What a Week!

Things started out good last week with a day spent at Caesar's trying to win one of the $500 every 20 minutes prizes, put in 8 hours their and no luck, no loss either cause for this contest all you had to do was swipe in with your players reward card and wait! But you did have to be there to win.

Just a massive amount of bikes at the
WFCU Centre where they began.

Had a good time this past Sunday volunteering at the 2012 Ride for Dad in support of Prostate Cancer. Brenda and I were set up out at the final stop of the Ride at the Ranta Marina in Amherstburg, ON. There were just over 800 bikes and riders registered this year, and I'd have to say at least a couple hundred "unregistered bikes took part as well.

The never ending parade of bikes
as they passed by our place.

We didn't have to be out at the Ranta until 2pm so I got to see them from my balcony as they passed by my building. I was quite a site, and it brought a tear to my eye, to see so many come out to support the cause, just awesome. After arriving at the Ranta, we got our volunteer shirts, however we were put on standby as all the jobs were currently filled.

So about 3pm we grabbed a bite to eat, and it was while we were eating that they found something for us to do which was great! We ended up directing the riders after they arrived to go to the blue over head canopies to have their poker cards validated before the went in the entertainment / dining tent. Everything went well, and the early tally of funds raised that day was just over $54,000.00. Nice job people!

So we move on to Monday and another shot at Caesars for $500 every twenty minutes. Again no luck, figured for sure they'd call my name as I had to leave for a couple hours to go to Spanish class over at the Hospice! But, no they did not call my name while I was gone either. My son Travis  and my good friends Rick & Bonnie were there too and listened for my name while I was gone. The did try to pull my leg about it, but I was on to them right away.

Then comes Tuesday and my appointment with my Palliative Care doctor. After going over how things were working with the new medications it was decided to up the dose of the pain killer he put me on by 3mg. So not so bad a day there, and everything appeared to go OK.

Wednesday, I had my appointment with my social worker and dietitian at the Cancer Centre and everything went well with my social worker, but not so much the same case with my dietitian. I filled her in on what was going on and how I felt about things and that there may have been some weight loss. Well, turns out there has indeed been some weight loss, just over 20lbs in a few weeks time. Like I told her, I feel like I'm full most of the time and most nights have just a bowl of cereal for dinner. She will be having a chat with my Oncologists about that.

Similar to what mine look like right now.

Maybe that is why there seems to be an increase in size of the lymphnodes and why new ones are popping up. I'm losing weight so they are showing up more and not really growing like it seems they were. Well if that were not enough, when I woke up Wednesday morning it felt like I had developed some kid of rash on my side. Once I took a look in the bathroom mirror I was 99% sure it was not a rash and was the dreaded shingles, not really a cancer patients friend. So I went straight to my family doctor after leaving the cancer centre and sure enough shingles it is! Now I'm on 1000mg of Valtrex 3 times daily to get it in check.

On other news, Brenda had finally gotten a call in the past couple weeks about a job interview. She went to the interview and passed it only to be told the positions had been filled and they would contact her next time they hire, and that she's first on the list. Not holding out on that and she's still actively seeking employment and putting in lots of resumes.

That's about it in a nut shell for now and will keep ya posted.

p.s. Don't forget the fundraiser, it closes July 1/12, you can donate by clicking on the GIVE button at the top right of this page. Thank You.