Week 15 - Fifteenth Week of Recovery - Post Radiotherapy/Chemotherapy Treatment : D Day for results!!!

Hi There!!!

Week 15 was 'D' Day for the results from Dave's final PET scan!!!! Being three months after Dave's final radiotherapy session.  The nerves were churning and battling away inside!!!

Well I won't hold you in suspense much longer.....

The dietician, speech therapist and radio oncologist were all very, very pleased and impressed with Dave's recovery.  It was such a relief for us both and especially Dave!!!

The PET scan was totally clear of any hot spots :-)  The Radio Oncologist basically said to Dave to go and live his life to the fullest and to not think about anything returning!!! So this is what we intend to do... to the fullest!!!!

Here's the before and after PET scan's.... on the before photos you can see a bright yellow spot on the photo... this was the cancer showing up.

Cross Section - Lymph node - before 

Cross Section - Lymph node - after (all gone!!!)

Cross Section - Tongue - before

Cross Section - Tongue - after (all gone!!!)

Lymph Node - before

Lymph Node - after (all gone!!!!)

Tonge - before

Tongue - after (all gone!!!!) 

We left the hospital and we just hugged and hugged each other in the car park, me in tears of relief and Dave just feeling quite numb still, I think!!!  I just wanted to scream at the top of my voice!!!

To celebrate, Dave fancied a pie from Harry's Cafe De Wheels... so pie, peas and mash with gravy it was after a stroll along the waterfront!!!!  On the way calling our children, Kimberly and Cameron with the most amazing news ever!!! They were so elated for us both.  Then calls and texts to everyone we knew!!! The iphone was running red hot!!!!

Tucking in!!

Freedom!!!

I couldn't hold it in for very long... I had to let it out!!!... we came across a car parked at the side of the road with this sticker 'A Day to Remember'... it was certainly a sign!!!! When I was taking the photo below, there was a queue of traffic near by and a car load full of guys and I heard one say to another "she's taking a picture of that car"!!! So I just screamed out as loud as I could to them.... "My hubby just got the all clear from having cancer!!!".... all the boys cheered really loudly with me and gave us the thumbs up!!!! :-))  Such a great feeling!!!  Dave stood by and had a grin on his face from ear to ear :-))  Probably thinking my wife's mad!!! He'd be right!!!

spotted this on a car... certainly an omen!!

All I can say is my face is aching from smiling and grinning from ear to ear all week!!!! So so happy for my gorgeous hubby!!! I still have tears rolling down my face with relief while typing this final update on our blog!!!!

Thursday Dave was scheduled to have his PEGGY removed :-) After having it inside him for six months he was very much looking forward to getting rid of it!! I struggled a bit to get my head around how they were going to remove it without giving him any anaesthetic and no stitches!!!  How does the food not come out!!!

To prep, the nurse put a numbing gel on the skin around the peg then again after ten minutes.  Dave had to lay flat and do lots of shallow, slow breathing to ensure he didn't tense his muscles.  One nurse pressed down both hands on his tummy and the other did the same with one hand, while yanking the feeding tube out with the other.  I asked if I could video the procedure.  Both nurses looked amazed at my request but were more than happy for me to do this.  They said they had never been asked this before!!

Dave now has a second belly button hole!! 

PEGGY in all its glory

Here's a video of the nurses extracting PEGGY... hope your able to play it as its amazing to watch!

Dave said it didn't hurt when they were pulling it out but afterwards it was very sore and tender.  Instead of going straight home afterwards we relaxed in at the movies in the Gold Class watching La La Land... it was a lovely old fashioned toe tapping musical love story.  Just what I needed :-)

The following couple of days Dave was quite tender so we just relaxed in front of Netflix, watching 'Tyrant' which is very addictive!!

Its hard to believe what we have been through this past year.  Not sure whether I want to reflect on it but its now time to move on and get our lives back to normality or the 'new norm' that people call it.  As going forwards life will be a bit different for Dave in terms of choosing the right kinds of foods to eat due to the lack of saliva and lack of teeth.  Also not sure whether he's going to be able to enjoy an alcoholic drink again either in the future, as he did try a sip of champagne on New Year's Eve and this just totally dried his mouth out... though champagne can be quite drying.  It may be different experience with beer but he hasn't tried one to date.  Dave is enjoying the 0% beer so he may be ok.  We will have to find out one day soon perhaps!

