Mar 9th - Mar 16th / 2024 - One Week at a Time

I have decided to blog on a weekly basis unless I feel there is a significant change or important information I should pass on.  In this way you will know when to expect an update from me :) Good idea eh?

It's Saturday morning Mar 9th, the sun is shinning and I finally have some of my energy back and not in constant pain.   The drugs I'm taking for shutting down my testosterone production must be working.  It's the testosterone that is feeding the cancer in my prostate, lymph nodes and bones.  

Dalton and Kendal are coming over today to pick me up and head over to the workshop. There are a few items to be moved and cleaned up before I start to advertise on market place some of the tools and equipment sell off.  

I was given a really old beast of a machine, an eight inch jointer and weights over 400 pounds that I never did connect up and see if it works.  It needs a lot of TLC as you can see in the picture.  I got the guys to move it to put it on a set of wheels and move it close to an 220v electrical outlet.  I grab a wire brush to remove the light rust off the steel bed and fence.  We get it connected, and turn it on to see if it works.  It works!  We test it, do some adjustments, test it again and wow!  The blade is super sharp and with the enormous power of the motor spinning the blade it effortlessly puts a clean edge on the board.  I should have connected this up when I first got it.  This is a machine that you need when working with rough cut lumber.  It cleans up the edge to make it perfectly flat and smooth so you can cut the board  straight on a table saw.  The other piece of equipment that compliments the jointer is a surface planer to make the face of the board flat, smooth and have an even thickness overall to the plank.  Both of these machine produce a lot of woodchips and can be very dangerous if you don't know how to properly use them.  Fingers can be quickly trimmed off before you know what happened. 

We spent a couple hours at the shop chatting and organizing the shop. It's was a great visit. I really enjoy the their company and interest in what I'm doing and what lies ahead.

It's Monday now and I just received an information kit from AbbVie Care for the Lupron injections I need to take.  I open the booklet and right off the bat it states: "Lupron Depot is used for palliative treatment of prostate cancer. Palliative treatment is the relief of symptoms associated with a disease; it is not a cure." I reflect on that statement for a bit.  It hits me like a sledge hammer being swung by Chris Hemsworth (played Thor in the movie). Palliative care? What the fuck. Yes, the doctors told me it's not curable but when I think of palliative care I think of laying on hospital bed - basically helpless and wasting away.  That is definitely not me. I dismiss that statement and move on.

Tuesday night, I'm chatting with my brother that lives in northern Ontario.  I tell him I'm getting a hormone injection tomorrow.  Then the conversation goes to what the nurse will look like... Ron says she will probably have a large mole on her cheek with hairs growing out of it and stubble on her chin. She'll be in the 350 to 450 pound range and her demeanor will be atrocious, extremely direct like your in military boot camp!  Enjoy he says.

Wednesday the nurse came over to the house (she was sweet and very considerate) and gave me my first Lupron injection.  It's a gel like substance that is injected into the muscle tissue at a very slow rate.  She was very upbeat and empathic to my situation.  She also loved our two Weimaraner dogs which greeter her at the door.  I was happy I didn't have to put them in the kennel that day. So my arm is a little sore after the injection, but nothing too concerning. 

Thursday, I had a long chat with Stephen from the Fredericton PSW Support group.  They meet at 7:00 PM and I was not able to make the Tuesday meeting in person.  Fredericton is about an hour away and the meetings run a couple of hours, so I wouldn't be home till 10:00 or 10:30 PM which is too late for me these days.  I tire easily and shouldn't drive while on hydromorphone.  He brought me up to date and shared some other insights on our situations.  We both strongly agree that the medical community should make checking the PSA level a standard test, even if it is only done once a year for men 50 or older.  PSA lets a doctor know if the Prostate is healthy or not.  If the level is high and caught early enough there is lots of great treatments to cure it.  A PSA level of 4 or lower is considered normal.  Again mine was 1215!  Way to late to cure the cancer.

This week we had a couple of monetary gifts come in from friends.  This really helps the household finances so much and is greatly appreciated!  One was specifically for our two Weimaraner's. They loved the beef bones, toys and treats! Want some more insight on this subject? Here is a link from Global News that explains the financial burden experienced by cancer patients. https://globalnews.ca/video/10352424/one-in-three-cancer-patients-face-financial-distress-cmaj/

Michele she is doing well mentally and emotionally. She is now the bread winner of the family which put a lot of pressure on her as the disposable income that she used to have is now gone.  Hard decisions have to be made and she is a trooper when it comes to those decisions.  She needs her downtime and is planning a trip to Newfoundland sometime in May to visit her daughter and other family.  I might go with her, which would mean the dogs would have to come as well.  It's a long drive if I do that.  Otherwise she will catch a flight.  It would be nice if both of us could go if we can find someone to look after the dogs for a week or optionally find two sitters and split them up for a week.  I'll keep you informed!

Until next week, keep well and live life to the fullest!