Monday and homeward bound

Well here I am on the flight back to Baltimore after a very refreshing and soul rejuvenating couple of days in Boca with my mom and sister Russy. Yes it is me writing again in the blog. It looks like I have lost my secretary/nurse/therapist/big sister. Oh well.

I find it difficult to put into words just how supportive my immediate family has been throughout my ordeal. That's not to take anything away from my extended family and friends who have been unbelievable as well.

On a very personal note. To Diana, Robyn, Michael, Mom, Russ and Phil. I cannot adequately express my true love and admiration for you all. I know that this war/battle would have been infinitely more difficult to endure had it not been for your support and undying love. You have put up with so much and have all been so generous with your time. There are still lots of days when I think of all the difficulties that lie ahead but you all seem to pull me back to a better place. When I'm having a lousy day you sense and feel it and somehow you always seem to drag me out of the darkness. Let me say again that I don't think I will ever be able to repay the love and kindness you all have shown me. Not in this life time or the next! The only way I know is to win this war and survive these battles. No matter how long it takes. I love you all.

Sunday

I'm still writing for him!!!

and then Sunday....

Today was Yom Basa. Let me explain....there is a great expression in Arabic.Yom Asa,Yom Basa. Basically one day A grade the other B grade.
Ade knows the minute he wakes which it is and the trick is to learn some techniques to prevent the physical 'not great feeling' making his mind contribute so much to the overwhelming downer!
We had a less than successful breakfast and he was able to sleep a little and we did do our beach walk which was as normal so beautiful!
Sleep was really the order of the day and Ade's good friend Howard Palte and his lovely wife Michelle came round at 5. We chatted and went off with them to a seafood place...so far so good....came home and even a bath(Ade's total repair mechanism) didn't help so off to bed and let's see what tomorrow brings!!!!?

Saturday

And here we are at Saturday and Ade is not as well as yesterday....perhaps it's the pain meds,perhaps it's eating a little too much(we did eat a huge amount yesterday),perhaps it's a little anxiety but whatever it is we're dealing with it and he's resting and napping as I type away...The change of venue has been amazing for him and I suppose we have to deal with the ups and downs ...it's hard for us to not be able to help more and everyone knows that if we could share any of the pain we would in a heartbeat!I'm sure today will get better so we'll add more later. In the meanwhile I'll enjoy the ocean view and have breakfast ready when he wakes up.

Well! It was better and we had a great day! After the usual excellent breakfast at our Mom we went for our walk on the beach and watched the fisherman...actually one guy caught a barracuda and it was really exciting to see him reel it in! We have a little heavy,what is the meaning of life discussion but for the most part Ade and I just enjoy the beauty of this place and being together and miss Phil and the rest of the gang!!
We had the two lovelies return groomed and looking so gorgeous! My Mum and Aunt Yetta and off we went for the daily Jumba Juice. Ade was yearning for a Hot and Sour soup from PF Chang so we picked some up for what was to turn out to be an amazing picnic meal indoors...all the left overs and bits that we love!

Cousin Martin brought us yet another awesome 'skit and donner' movie.(blood and guts). Great day......

Friday

Friday was such a great day!!! We all had an enormous breakfast,spoke to Phil(little sister) loads,and missed her more....Mum had to get her dose of Wimbledon and Ade and I did the beach walk and a swim. The weather is wonderful especially coming from London. Ade felt so good that he decided we should go for a Jumba Juice and so we did! Swallowing it he was a little nervous but all was well and we enjoyed every last drop planning to go back!

The rest of the day was amazing and my brother felt and looked great. We are all so incredibly proud of his amazing strength and courage and we know that he is just pulling out everything he has to beat this!
Shabbat dinner was great and we ended the day with another good movie!
How cool is that? Two out of two!

My getaway

Here I am in somewhat sunny Boca Raton........and as you can all see I haven't come near the keyboard since that last sentence! I'll let my big(note not 'older')sister become my secretary because there is so much I want to add and I have been up and down mood and feeling wise!

So here I am (Russy,Rochelle depending on when and where we met!)....I couldn't wait to meet Ade in Boca to be with him and my Mum. Phil coming would have made it perfect but she will be here next week and then in a couple of weeks with our bro!

Arriving earlier than Ade,my Mum and I were able to pick him up and I'm so glad we did! He really wasn't well after the plane trip and actually the experience was awful! But bring him home we did and after he had his medication and a much needed sleep he felt so much better!

