The Two Easters

Caroline, her parents, and me at Crescent Beach

 

This year we celebrated "Western" Easter with Caroline's family at our home with the newly refurbished kitchen, followed a week later by Orthodox Easter at my parents place with my family. That means twice the food and sweets. Sometimes they overlap, sometimes not. Easter is an important milestone for me as it marks a year since I became ill. And got better.

My bike rides are getting longer and my leash to VGH is also lengthening, so it is only a matter of time before I start riding with the group again.

We will be picking up Zoe from Kelowna UBCO this weekend, and Jason will be back from Montreal at the end of the month. Looking forward to seeing them!

Tsoureki (Greek Easter Bread) and Koulouria and red eggs

Graduation

This past week I had my indwelling IV line removed and am transitioning from weekly visits at VGH to only monthly (with weekly bloodwork in Surrey) We celebrated by opening the hot tub and enjoying the (brief) bout of sunshine, and a glass of wine. Later I can start swimming again which is great therapy.

Spent 5 days with my family in Vancouver while the restoration team completed the repairs to our kitchen after the flood we had in December. We even got new granite countertops (that's my girl side talking again).

While in Vancouver I was able to enjoy bike rides, including this one around the Seawall with my sister Michelle and my 2 nephews. Had some great meals courtesy of my Mom and Dad and visited with many extended family members, some whom I have not seen for a full year. It is hard to believe that a year has passed since I first became ill.

Optomistic that this increasing independence and strengthening will continue over Easter and beyond! Thanks to all!

Girl Side?

Yesterday Caroline caught me reading recipes in her Chatelaine magazine. I have also been caught sneaking looks at new sofas and kitchen designs. And getting moody. OMG. It is happening! My body is making the switch to my new female bone marrow. It has been sluggish but my new marrow is consistently making the red, white and platelet cells.

Life carries on here. Sitting outside enjoying the sunshine today. Ride my bike daily, rain or shine. Shine of course is better, and it feels like it has been a long winter. I am jealous of the 25 degree weather Jason is getting in Montreal, with the student protests/mardi gras atmosphere. Zoe is studying/skiing at Kelowna and both kids should be back by the end of April for the summer.

Blue Heron on the Nicomekl River spotted on bike ride

The office is humming along without me, which gives me the peace of mind to continue my recovery until I am physically and mentally able to get back to it.  Great support from everybody continues and I am grateful. 

Biking Again

Bob and me on the banks of the Serpentine River

It has been 3 weeks since I posted because I was waiting for a really good day. Well today I had a really good day. My friend and neighbour Bob picked me up and we rode down Colebrook road and along the Serpentine River in the sunshine. The climb back up was a killer, but I made it like a drunken sailor, weaving up the road.  In total we covered 25 km!

Bridge over Colebrook Road

Me and my Trek

Had a very good check up his week with my red, white and platelet counts all increased on their own and no need for blood products. Happy to see my new marrow gathering some steam. It is about time after all the good food I'm feeding it including good old chicken soup from my mom.



Last week I was down at Spanish Banks watching a brave (or foolish?) kitesurfer sailing in the chop. It is nice to dream, but it is a lot warmer in  the car!

Sole kitesurfer at Spanish Banks with fresh snow at Cypress

Soulmates

On February 14 Caroline  and I donned fine clothes and headed for a local classy restaurant to celebrate Valentine's Day and our 24th wedding anniversary. We suspended our temporary ban on flowers and I had a nice arrangement made by local Best of Buds Floral complete with chocolates and champagne. We had a fine evening complete with flaming Sambuca prawns, which we have since reproduced at home, fire extinguisher at hand.

I am back on a strengthening path again after my bout with Croup which continues to linger a bit. I have been disappointed that my recovery trajectory has not been a straight line, but instead stutters along in fits and starts. Nonetheless, I am told that I am on a good path, and my blood counts continue to be strong, so I have learned to accept it. The cards, prayers and emails keep giving me a boost, and I am grateful.

Our 13 year old family cat Rupert has developed diabetes. I had little patience for him before, but when he got into a routine of drinking and peeing every 2 hours, I realized that we had more in common than I had previously thought. He is now on insulin and we keep each other company in the day. He is a good role model for loafing around.

Our daughter Zoe is visiting from Kelowna for reading break, providing that youthful exuberance to the household. Jason is still studying in Montreal and we will be seeing him in the spring. For now we have long animated Skype calls that include Rupert pawing at the screen.

February Update

It has now been 6 weeks since I was discharged from hospital and time to update the Recovery Blog. I am impatient to return to my normal activities and have hit a plateau. I am now recovering from a bout of Croup, a coughy, wheezy cold usually affecting infants. When one is operating at 50% and then loses 10 or 20% it sucks, but that is behind me.

photos courtesy of Kathie Edwards

Earlier, Caroline and I had a wonderful time at the January Blues event at Belle's with over 90 people including local doctors and their  partners, and some new faces, too. The organizers (Connie, Liz, Kathie, Lisa, Jennifer, and others) did a terrific job of bringing people together and continuing to build that strong sense of community and support that has long been part of S.Surrey/White Rock.

Also briefly attended the retirement sendoff for Michael McBryde, a visionary in Seniors and Residential Care, who will be sorely missed.

I had to miss the Ride to Survive "spin and inspire" day because of my cold,  but we continue to support each other in the journey to overcome adversity. As the weather improves, hope to get outside on the bike  more.

Current reading is the biography of Steve Jobs, that quirky genius that changed the way we interact with our world. People ask how I otherwise pass my time these days: "Some days I sit and think, and other days I just sit".

R is for Recovery

After enduring R for Relapse and R for Rejection (as well as R for Remission), this week I have completed my day 100 post transplant testing including bone marrow biopsy and am able to say I am in the Recovery phase of this illness. The bone marrow was all clear! Yahoo!

I am living in my own home, eating and drinking normally, and building strength daily. I will continue to have challenges with reduced immune function and strength over the next year or more but it is nice to be coming out of the fog. I've been enjoying snippets of sunshine and Vitamin D on the back deck and fortunately we have lots of big trees to shield the neighbours from my maximally exposed skin! Thanks again to all of you who are my support team and helped get me to this place.