment. This morning I went in for this to be inserted under local anesthetic, Once it's settled down this will really minimise the distress of my treatment.

So Monday 2nd November will be the start of our new normal for a while. I am booked in to start my chemotherapy. Initially my treatments will take approx 3+ hours but this will reduce each time as my body gets used to the drugs.

Happy Thanksgiving

This past weekend was Thanksgiving, we celebrated with a lovely meal at Rich and Jen's. We didn't have a traditional turkey in the freezer but we did have a duck!!! close enough. It as very yummy.

Isaac started his new job at Degree Technology last week and is enjoying being back in his chosen trade. Josh had some midterm exams last week and Harriet did well in her cross country trials and has now finished for the season. David has done a good job of the dormer in Isaac's room and just has some finishing off in there to do now.

I went to see my oncologist today and because of the grade of the cancer they removed I will have to have chemotherapy followed by radiation then hormone therapy. All this will start in a couple of weeks time after I've had some tests and meetings to prepare me for it.

On the plus side I should still be able to travel to the UK at Christmas if all goes well.

We would really appreciate your continued prayers during the next few months as we progress down this new and ever so slightly daunting road.

good news

So today was the appointment with my surgeon to get the results from my recent surgery.

He said they had removed all the cancer and it hadn't spread to the lymph nodes!!! good news indeed.

I will still need further treatment to do all they possibly can to prevent it from coming back in years to come. This is likely to be radiation and who knows what else so now I have to wait for an appointment with my oncologist to work out the next steps.

Thank you all so much for your prayers, visits, gifts and messages throughout the past few weeks. I think I'll need patience for the next stage as it looks like it will be a lot of waiting and meetings before treatment will begin again. At least it gives me time to heal and get my strength back.

September Update

Josh has started at UNB, he is enjoying his Computer Science Degree so far. He is living at home and getting a lift into town each day with one of us.

Harriet is now in grade 10 and is enjoying the short cross country running season before winter sets in. She ran part of the NB schools Terry Fox run last week. Her and Shadow did their first dog agility demonstration and trials a couple of weeks ago and did very well for their first attempts.

Isaac went to work for StorTec which he is enjoying, he's seeing quite a bit of New Brunswick. This job still couldn't give him hours towards his HVAC qualification so when he heard the company he did his last placement at had a vacancy he applied and got the job, so now he's working out his notice and starts his new job next week. His ducks have hatched out dozens of ducklings which are super cute running round the place.

David has been busy making a dormer window in Isaac's room the past couple of weeks. Isaac's room has never had a window since we moved in and it's been affectionately called the cave, we'll have to come up with a new name as it now has the best view in the house!

I had my surgery on 14th Sept. I had a lumpectomy and sentinel node biopsy. I came home 2 hours after surgery and David has been looking after me. I'm doing very well and have started getting out more this week. I'm still sore and tire very quickly but I will soon be back to full strength. I have simple physio exercises to do each day and these are getting back the movement in my arm and shoulder and building up my strength so I will be able to lift again soon. I have an appointment with my surgeon on Thursday to get the results of my operation and to discuss next steps. I have been very spoilt by family and friends throughout all this and really appreciate it, thank you

Our crazy summer

Well where on earth do I start?

Isaac passed his block 1 refrigeration and air conditioning exam. He didn't manage to get a refrigeration job after his placement so instead took a job making stone frontage for buildings. This involves lots of heavy work with concrete and is very tiring in this very hot weather. He took the job as a stop gap and is currently working his notice before starting work next week for a local firm which does shop fittings including coolers. He will be building the coolers and other shop fixtures, this is closer to his trade and he hopes it will be more varied and interesting.

Josh and Harri have been very busy working at the cranberry bog for the summer. Josh also works a couple of shifts each week at Geek Chic too.

Harriet spent 2 weeks volunteering at Green Hill Lake Camp and to say she enjoyed it would be a big understatement! She is busy practicing dog agility with Shadow ready for his first trial in September.
She also is still part of 4H and was a cowgirl in Harvey Parade last weekend.

Harriet is the one on the right holding the 4H banner

Our cow Lemmon is now in the freezer and we are enjoying yummy steaks which is a real treat after so many years of eating pork!

