Robert my hair's falling out

Just as I was going to bed last night Pace came down to the TV room saying she couldn't sleep but didn't what to talk about why.

So we sat up and watched a couple of episodes of The Blacklist; then I went to bed because I was tired. I am renovating the basement. I had to cut 45 corners for the baseboards, about a quarter of them are coped. Pace thinks it looks professional, that's all that maters.

So she asked me to look at her pillow it was full of hair this morning. Turns out it had been like that for a couple of days. She then rubbed her hands through her hair and it fell like snow. I think it's still pretty thick but she says she sees holes.

It's kinds cruel that a lot of the chemotherapy drugs cause womens' hair to fall out. For guys it's less of a deal. Shaving the head has taken on a cool factor, for men only.

A woman's identity is defined by hairstyle, women pay attention to each others hair, and men yours too. Cancer takes so much from people including their self-identity. That's why Pace is finding this so hard.

Treatment number 2

Today we went in for treatment number two. It's funny how it seems old hat even though I didn't go to a lot of the treatments when Pace had Breast Cancer.

They clean and prep the surface of the Cath-o-port, prep and insert the special hook needle, flush and clean the port, administer anti-nausea drugs. Once that's done they run the Abraxane drip for 30 minutes then 30 minutes of the Gemci. Then the nurse unhooks the needle, and applies a bandage. Pace gets an Ensure for calories and we go home.

Maybe we should stop reading the papers

Pace came across this story tonight and it hit her hard.

The stories on people who have contracted Pancreatic cancer tend to be grim. We both fell asleep with that as one of our last thoughts of the day. Needless to say, I didn`t sleep well.

New pain and more of it

It`s been a beautiful an sunny day. I worked on cutting baseboards for the rec room 40 angles to cut. Pace worked on the garden.

We`d rather have been at my niece Rebecca`s wedding but Pace can`t travel 7 hours in the car; sometimes 20 minutes is too much, mostly because of the bumps.

Pace needed more 10 mg more than her patch delivered today and the pain is in new places, like the lower kidneys.

We see the Oncologist on Wednesday and we`ll get more news then.

The oncologist is upping the frequency of the doctor`s visits...

While this means more personal care, Pace and I are wondering why he`s changing the schedule from once a month to once a week. On the bright side it means Pace gets more of his attention!

However, this also means that she has to go in on Wednesdays to see the doctor and get her blood test before getting her chemotherapy on Thursday at 1:30 pm. Logistics are going to be a challenge.

A song for Pace

Saturday night, our neighbor Yves threw an excellent Live Music party. It was odd not to be there with Pace but we both felt it would be a good way to decompress and yes, I did the white boy dance to Lonely Boy.

The band's called Black Russian and they are tight. The singer Patrick and I talked briefly and asked if my wife was with me. I mentioned she was home sick in bead and the bedroom window was open to listen. He asked what she liked. I told him Depeche Mode. They dedicated Personal Jesus to her; it was an appropriate metaphor.

Thanks Patrick Turcotte, Martin Lavallée, Frédéric Saint-Denis, André Beauchemin, and Richard Farrese for the music!

Thanks Yves for organizing the fun!

A Scary Chemotherapy Information Session

Today we went to the hospital for a session on what to expect during chemotherapy for hepatobiliary and colorectal cancers. It was good to get a refresher on the process and learn more about the support services available for nutrition and psychological  support.

The scary part was seeing some of the other patients in the room. There were 5 others present. Two of them had serious jaundice, the skin has yellow-greenish cast and the whites of their eyes were yellow. The sicker looking of the 2 said he'd lost 40 pounds in 3 weeks. Another patient shared he'd lost 30 in a month. Pace has lost about 15 lbs in 3 weeks, which made me feel better for a minute, then it struck me, she's half their size.

As we`re leaving one of the patients share that his doctor had given him a prognosis of 2 months. Pace was confused because his case is similar to her's. Albeit he's at least 15 years older.

The images below are similar to what I saw. It's a shock.

Not the crash diet you'd prescribe

So in April Pascale weighed 115 lbs. Dr. Garg weighed her at the mid-June and she was 107, July 1st she was 105. She's as slim as when I met her. It's how a lot of the neighborhood has noticed she's sick.

Full spectrum of Blood tests

Today we went to Lakeshore to get our blood tests. I had my general annual check up. Pace`s was full spectrum with and additional look at specific hormone indicators. In and out in record time. The young lady stayed with her Mom and got a couple of special gifts from the nurses.

We`ll get the results with the Oncologist.

CT Scan

Pace has been having more and more trouble eating. It's painful. We've tried some softer food but it's not always working. That's the reason for the CT scan.

So another trip to Lakeshore Hospital. Pace was agitated but we're looking for answers and this is necessary. We got there about 1 pm and understood we'd be out by 2:30 pm.

Pace had to drink water and a "contrast" solution so that her digestive track would show up on the scan. She almost got a liter of it down before she was afraid of being sick. The medic said not to worry.

We were then informed the procedure might take 2 hours, from then. It started to look like we were not going to be able to pick up the wee one from school and so I called one of our neighbors René for help. Low and behold Pace then gets wheeled in and soon afterward out.

The technician said our doctor should get the results in a couple of days.

We sat for a few minutes in the sun until she felt better, then off we went to collect our little girl. Thanks René!

Family Doctor Appointment to deal with the tummy troubles

Pace's stomach and back pains keep on intensifying and we are not sure what is going on. She's been on Ulcer medication for 3 weeks now and it is ineffective. I'm wondering if it is stress related, with me working on contracts and her being laid off it's a possibility.

However, Pace thinks that it's more. She's worried that the scar tissue formed by the preventative hysterectomy or cesarean section  had once again grabbed onto her small intestine and was threatening to perforate it again.

So our doctor prescribed an abdominal CT Scan for May 30th. We'll check it out.

Solidarity for a friend fighting breast cancer

The ability to effectively demonstrate empathy is an important factor in supporting a friend's healing process.

What these ladies do is a fine example of sticking up for someone you care about. Watch how they made a startling difference here.

A New Boss and Back Complaints

Pace has been working at Precision Advertising for about 6 months and just got a new boss, Melissa Maloul. It's not going well, Pace is regularly coming home in tears and is angry at being patronized and antagonized by this new boss.

Maybe its's a Gen X vs. GenY thing but while Melissa can call her ex, arrive late and leave early because she's a single mom, Pace can't get a day off for a long weekend because there is too much to do. 

The girl that brought her into Precision left because of the way Melissa treated her and Pace would like to leave too but is staying because we need the money. 

Problem is that she's developed increasingly severe backaches and some indigestion.

Breast cancer mum defies Facebook backlash

Beth Whaanga has the same diagnosis as Pace. She's also had people take issue with her public stand on Breast Cancer. She's also taken it one step further and I commend her bravery of taking her message on prevention to Facebook.

This brought back some memories. When we posted pictures of Pace`s body and scaring after her surgeries, some people were upset. The issue people had was nudity equals sexual except that the the photos were of the ravages of beating cancer. 

Stay strong and God bless you Beth.

Breast cancer mum defies Facebook backlash