Week 12 - Twelfth Week of Recovery - Post Radiotherapy/Chemotherapy Treatment

Week 12 - Twelfth Week of Recovery - Post Radiotherapy/Chemotherapy Treatment

Wow all that build up to Christmas, the prep, the shopping and the waiting and its all gone in a flash!!!  But what a flash it has been!!

Firstly, Dave's health is still on the improve which is all I ever wanted for Christmas, and I am sure it is what Dave wanted too.  His weight is on the improve too and he is enjoying his food a lot more as well, eating little and often.  Dave still has PEGGY in his tummy but is not using it anymore to feed, though still has to flush it morning and night to keep it patent.  Hopefully when we go back to the specialist on Monday 9th January we can organise for PEGGY to be removed.

I thought it might be a nice perspective if someone else wrote about our experience and how Dave is feeling, so Uncle Murray wrote the following... 

 "We have been following David's story from across the Tasman as he fights his way against this horrible disease. When we arrived at the door to spend the festive season with Suzie and David, I didn't know what to expect! At first sight, there he was..... The same David! Looking a little tired and with a peculiar sounding voice but otherwise just the same..... Minus Quite a few kilos!! Not the ideal way to lose weight, I have to say! During our 10 days here, so far, I have noticed several very positive signs which I'd like to note. Every day there seems to be a greater intake of normal food, a constant flow it seems although hot spices and coarse options are still a struggle for his recovering throat. Beer is going down the throat, at this stage it's the non alcoholic type but beer none the less!! At the end of the 1st week David and I ventured onto the golf course, initially attempting 9 holes with the prospect of continuing if David felt OK. And he did, we completed 18 holes although I think David was a little washed out by the end, understandably! I think this is a great milestone to have under his belt, onwards and upwards as they say!

David... And Suzie, who has done a remarkable job of guiding David through this difficult episode of their lives, it has been fantastic to be able to spend these two weeks of the festive season with you both and the added bonus of Kimberley, Jono and little Toby Maverick, my first great great nephew, joining us on Christmas Eve has been superb. Keep up the good work guys and I am sure you'll be back to full fitness in no time."

Secondly, we have been enjoying our days with Jacquie and Murray... Christmas present and food shopping, organising menus, playing Jenga, and sampling a few wines/beers here and there for Jacquie, Murray and I.  

Off exploring to Morpeth...

Fun night of Jenga...

Then on Christmas Eve Dave and I drove to Sydney.  A two and a half hour drive, which wasn't that bad.  We were expecting lots of Christmas traffic, but the roads were fairly empty which was nice.  Popped into see Allie, Alex, Jack and Sam on the way through which was nice as hadn't seem them in ages.  Picked up the car seat and pushchair... thanks so much Renee for lending these to us and to Allie in helping us out.  Then on to the airport where our most special Christmas bundle arrived... our first grandchild, Toby Maverick, with his mummy, our daughter, Kimberly, and her partner Jono.  Oh my golly gosh, Toby is so so adorable.   On arrival there were lots of tears from us all, except from Toby, as he was very content!

Kimi, Toby & Jono
 in the background
pushing the trolley

 He travelled really well on his first flight... didn't phase him one little bit!

As Dave drove to Sydney I drove us home to give him a rest... the next two and a half hours back up the freeway were a bit hairy in places because of the torrential downpours, thunder and lightening!!  And our wee little man needed feeding a couple of times on the way too.  We made it home to a lovely welcome from Jax and Murray and platters of goodies.

Christmas Day was very relaxing, opening pressies, eating and chilling out.  Kimberly was a little over excited to see all the presents that Santa had delivered overnight.

Poppa Dave enjoying cuddles with the gorgeous Toby...
very co-ordinated in red!

Toby's First Christmas.... he's loving all the paper!!
& so darn cute in his Santa suit 

Christmas festivities

Looked after the gorgeous Tash for a couple of days
Murray, I enjoying a coffee aftewards

Toby's first dip in a pool... not too phased!

Summer!!  Cosmopolitans and games

From Love Is All You Need...

No road is long with good company.  

a Turkish proverb

and from You Are My "Once in a Lifetime" I will Always Love you... by Marci

Let's Make a Promise to...

1...

To hold hands, no matter how old we are.