We celebrated 5 years in Canada at the beginning of August and are currently renewing our permanent residents cards which is quite a job in itself.

Our really exciting purchase of the summer is a farm!!!! Yes a real 92 acre farm. David has dreamed of this forever. Those of you who were there 22 years ago at our wedding may remember the many references to our farm with 10 bedroom farmhouse which was on our gift list. Well we now have the farm but the house only has 5 bedrooms! It hasn't been farmed really for nearly 20 years so has some work to do to get it functioning but we like a good challenge. Feel free to stop by we can certainly put you to work if you bring a lawn mower, whipper snipper, chainsaw, tractor or even a pair of work gloves! We still have our other house which is still in the process of being renovated before we try to sell it.

view of the barn

other side of the barn

some of the land

winter kitchen 

house

more of land and back of barn

We have booked tickets to visit the UK around Christmas/new year 2015/16, this was going to be a surprise but in light of out next news we decided to tell everyone now and pray that we will be able to board that plane in December.

On a slightly less exciting note I was diagnosed with breast cancer last week. It is in the very early stages and was found through a routine well woman's appointment with my practice nurse. Everything has gone really quickly so far with appointments happening just about on a weekly basis. I have an appointment with the Dr at the hospital today and my surgery is booked for 14th Sept. After the operation they will decide if I have to have other treatment. Thank you for all the messages of support and promises of prayer, I feel really upheld and quite at peace. Keeping busy with the farm is excellent therapy too. I will keep you all updated on a fairly regular basis.

The final graduation for 2015

Just a few pictures of Isaac's graduation from NBCC this week.

Later back in his class he received a high standing and class leadership award

To celebrate we ate at our favourite restaurant, 'The Gables'.

He is still waiting for the results of his block exam and to see if he has a job. In the meanwhile he is working at the cranberry farm and has gone on a canoe trip with friends

month of graduations

June has been an ever so slightly crazy month. What with all the kids taking exams and all the events associated with graduating school.

I had to do the grand march with Josh. This is a huge Harvey tradition where the grads and their parents parade round the gym then have the first dance before the grads go to prom.

A blurred pic of Josh graduating 

Proud parents 

Family pic

Joshy loves his sister!

The kids

Think he was slightly happy with his results!

Good bye to Harvey High forever.

Josh did very well and graduated with highest mark in Pre-calculus A, Pre-calculus B, Chemistry, World Issues, Highest grade 12 average and the Governor General's medal for highest class average over grades 11 & 12. He also won other awards and scholarships to help him go to UNB to study Computer Science in September. He is spending the summer working at Geek Chic and the cranberry bog.

Harriet also did well in her exams with highest marks in Physical Education, Science, Art, French, Math and English and with the highest grade 9 average. 

She is spending the summer practicing dog agility with Shadow, working at the cranberry bog and hoping to do some voluntary work at Greenhill Lake Camp.

Dedicated, dog agility in the rain!

Isaac took his final exam a few weeks ago and is still waiting for the results. He finished his 3 week placement and is waiting to hear if he has a job for the year. We are all going to St Andrews for his graduation tomorrow which should be fun.

Apart from all that we are busy with the farm and house DIY and looking forward to taking some days off this week.

catching up with 2015

So here we are at the end of May and I figured it was time to update you all on 2015 so far.

The snow did eventually all go and we went from winter to summer in about a week. Although we did have a few flurries this weekend to keep us on our toes!

The bugs are out now and I have the fetching itchy red lumps all over my limbs.

Harriet enjoyed competing in the 4H speaking competition this year and came 4th in her age group over all.

Harriet at regional 4H speaking competition

A very blurred pic of Harri at provincial 4H speaking competition

Isaac is currently studying for his final exam this Thursday then he comes home for a 3 week placement before he graduates the end of June.

Josh has 7 days left at school before exams followed by his graduation on June 19th. We have already started the crazy run up to his graduation. Last week it was the grad banquet and baccalaureate service at the local Pentecostal church.  Next we have the grand march, prom and actual graduation.

We broke down in the truck a few weeks ago and while waiting for help a moose decided to cross the road in front of us!

Harriet was in the UNB provincial Math competition a couple of weeks ago, she won a prize at the local level.

