Eric started a new round of treatment Monday so we were at clinic everyday this week, but first, we took a long weekend camping(-ish) and had a great time!
We were offered 2 nights camping in a cabin at Revelstoke RV & Cabin Resort by Starlight Children's Foundation. We decided to take a couple extra days and stay over in Kamloops on the way there and the way back. We left Thursday afternoon and headed to the Coast Hotel in Kamloops, which I booked for its indoor pool in an atrium sort of thing and hoped to have a room overlooking the pool. Unfortunately, since we brought the dog, we didn't get one of those rooms, but the pool was still pretty great and came with a giant inflated soccer ball that the kids enjoyed playing with.
They did get immediately into the pool, even though we didn't arrive until after 8pm. Back to the pool again in the morning and then hit the road to Revelstoke. We arrived in the afternoon and settle into our "rustic" cabin and explored the site. We enjoyed the campfires, so many marshmallows, the tetherball and basketball at the playground, the outdoor movie theatre and the goats. All of that and the kids' favourite part was the camp store where we were gifted a credit that they plowed through buying ice cream, candy, gum, pop and more ice cream. While we were there, we visited the Revelstoke Dam. I didn't even know it was there and its HUGE - bigger than the Statue of Liberty and the Great Pyramid of Giza. There were a lot of dam(n) jokes all day long.
On Sunday, after a pancake breakfast hosted by the Revelstoke RV & Cabin Resort, we headed back on the road toward Kamloops, but stopped to see the Martha Creek Falls, which is apparently a bit of a hidden gem. They can't be seen from the road, but are just off it and spectacular.
Last week Eric's doctor threw us a bit of a curve ball (but I knew it was coming) wanting to start another round of treatment. We decided that we would still stay Sunday night in Kamloops, but come back early enough on Monday to make it to clinic in the afternoon. In the meantime, our Nurse Clinician checked with clinic and the Oncology pharmacy to find out what the latest was that we could come in. We agreed on a 3pm appointment. I wanted to leave Kamloops by 10:30am to give us a bit of a buffer, but we managed to leave a few minutes earlier than that and, with an uneventful drive, got to our house in exactly 3 hours. This gave Eric and I a few extra minutes before we had to leave for clinic. I laid down for 20 minutes and then packed a snack bag and we headed out.
Monday, June 2, Day 1/5:
Nice and easy afternoon drive to the hospital. Clinic wasn't busy so it didn't take long to do Eric's access and bloodwork, followed by IV Ondansetron (anti-nauseant) and then the IV chemo only runs for 10 minutes. His Nurse Practitioner came by to let us know the results of his bloodwork, which were all good (for Eric) and do a quick exam. We were out in only about 1.5 hours and into rush hour traffic home. Of course, we knew this was the trade off for staying the night in Kamloops, so we managed it; some of us might have fallen asleep a little (not me!) On Monday, Eric also started Day 1/28 of the oral treatment.
Tuesday, June 3, Day 2/5:
We had a busy day planned for Tuesday; back to clinic for another dose of IV chemo, plus platelets, plus an appointment at the Endocrinology Clinic. Upon arrival, Eric's Nurse Practitioner suggested that maybe Eric didn't need platelets since his count yesterday was 19. Not high by any stretch, but without active bleeding, okay for Eric. However, I wanted Eric to have the transfusion because I wanted him to get back to the regular Monday/Friday/Wednesday schedule and if he didn't get them Tuesday, he would end up getting them Wednesday and then we'd have to be back for Monday/Friday next week after being in for 5 days this week... anyhow, there was logic behind it. Also, because we had planned the clinic appointment around the Endo appointment so, if we didn't get them, we'd just be sitting around for 2 hours waiting for the Endocrine appointment, and then sitting around the following day while he got platelets. We definitely can't accuse me of underthinking any of this! So his NP agreed it made sense and ordered the platelets. His nurse was amazing to get in the platelets, Ondans and chemo in the remaining 2 hours before the Endo appointment.
Endo was pretty uneventful. They like to follow Eric because he has adrenal insufficiency from the high dose steroids almost 2 years ago and because he takes a medication to compensate for that. They'd ideally like to wean him off it, but because of the continued treatment stressing his body, it is too hard to do right now. So basically, they weighed and measured him, asked me a bunch of questions and then we were able to leave. Back to rush hour traffic once again
Wednesday, June 4, Day 3/5:
It was a busy 6 days leading up to Wednesday, but I was excited for Wednesday. It should be a quick clinic trip and I can actually get caught up on life. Eric was super duper tired Tuesday night. It has been go, go, go, but also a side effect of both the IV and oral treatment is fatigue. On Wednesday morning I was completely blown away when Eric wasn't awake by 9am; he is the early riser in the house! I ended up having to wake him up about 9:15 so that we could leave the house at 10am. Clinic did go fairly quickly, as we had anticipated, and we were out in less than 2 hours. At home in the afternoon, Eric built a LEGO set that Kristina had gifted him the day before, while he continues to work on her project for the playroom. It was the Knight Bus from Harry Potter and very cool, but apparently also way too much purple!
Thursday, June 5, Day 4/5:
Another quick and uneventful day at the hospital. Eric woke up at a reasonable time and I was able to squeeze in a dog walk before we left and some chores when we got home.
Friday, June 6, Day 5/5:
Today is an exciting day for 2 reasons! One, Eric gets his port de-accessed and can scratch under the dressing, and two, Eric and I are flying to Prince George to meet Lily! Lily is Grandma's new Bichon Frise puppy. She is 10 weeks old and only weighs 3 lbs. Eric chose her name and is actually even more excited to meet her than to get de-accessed. We are at clinic right now. Turns out this is a good place to update my blog, since I finished another book yesterday and it's a hard place to start a new one with all the interruptions. The IV Chemo is finished, we've seen the doctor and the platelets are almost done. We're actually going to be finished here even earlier than I anticipated, but our flight isn't until 6pm. Luckily Granny lives nearby!
We're back to clinic on Tuesday next week, since Eric's class has a swimming field trip he really wants to go on. However, we're going to come in a little later on Tuesday because Eric is getting a ride to school in a police car courtesy of Cops for Cancer! Looks like another busy week ahead!
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