Scan Results :-)

This morning we were back at hospital - for the last time this year.

That in itself was cause for a celebration, and since we were a bit early, we had a coffee at the hospital cafe.  Then we headed up to hear the results of yesterdays scans.

We spent the waiting time trying to appear as if we didn't have a care in the world.  Alex was thankfully still absorbed in his WhirlyWords game on his iPhone and I gave up trying to concentrate on anything.  The TV was on with its volume barely audible, and they were showing a repeat of The Living Room show.  As soon as we saw the interviewee holding his radiotherapy mask while he was in his garage with his collection of motorbikes, including a BMW, we sat up and took notice!

Our efforts at virtually lip reading a TV interview were credible, but our interpretation was confused.  We decided we will need to do some further investigation ...

Dr. Steven Kao was ready not long after our waiting room excitement, and he always greets us with a ready smile and friendly greetings.  He had some very welcome good news for us.  The report of Alex's scans yesterday was 1.5 pages of "medicalese" and the translation was that Alex's cancer is stable, in all areas.  There are no new tumours since the last scan.  The new tumours that were picked up in the last scan have not grown very much at all and this all indicated that the chemotherapy treatment that Alex had been receiving was doing a very good job.

Alex will have a few weeks break, and chemotherapy will commence again on 14th January 2013.  We have 3 'Tiger in the Tank Days' booked in, and there will be another set of scans done towards the end of February or early March again.

This news was a good way to finish up our last visit to RPA for 2012.

Last scan for 2012

We were back at RPA today, hopefully for the second last time this year. 

This morning Alex was due to have another set of scans, so we were up early so he could have breakfast and still have 3 hours of fasting.  We were lucky enough to still find a free space in our favourite car park, and we had plenty of time to enjoy the walk across to the main hospital entrance.

The weather forecast of temperatures in the high 30's for the morning seemed to be quite accurate.  We certainly noticed the welcome blast of air conditioning as we entered the hospital.  There was a lovely Christmas tree

in one corner in the main hallway, and I couldn't help but notice how this contrasted with one of the newer extensions about 100m further down

It's hard to believe you are in the same building!

Each of the departments had done an excellent job with their Christmas decorations, and it certainly added a nice feeling to the place.  The main entrance corridor is always busy, and it is quite interesting just to spend a couple of minutes to watch the people walking in.  You can read a lot of stories just by looking at their faces and noticing the way they walk.

The staff in the Radiology Department welcomed Alex with a smile and a cheery "hello".  In return he had a form to fill out and then they gave him 2 cups of what looked like lemon/lime flavoured cordial to drink.  This was actually contrasting liquid/dye. The scan itself took about 45 minutes and thankfully this time Alex had no nausea afterwards and he felt fine when he came back out.

We decided to head straight home, but on the way we thought it would be remiss of us if we didn't try a new coffee shop - after all, how can I have a blog entry without coffee?

We stopped at the aptly named +Little Treasures.  This is on Stanmore Road in Petersham, and you could quite easily drive right past without giving it a second glance.  In peak hours, this is a very busy road, and the idea of a cafe in a bland part of a main road isn't the most appealing place to consider.  They do have a couple of tables & chairs on the footpath, and I did wonder how often they would be used.

As soon as you step inside the cafe though, my first thought was "wow".  What a contrast - I was hit by the atmosphere.

This looks like a cafe that could quite easily become a favourite haunt, and one that you could quite easily spend a relaxing hour or three.  A couple of very comfortable looking leather lounges, coffee tables and quite a few well stocked bookshelves.  A range of farmhouse style tables and chairs and the open bi-fold doors wide open.  The view of the park was stunning.

Very friendly staff made us feel welcome immediately, and since it was already lunch time, we weren't sure if we would just have a coffee or order something to eat as well.  We ordered our coffees and Alex's short black was the cutest I'd seen in a while

The cup looked like it could quite easily disappear in the sugar bowl, and Alex said it was one of the best short blacks he's had in a long time.

We decided to share a roll, and it was so well presented that Alex wondered how long he would have to wait until he could eat it because it was just waiting to be photographed.

How good does this look?  It tasted as good as it looks, and we've promised ourselves to return to Little Treasures for breakfast one morning - soon.

Tomorrow we are due back at hospital to find out the results of the scan  ...  fingers crossed until then.

Celebrations

OK, so this is a test.

I took this photo of Alex on Tuesday afternoon, 11th December 2012.

Can you see what's different?

Well, if you answered that his appetite must be back in full swing after Friday's "Tiger in the Tank" day, you would be close.  Yes, he does have a pie and a half in front of him.  Yes, the pies were absolutely delicious. 

What's missing?  Yes, half the pie on the right.  I am sure that you have also noticed that you haven't seen his neck brace.

Woohoo!!!!!

That morning, we had been to see Dr. Jeffrey Brennan at his rooms just up the road from RPA hospital.  Dr. Brennan is the Neurosurgeon who saw Alex in hospital after he'd fractured his neck.  Unbelievably that was almost 3 months ago.

