Taking a Break

Paddling off Yellow Point

Two weeks ago my lovely partner Monique and I went to our annual retreat at the magnificent Yellow Point lodge. It's beautiful, rustic and and very comfortable place. We have been going there twice a year for about 14 years now. So you get to see many of the same people and build close friendships with the regulars. At the same time we all get to witness each other aging and suffering through life's challenges: loss, death, sickness, children and retirement to name a few.

This was my first time at YPL in the middle of chemo treatment. At first I was a little apprehensive. "What will I say? Will people notice?" Everyone was very supportive and loving. In fact one of our regulars has MM (Multiple Myeloma) a more aggressive form of Leukemia and although he has been in remission for a year and a half now,  he will soon need treatment again. This put my little battle into perspective. MM is a very aggressive and nasty form of Lymphoid cancer.  Most treatments to date are not curative. Fortunately there are some amazing new treatments coming our way, even for MM.  One which is a cure, is called CAR T therapy.  It is the science of re-engineering our  killer T cells to do their job. That is the future of lymphoid cancer treatment and it was pioneered by amongst others Dr. Carl June.  

I spent most of my time at Yellow Point resting, sleeping, eating and enjoying great company and food. I am starting to really notice the effects of the chemo. My lymph nodes are shrinking dramatically. Previous to treatment my nodes were bulging under my chin, arm pits, neck etc. Now they are hardly noticeable. But I am feeling weaker and more easily fatigued. I am also suffering from a bit of "chemo brain" or brain fog.  What I have noticed is that there are days when things seem fuzzy and I difficulty thinking clearly. That's not good especially for someone like me who uses my brain a lot! I also wonder if the cumulative effects of the Flubaradine attacking my DNA or the Retuximab  triggering apoptosis (cell death) of my B cells are having all these symptoms and the positive results?  Probably both. It will be interesting to see what my next blood work will be like. Until then I have opted to stay off work indefinitely. Who needs the stress? I want to enjoy the Summer and spend time with family and friends.

Next week I will travel to Vancouver for the unveiling of my mother's memorial stone. She died at age 90 last July. The following week I am back on my next cycle of chemo. Stay tuned and in the meantime I am going to spread my wings!

Heron at Yellow Point