We spent the rest of the day relaxing here in this gorgeous place,watching him gently gain back colour and strength. We went for a lovely walk on the beach and he felt so great that we even went out for dinner with cousin Martin and Aunt Yetta, all of whom were so pleased to see him!

My Mum and I were so thrilled that he was up to going out and we all had a lovely evening enjoying each other and the magnificent view from the restaurant at the top of the tower at the Boca Beach Club.

Don't go see it!

With the radiation recover on going I am trying to get things back to some semblance of normalcy. Yesterday Mike and I went to an afternoon showing of Indiana Jones and the kingdom of the crystal skull. Save your money. Much the same as all the other episodes. I will say this. Harrison Ford looks like he did in those episodes. Hasn't aged much. What the hell gives? Around about the same time Diana, Robyn and a friend went to see Get Smart. Kids liked it but the adult was not overly impressed. Oh well. At least we some quality time with the kids.

After the movies we went to Qdoba (sort of fast food Mexican). I actually ate there. So as you can see, I am feeling better. The swallowing issue is almost back to normal and the pain from the ER visit has gone. Lets hope the improvement keeps going because I need to be in good shape (ha ha) for the start of the next round of chemo July 1st.

This Thursday I am going down to Boca Raton to spend a couple of days with my mom. Russy from London will be joining us. I am really looking forward to this as I have not been away from Baltimore for over three months. While I am away Diana and the kids will go to Toronto to see Diana's family. This will be a much deserved break for Diana as you can well imagine. To safe travels.

A visit to the ER

Not the best of days. Thursday mid day I started to have pain in the center of my chest. Yes, the very same area they bombed extensively with radiation. By evening time the pain was so bad that I was having problems breathing. So off we went to the ER. After the obligatory "couple of hours" and lots of tests, they concluded that I had pneumonia. They discharged me late evening and off we went home.

The next morning, after a lousy nights sleep, we went and got the prescribed pain med and antibiotic. We had our radiology oncologist doctors look at the xray and CT scan. They basically concluded that it could be pneumonia but more likely to be post radiation effects. The pain meds still helped and taking the antibiotic wouldn't hurt anything.

A day later with a good nights sleep (and the meds) and I feel better. Hopefully the improvement will continue.

Medical Team Meeting

Today we met with Dr. Erlich, Dr. Skaryak and Dr. Citron (Dr, Brenner's partner). It was a really good meeting with some good news.

They reiterated that there is no evidence of the tumor on the lung anymore. They also mentioned that there is a good likely hood that the reason the nodes near the oesophagus are still showing slight evidence of "activity" are due to the residual radiation. The residual radiation should be with me for another couple of weeks. Crap!

The plan now is for me to start another round of chemotherapy on July 1st. It will be a six week weekly course of chemo with three different drugs. Different from the original round of chemo treatment I had. After the six weeks I will have another PET/CAT scan followed by another six weeks of treatment. So a total of twelve more weeks of chemo. I have been told that I should tolerate these upcoming rounds of chemo quite well. No radiation. So the swallowing issue should be ...........well, a non issue.

Now back to the residual radiation!!! I have had good days and not so good days. The swallowing issue is remarkably better. There are still times when it hurts swallowing but I guess it's self induced. I tend to scarf my food with minimal chewing. Well that's going to have to change. I am actually going to have to concentrate on chewing my food. How boring. Oh, I better start bulking up in the weight department. I lost about 22 lbs. My weight right now is 138 lbs. Too thin!!!

The fatigue is also quite difficult at times. I am just going to have to accept that I will have tough moments. Rest and relax, rest and relax. I sound like a therapist.

Happy Anniversary

What more can I say about Diana and how she has endured this medical ordeal with me. She has also endured 23 years with me (not to mention the pre marriage years). We, like most couples, have faced our ups and downs but we just seem to come out stronger in the end. My health battle was the perfect example of this. She has been by my side from day 1. She has been a real strength for me.

So I just want to say to her "happy anniversary and I love you more than ever".

Fathers Day

Waking up on Fathers Day morning was bitter sweet. Bitter because I am not able, any more, to wish my Dad a happy fathers day. It's been just over six years since he passed away. Sweet, very sweet, to appreciate being a father to two of the greatest kids in the world and savouring the encouraging news from Friday's scans.

This coming Wednesday we meet with Dr. Erlich and his team to discuss, in detail, the PET/CT scan results and the upcoming treatment plans. As soon as the meeting is over I will post all the updated and latest news.

In the meantime I will relish the fathers day attention.