I have been moved to 3 West at RMH. I certainly wasn’t complaining about my previous digs, but this is a BIG UPGRADE.
I have barely started taking anything by mouth and today this was lunch and dinner!!
Dinner came just before they brought me upstairs. So when I arrived I asked for saltines and juice. Fancy!!
It should pretty comfy here tonight.
I had been in a Trama bed in the ER since arriving here on Sunday evening. It was not super busy or noisy, but it certainly has the potential. I was the only patient in there most times. Last night a room with a door came available in the ER so they moved me there.
I received a new beanie from grandson Adam and a deluxe eye mask from his girlfriend Rachel, grandson Alex delivered my weighted elephant Gracie. Those along with the move gave me much better rest overnight
My blood pressure has become more stable as is my heart rate and oxygen. I am feeling quite comfortable just now.
They are removing the catheter and an IV they have been using in addition to my port a cath.
Still getting great care. No idea what is next, except that Dana and Aidan arrive on Friday. Not how this visit was supposed to start!!
I have my phone, but it is on silent and I’m not not monitoring regularly.
I have had a difficult couple of days. Nasty side effects from chemo. I called Mike and Nicole around 7pm last night. They brought me to Ridge Meadows Hospital.
My blood pressure was very low, my heart rate very high, I am very weak and feeling 💩 💩 💩
They brought in into the Trama ward ASAP. Got fluids running, ct scan, xray. All the stuff!!
They are taking really good care of me. Numbers are improving but apparently still listed as Critical.
All my prior cancer center appointments for this week have been canceled
No clear picture yet. But going in the right direction.
Early appointment with Radiation Oncologist this morning, all done and on the way home by 10am. The bone scan didn’t have any obvious update of the radioactive goop. The very young Dr. Zhao is suggesting a single radiation session to see if that will help. I am to wait for a call for CT Scan/mapping appointment, hopefully today or Monday (for the call) then following that the actual radiation. I was hoping for something that was more definitive. We’ll see how it goes. 👍
They called with the CT Scan/Mapping appointment for 11am on Monday and the single treatment at 4pm on Wednesday!!
I was hoping for something more obvious causing the pain, but we will give this a try. This works perfectly on my week off of chemo, so no interruption with that schedule. 🤞🤞
Each time I get treatment I get an updated appointment card that lets me know when my next appointments are. The chemo protocol that I am on now is a 3 week cycle. That means during 21 days I have treatment on day 1, day 8 and then skip day 15 and the cycle is complete. Following this cycle I was expecting to have my next treatment on September 30th. This card says October 7th, so I am a bit confused. I call the line for Dr. Johal’s secretary and so very thankfully she answers. I need to note her name because she is phenomenal!! It is not always her who answers or responds to voicemail, but I recognize her voice and know that she will look after me. I explain my confusion and she reads the note that says “patient will be away between September 30th and October 2nd” Aha! The marble drops. I had originally planned a trip to Ucluelet with Lindsey and then Dana and Aidan for that time. Many things have changed since and I have had to cancel that booking. Anyway, the secretary took care of the blip in schedule and had it adjusted to allow for my time away. There are so many things going on that I had completely overlooked this. Phew, glad I called the real superhero!! She is going to go back to the chemo schedulers and hopefully get the date changed back to September 30th and October 7th. Then I can use my port/bloodwork procedure documented yesterday to get those appointments in the queue too.
The superhero called me back, her name is Ish. She got me back on the right track!!
I had a visit from a former co-worker and friend who has mobility equipment that her Mom used. She brought me a wheelchair and a smaller walker. The wheelchair is a bit large, but I think I will try to keep it in my car and when I have Alex or Adam with me, they can get it in and out of the car for me. We will give it a trial anyway.
My pain has been tolerable today. I have only taken the pain meds once this morning.
Tomorrow I have a radiation oncology appointment at 8:15. Michael will pick me before and go with me. I am expecting to have radiation appointments next week, but that is just a guess. Tomorrow will shed more light on things.
I woke up at 8:30 this morning after a good sleep. I felt so well last night, I stayed up until just after 11. Up once to the bathroom and back to bed and sleep easily. My phone goes off “Sleep mode” at 8:30 and that is when I woke up. I might adjust that to 9am??
I did’t see Lindsey this morning as she was off to work early today. I got up and have now settled down with all my needs for a few hours, coffee, water, meds, everything. When she comes back we will be making some soup for the 2 of us and have some left overs for a while,
A serendipodos event yesterday has led to a friend, who lost her mother a while ago, who also has mobility equipment, a wheelchair, that she is going to bring over today to see if that will work for me.
Looking forward to that.