2...

Say "I Love you" every day.

3...

Write love notes for each other to find.

4...

Forget mistakes.

5...

Forgive Words spoken too soon.

6...

Plan time alone together.

7...

Focus on the things we like about each other.

8...

Not to expect perfection.

9...  

Try to be the person of each other's dreams.

10...

Support each other through life's challenges.

11...

Say "thank you" often.

12...

Send e-mails that say "I love you".

13...

Take walks together.

14...

Hug and kiss every day.

I believe Dave and I do most of the above but its always good to re-mind ourselves too!!

We attended a funeral yesterday of a really lovely lady that was taken from us far too soon and the priest put things into perspective that we may not believe in a god but we must believe in LOVE and love each other.  Ann, your Irish blessing is so true....

May your troubles be less,

your blessings be more,

and nothing but happiness

come through your door.  

God bless you Ann, you will be truly missed by all.

Well this is the last day of 2016!!! I won't be sad to see this year gone... It's been a pretty rough year for our family and for a few friends we know, so I pray, hope and wish that 2017 will be a better year for all of us.

See you all again in 2017!!!! Have an enjoyable safe New Year's Eve... xxx

Week 11 - Eleventh Week of Recovery - Post Radiotherapy/Chemotherapy Treatment

Hey There!

Wow, only six more sleeps to Christmas Day!!! Which also means it will be time to meet our first grandchild, Toby Maverick (four months old) :-) and our gorgeous daughter Kimberly and her amazing partner Jono! 

Where has this year gone!!!  Its been a pretty tough year and hopefully, very hopefully, one we never have to repeat ever again!!! 

I can thankfully say that Dave is now very much on the improve, its been 11 weeks since his last radiotherapy treatment and has finally gotten over his nasty viral gastro bug.

This week Dave has regained his appetite and has started eating again:-)  Albeit very very small portions, but hey, he's eating :-) You can probably hear the excitement in my voice!!! Its taking him ages to eat at the moment too because of the amount of swelling inside his throat and at times its slightly sore.  So far he's enjoyed a poached egg with a hash brown; Beef stew; a grated zucchini & fresh herb omelette, oh and a couple of pork chipolata sausages that a friend of ours, David cooked on the BBQ last night. Oh and not to forget one of my delicious mince pies I made, from scratch...

I'm still trying to convince Davey to try one of my delicious green smoothies!!! Jordan, I will conquer this mountain very soon!!! In regards to meals the other task we have is to find/create things that are juicy, saucy and easy to eat as Dave doesn't have much saliva in his mouth to be able to help swallow his food.  This may never change so we will always have to review the menu very carefully!! 

To those of you, reading this, at the moment, and are going through treatment, please hold on, keep thinking positive thoughts and visualising you being fit and well again.  I know it can be very hard at times but it really helps in your recovery.  I know it sounds airy fairy but it really does help.  To those that are providing support to loved ones & others, you too hold on, keep strong and healthy and lean on others for help.  Don't be afraid to ask for help either.  My thoughts and prayers are with you all.

At times, through the way, I never thought we'd get through this but somehow we pulled all the inner strength we both had together and we are getting there!!... the light at the end of that extremely dark tunnel is here!!! I think my faith also helped me too, most nights I talked to whoever listened to me out in the ether!!!  And always tried to keep a positive outlook on everything.

Yesterday was a great day as Muzza, and Jax arrived from Napier, NZ.  They are with us now for a relaxing two week Christmas break of lots of laughter, fun, board/card games, maybe a few day trips to the beach and just chill-axing around our pool/home.  Let the fun and memory times begin :-)) 

Dave has also enjoyed getting together with a few friends over the last couple of days too, everyone was so pleased to see him out and about too :-) 

Christmas shopping all done, just the last minute food shopping to do prior to Christmas Day.

Christmas is a time for lots of reflection for those that are no longer around us and offering love and support to those that are in need.  

From Love Is All You Need...

Do all things with Love

by Og Mandino

From You Are My "Once in a Lifetime" I Will Always Love You by Marci

Thank You For All That You Are... and For Being a Part of My Life Each and Every Day!

Thank you for...

Your thoughtfulness, your caring, and your

ability to give me hope in every situation.

All that is uniquely you!

