A little poem to share

A dear friend (and a saucy one I might add) wrote a little poem that I must share so that all can appreciate....

A Thought for Kel

T-cell Lymphoma,

who the hell are you?

You popped in for a visit

Threw us for a loop

You arrived uninvited

We were not very pleased

Brought in quite a detour

To life's sweet breeze

I am taking fancy cocktails

That knock you off your socks,

But if you think you're winning,

You're in for a shock

There is a team that stands beside me,

My guy and my girl

They see me through my days

Move my heart with a whirl.

There's my extended family

And my awesome medical team

We're determined to get rid of you

Walk away strong and clean

My friends they keep me moving

feed my family love and food

pop in for a visit

pick me up, lift my mood.

So please speed up your exit

There are things I want to do

Fix my house, read a book

Live my life without you

A hell of a ride it has been

And a little more yet to come

I'll move on with my new outlook

For with my will, I will have won

Christina K

Wow... I loved that today... thank you my friend

First Day back.....

I'm a little reflective today - This being the first day back to school and my little girl (who really is not very little any more) isn't very interested in having me walk her to school - She asked me if I wanted my mom to walk me to school in Grade 6, or would I like if my mom brought me to work.... I suppose not. So now I'm looking at old pictures from her first days of school thinking that life is really just too short - I didn't walk her to school, but I sure wanted to...

Those of you who know Riley well, will remember that she was obsessesed with the color Red - She would only wear red, and paint everything red. Now her favorite color is lime green -

JK Sept 2003

Ahhh September

Looking forward to this month being over, although I know it has just begun. This month will be hopefully the end of chemotherapy, however a host of other interventions to follow that I hope to be a cake walk comparatively. I am just about through cycle 5 (tomorrow) with one more chemo treatment later this month - It hasn't been quite as brutal as the last one - but perhaps its all the excitement that is going on at our house - lots of progress on the renovation, and decisions to make and spending money like a drunken sailor - seems to be taking the focus off the cancer and on to more interesting things (pictures to follow if you are interested)

Met with my true oncologist this week (he has been on holidays each time I have been at the hospital this summer) and he was quite pleased with the results of the CT scan and making plans for radiation and lots of upcoming scans- but seemed very positive.

Thanks again to all for all the support -

Renovation moving along....

We have had some great progress this week... walls and window openings!! It sure helps me visualize the end product a little better.... but its time for Riley and I to go seek some solace in Georgian Bay and give these hardworking young men room for a messier workplace - Looking forward to our return on the w/e and perhaps a roof?

This is the 3 kitchen windows with a sliding glass door - We have gone from 4 sq ft window to 72 sq ft of glass

Start of 2nd Floor Teen Angst/Family room

good news...

The "Mid" CAT scan report came in - and it is a positive one - It appears that my largest mass in the middle of my chest has essentially disappeared and the smaller one on my neck has decreased by over half - and all the fluid issues I have had in my heart and lungs have gone - I asked my primary care nurse if I could stop treatment now, but apparently not - I still have a journey to complete, but at least there is a brighter light at the end of the road - So all this nasty, toxic medicine I am putting into my body is at least doing what it is supposed to be doing! So needless to say, I had a great day yesterday, enjoying the sunshine, swimming, lunching & went to a very fun summer party @ the McNicols - But now I have to get my very expensive needle that is supposed to increase my white blood count, but makes me feel like shit for a couple of days - But I guess its all working :)

Yuck!

Well, this has been quite a week - I have had it pretty easy in looking back on the past few months, so this was a bit of an eye opener - Just finished my 4th cycle of chemo and it was truly the most unpleasant yet.... but its over... so hopefully everyday will get a bit better. I had a CAT scan yesterday to see if all this nasty chemo is working - so results are pending - I won't get the official results for a few weeks, but may get a verbal report sooner.

A big thanks to my chemo buddies this week and Riley supporters - Cheryl, Marilyn, Marci and Mom!

Reno pictures to post this w/e -

Cheers! K:)

Summer 2010

There is very little to report these days, which is really not a bad thing and I have been quite lame in updating this blog - It is mid-summer, Riley has returned from camp (of course, the best year ever) She received her "5 year paddle" which I gather is quite an honor. Her group did a 4 day white water trip down the Mattawa river and I think that was a highlight. Riley and I have been keeping ourselves busy, and trying to help Colin out with the "one man renovation" here and there - but now its time to get some help in as the brick is ready to come down!!

This upcoming week is my "good week", so we will hopefully pack some fun in - I'm finding that I'm not bouncing back quite as quickly as before.

This is the time of summer that our family has usually taken some kind of road trip for a few weeks - typically ending up in PEI to visit the Moffatts - We are all going to miss this for 2010 - but next year might have to be something very special - Hmmmmmm - I'll attach a few pics from last summer...