Harriet started dog agility again and has been allowed to take Shadow this year. Shadow has a lot more enthusiasm than Max ever had and is catching up to the others in the class well. She is hoping he can compete in his first competition later in the year.

David is busy with all things work, farm and church related and some house DIY thrown in for good measure too!

We had our first hog roast of the season on Victoria Day and have some more booked for next month.
All our sows have now given birth and we have lots of very cute piglets running round the farm.

I have just finished been on the road for a lot of April. I went for 3 days to PEI, and a couple of days to Moncton and Bathurst plus lots of visits to more local schools too. Now my job calms down for the summer while I cook and do admin for the camps we run at work.

Last weekend we were away on our church weekend at Green Hill Lake Camp. It was a fantastic time and as always was one of the highlights of the year.

So far we have no visitors planned for this summer so if anyone wants to surprise us with a visit that would be great!

Happy British Mother's Day!

I woke up to find my facebook feed filled with cute pics of all the cards and presents the Mums in the UK received from their kids today. I guess we don't celebrated it till May over here as flowers are a favourite gift and we won't even see buds until the end of April! So happy British Mother's Day mums, as usual your cards will arrive in May!

When we moved over here one of the things I really wanted have a go at was curling. Most of the local villages have a curling club but it's taken very seriously so I daren't turn up and make a fool of myself. Each year when the Harvey Lions News comes to the mail box saying the club is open again I vow I will pay them a visit but as yet I haven't. You can imagine my delight when one of David's coworkers ran a charity event where you could enter a curling team for an evening of curling for fun where no-one is professional. David and I both entered in different teams. It is certainly harder than it looks and very skillful but lots of fun. Maybe next year I'll turn up at the local club.

that's David in the centre left of the picture 

The kids have been desperate to try more extreme sports so when Harriet got the chance to go skiing with her 4H group she jumped at the opportunity and really enjoyed it. The boys went during March break with the student lifegroup but opted for snow boarding instead of skiing. All came back and laid on the sofa for the rest of the evening!!!

Harriet and I had our birthdays last month and celebrated with a couple of meals out.

Harriet has been part of 4H for about  years now and part of the requirements of the club is doing a timed speech on a subject of her choice. She spoke on school uniforms this year and won in her  age group and category this means she moves onto regional speaking next week.

David has just got back from 10 days in Indianapolis with work. He hired a car and drove to see David and Sarah for the weekend.

We're all home today as a blizzard is raging outside predicted to give us around 25cm more of snow. This week we've actually seen our first positive temperatures of the year and even had some melting so this is a real set back! Ah well we may see signs of spring by July!!!!

The orange carpet

I realized that I have forgotten to tell you about the carpet saga.

Last September I had to go for 3 days to Montreal with my boss John, to a conference.

Before we left we planned carefully where we would eat and other things we wanted to do during our visit. John chose to eat out at a very nice Indian restaurant, we went for the all you can eat buffet lunch which wasn't perhaps the best idea before a long afternoon of meetings.

I found a British fish n chip ship and introduced him to mushy peas...yummy!

At this point I should tell you I like IKEA and the one in Montreal is the closest one to where we live. A mere 8 hour drive or less than 2 hour flight! John had never been to IKEA so happily obliged to come with me for a slice of dime bar cake before my flight back home. I was very careful choosing small items that would fit in my case or carry on bag until I saw an orange rug. Rugs are very expensive in Canada so when we'd decorated Josh's room last summer, I'd only got a small pretty boring rug for the middle of his room. This rug was 4' by 8' and was orange with big white spots on, it would just match his newly painted orange room and was only $30. I was tempted, very tempted! John was very convincing when he said it was a good buy and I could just check it onto the plane. Not being a very seasoned traveler I believed him! So with suitcase, laptop, handbag and 8' roll of carpet I was dropped off at the airport.

The Air Canada person directing me where to go looked at the carpet and asked what I was going to do with it. I told him I was planning on taking it onto my flight. He laughed and said he'd not seen that before and that I would have to check it in for about $70!!!! Now of course that wasn't going to happen, he suggested I left it with someone in Montreal to maybe get it to me at a later date...er no! I went back to the computerized check in and tried to check it in as an extra bag, they would let me but would charge me $25.....slightly better but for a $30 carpet (and a Yorkshire woman) still not worth it.

