Monday, May 8, 2023

We had a good trip down to Vancouver yesterday. Rain had been predicted but except for a few sprinkles a couple of times along the way we were fine. Pat maneuvered us around all of the detours created by the BMO Marathon and we were at our accommodation in time for lunch.

The Lodge is fine. Our room is large enough for a table and a couple of chairs, two twin beds, lots of drawer space in both our room and the bathroom. The rooms are set up for sharing and I’m so glad I didn’t have to share with a stranger. We are just down the hall from the dining room and right across the hall from the media room (TV room), the Rec Room (puzzles, games), the laundry room (lots of machines that dispense their own soap) and the kitchen that is meant for our use if we want to do our own cooking (I don’t see that happening).

Everything is not as spacious as they seemed in the video. Not as many comfortable chairs – so far I’ve only found a couple of places that really work for sitting and stitching. There are two TVs on our floor – one in the kitchen and one in the media room. Problem is that if someone beats you to the rooms you don’t get to choose what you watch. We saw the Toronto hockey game from the kitchen and the Kraken game from the larger demo kitchen where tea and coffee are always available and where we get our afternoon and evening snacks.

There are a lot of people here – apparently it is at 100% capacity all the time and many are here for long-term stays (100+ days). I’m very lucky that I was able to do my chemo in Powell River. There are lots of couples and quite a few men; in some cases it is hard to know who in the pair are getting treatment. From the dining room you hear people talking to one another and it sounds like many are too sick to leave their rooms. The only people who have approached us (we aren’t very outgoing I guess) are also from Powell River but we didn’t look at all familiar to one another.

I was a wreck concerning the radiation treatments for the past week so you can imagine how I was feeling this morning. Treatments are scheduled for 20 minutes but I was 20 minutes late getting in and it was 30 minutes before I was on my way out. I understood that my treatments would be at the same time every day but I got my schedule for the week – a couple of earlier morning appointments, an afternoon one where I see the doctor after, and one in the late morning (we’ll likely miss our lunch call that day). At my appointment on Friday I’ll get my times for the next week.

I gave myself a stern talking to as I settled in to the treatment table – no crying, no wanting to use the bathroom and no shaking no matter how much my arms ached in the one position. There were six X-rays done before the treatment started but the machine was attached to the bed so I didn’t need to move. I did, however, have to hold my breath for each one. I lost count of how many shots of radiation I got but they were a longer duration and I also had to hold my breath for each one of those. One thing I missed in my lecture to myself was don’t get a tickle in your throat. I had a bit of a coughing fit but the ladies were really nice and got me settled and back into the treatment. I was so worried that they might have to start over or that I would cough my way out of position but it all worked fine.

We went for a short walk last night after supper – long enough to find a Michael’s store and a Book Warehouse. A trip to Michael’s was my treat today after my treatment. Their shelves were pretty empty and I couldn’t even get all the floss colours I was looking for. We also stopped at London Drugs; I needed some more of my special moisturizing cream and some kleenex (not supplied in the room).

Enough for today. I told Pat when he asked that I will still be nervous tomorrow but won’t be scared.