Being a special light in my life.

Letting me into your heart where I

experience a special spirit that is as beautiful

as what I see every time I look at you.

xxx

Dave and I wish you all a very Merry Christmas... Happy Holidays with your family, loved ones and friends.  May it be a safe and happy time for you all.  Loads of Love Hugs and Kisses to you all xoxo 

Week 10 - Tenth Week of Recovery - Post Radiotherapy/Chemotherapy Treatment

Hi Everyone!

Wow ten weeks already since Dave finished his last session of radiotherapy!!!!

As some of you know Dave has been recovering from a gastro virus the last couple of weeks!!  I can now thankfully say that he is starting to come right :-)  It pretty much knocked him off his feet!!  Feelings of nausea, stomach cramps, fatigue, and diarrhea.

I got our chiropractor to do a home visit for Dave on Monday night as I thought this would help him too as he was suffering also with neck and lower back pain.  The chiro said that he could see a lot of swelling around Dave's neck.  After another visit on Wednesday night Dave is feeling the benefits of his adjustments.  Thanks Martin for your support.

We visited the Radio Oncologist, Speech Therapist and Dietitian on Thursday for the last time this year!  Dave had a good report card back from all three :-)

The Oncologist, with the Speech Therapist present put a camera down Dave's nose and throat - all looked good, though there is a lot of swelling still inside but they say this is 'normal' and will go down over time!! How much time they couldn't say!  There is a sign of thrush inside Dave's mouth and throat so Dave's now taking a medication for this.... Fluconazole Suspension 50mg/5ml, once a day.

Dave's voice has been quite raspy of late and this is due to the swelling near his vocal cords, they said once the swelling goes down his voice will come right.  The vocal cords and swallow are good.  While the camera was down Dave's throat they got him to swallow a blue dye so they could check that what Dave swallowed went down the right channels and it was.  Such a relief!

Over the last six weeks Dave has lost about 3kgs which isn't good but not too bad.  In total Dave has lost approximately 9kgs from the start of his radiotherapy treatment.  The specialists all said that Dave needs to start training his brain again to start wanting food and that it was really unfortunate that he picked up the recent bug as he was doing so well.  They also talked about removing the PEG soon too but not until Dave's eating normally and his weight is on the rise.

The dietitian said that its ok to just start with a couple of teaspoons full of food first off then each time to increase to one more and so on.  To also eat first before administering a TwoCal.  And to start drinking more via the mouth.

Dave's taste thankfully is improving too.  He's just finding it hard to swallow too much with the swelling in his throat at present.

Dave's immune system is still below normal levels so has to be very careful still that he doesn't pick up any more bugs etc!!

Dave's next appointment is on Monday 9 January to get the results from his PET scan which will be done the week prior. Were still waiting on this appointment date/time though! Must chase it up this coming week.  So keeping all our fingers and toes crossed for more positive results and that Dave gets the all clear!!!

It would be so so great to start 2017 with POSITIVE results.

As a friend mentioned in a comment "The Only Way is Up", sung by Jazz.

We've both had a lovely quiet week.  I've been doing little bits of that and this.  Dave managed to get out on Friday and gave a friend of ours, Les, a few coaching tips on the golf course.  I went out with them also to gain a few tips!  Even Dave enjoyed a few chips and putts too.  Afterwards, I asked him how it felt, he said "the club felt like a lead weight!!" I think it might be a good idea for Dave and I to visit our local gym to build up our muscles together!! Yvie we might need your help!!

Saturday we had a lovely surprise visit from Ellen, who I used to work with at the PDs in Sydney and Chris her hubby who were in the neighbourhood.  Thanks again for the yummy chocolates... I promise to save them for when Dave's able to enjoy them! Look forward to you both coming to stay for a weekend next time!! xx

From Love Is All You Need...

The best and most beautiful things

in the world cannot be

seen or even touched.

They must be felt with the heart.

by Helen Keller

and from You Are My "Once in a Lifetime" I will always love you by Marci

I Want to Share Every Part of My Life with you

I want to share my life with you...

every joy,

every sorrow,

every triumph,

every challenge,

every hope,

every dream,

every good thing

and every hard thing.

I know that our love will endure 

the test of time and give to each

of us - separately and together -

the strength to overcome any obstacle

that comes our way.  I will love you

forever and through all time.