I went to a quiet corner of the airport to plan my next move. I had brought a medium sized case with me that could unzip and expand upwards, I wondered if there was any possible chance it would squeeze in! Well after emptying all my personal possessions onto the floor I unwrapped the carpet and started to fold, it was quite a feat as carpet doesn't bend very well but I managed to get it to a similar size as the case. Then I put it in and jumped on it just like Rumpelstiltskin until I could manage to zip up the case! There was room for a few of my clothes on top and the rest were put in my laptop bag and handbag...perfect!

I went back to the Air Canada person who did a double take when he saw me and said 'Where's the carpet?', I pointed to the case, he didn't either believe me or understand me or both so asked me again. He shook his head and when I explained how I'd carefully folded it into my case  his comeback was 'It'll probably be overweight now.' It wasn't and I sailed through check in!

The rug took quite a bit of flattening when I got home and it was certainly a surprise Christmas gift for Josh.

Here it is in his bedroom.

SNOW!

So to be honest there is only one word on everyone's mind at the moment snow!

Don't get me wrong we do love the stuff but....we have lots and lots of it.
Now I know we live in Canada and we should expect it but sometimes we'd like a break from the 2 or 3 times a week storms, cancellations and digging out.

Last Saturday/Sunday we had over a foot fall, then Tues/Weds who knows how much fell but some of the drifts were shoulder high and we had another foot fall this weekend. If we weren't fed up with that lot we are expecting another 40cm today and smaller amounts later this week.

It was so windy the snow blew off the cars, trees and roof and drifted.

With the snowblower not working and one less person in the family here to help shovel, as well as the fact I hurt my neck before Christmas shovelling we have splashed out on hiring a plowman to clear our drive after each storm. This has to be one of the best decisions we've ever made. After the storm finished on Wednesday he came with a huge bulldozer and even with that it took him some time to actually get up the drive and clear it.

the wonderful plow!

David has been on a course at work for the past 3 weeks. Two people travelled to attend the course and another one to teach it. They were from the USA and Australia. These 3 decided to take advantage of the snow and to go skiing a couple of Saturday's ago. They were in a hire car which wasn't fitted with snow tires. When they came off the slopes it was dark and they were following the sat nav to get them back to Fredericton. Unfortunately the sat nav decided to take them the most direct route back to town down a wood road. With the snow on the road they couldn't see it was an unmade road and as there were some tire tracks on it they continued down it. It very quickly got very narrow and unsuitable to drive down and they got completely stuck. They had limited cell phone coverage and had to walk down the track to get a signal. I have to mention at this point the windchill that night was in the -20's. The only number they had to call was David's so around 6.15pm we got a call from them asking for help. After trying to get the hire car company to rescue them and failing we had to call Josh to bring the car home so we could head out and try to find them. We decided to try and get to them from the other end of the road they were stuck on as we really had very little idea how far they had managed to go. The road was ok to start with just snow covered but very quickly it got narrower and became a single track with very large rutts. We slid into the side and managed to get out again, at which point we should have resorted to plan b (whatever that might be!) but instead we continued on until a big bump took off our exhaust which then dug into the snow stopping us from moving either way. David had to get underneath and unhook the whole exhaust. We briefly managed to get cell phone coverage and get a message to the 3 we were supposed to be helping telling them to walk to us. As we started reversing the car approximately 2km back down the track they came walking towards us. We all walked out following the car which David was reversing. It was a long slow, dark, cold walk. When we got to the wider bit of road we all piled into the very noisy car to get to the main road where Isaac had been asked to meet us with a vehicle roadworthy to drive home!

While David drove everyone home me and Isaac had fun driving the car back home. The exhaust was making such a loud noise we had to drive with tissues in our ears and the windows open because of the fumes!

The next day after church we all went back out again to try and retrieve the hire car and our exhaust!
A friend from church followed us with his truck and plow to help us. Unfortunately it was quite a long drive and the truck started to overheat and we found it didn't have any oil left.

the wood track where all our adventures took place, the stuck car is 1km further down!