The good news was obviously that Alex can now be free of his brace.  The scans Alex had on 15th November proved to be good news for Dr. Brennan.  At this stage, Alex's neck is healing very well, and that was fantastic news.

After having his neck supported in a brace for so long, Alex will naturally have to be extremely careful - he will need to do some very gentle movement exercises each day.  We had been extremely optomistic and had taken a BMW neck brace and full face helmet with us to the appointment.  Ian from Worthington BMW - where we have bought all our bikes - had bought a neck brace on the off chance that Alex would be able to purchase it, and he had loaned it to us to take to the appointment.  I am sure that deep down, we were both hoping that the doctor would agree that this neck brace and full face helmet would work well enough to allow Alex to be back on his bike, but sadly this was not so.    Alex was advised that he should avoid all activities that would present a high risk of further damage to his neck, regardless of whether he was wearing any brace or not, and this included both motor bike riding and surf swimming.

Although we both realised that this was very sensible advice, and hardly surprising, it is still a huge adjustment.  But the silver lining - and there always is one - is that Alex is now free of his neck brace and we just have to readjust to a lifestyle change.  Our domestic trips now will be in the comfort of his van or my car - or later maybe even a motorhome - where we can dress very casually and not worry about the weather or limiting our packing to the barest essentials.

Our celebration lunch was at The Pie Tin, a relatively new cafe in Newtown. Of course they do a decent coffee as well, and I know that lately a blog entry without photos relating to coffee or cafes isn't up to scratch, so this is Tuesday's offering:

and of course, if you have one of these above, you will also have ...

 Their Christmas decorations were very under-stated but they did extend to the tree outside the cafe, and this view from one of the windows was lovely, especially as the light was changing so much, and each time the sun came out, they really shone

The cushions inside were in keeping with the rustic styling of the cafe

and another view of our Celebration

On Thursday we were back a the hospital for another appointment, this time with Dr. Corey Lau who is our Palliative Care doctor.  After Friday's chemo, Alex's body had not settled down very well this week at all, and so Dr. Lau tweaked our very colourful spreadsheet we've called "Alex's Lollies in December".  We're on to a slightly different tablet regime, and although some of the doses have been increased, overall it means that the daily number of tablets has reduced - another silver lining!  We're hoping that his pain levels will reduce, and quickly.



This week we have also had more work done on the house - yes, the renovations are still not complete.  We splurged and had George and Duncan in to do our driveway - they were lovely guys and did an excellent job.

On Monday our drive looked much the same as it has for the past few years (viewed from the back)

(yes, we do plan to have the house painted ...  soonish) but first, the driveway.  Over this week it has undergone a major transformation

We will be able to walk on it late tomorrow, and towards the end of January we will have it stencilled.  Then all we need to do for the drive is to build the carport, and we can move on to the next job on our still extensive list.

So, all up, a very exciting week!

Last chemo for 2012

Last week Alex enjoyed a break.  He went up to stay at Tracey & Mike's new place near Bathurst.  Alex and Mike kept each other busy by all accounts with plenty of jobs around the home and on their property and of course several trips into Bathurst for "necessary parts".   Even before Alex had to head back to Sydney, a list had been started of all the jobs to help with on the next visit.  A new home to settle into, several sheds and buildings, a garden and irrigation system to create and 25 acres is enough to keep anyone busy, and I'm sure Mike is looking forward to Alex's next visit as much as Alex is looking forward to visiting.

Alex had to return to Sydney on Thursday as he was due for his blood test at the hospital.  We had an early appointment on Friday morning with our Oncologist at 8:15am and we were hoping this appointment and his chemo would mean we'd be out by lunch. 

The good point about an early appointment meant that we had no trouble finding a parking spot in the busy car park.  We find our silver linings in all sorts of places these days, and on Friday, this was our first.

Our area of the hospital is always busy.  The staff work non stop and yet remain friendly, with a smile for all.  We had a longer wait for the doctor than normal, and by this stage we also recognise many of the other patients, so there are waves, hellos and smiles amongst those in the waiting areas.

After seeing both our Oncologist and his Registrar, we decided to walk up to our favourite cafe for brunch rather than wait at the hospital while they mixed Alex's "chemo cocktail".  We enjoyed the fresh air, the brunch was lovely and by the time we walked back to hospital, we only spent about 10 minutes in the waiting bay.

It was then time for Alex to choose a seat while the nurses did the painful necessary preparations so his "tiger in the tank" could all proceed.

After canulas have been inserted, the nurses must 'get dressed' when they are handling the chemo drugs.  Up until the past couple of months I've always loved purple - the jacarandas have been spectacular, I love lavender, and I've always loved the colour itself.  It now has an added connotation:

One last check - just to see if she could see right through to Alex's other side -

and it was all systems go for that tiger to get into that tank. 

In the two hours it took for the chemo drugs to drip through, Alex watched movies on his laptop and even managed to deal with business calls!

I know that there are lots of people working full time in office situations.  A lot of those would love to be able to work from home, or sit at the beach with their mobile and laptop.  I can't imagine anyone wanting to swap their office for this scenario though.

