Eleven down and one to go! Well, not quite ‘down’ yet as Nick’s still in recovery mode from this last one. It will be great to have an entire month with no scheduled hospital visits and for Nick to finally get a break from chemo treatments, but we’ll still be living in limbo for a while. His last treatment is June 1st and then he’ll wait five weeks (until July 6th) before his PET scan, which will determine if any active lymphoma remains. We’ll hopefully have results July 10th. There are three possibilities: no active lymphoma and he’ll be able to finalize his Japan trip and get ready to return to university; one site still active and he’ll need daily radiation for a month, but should still be good to return to school in the fall; or, multiple sites still active and he’ll need more intense chemo treatments with stem cell transplant. We didn’t go into details of what that would entail as it’s only required in a minority of cases so we’ll cross that bridge if/when we come to it. He’ll still need weekly dressing changes as they’re keeping his PICC line in, just in case, but that’s done in a local clinic so no hospital visit required. His white cell count should also have a chance to recover and climb back up to normal levels during June.
I keep hearing Tom Petty’s voice in my head singing, The waaaiting is the hardest part (that’s the only line I know, so it’s rather annoying). It’s now been eight months of waiting…for test results, for diagnosis, for staging, for treatment to start, for scan results, for flu season to pass, for treatments to end…and after the treatments end, we’ll wait another five and a half weeks for the PET scan results. So now I’m waiting for the waiting to end.
In the meantime, Nick has been keeping busy – mountain biking through the woods with friends and making GoPro videos of their adventures, making sourdough pop-overs, seeing The Quiet Room, painstakingly caring for his avocado bonsai, and watching shows and videos that make him laugh. And, last count, he was up to 13 Fortnite solo wins, though he keeps forgetting to do the dance at the end.
Yes, and we are waiting (and praying) in that room with you, too, love…don’t forget that. Big hug! Go Nick 😄
Hi Lyn,Ray and Nick, We are finding Nick is inspiring us – this part of the journey is very difficult ,yet he seems to have such energy and it sounds like he has a positive outlook. I also think the planning of the trip is a wonderful idea. I have just finished reading a book by a 85 year old man talking about how to enjoy retirement. Peter J Dyck (spent many years with his wife in volunteer work ) A quote from the book on travel “When we travel,we discover who we are and why we were made with the capacity to dream dreams “ it makes me think of Nick. Hoping all goes well in June. We finally met the new neighbours -had planned to have an afternoon tea to have them meet the neighbours , it just was not happening . Last Sunday went to their house and invited them down. We also saw what they had done to the house . They painted the whole house (mostly very pretty light green,they stained all the floor dark brown including the steps on the stairs , All new stainless steel appl. painted the kitchen cupboards white. Michelle and Ron are a lovely couple ,very busy career couple . Michelle loves decorating . They have 2 boys – the older son is finishing his 3rd year at Western University and the younger son has finished his 1st year at Queen’s (Mechanical engineer) . The boys are both home for the summer with full time jobs. On the court – we are busy with gardening . I go to excer. classes twice a week with Josephine and Barbara is always there as well. Josephine is having somme issues with pain in her knee ,will try to get an appointment this week. The Dr. has encouraged her to continue with excer. Again -we continue to think of you . Chris and Ne
I like Auntie Rose’s comment: We are all in that waiting room with you. You will never fight alone.
Sending lots of love (but no more chocolate, Mister! Okay, well maybe when you’re back at university.) 💕 💕 💕
Hi Lynn, Ray and Nick from Aunty Leona and cousin Arliss …..the future is sounding hopeful and hopefully all of this waiting and testing will soon be in the past. We really enjoyed your photos in this blog, We had no idea your backyard is such a wooded paradise! I guess that means we should visit and see it for ourselves someday!
I can’t imagine how powerless it must feel to have to wait and wait ( I’m not the best at that in general ). Glad the avocado is still going; mine used to wither before too long so Nicks obviously got the knack.
I watched this on tv the other day and it might be helpful in keeping well during the chemo. Everything crossed this will be the end to that treatment
https://www.express.co.uk/life-style/health/959980/cancer-treatment-life-mel-honey-this-morning-dr-chris
Lou xx
Waiting is definitely the hard part but in the end I am sure everything will be great and you can work towards this whole experience becoming a bad memory.