Wednesday, April 19, 2023

I had a good sleep last night. There was no street noise, no noise from other guests, and the bed was really comfortable. Breakfast was good – French Toast for me and poached eggs for Pat.

We wanted to drop a few things off at the truck before heading to my appointment. I knew it would take me longer than usual to walk the three blocks but we were still an hour early at the Clinic. And we waited and waited as the chance of catching an early ferry disappeared.

It was an hour beyond my appointment time before I saw the radiologist and we had already accepted that we’d be taking the four o’clock ferry out of town. There was no wait for the CT scan but it was more involved than any of the others I’ve had. Lots of setting up time, some breathing assessments, then the scan and finally the tattoo markers.

Pat picked up Subway sandwiches for lunch and we sat in Stanley Park and ate. We didn’t get out of the truck (and we didn’t pay for parking) but the view of the cherry blossoms was lovely.

We were at the ferry terminal in plenty of time for our sailing – so wait, wait, wait again. We made it to Earl’s Cove, the second ferry, with about 15 minutes to spare. It’s a good thing we didn’t stop for gas or a bathroom break.

We ended our trip much the way we started – with rain and me hopeful that my pills would stay down long enough to be effective.

Tuesday, April 18, 2023

We arrived safely in Vancouver this afternoon just in time to check into our accommodation. The building is old but very nice and we have a lot of stained glass in the windows. The room is small but we won’t be spending a lot of time here.

The morning didn’t start out all that well. I had a bout of nausea but I was able to keep my pill down and before we got on the first ferry it had resolved the problem. I had some nausea with my last treatment so maybe this was related to that. Or maybe it was nerves. I also thought it might be dehydration. I carry around a big water bottle but at the end of the day I usually haven’t actually drank much.

So I was determined to do better today but that posed its own problem. There are not a lot of bathroom stops along the way and the weather – heavy rain, hail, showers – weren’t conducive to dashing into the bush at the side of the road. I was glad I took a variety of head coverings – my scarf, my toque and my rain hat – although I’ve worn my toque most of the day.

Our accommodation doesn’t have any parking but Pat was able to get us free parking at the Cancer Clinic which is about three blocks away. I managed almost that distance when we went out for supper tonight so I’ll be okay to walk it tomorrow. We’ll be set for a quick getaway after my appointment tomorrow.

Sunday, April 16, 2023

I’m following the same path this week as I have with the last few treatments. It seems to me the aches are a bit worse and lasting longer but then I have a short memory so maybe that isn’t the case. I spent almost two days in bed but I’m feeling a bit better this afternoon.

As much as I hate not feeling well, the worst is not being able to do anything to get my mind off it. I was waiting for the latest book in the Outlander series and my “in between book” wasn’t very interesting. I tried cutting some fabric but between numb fingers and toes I couldn’t stand for long and I didn’t want to slice my fingers. I wasn’t able to hand stitch either; for the most part if I wasn’t in bed I was playing games on my iPad.

Enough is enough though and today I’ve been forging ahead. I sorted and trimmed some scrap fabrics and cut out fabric for three new blocks. I shredded more paper and when that was done I got out the vacuum cleaner and vacuumed up the scraps, as well as a lot of threads from the floor. This afternoon I was able to do a bit of hand stitching.

I still ache and my fingers and toes are as numb as ever (if not more so) but at least I’m getting something accomplished.

April 13, 2023

Last fall, after the fence came down, we put up some motion-sensor lights at the front door. The door is seldom used but in the winter when we ordered food it was dark for delivery people. When we are downstairs watching TV in the evenings we can see them come on if we were watching for it but we seldom are.

Last night as we were making our way upstairs around midnight, Pat noticed that the lights had been activated. When he looked out there was a deer in the yard. The lights don’t cover the entire yard and by the time we looked out again they had shut off. But from the movement we saw in the yard it was a large deer, possibly a couple of them.

Without the fence, and now that they have found us, we may be getting more visits. It will also be easier for the bears to come in.

We went outside and checked this morning but couldn’t see that any of our plants had been eaten. I have a couple of daffodils growing and they may have taken the tops off them but they were a long way from blossoms. The peonies were fine (they are caged); we know they like roses but ours are leafed out but no blossoms yet. We think the daisies will be safe and hope that the cages around the dahlias will protect them.

I’ll have more to watch for than bears in the yard when it gets warm enough to sit outside on the deck in the evenings.