At the moment I am feeling quite well, that day from hell Tuesday is done!!
Just like clockwork, just before 10:30am Alex was at my door, then wheeling me down the hall in my loaner walker to his dad’s car in the garage. We make the roughly 30 minute drive to the BC Cancer Agency in Surrey, Found a pakring spot quite quickly. While I straighten out my car, Alex goes in to see what the process is to get a wheelchair. The young man at the Check-In desk there is most helpful and Alex is back with a wheelchair for me to use today. Our appointment is at 12:15 and by 11:10 we are parked and checked-in and sitting in the waiting room for the second treatment of the new (to me) chemo drug, Sacituzumab, Pronounced similarly to Sacsayhuaman in Cusco, Peru (Greg & Leslie, do you remember Sacsayhuaman, it is a citadel on the northern outskirts of Cusco, they pronounce it like “Sexy Woman” So yes, I am indeed still a Sacsayhuaman!! 😅🤪🤣😂
Alex asks if they normally call me in early. I am ALWAYS early! It comes from living with Stu for so many years. It has established itself in me too! I tell him that in the over year or so that I have been coming there rarely call me in early and especially not this early. Very shortly after I tell him this, a nurse comes out and calls “Patricia”, we look at each other and laugh!! Up we get, the nurse introduces herself and we do the same, We stop on the way to Pod 5 to weigh me. Down a little bit.
We go through the standard pre-Chemo questions on how I’m feeling, aches, pains etc. Nothing other than the nasty pain comes to mind The nurse is delighted that my port is already accessed by the Medical Daycare nurses and RMH yesterday. They are always happier when they do not have to poke you! After a few more items to check off, the nurse comes back and askes how I organize the the blood draw from my port. Everyone always yes, it is possible, but no one knows how. It is a multi-step process and as she had found and I had found no one seems to have documented it. It is quite complex really, so here is what I have been doing.
Just a few steps that do seem daunting, but soooo worth it. Especially if you can arrive at chemo with your port already accessed and ready to go. It is much easier on you than being poked constantly. It still doesn’t hurt as much and a can possibly avoid a second poke!! Just a WIN/WIN situation in my opinion.
One other thing I learned is that initially I was scheduled for chemo on Fridays, so I would book the lab/medical daycare appointments on Thursday and that worked great. However, then next set of treatments were scheduled for Tuesday. That makes an ideal bloodwork day a Monday. But during the summer especially, Holiday Monday’s can affect things. The Medical Daycare works 24/7 (at least in Fraser Health), but the Lab takes the Statutory Holidays. So if the Lab can not produce the tubes, the Medical Daycare can not fill the tubes AND I do not get a chemo appointment time for Tuesday until Thursday. If I waited until Thursday to make an appointment for bloodwork, there will be none available. What I have done in these circumstances is, book a number of provisional Lab appointments at various times during they day of treatment and when I get the appointment time I cancel the redundant appointments. I feel badly about blocking the appointments for others, but I NEED the bloodwork in order to proceed with treatment. It only happens a few times a year, so unless there is a drastic change in the way this can be accomplished, I will continue to do it.
Today the drugs were delivered efficiently, without any issues at all.
The nurse that I had last week stopped by for a chat and mentioned the resemblance between us. We see each other so often, we don’t usually see that. It was cool to hear it from her!!
Alex and I were able to do some chores on the way home. It was really wonderful to have his company today!!
Tomorrow there is nothing on my calendar except Cataract Eye drops. Nothing too strenuous. I think I can handle it! ❤️❤️❤️
I am feeling so much better today than yesterday!!
We wake up to another beautiful morning. We have one thing on our schedule today. A tour of the Sagrada Familia. The tour starts at 11:05 so we have leisurely morning for coffee and breakfast.
Outside the basilica is a model that shows what it will look like when it is finished. The grey portions are completed, the orange portions are currently under construction.
I have mentioned that this building intrigues me. Every detail has a meaning!! It is reminiscent of Dr. Seuss. We discovered that Dr. Seuss did in fact take inspiration from Gaudi. The structures are so whimsical.
The interior is stunning as well. The columns are so detailed. They are designed as trees with the tops or capitals branch out to be palm fronds. The stained glass colours represent the 4 seasons.
This is the exit of the basilica, the Passion Façade is a very different style than the entrance which is called the Nativity Façade. It depicts the crucifixion of Jesus.
We are told that the knights on the Passion Façade were the inspiration for Darth Vader.
The Travelling Fish gets a photo op here. I just LOVE the spikes on the sun!! ❤❤❤❤
The park across the street is a very busy site today. There is a geocache right here, so we take a few minutes to search for it.
