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| Richard M. Lefaive |
Rick was headed to his locker to retrieve his coat when while walking down the hall he just "passed out" and collapsed to the floor. Efforts were started at his workplace to revive him while they waited for the ambulance. Upon arrival at the hospital further efforts were made to revive him but they were to no avail. Rick was gone, he had passed away at the young age of 55.
The news of Rick's passing was devastating to everyone who heard it, after all Rick was the go to guy for any handyman projects. From car repairs to doing a basement rec room he did it all, was always willing to help anyone who asked, and always pleasant to be around.
He knew how to have a good time too. I recall our "youthful" days and all the incidents we got into, the good, the bad and everything in between. Those were the days, let me tell you we had a blast.
Rick was just a couple years older than me so he was the cousin closest to me in age and his brother Ron who we lost several years ago to cancer was just a few years older than us and we always hung out together. I am missing them both, Rick is now with his brother Ron and their Dad, Donald Lefaive. May they all rest in eternal peace.
Moving on to other news, my last chemotherapy treatment did not go as expected. Due to low blood counts (weak immune system) and developing a high fever the evening of day one, my second day of chemotherapy was cancelled. The thought was that as I came in on day one with borderline counts, that after having chemotherapy on day one, my counts would have lowered even more already.
That would have meant that should I have gone through with day two, I would have most likely became neutropenic. Which would have meant that within a day or two of receiving that second treatment I'd have ended up being admitted to the hospital being neutropenic and confined to a room hooked up to antibiotics for 4-7 days, until my white blood cell count and neutrophils came back up into a safe range.
Yesterday (Wed. Jan 30) I had several appointments at the Cancer Center. My first stop there was at the lab where I had a blood draw, then it was over to see my Social Worker Nancy Hannon for one of my regular appointments. After that I seen my Dietitian, Donna Danelon and had my weight taken. I was up about 3 lbs which made her happy as I had been on a losing trend the past several months.
My next and last appointment of the day was with Dr. Schneider my Radiation Oncologist for my six month checkup. Dr. Schneider on this visit decided to check my throat with the camera just to have a look and make sure all was still well. Well, the result was not bad news, but not good either! There appears to be a small spot in the area of were I had the biopsy taken which turned out to be the Squamous Cell Carcinoma.
Ever since the biopsy and the radiation treatments that followed I have never worried or even really thought about that returning or causing any further issues as we caught that in a pre stage one situation. Well, now I worry, even though Dr. Schneider believe it is just a spot of inflammation, he wants me back in a month to recheck it.
So a bit of a worry for me, never a dull moment! I will get past this as I always do and for now I will go with what the good Doc said and hope it is just a spot of inflammation. For those of you who read this and are dealing with or have dealt with cancer and relapses, you know how any little thing plays on your mind. So as much as I try to believe that it's just inflammation, my mind will take me other places! Time to fill the candy dish with Ativan again! lol. (I use Ativan for anxiety when needed).
Take care for now and be good to one another, and take life for what it is, enjoy each and every day you have to it's fullest.
That would have meant that should I have gone through with day two, I would have most likely became neutropenic. Which would have meant that within a day or two of receiving that second treatment I'd have ended up being admitted to the hospital being neutropenic and confined to a room hooked up to antibiotics for 4-7 days, until my white blood cell count and neutrophils came back up into a safe range.
Yesterday (Wed. Jan 30) I had several appointments at the Cancer Center. My first stop there was at the lab where I had a blood draw, then it was over to see my Social Worker Nancy Hannon for one of my regular appointments. After that I seen my Dietitian, Donna Danelon and had my weight taken. I was up about 3 lbs which made her happy as I had been on a losing trend the past several months.
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| Me, Dr.Schneider & Brenda at the Relay for Life event in 2010 |
Ever since the biopsy and the radiation treatments that followed I have never worried or even really thought about that returning or causing any further issues as we caught that in a pre stage one situation. Well, now I worry, even though Dr. Schneider believe it is just a spot of inflammation, he wants me back in a month to recheck it.
So a bit of a worry for me, never a dull moment! I will get past this as I always do and for now I will go with what the good Doc said and hope it is just a spot of inflammation. For those of you who read this and are dealing with or have dealt with cancer and relapses, you know how any little thing plays on your mind. So as much as I try to believe that it's just inflammation, my mind will take me other places! Time to fill the candy dish with Ativan again! lol. (I use Ativan for anxiety when needed).
Take care for now and be good to one another, and take life for what it is, enjoy each and every day you have to it's fullest.
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