Eventually we got to the stuck car after parking on the road and walking about 1km down the wood track. It was well and truly stuck with the front wheels completely iced up. It took lots of digging, pushing, pulling and a snapped tow rope before we actually got it out of the hole. It was quite a steep slippery incline and the truck couldn't manage to pull the car the 1km to the road. It was now nearly dark and we were beginning to wonder if this saga may go into day 3. On the way in we'd passed a farm so while the truck reversed out a couple of us went to call on the farmer to see if he could help. As the truck was reversing a car came down the track and skidded across the track nose diving into a ditch. A Chinese family got out! It transpired they too had been following their sat nav!!!!

the stuck hire car!

So we got the Chinese tourists car out and the truck and went to call on the farmer. His mother wasn't at all surprised that strangers were knocking on their door on a Sunday night, she just said 'He's over there' pointing towards her son who was using his tractor to snow blow his pond to make an ice rink.

Even with a huge tractor fitted with a plow and a snow blower it wasn't all plain sailing towing the car back, probably 1 1/2 hrs later after having to get a chainsaw to chop back a number of trees the car was finally on solid ground. It was certainly an adventure!

All I have to say is roll on spring!

2015

Shadow says 'Happy Christmas'

2014 kind of flew by, so much so that I ran out of time to write the end of year blog instead of my Christmas letter. Here goes better late than never!

2014 started with the end to the longest, coldest winter which at the time seemed never ending.

Isaac turned 18, graduated from Harvey High, worked at PFY summer camp and started studying refrigeration and airconditioning at St Andrews.

Josh turned 17, started a new part-time job in town, is part of the debating and science clubs at school and plays soccer (football) on the school team, he also is involved with junior firefighters.

Harriet turned 14, started taking Max to dog agility as Shadow broke his leg and couldn't go. She is involved in drama, science club, track and field and cross country. She is still part of 4H too. In October she was baptised in a local lake.

David continued to work for Salesforce.com and got promoted towards the end of the year. He had a couple of business trips to Indianapolis during 2014.

I still work for PFY and my role continues to challenge me and change with the different funding we get.

We all are involved with Christ Central Church  where David and the boys continue to do the moving and sound team and me and Harriet do kids church and turkey cooking for the sandwich run.

We still have lots of animals including pigs, chickens, a cow and Isaac's ducks. We didn't do turkeys this year after all the stress of 2013 losing power over Christmas and I have to say when it came to Christmas eve and we didn't have to pluck anything it was a relief.

It was the summer for visitors, firstly David's parents came in July for a couple of weeks. We visited a number of local attractions and then David and his dad started on changing the windows in the house an taking off lath an plaster so we could insulate the walls.

As soon as they left my family came for a Woollin reunion. We had a great week at Yoho Lake and a special weekend on PEI.

Our house renovations have continued with every thing we do making it a much warmer house. Before the weather turned David got the house wrapped and some siding on, now he's working inside insulating, leveling ceilings and floors and decorating. We had a deadline as Mum and Dad were coming for Christmas. We were up till 1.30am Christmas day finishing putting wood on the floor so we didn't just fall into the basement, plasterboarding and then putting furniture back in and putting up the tree!!!

 the lounge floor the week before Christmas being taken up

the tree got a temporary home in the dining room until we got a floor in the lounge.

We had a lovely time with my parents chilling, playing games, decorating, walking, getting stuck in during a snow storm, shopping, visiting, going to a hockey game an celebrating Christmas, New Year and Isaac's 19th birthday. I took them to Bangor to start their long journey home yesterday and they should arrive back in Whitby tomorrow.

 Mum and Dad at Rich and Jen's

Mum scoffing poutine!

 Tasty meal at Saigon's

Hockey

Mum's new friend!

Isaac is 19

Candlepin bowling

We are excited for what 2015 will hold. It's starting with bitter temperatures, tonight we expect a wind chill feeling like -36. The weather forecast is telling us to expect a T-rex of a winter.
Josh should graduate from Harvey High in June and Isaac from NBCC. We would love to visit family and friends in the UK (but that's probably more of a dream), we need to finish the house and we may even get to move into the farm. Another quiet year then!!! We have no bookings as yet for 2015 so feel free to come and visit us sometime in the remaining 51 weeks of 2015.

Happy New Year!