Susan was in London by 7:45am this morning and had her 2nd round of Chemo which started at approx 9:30 and lasted a little past 11:30am.

Overall it went well, she was a bit nervous going in but after it was all done she said it wasn’t as bad as she thought. Only a single visitor was allowed in the Cancer Clinic.

Her white blood cell count was a reasonably healthy level however it fluctuates greatly during the course of this and she needs to be constantly alert and conscious of germs and avoiding others with illness.

Sue has been continuing to reduce her meds on her own and this is okay with the Cancer Doctor (Lam) who we met with the day before.

There was some discussion of the possibility of getting future Chemo treatments moved to Woodstock and if approved Sue will get a letter in the mail and I will update you all that next will be in Woodstock.

As for the future, currently our next Dr meeting is Thurs afternoon on March 19th and should be Chemo Round Three the following day, although this isn’t yet booked/confirmed until they figure out if it will be Woodstock or London.

We were also informed that her next MRI test to see how the progress has gone won’t be until after the 4th round of Chemo (which should be April 10th).

Good Day all, I know some people have been waiting for an update, sorry this one took so long.

On Thursday, Feb 27th in the afternoon we have an appointment with Cancer Doctor in London – just a talk & review kind of thing, should be home before dinner. And then Friday, Feb 28th at 8:00am Sue has Round Two of Chemo.

All in all, Sue has been doing quite well physically. She hasn’t been “hit hard” by the Chemo – her pain level hasn’t gone above a 3 (of 10) on a single day and most days it’s in the 1 – 2 range.

She’s able to walk around the house and do most things, showers entirely on her own and we’ve gotten outside a few times and gone for short (but increasingly longer) walks.

She’s been reducing pain her meds substantially, completely eliminated one of them, and the other two have been reduced by 30 – 40%.

The thing that’s really bothering her right now is a few days ago she’s begun to lose her hair and she’s very emotional about it. At the rate it’s coming out it will probably be all gone in a week. We’ve gotten her a few head wraps and looked at a few wigs but haven’t picked anything out yet.

Aside from that she’s also feeling sad that she can’t really go out much and will be stuck in the house for the next 3 – 4 months.

She’ll be getting some blood work done this week where they will let her know her white blood cell count so we have a better idea of how vulnerable her immune system is at this point.

Since her next Chemo is this Friday – no one will be able to use the main bathroom til Monday due to the chemicals.

Thanks again everyone for all of your amazing support.

Sorry it’s been a few days since update. These will probably slow down a little bit, once every few days – a week unless there’s anything urgent to be shared. We appreciate everyone checking in.

Sue’s been doing pretty good these past days since we got home. No major symptoms so far. Legs a little sore today but otherwise in a good mood and able to function reasonably well. Yesterday she ended her “burst” round of Prednisone (100mg for 10 days).

For those wondering (as some people have been asking), the Spinal Tap did not happen Monday morning. At the moment it’s just a back-n-forth thing with the hospital to try to figure out when the correct appointment date is as they told us the Monday was rescheduled, but not to what date.

We’re both still quite exhausted from all the chaos/stress of the past many weeks, but we are getting the house back to normal order, a little bit each day taking caution to not over do ourselves.

Sue’s more than happy to have visitors most days, but as some may already be aware, her immune system is compromised – both from the cancer itself and then in addition, from the Chemo. We were told that if Sue gets a fever (anything about 38C) it’s an immediate trip to the ER with a likely overnight stay while they stabilize it.

We ask if you happen to have a cold/flu or recently around someone who does, perhaps come another day. For those that want to be cautious while here we have gloves, masks, hand sanitizer, etc.

Thank you all once again, the support that Sue has been receiving throughout all of this has been amazing. It would be infinitely harder without each and every one of you awesome friends.

Truly feels great to be home once again.

Still a long journey but Sue is finally on the road to recovery and this feels good too.

She’s been holding up pretty good so far. Still getting our minds around what life’s going to be like for the next few months – continuing to get the house back in order and figure out our new daily routine.

We were told by the nurse who visited us yesterday evening that her white cell count will have already starting depleting so we’ve got to keep the house pretty sanitary and at this point Sue isn’t planning to go out too much.

Visitors are of course always welcome and while she hasn’t had too many symptoms so far there may be some days she’ll be a bit drained (so we’ve been told).

The journey is certainly far from over but thank goodness we’re past the anxious waiting and not knowing what the problem is or what happens next. Now we have a plan. A plan to be cured.

And now, back to the The Oscars 😉

Early this morning Whisper of Alternative Routes held an awesome kick cancers ass exercise event which had an amazing turn out and show of support for Sue’s recovery. Thank you all so very much for your massive show of support.

