Tuesday, May 30, 2023

It is so good to be home, even if I’m not able to accomplish everything I’d like to get done in one day. It took me until this afternoon to unpack; normally that would be done in the first hour of arriving.

As expected, the yard is full of weeds but there are a few things in bloom that we didn’t miss. The laburnum is still blossoming; Pat was watching it every day before we left in hopes that there would be some flowers so I’m glad they stuck around until we got home. The lilacs are long gone but the peonies are out and lovely, and so are the roses. The boulevard is looking good if a little ragged; there is a lot of long grass but the California poppies have really spread. We’ll perhaps whack down the grass but let the poppies grow where they want to – except in the beds in the yard which they do tend to spread to.

I went out last night to see if I could see any sunflowers. One is up and doing well and I think there might be one or two more just through the ground. The bed is so dry but I watered the sunflowers last night and I’ll go out and do it again this afternoon. The rest of that bed is our sedums so they don’t mind the dryness.

I spent some time this morning weeding in that sedum bed. There is a lot of grass that grows in there, as well as some alyssum from a previous year’s planting. We moved a lot of the gladioli last year but I see there are a few coming up; since they looked healthy I kept them and we’ll move them after they flower. Pat used his new cultivator to do some weeding around the blueberries. He also trimmed the honeysuckle which was taking over and looking a bit messy. After he finished he cut the grass so now, if I look out the window or sit on the deck, the yard looks relatively cared for. There are a lot more beds that need weeding but I’ll get to them eventually.

I called this morning to make an appointment with my family doctor because it usually takes a couple of weeks to get in to see him. I wanted to follow-up on a couple of test results, as well as get some insurance papers signed. I was amazed that the first appointment was for 9:30 tomorrow morning; I spent some time this afternoon getting the insurance papers in order.

I think I’m done now for the day. I’ll sit on the deck and read until supper. I’m making my way through this current Outlander book really quickly but I know there are at least three more waiting for me. I also picked up the first book in the Lord John series from the Lodge library; I didn’t even attempt to read it at the Lodge but I snuck it home in my suitcase.

Sunday, May 28, 2023

We’re going home tomorrow and I’m more than ready!

Saturday, May 27, 2023

The good …

• We had a nice dinner in Yaletown on Thursday night, followed by a short walk around False Creek. Pat found a singer/songwriter concert at the Roundhouse so we ended up there. We took the Skytrain down and back and it was much more relaxing for Pat than driving.
• We took another Skytrain ride to Gastown on Friday and had another nice meal at the Lamplighter. We had a short visit with Trevor before he had to head back to the kitchen to cook for the other lunch guests that were arriving. We had planned to go either on Friday or Sunday but Trevor advised that they would be busy on Sunday with a Drag Queen brunch. This is the same place that Stacia, Deloise and I saw the beard contest when we were down for Quilt Canada in 2018; they do have the most interesting events.
• Another lovely meal out today and another visit with Christy, Rick, Dylan and Taylor. Taylor was fresh from a training session; I could not believe the huge meal she ate. She is still skin, bones and muscle no matter what or how often she eats. She’s headed to Edmonton later in the week for a competition.
• We were celebrating Dylan’s Grade 12 grad; we won’t be able to make it to either his barbecue or the graduation ceremony but we wanted to mark the occasion with him in some way. I said today that seeing them every weekend made the weeks tolerable; I have some follow-up appointments later in the summer so we hope to see them again before too long.

The bad …

• I’m finding I am more and more tired as the days go on and even resorted to a morning and afternoon nap one day. When we came home on Friday afternoon I had to go half a block uphill and a block on flat sidewalk; I ended up needing to stop twice on the way “home”.
• After my treatment on Friday the technician asked how I was doing. Usually I just say fine but this time I said I was more burnt, itchier and tired with each passing day. She told me that is completely normal and that I’d “feel worse every day for up to two weeks after my radiation was done”. Not exactly bad news but it kind of puts a dent in all the plans I had for when I get home.

The ugly …

• I’m not even going to go there!

Wednesday, May 24, 2023

I had a very quiet day yesterday. I may have been a bit depressed. I fought back tears all through my treatment and then spent the rest of the day laying on the bed and reading. I gave myself a stern “talking to” this morning and it seems to have worked because I’ve had a better day today.

My treatment this morning was later than usual so I did some stitching until it was time to go. Being later they were a bit behind and I was probably ten minutes late getting in. We still had lots of time to walk the couple of blocks to see my oncology doctor. The waiting room was packed and I expected we’d be waiting a long time but I think we actually got in a bit early.

We have spoken to Dr. Mitri a few times over the phone and it was nice to meet him in person. He is really a nice man and I was impressed that he knew my history without referring to a chart, notes, or his computer. I’ll see him again in about six months but he assured us we could call him anytime. He’ll continue to work with Dr. Burns in Powell River too. He answered all my questions and basically said once the radiation is done I just need to go home and recover.

We had lunch at a Chinese restaurant down the hill and then took a long drive to a Canadian Tire store to pick up a cultivator. Pat thinks it will work well for the beds; I’m not convinced but if he is going to be the one using it I don’t really care. I found a propane torch for killing weeds in the patio bricks but Pat thinks I should check it with the fire department first because there is a fire ban in effect.

We took a drive out to Pacific Spirit Park and did a walk – lots of trails through the trees and we stuck to flat ground. There was a lot of cotton in the air (it bothers me) but once we were in the trees we didn’t see it.

Supper is over and I think the rest of my day will be spent laying on the bed reading – but not because I’m depressed, I’m just tired.