Thank you for being a friend

You may or may not have known that I have been dealing with severe pain for a few months, since the end of February. We tried several changes of meds and did X-rays with no real success. The doctors requested more detailed medical images (CT scan) but because the hospital is slammed, it hadn’t been scheduled yet. Then yesterday when I tried getting out of bed, my legs collapsed under me, and I wasn’t able to walk unassisted even 2 steps. I contacted my oncologist who said to come in to the chemotherapy unit at the hospital for some tests. I arrived at 9:30am, got a couple of meds and waited in a bed. The scans were being arranged, but the earliest was 6pm, so they decided to have me admitted at least overnight while they evaluated options.

 

We did an MRI at 8:30pm, and shortly after 10 the radiation oncologist came to say that they found a tumour on my thorax,  which accounts for both the pain and the weakness. The first thought was to plan for radiation treatments and I’d be kept here for that. They arranged another scan for this morning to be able to do detailed plans, and that’s changed dramatically.  All of my doctors came to meet me to explain that the new approach is for me to get back surgery to remove the tumour.  The surgery is imminent, and will be done before the weekend.  I’m somewhat nervous, as you can imagine, but I trust my team and they agree that it’s the best for me.  They explained that surgery would allow me a better quality of life and under radiation I would need multiple treatments, but surgery would be followed by a short course of radiation.

 

So I was transferred to the neurosurgery unit at the Civic hospital today to prepare for the surgery.  I’m expected to be there for about a week, then home with a home care nurse for rehab for a few weeks. I’ve met the various team members who will be caring for me, and I’m amazed at how many Caribbean people are there!

 

For those of you who pray, please pray for me to have a successful surgery and a full and rapid recovery. It’s challenging that no visits are allowed, because Don is my support and even he is not allowed to be with me. For those who do not pray, please keep me in your thoughts.  If you would like, there is this page where you may send greetings: https://www.ottawahospital.on.ca/en/good-wishes-form/. My room number is OMTU-03 at the Civic campus.  Entirely your choice!  

 

Thanks for reading this, and I look forward to hearing from you and I trust your prayers and support. I’m eager to plan this year’s lobster dinner or at least a summer dinner!

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