We’re both very glad to be home. Sue is doing fairly well this morning – mentally, physically & pain-wise.

5:00 – 6:15 we had an appointment with a home visit nurse whole will be sending regular nurses once or twice a week to check on Sue. Today she administered a very important after Chemo med, glad we got that done.

Aside from that we’re trying to relax a bit, both pretty tired from all the busy chaos of the past week.

Watching a bit of TV, making sure we have the daily drug order correct. Figuring out what appointments are on what days, etc.

Monday at 9:30am is Spinal Tap appointment back in London.

We have some pretty good news for everyone.

PET Scan results came back this morning and was clear. They still can’t find any more cancer anywhere else.

As of 4:30pm Chemo treatment is going very well, no issues so far, there is approx 45 mins left of treatment.

Sue is also feeling pretty good mentally & physically so far today, pain is managed well.

They have been suggesting quite strongly we may get to go home this evening though we haven’t received any final word on that yet.

She will have to come back next week for the Spinal Tap appt.

They’ve set us up with most of the information that we need and contacts to call if there are any issues at home.

Quick 9:40pm update. We are home! Left Hosp 6:50, home just before 8.

There are no tests/scans scheduled for today, it is mostly a down day and we still await a bed in Hematology Ward. With that said, things are still progressing, they are adding a few additional drugs into the mix over the next few days to prepare her body for Chemo and battle royale against the tumor.

PET Scan results are not expected to be back until either this evening or sometime tomorrow. She said they generally take 1 to 2 days to be interpenetrated.

Will have a few visitors coming this afternoon but aside from that, not much else going on.

Sue had another shower this morning, feeling nice and clean and in a good mood. The adjustments to pain meds has really been helping these past few days. She says her pain level is regularly in the 1 – 3 range (on a 0 to 10 scale). Last night she even had a short time of pain 0 and had a good sleep.

Tomorrow morning sometime she is scheduled to have a spinal tap, as we understand this is the last of all the new tests before Chemo starts.

BTW, Sue does read all the comments that people post. Don’t think your comments get lost, even though you guys can only see them on each individual post, on our end we can see them all from a single view. We appreciate all the thoughts, love, prayers and support from everyone. 🙂

That’s about it for today, I’ll update if we get PET Scan results, otherwise, check back tomorrow!

Couple new updates at 5:00pm. We now have a bed in Hematology Ward. C7-403A (Building C, 7th floor). Sue has been moved there as of this time.

Spinal Tap is moved from tomorrow morning to Monday morning 9am.

Yesterday was a very busy day. Had a PICC line put in chest, an X-Ray, a MUGA Scan (heart) and an MRI (head).

Resident Doctor visited this morning and informed that both those scans (MUGA & MRI) came back clean & good.

Sue was pretty tired by the evening but they started her on some additional drugs as well as adjusting some dosages of others.

She was feeling pretty good and had a surprising amount of mobility, we even managed to squeeze in her first actual shower in over a month! She felt clean and happy about that.

We are still in Building B, 9th floor.

At time of last update (3pm) she has just gone in for her multi-hour PET Scan over at St. Joseph Hospital.

Furthering yesterday’s post. Sue now has a diagnosis of Non-Hodgkins Lymphoma. There are many kinds but the good news we received is that Sue’s is very common, there are numerous treatment options, and it’s even curable in a majority of cases.

She now has a dedicated doctor and a real plan in the works. She will not be getting surgery, they will be moving her from Trauma Ward in Building B over to a room in Building C, 7th floor (as soon as a bed is available there) and then once she’s there they will begin first round of Chemotherapy.

The Doctor said that Chemo is the most effective & efficient way to treat this and that she may only need Chemo.

They will be doing numerous additional scans/tests to rule out the possibility of anything anywhere else. But Doctor said even if they find more, the treatment is still the same so they will proceed as planned. Thus far the spine is the only place they have found anything.

The resident Doctor told us today that the type of Chemo she’s getting is one of the easier ones to tolerate and that they don’t intend to send her back to Woodstock Hospital but will keep her here and assess how she responds to the Chemo and she would be sent home afterwards to recover assuming she is responding well.

I’ll post another update once she’s moved to Building C7 or if we receive any further information.

For those who like to randomly visit Sue, just want you all to know she’ll be temporarily at St Jo Hospital all afternoon on Wednesday (from 2pm on) for PET Scan which takes a few hours. I’ll be there with her.

Thanks again everyone for all your amazing love & support! Sue’s gonna kick the shit out of this!