This will be our last blog post for a while now.  I will do a blog update in four months when Dave's had his first follow up.  So until then THANK YOU everyone who has taken the time to read our journey and for all your support, prayers, well wishes etc via our Facebook accounts, emails, chats, texts etc. They have certainly helped and gotten us both through our journey.

A huge THANK YOU to all the radiologists, nurses, doctors and specialists that have looked after Dave, you were all totally amazing.

And THANK YOU also to whoever listened to me up there in the ether and to my Guardian Angels.

From Love Is All You Need...

The best thing to hold on to in life is each other

by Audrey Hepburn

xxx

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

Our Love Just Gets Better All The Time

When I first fell in love with you, I thought

nothing could be better.  But I have found that

time has given us a richer and deeper love... a love

that comes with a sense of pride and satisfaction.

It's not just the good things we've shared that make

our love what it is, but the rewards we get from navigating the

obstacles in our journey and arriving at a stronger relationship.

My life is so much more than I could have ever imagined

because you are in it... you are the other half

of my heart, my partner in life and my best friend. 

xxx

Love to you all xxx

Week 14 - Fourteenth Week of Recovery - Post Radiotherapy/Chemotherapy Treatment

Hi Everyone!

Dave's continuing to improve twofold which is a great start to the year!!! Continuing to eat and enjoy his meals and getting out onto the golf course again too!! Playing three times so far this year :-)

We said farewell to Jacqui and Murray on the Tuesday, always sad when holidays come to an end.  They headed onto Sydney for a couple of nights before flying back to NZ.

Wednesday afternoon was D day for Dave's final PET scan.  Dave was well rested for it, along with being nice and warm and fasting for six hours prior, which were the instructions provided.  I dropped Dave off at the hospital as he was going to be about three hours.  I then went off to do some shopping, but cause I had a really bad headache decided to find one of those massage places in the mall to get a head, neck & shoulder massage... it was just what I needed, they actually relieved my headache... and as it was so good I decided to get reflexology on my feet too!!!!

On Thursday we farewelled Kimi, Jono and Toby at Sydney airport :-( so sad saying farewell :-(

Hopefully we will see them all again soon in NZ!  So missing our Toby cuddles!!! Was awesome having you all here for Christmas/New Years.... thank you and love you all to the moon and back xxx

Once we said our farewells at the airport we then dropped off the buggy and car seat to our friends Darren & Renee.  Unfortunately we missed Renee, but had a good catch up with Darren and their daughter Jemima and kisses from Jupiter their gorgeous Dalmatian.  Thanks guys for the loan of the car seat and buggy, they were a great help.  Then to cheer me up we went to IKEA for a bit of retail therapy then onto DFO to Lulu Lemon and Lorna Jane as I was in desperate need of fitness clothing!! It helped!!!

The rest of the week was catching up on washing, ironing and cleaning the house!!  With a few walks in each day to get back into the fitness regime.  Also enjoying a delicious dinner out with friends too, thanks so much Tom and Maree xxx

This morning I enjoyed a wonderful 10k walk with two wonderful girlfriends, Sherry and Ros to Worthington's Cellar Door.  Worthington's has become one of my favourites to date having the best of both worlds : coffee and wine in one visit!!  Not that we did any wine tasting today, it was too early in the day!!! Instead enjoying a coffee tasting.  Dave went off and played another 18 holes :-)  Getting better again each time he plays he says :-)

Sherry, Ros and me :-)

Being Sunday we are a bit subdued tonight as we receive the PET scan results tomorrow afternoon from the Radio Oncologist in regards to whether all of Dave's cancer has gone!!  Keeping everything crossed and praying to whoever listens out in the universe tonight.  We are ready, together, to receive whatever news we are handed.

From Love Is All You Need...

A kiss is a lovely trick

designed by nature to

stop words when speech

becomes unnecessary.

by Ingrid Bergman

xx

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

Let's Always Remember How Important Our Relationship Is

Let's always remember to thank each other for the gift of our love.

Some believe love means "happily ever after," but we know that is

the end result of living "one day at a time."

We will experience love and joy, sorrow and pain.

Let's promise to enjoy the good times and step through the tough times,

remembering that our lives have been brought together for a reason,

and that is our spiritual growth.  Let's rejoice in the endless possibilities

to extend ourselves in love and commit to the task.

Let's learn to experience unconditional love

and give thanks for our everlasting bond.

xxx

Till next week with hopefully GREAT news of ALL CLEAR from the Radio Oncologist!!!!

