Back online after low energy period

The last update to this blog was on Friday March the 13th.

Isolate: Stay at Home

After a fairly steady weekend of self isolation, the warning of the radiation technologist at my last session on Monday the 16th; “It will get worse before it gets better” began to be realized by the end of that week. The reappearance of the blog today is a sign that I believe we have turned another corner to higher energy and decreased discomfort. The mode of living here is to follow the advice to stay at home and self isolate. Our relative comfort is thanks to Farris continuous efforts to keep us fed physically and spiritually with videos of our grandchildren and on line connection with our faith community. Today is grandson Reid’s fifth birthday and I recall what a blessing he has been in my life since his birth. We will celebrate a proper birthday later with family, friends, hot dogs, sausages, and birthday cake. So, I get the impression that my family, especially son George, tracks my well being as directly proportional to the number of posts I make on Facebook and/or the number of emails that I send. (He is probably correct). So thanks for your continued support and prayers and look for me online on the good days.

Treatment plan winding down as coronavirus goes up

This week of Mar 8-13 began with a fatigue build up that peaked last weekend and necessitated a slow down to rest most of the weekend and into Monday, last chemotherapy day, and Tuesday.

Moving along the journey

The ACCESS exercise program protocol requires me to assess my level of wellness before the exercise workout. I assessed on Tuesday, that I would not be working out. On Wednesday, for my radiation treatment, energy was returning and by Thursday, I had my radiation treatment, exercise session, and lunch at an excellent Dartmouth cafe with Farris and a very tasty soup. Yesterday, some of the responses in Nova Scotia to the coronavirus began to be more noticeable. (Toilet tissue sold out at Costco). The public health measures to contain the spread of the virus and reduce contact between people are today resulting in recommendations around hand washing, self monitoring, and self isolation for 14 days if you will be returning from travel to the US and Europe. I will have my last radiation appointment on Monday and will not be scheduled to return for a PET scan for about 4 weeks. This will improve my immune response at the time when the province expects some cases of COVID 19.



The journey in the Nova Scotia Cancer Centre for the past weeks has shown me how good we can be at caring for each other when in need. The spiritual reading I do frequently addresses our striving to transform from closed and selfish people to open, selfless, empathetic, and generous companions for our brothers and sisters. I am interested in “mindfulness” and the neuroscience around the process by which we are able to see our actions not be driven by the instinctive response of the “reptile brain”, or amygdala, but be transferred to the (PFC) prefrontal cortex where the often fear stimulated reaction to “fight, flee, or freeze” is given the opportunity to be dealt with rationally. I share the opinion of many that the opposite of Love is fear and the efforts made in so many ways in the Cancer Centre by health professionals, admin assistants, spouses, friends, children, brothers, sisters, grandchildren, other patients to comfort and care, especially for the those with fear, is hope for our ability to act during the coming COVID 19 times to care for the health of those most likely to be adversely affected by this virus.

Thank you for your continued support.

Reflection on transformation inspired by recent NASA article

The recent journey of my son Chris and his daughters Lilly and Emily to the Cocoa Beach region of Florida for spring training with Sack A Wa paddlers during March

Arriving in Florida

brings to mind sitting for lunch under a mock-up of the Saturn V rocket at the cafeteria of the Kennedy Space Centre during a visit in the 21st century, on NSCC College business, to the Community College on site that trains technicians for NASA.



Saturn 5 Launch

In my youth, the accomplishment of Apollo 11 landing on the moon and the safe return of Apollo 13 from the disaster that threatened the lives of the astronauts were events that gripped my imagination and accelerated my desire to work in the engineering of these electronic systems and computers that made these adventures possible. Research done by Kevin Fong of the Guardian found that when an oxygen tank blew during the 1970 Nasa moonshot, the successful rescue mission was thanks to Nasa organisation, not improvisation. Reflecting on that time when the massive rocket of brute force lifted the Apollo craft from earth with light as bright as the sun and sound proclaiming in thunder as shattering as any of the proclamations of ancient gods, I realize that we have transformed from a human privilege to have dominion over the peace and health of the Florida residents, manatee, dolphins, and other creatures in the waters, and the birds wildly scattering... to people who see the need to organize to protect our common home and the many species that face extinction as a consequence of our societal abuse of water and atmosphere in our throw away economy. The theme of transition when searched on my Ponder Patterns Blog brings to the top the type of decisions facing us and some connections to our financial, spiritual and moral health. The theme of transformation from contingency and chaos, in the Apollo 13 1970 event, to organization was started by flight director Gene Kranz when he passed the baton to a fresh incoming team under flight director Glynn Lunney. A search of the Stories from Plummer blog for “transformation” reveals links for our personal transformation in practices of contemplation and openness to the mystery of the mystical that, thankfully, is reconnecting us to people and nature as kin.

References

(2020, February 29). 50 Years on – how Apollo 13's near disastrous mission is .... Retrieved March 5, 2020, from https://www.theguardian.com/science/2020/feb/29/apollo-13-how-teamwork-and-tenacity-turned-disaster-into-triumph

Some new experiences in week 3 of treatment plan

The Monday chemotherapy treatment for the last two weeks has been in the “little treatment room” that has positions for two patients and one washroom for two patients, and a window with a view for one patient.

Halifax Public Gardens

My “buddy” this week had the view. (I had it last week). He is a mariner, near my age, (Merchant mariner with Captain’s papers) from a fishing community near Yarmouth who was so pleased not to stare out at bricks. Chemotherapy is on the 11th floor of the Victoria building and the view is toward the North towards the Public Gardens. We were able to engage in enough common interest conversation to move the time along very enjoyably.



My medical oncologist had warned that the increasing depletion of white cells in the therapy would likely increase immune system compromise. An infection early Tuesday morning raised my temperature over 38C and we followed the safety procedure of going to the GEII Emergency Dept where the triage nurse monitored the temperature until emerge priorities ushered in a battery of analysis tests culminating with antibiotics at about 9:30 am that acted very quickly to return my temperature to a normal level and allowed the nurse at the Cancer Centre to approve my continuation of radiation treatment later Tuesday morning.



On Wednesday, I was ready for my ACCESS fitness session at 9:00, my Radiation treatment at 10:00, and Blood Collection (to recheck white cell levels from Tuesday morning) at 11:00. The day ends with energy up, temperature normal, and side effects minimal. All is good.



Thanks for your continued prayers and support.

I will be keeping you posted.