Lindsey has done some research and thinks that it might be cool to head to the Gothic Quarter. This is believed to be where Barcelona began. Where the first Roman settlement was built. This area is a bit farther away from where we are staying. This journey calls for public transit.
We come up from the subway to arrive in the Gothic Quarter. We are right next to Chapel of Santa Ágata that was built in 1302. We see the remains of the city’s Roman wall and several notable medieval landmarks.
It is Sunday today. As we approach the Catedral de Barcelona there is an outdoor church service in progress. Many people attending and listening to the priest here.
It is time for a beverage. Finding a small restaurant with outdoor seating we sit and order Sangria. Oh my, this is THE BEST SANGRIA that I have ever had. There is a flavour that is so delicious that we can’t identify. We speak with our server. He has a few English words and we have a few Spanish words. We work out the ingredients. The magic ingredient is Licor 43. Licor 43 is named for the 43 ingredients that go into its production, Licor 43 is made with fruits and a wide range of aromatic herbs and spices. It’s light and sweet, with vanilla far and away the strongest flavor, backed up by bright citrus and warm cinnamon. Definitely a unique flavour. We are fans. As such fans we order another.
We order a tapas. Some very delicious scallops. We also order diner and are really enjoying this little restaurant. We are dining outside, but there is no smoking here. There is a young man at the table next to us who goes around the corner to have a cigarette. There are no ashtrays on the tables. I did look up smoking regulations in Spain. This is what I find. “Smoking is prohibited in publicly accessible buildings and public transport (including taxis), at work, in train stations, in discotheques, in bars and restaurants, outdoors on the premises of hospitals, health centres, schools and kindergartens.” I am a bit confused as some of the sidewalk eateries do have ashtrays and people smoking. 🤷🏻♀️🤷🏼♀️🤷🏼♀️
Yesterday was Pitt Meadows Day at home. The second one in a row that I have missed. While we were enjoying our meal suddenly a parade erupted. We again question our server as to what the parade was for. A bit of back and forth. He even had to look it up. It is apparently La Patum it is Catalonia’s quintessential medieval festival of demons and fire.
Heading back to our cosy hotel, we spot a mailbox. Lindsey has written another postcard and needs to mail it back to a friend in Nanaimo. We take this opportunity. 😁
An amazing day for sure!!
We had our final sea day yesterday. We have been touristing very hard for the past 3 weeks. We are all very tired and not much happened this day. The final sea day only produced 1 photo from me. Adam enjoying a light Sun Princess snack!!
Today we are back in Barcelona and will need to disembark our home for the past 21 days. Michael, Nicole, Alex and Adam are flying home today. Sad last breakfast for us. 😢
Lindsey arrived in Rome, so she and I are staying 3 more nights in Barcelona in order for her to get a taste of the city. As we are riding in the cab to our hotel that is very close to the Sagrada Familia, we see these little golf cart type rental cars. It is interesting to hear that there is a company now in Vancouver renting these in the downtown core.
We leave our luggage at the hotel as our room is not quite ready as we are here very early. Our hotel “Sagrada Familia” is 2.5 blocks from the basilica. There is a lovely little park across the street from it so we decide to kill some time by taking some time to sit on a bench in the park. Not long after that we migrate to an outdoor café and order a nice cold beer. It is very warm here.
I am still enthralled with this basilica!! It is sooo stunning!!
Wandering the streets we spot this building with stripped curtains on all of the balconies. Kind of interesting.
One of things about Barcelona that I like is how wide the sidewalks are. In most European cities the sidewalks are usually very narrow. These are wide enough to park cars on and still have room to walk. Also, they have corners that are diagonal. The photo below shows the corner, you can park 5 or 6 cars on the diagonal corners. We found out the hard way that you really need to pay attention to where you are going, On our way back to our hotel, 2.5 blocks, we were talking and walking. The next thing we know we are not arriving to our destination. Checking google maps and we must have crossed the wrong diagonal corner and ended up going in a loop, ending back at the Sagrada Familia. 🤣😂 My right leg is very sore and not impressed by this detour.
After resting this afternoon, we walked our neighbourhood and found a busy little restaurant for some tapas. We enjoyed some wonderful olives, mushrooms, roasted veg and croquettes. Oh yeah, of course wine!
A young couple next to us heard us speaking English and asked if we were American. We let them know where we were from. It turns out they were from the US, Missouri. They had come to Madrid to see Taylor Swift. Then took a side trip to Barcelona. They left their 2 kids at home with grandparents to take less than a week in Europe. They really enjoyed the show. Still, it seems a long way to go for a concert. 😋