Week 13 - Thirteenth Week of Recovery - Post Radiotherapy/Chemotherapy Treatment

Happy New Year to you all!!!!!

So have you made any New Year's Resolutions??  I/we haven't as I/we don't believe in them.... they always get broken and I don't like to not carry through on things.  Life is a resolution to be kind to yourself and everything in moderation!

Dave continues to do really well, eating, energy levels increasing and still snoring like a trooper!!! Dave received a Garmin golf watch for Christmas, mainly to help him measure distances on the golf course but found it also monitors sleep patterns too.  So each evening Dave is averaging 4-5 hours of deep sleep which is great.  I on the other hand tried it last night and I'm only managing 2 hours of deep sleep... not enough for me!!  Will have to get that sorted!!

We enjoyed a lovely, relaxing New Year's Eve at home. Before dinner enjoying a walk with Toby

Then home for Toby cuddles with his Great Great Uncle Murray and Great Great Aunty Jackie

The lads cooked us a delicious roast pork dinner.  Thanks boys for a delicious meal.  Dave did a tremendous job on the crackling, even enjoying a little bit himself!!! Les, Sherry, Sandie & Pete popped down briefly too for a drink after dinner.  Most of us managed to see in the New Year, watching the Sydney fireworks on the TV, then disappearing off to bed at 12.15pm!! Dave tried a tiny sip of champagne to toast in the new year, however this was horrendous for him as it totally dried out his mouth due to only being able to produce 10% of his saliva.

love this pic of us both... thank Kimi for taking it!

Love this pic of Jax & I too

New Year's Day Dave, Murray and I were up early at 7.00am.  So nice to wake up refreshed on New Years Day, without a hangover!!!!  The boys went to play 18 holes of golf with Les and his brother Pete.  I went walking for an hour with Sherry and her sister Sandie.  Walking through the Bimbadgen vines these grapes just took my eye.  Jono pointed out to me that one of the grapes has an eye... can you spot it too?  Its a little weird looking!!

Jax and I then went to meet the boys on the 18th hole briefly enjoying the smokin & blues band playing at the Vintage.  Great band but thought the sound was a bit loud, too hard to hear each other talk, particularly too for Dave as his hearing is still a little muffled/ringing. Popping in briefly afterwards to see friends.  Then when we got home I'm not sure where Dave got his energy from as he then started pottering around in the garden fixing the watering system, which I had inadvertently put the garden fork through months ago!!! We finally convinced him to come and rest up!

The 2nd January Jax and Murray took off on their second leg of their holiday, enjoying 2 nights in Sydney before they fly back to NZ.  Whereas Dave, Kimi, Jono, Toby and I just blobbed in the media room watching movies... so nice to simply do nothing... well I did manage to get three loads of washing done in between movies!  Later on having a lovely picnic in our park with great friends, enjoying lemongrass and ginger tea with yummy Christmas cake.  Such a nice way to spend a couple of hours.  Then experiencing a delicious Thai take-away from Oishi as none of us wanted to cook!!

On Wednesday this week Dave has his full body PET scan to check to see if all the cancer has gone.  I do hope so!!!!

Some of you keep asking what a PET scan means... its a positron emission temography (PET) scan... its an imaging test that allows the doctor to check for diseases in the body.  The scan uses a special dye that has radioactive glucose tracers.  The tracers are injected into a vein in the arm.  The organs and tissues then absorb the tracer, with cancer cells having a higher uptake of the glucose. The scan measures where the radioactive glucose is concentrated. There are some pictures at the end of our first blog post of what the scan looks like if you missed them. We will get the results on Monday so fingers crossed for then!!!

As we have our Kimi, Jono and Toby with us we are unable to take them to the hospital with us as Dave isn't allowed to be in close proximity with children/babies for 6 hours after the scan.  Dave can be in the same room/house but no Toby cuddles until the next day.

And, Thursday will be a busy day driving to Sydney and back to drop off Jono, Kimi and Master Toby whom fly back to NZ.  There were seven of us then there will be just two!! :-( be strange for a little while.

From Love Is All You Need...

The heart that loves is always young.

Greek proverb

xxx

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

I Will Always Love You

Your love is the most important thing in my life.

I know I don't always tell you, but I want to remind you of how I feel. 

When I am with you, the past and the future lose all meaning,

as the "present" with you is truly a gift.

Thank you for all you are to my life... my love,

my companion, my friend.  I will always love you. 

xxx

Till next week.... be kind to yourself, I know I have to be kind to me!!

xxx