Another Weekend Over

Wow. How time flies. Already Monday again tomorrow. This weekend seemed to fly by, as most tend to. We had another great weekend and were able to enjoy some more summer-like weather.

Friday night we stayed in and caught up on rest after a long week of chemotherapy. Yesterday we celebrated my Grandfather's 90th birthday party. What a feat! My Auntie Jan hosted the party at her home in Sherwood Park and about 60 people attended.  It was a fantastic event and I really enjoyed meeting so many people from various aspects of my Grandfather's life. He is very inspiring and I am so fortunate to be able to celebrate such a milestone with him.

Kavan and I at the big party

Kavan was able to attend the festivities and even enjoy some drinks (largely against my professional advice). He's managed without his anti-nauseants over the last few days. Earlier in the week he was finding the side effects quite troublesome. The steroids tend to make him very hungry and a little bit of an insomniac.

Kavan, Danny, Diane, Teeg and Layla at G-Pa's Birthday

The Cousins

Kavan, Betty, Grandpa & I

Grandpa and I

The Cornish Family

Needless to say, he caught up on his rest this weekend and is ready to face another work week. Today Kavan enjoyed a bike ride in the great weather. I think his joy was short-lived as I had the task of giving another injection of neulasta. $2700.00 gone in 30 seconds! We are now entering the low point of Kavan's immunity and hopefully the neulasta starts to do its job! Here's to hoping it's going to be an uneventful week!

Week 10: DONE!

Kavan's five days of chemotherapy have finally come to an end. After a week of constantly being bombarded by poisons we can say that week 10 is over. Now we can look forward to a bit of break before the next cycle starts on the 26th of September.

Patrick & Kavan on Day 2 

Overall, this cycle went well. Kavan was intermittently nauseous but never sick. I think this is the most fatigued I've seen him. The oncologist told us the fatigue may increase as he progresses through treatment. I guess it makes sense, the body gets tired as the toxic chemotherapy drugs are killing healthy cells.

Kavan and I on Day 4

Like previous cycles, Kavan went through this week's treatment with an attitude that was truly remarkable. I can honestly say that he is my hero. Even after a long day of treatment his sense of humor never fails and he continues tells terrible jokes that only he finds amusing. He continues to be physically active throughout treatment and each day tried to swim or run. Most of us can't even do this on the best of days.

Today Kavan had a slightly more eventful day as he had a consult for his upcoming radiation therapy. He got some new tattoos!! How exciting! As cancer treatment improves new techniques become available more more specific, localized treatment. This is definitely the case with radiation. He had three permanent "dot" tattoos inked on his left leg today. Guess he can't say he didn't get anything outta this. HAHA. These will help guide the radiation therapy to a very specific area, the spot where his Ewing's sarcoma first occurred. This is the area that a recurrence would most likely occur and therefore it is necessary to prevent this by administering 28 days of intense radiation.

Kavan's new tats....on on the foot, one above scar and one not pictured.

With respect to getting radiation, Kavan is lucky. His radiation will be extremely targeted and thus the chance for side effects is greatly diminished. Some side effects commonly associated with radiation include fatigue, secondary cancers, a sunburn-like rash, and bone weakness. Thankfully, Kavan does not require radiation over his head, chest, or torso because side effects tend to amplified in these areas. Kavan will begin the radiation during week 15 of treatment.....so five weeks before we have to think about this again.

A quiet night after a long week

Tonight we will spend time recovering from the week. Nothing a good meal and a night's rest can't fix. Tomorrow we will attend my grandfather's 90th birthday party. I know we are both really looking forward to the celebration of such a fantastic milestone. Happy weekend!

Week 10

Today marks the start of Kavan's 10th week of treatment. Though I often wish time would pass more quickly, it's hard to believe that it's already been 10 weeks.

I haven't written in a few days. Kavan had a great week at work. Very uneventful which is always good news in our world. He was able to work a complete week without feeling too under the weather. I think he is really enjoying his work at Scotiabank and it has provided him with a sense of purpose and responsibility.

Awaiting the news @ Cross Cancer Institute

Friday Kavan had yet another meeting with his oncologist, Dr.Chu. It was all good news this time as we were told Kavan's blood counts were sufficient to carry on with the next cycle of chemotherapy. It's odd how this has become all too routine. I was able to attend the appointment with Kavan and I found this to be very relieving as I was able to get some of my own questions answered. I have been curious about if the chemotherapy has a compounding effect on Kavan and what the coming months will look like for him. According to the doctor, Kavan should proceed through the coming months with similar side effects as he has already encountered with a slight increase in fatigue. This was great news as I am a pessimist by nature and have been imagining the worst.

This weekend we laid low. I have noticed that Kavan needs more sleep and that he did. Today we managed to go out for an afternoon of mini golf with Kavan's nephew, Patrick. It was our first time at Monster Mini Golf and we all had a great time.

Kavan and Patrick at Monster Mini Golf

Kavan & Gramps

Tomorrow Kavan will begin his fourth round of chemotherapy. This is the one that lasts for five days. Yeck! He will receive the Ifosfamide/Etoposide combination from about 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Thank god for the wireless Internet at the Cross Cancer Institute. Let's all cross our fingers that this course goes as well as the last have. Happy long weekend.....

Kavan & I.....Kavan now looks even more like an alien...