End of Week 3 - A tough week!

Yay.... end of Week 3.... only four more weeks to go!!!

Dave has had a reasonable week at the beginning but the end of this week has been a bit hard going in regards to eating and feeling very tired.

His mouth and throat are getting more & more uncomfortable as the days go on unfortunately.

Thursday was the most exciting day of all as we got to see our darling, gorgeous girlfriend Annie who is visiting us from New Zealand until Monday :-) :-) :-) After Dave's treatment we met Annie at Hamilton Railway Station after she caught the train up from Sydney Airport.  Perfect timing!!!

The only things Dave has been able to tolerate eating during the earlier part of this week is as follows, but only entree size portions:

Breakfasts: scrambled eggs or mushed up weetbix with milk or porridge with milk and cream.

Lunches : homemade chicken soup but that was a bit hard going as it was still a bit grainy, as I hadn't made it smooth enough. Yummy mushed up banana with warm custard.  Or runnyish Mac n Cheese with a tin of mushed up salmon; scrambled eggs too.

Dinners: omelette with mushed up veggies and cheese; poached white fish in milk with herbed milky butter sauce with mushed up grated cauliflower/broccoli cooked in ghee with a bit of very soft macaroni; very soft saucey spaghetti bolognaise.  Chocolate mousse for dessert.

Between meals also having Ensure Plus cartons : 1.5 kcal/ml nutritionally complete and balanced meal replacement.

During the week the Nutritionist's, Telisha & Gaby showed us how to use the feeding pump just in case Dave was unable to eat anything.

Unfortunately towards the end of this week Dave's mouth is now quite yukky with ulcers and candida and he is finding it really difficult to eat so he has been trialling the Ensure Two cal HN meal replacement drinks via the PEG. Dave is also rinsing with salt water and taking Nystatin Oral Drops regularly during the day to help heal his mouth.

As Saturday was a slow relaxing day and Dave wasn't feeling the best either he tried out the feeding pump while sitting enjoying a movie.  Annie, Dave and I managed to suss out the instructions and hooked it up correctly which was a great start!! The pump took a couple of hours to go through.

While Dave was resting, and to allow the pump to feed him, I took Annie out to a winery up the road... 'Worthingtons Cellar Door' for a coffee on the way to the supermarket.  Both Dave and I had been trying to get there for ages but just haven't managed it.  Anyhow, I highly recommend visiting when your next in the Hunter Valley! I'm not drinking at present, however I did have a very small taste of their dessert shiraz, which was amazing!!!  Thanks Julie and Michael for making us so welcome xxx

Worthingtons Cellar Door

My gorgeous darling girlfriend, Annie and I at Worthingtons

Supermarket shopping done, home and Annie cooked up a storm for us, well for me going forwards as Dave will probably be using his PEG from now on... soup made up from the beef bone broth I had prepared a few weeks ago.... spaghetti bolognaise and a fish pie... which was totally amazing!!!

Sunday, today as I write this blog is Father's Day here in Australia and Dave received wonderful encouraging messages from our two gorgeous and amazing kids... Kimi & Cam.... we both love you so much xxxx

We also went out for a little drive around the Valley to show Annie around, mainly to check out the homeware/gift shops at some of the cellar doors.... Dave enjoyed the drive and snooze in the car in the warmth.  He only got out once to have a little walk and to have a photo taken with me!

photo of Dave & I outside of Dark Horse Cellar Door

Dark Horse Cellar Door is also a must to visit... the wine is delicious... from tastings when it first opened and the gifts for sale are beautiful.  Thanks Olivia for making Annie and I feel so welcome and for the chat.

Lots of rest and an early night tonight as tomorrow is another big week, starting off again with the second round of chemo for Dave.  But first up will be the radiotherapy session.  Then saying goodbye to our amazing friend Annie who has been a huge support and a tremendous lift for me over the last few days.  Going to be so hard to say goodbye!!!  Though we do have another visitor to look forward to later in the week, being our son... Cameron.. can't wait to see ya mate!

I bought a book the other day for Dave... its called... 'You are My "Once in a Lifetime" I will always love you' by Marci.  I highlighted the following verse when I gave the book to him...

I'll Always Be here For You No Matter What...

I am always thinking of you...

believing in you... praying for you...

and hoping that you know that no 

matter how big a problem seems 

or how hopeless you feel, you are 

never alone, as my love is only 

one hug away!

xxx

Thank you once again for everyone's comments, texts, phone calls, messages, emails etc. etc. to us both... keep them coming as they mean the world to us.  You can now leave messages on the blog, if you want too, as I managed to fix the initial problem!!

And a HUGE, HUGE thank you to my gorgeous girlfriend Annie for flying over to support us both, and give me some girlie time I have thoroughly enjoyed having you here... I was considering hiding your passport!!! I know it was really hard on you leaving your three gorgeous kiddlywinks for the first time, for this length of time.  Thank you to your hubby, David too for holding the fort! 

Love to you all and will be posting again in a weeks time... xxx