This time, Alex has been lucky - so far - because his appetite and taste buds have remained in place.  This afternoon we went to the Opera House to a National Geographic Live event.  The Swedish National Geographic Photographer Mattias Klum was presenting The Last Wild Places, a stunning talk and presentation of his photographs and exploits in a diverse range of countries.  The auditorium was full and it was interesting to see the eclectic mix of those who came to an event like this.  Needless to say, we loved it and it was wonderful to see such stunning photography and to listen to Mattias talking about his far from average "time in the office".  What an amazing life he leads.

I had attended the previous National Geographic Live presentation at the Opera House a few weeks ago.  That talk by Annie Griffiths was equally amazing.  The contrast between both photographers, their stories, subject matter and style of photography was almost the same as the contrast in the weather on both days.

Previously, it was Spring and we enjoyed a wonderful Sydney Spring day

It is now Summer, and this week we've had bush fires in Sydney, snow a few hours south in Thredbo and winds of up to 80kmh in Sydney today ...

We have a busy couple of weeks coming up, with work around the house being done and lots of doctors and hospital appointments.

Stay tooned!!!

Hello Summer!

The first day of Summer.  Already.  Amazing.

After a beautiful sunny end to Spring, and with a weekend of temperatures up into the 40s forecast for Sydney and the western suburbs, we thought that perhaps this year we may be in for a real summer where trips to the beach, plenty of beach swims, glorious sunny days would be in store.

This morning we headed out to meet Tanya & Lindsay - and Clancy (the dalmation) for breakfast.

The skyline looked exciting, although not what we'd had in mind for our wishful summery weather

Let's keep our fingers crossed for good news this month on all fronts!!!

Birthday celebrations and a very special dinner

November seemed to pass in a blur, and finding the time and right space to update the blog proved difficult. 

Een speciaal welkom aan Tante Nell die nu deze blog en veel dank volgende aan Fred voor het verstrekken van Nell met updates.

The first week of November we were busy at the office each day, and at home Alex put the last couple of rows of floorboards in by hand in the front room.

It was Alex's birthday on Sunday 11th November and he decided to celebrate by asking about 50 of his friends and family around for a late afternoon BBQ.  Thankfully the weather behaved and the rain held off while everyone arrived with the requested smile and sense of humour to enjoy a great afternoon & evening celebration.

 

I had made a canvas montage for Alex's birthday - it took a while to edit the photos but the montage provides reminders of the bike trips we've had so far and the milestone birthdays.

Alex had his scans on 15th November.  He wasn't looking forward to the long process, and this time it was unfortunate that he did not have a good reaction.  His body certainly let him know that it wasn't impressed with the whole process.  The following day was "tiger in the tank day" and that morning, we were given the results of the scan.

The good news was that Alex's neck seems to be holding its own and is healing much better than the doctors thought it would.  The neck brace still stays, but at least we know that it is doing some good!  The doctors realised though that the first set of scans that they were comparing this current results with were taken just prior to the first sessions of radiotherapy, and therefore well before the chemotherapy treatments started.  They did find a couple of new tumours, but the doctors stressed that these were very small.  They were unsure if the tumours were there in the first scans or not (they would have been too small to register on the early scans they did).

This meant that they could not provide a full and complete feedback on the effectiveness of the chemo treatment, other than to say that in their opinion, Alex looks remarkably well (considering the cancers, heart problems and neck fracture that is) and he is coping with the chemo with - thankfully - very few nasty side effects.

The doctors have decided that Alex's next chemo "tiger in the tank day" on Friday 7th December would be his last for this year.  After that, they will do another set of scans and then they will compare all 3 sets of scans and they should have a more accurate picture of exactly how Alex is responding to this chemo regime, and decisions will be made from there regarding what treatments and how often he will have them in 2013 and if he will still have to wear the neck brace.  We will also need to have an appointment with the heart specialist.

It was a very long wait for the chemo drugs to be made up, and we were one of the last patients for the day for treatment.  Alex made himself comfortable with his laptop and another James Bond movie to watch while the chemo dripped through.  

Sydney has been blessed with a stunning array of Jacaranda trees this Spring, and the one outside the window above was no exception.  Unfortunately it has not come out very well in this photo at all, but it did make a wonderful backdrop.

This time after chemo and the scans, Alex needed plenty of rest.  Visits to the office were still made almost daily, however he needed plenty of rest.  He spent quite a while with some side effects to this dose of chemo and again his taste buds and appetite took another holiday, destination unknown.  This meant that visits to coffee shops were rare.

The silver lining here is his new chair. This is very comfortable, as a few 2am wake-ups prove - stretched out and feet up on the footrest, it provides an extremely comfortable alternative to bed.

We finished the month with a dinner at our place with Erika, Celina and Leon.  Huge Thanks to Erika who organised this.  We both enjoyed the night very much, and we hope the three of them did as well.

This will be a treasured photo - we couldn't have asked for a better ending to the month.