Oh my gosh that verse above is so apt for us!!!

Seven more sleeps before Jax and Muzza arrive for Christmas.... were so so excited to see them both!!!

I've made the Christmas mincemeat... this is in the fridge maturing, and needs stirring each day for a week and each day I get to lick the spoon!!! Ahhh smell the brandy!!!  Christmas Pudding made today too, well first lot of six hours cooking done, now to mature in the fridge and a further few hours to cook and enjoy on Christmas Day... our home smells like Christmas!!!  Just need to buy some wrapping paper and a couple of presents then were done!! Thank god for Amazon and internet shopping this year!!

Hope your all organised or getting somewhat organised for Christmas.  Take care till next week xxx

Week 9 - Ninth Week of Recovery - Post Radiotherapy/Chemotherapy Treatment

Hey There!!

After our lovely social weekend last weekend and Dave doing so well with eating, this week has been extremely quiet as unfortunately Dave has had a pretty bad week with stomach cramps, constant visits to the toilet, feeling really nauseous and totally washed out :-(

Hopefully just a little set back and bump in the road!!!

So since Sunday Dave hasn't eaten anything via the mouth only the TwoCal's via his PEG.

Questions we've been asking ourselves :

Is it normal for a person who hasn't eaten for some months to have stomach issues?
Is it a gastro bug?
Is it food poisoning?
Should Dave still be continuing with the TwoCal if its a bug?  I've always believed that when you have a tummy bug that you shouldn't eat at all for a few days as your just feeding the bug! That you should starve it!!

Not sure what the hell we are dealing with!!!

I suggested the Doctor during the week but that option was passed over!!  We got to Friday and I said this is enough I think you really need to go to the Doctor, Dave agreed.  So thankfully when I made the phone call I managed to get Dave in to see our local GP at 11.00am.  When the Doctor started checking Dave's tummy it was really tender around his appendix area and the Doctor said it could be an issue with Dave's appendix!!!!  My heart sank and the word F**K came into mind!!! So the Doctor wanted to rule this out and wrote a referral for an urgent ultrasound!! We managed to get one scheduled for that afternoon at 4.00pm.  Also a full set of blood tests were done too at the clinic which have been marked URGENT.  The ultrasound needed to be conducted on a six hour fasting! As Dave had already had a couple of TwoCals for breakfast we had to wait till late in the afternoon, so home we went to rest.

The ultrasound technician was very thorough.  Her feedback was that she didn't think there was an issue with Dave's appendix.  Which was a HUGE relief!!!

Have to wait till Monday now to get all the results back. Dave made the decision to not have any more TwoCal's for a couple of days over the weekend to see if that makes a difference to how he's feeling.

So during the week we have just been chilling and watching the series of Suits - very addictive!!!  We're up to series five, episode ten and my gosh was there tears!!! From me anyhow!! Now have to wait for series six to appear on Netflix!! Oh the anticipation!!!!

I've had two visits to the chiropractor this week to fix my body after my fall eight weeks ago!! My body was so out of alignment!!! After my first treatment on Monday I felt so completely zonked on Tuesday, I also spent the day on the couch!!! Dave has a session booked on Monday evening, our chiro has very kindly offered to come to our home to see Dave.

The most exciting thing that happened this week was the 1st of December... when our Christmas Tree & decorations went up :-) Now its starting to look like Christmas... I've been advised that Santa and his Elves are very busy in the North Pole ready to for his big expedition down under to us here in OZ... Kimi, Jono, Toby, Jacqui and Murray I've sent Santa a letter to let him know you will be with us on Christmas Eve and not at your usual abodes :-) xxx Your welcome xxx

From Love Is All You Need...

Absence diminishes

small loves and increases

great ones, as the wind

blows out the candle

and fans the bonfire

by Francois de La Rochefoucauld

and from You Are My "Once in a Lifetime" I will always love you by Marci...

The Faith You Show In Me Is Always A Comfort

It is so good to have a partner

who listens with a heart

that understands my struggles... someone

who knows the things I need

to hear to put me back on the

right path.  God has blessed me

with the good fortune to have

you as my perfect match.

xxx

Fingers crossed for a better week next week!!!  Love you all xxx