Busy day today. Had my appointment at the Tom Baker this morning.  Was slow getting away from home and hit a traffic jam at John Laurier and 53rd.  Forgot the morning rush.  Haven’t had to deal with that all summer and didn’t allow time for it so consequently was late for my appointment.  Had to wait for quite awhile when I got there.  I have become quite the people watcher since this all started. Much time sitting in waiting rooms etc. and there’s nothing to do so I watch.  Every time you go to the clinic you have to fill in the exact same questionnaire for the doctor.  You are there every week so after awhile it becomes a 10 second operation but the first few visits you read it through carefully and give everything careful consideration.  One of the questions asks if you need to see the doctor or would a nurse be good enough if you are not experiencing any problems.  I have ticked off both and have learned that it doesn’t matter what you tick.  If the doctor wants to see you he will, and if he doesn’t he won’t.  Anways...this couple is sitting there discussing whether or not they need to see the doctor.  Finally I told them it didn’t matter what they checked off....it was her first visit so they would be seeing the doctor.  They kind of looked at me like “mind your own business.”  which I probably should have been doing.  In any case I could tell this lady was really anxious as most people ar on their first visit to the Tom Baker so I struck up a conversation with her.  She was from Lethbridge, had pancreatic cancer and was absolutely terrified of chemotherapy.  We had a long chat and I told her that I had done very well with the chemo and hopefully her experience would be the same.  We talked about appetite and anti nausea drugs, about trying to keep as normal a life as you could through this process and whole host of other things.  I could tell as we talked she was starting to relax a little and decided right then and there that I would be on the lookout for people like her in the days ahead when I’m sitting round.  It’s always nice to be able to talk to someone who is going through the same thing you are experiencing and it really does help to alleviate some of the fears you might have.  When I finished my appointment I came out and she was still sitting waiting to see her doctor but I could see she was a lot less agitated than the first time I had seen her!

At my appointment today I saw young resident.  They wanted to send me for my next PET scan between my trip to the Grand Canyon and my trip to Hawaii.  I asked her how long I would be radioactive following the scan and told her about my last experience where I was detained at the border while they investigated whether or not I had in fact had a PET scan as I had set off all their alarms that detect radioactive materials.  Apparently they also have these detectors in American airports as well so I was not too keen to have a repeat performance of this event.  The resident looked puzzled....I’m sure she’s never been asked this question before and said she would go check with Dr. Esaw.  She was gone for about 20 minutes, came back and said they had contacted a radiologist to ask him my question and decided it would be best if I had the scan when I got back from Hawaii.  This was my preference anyways so I was more than happy with that.  This way I don’t have to fret about it when I’m on my holiday.  Other than that not much else new except I have gained 2 lbs.  Perhaps the Glucamine is doing it’s job!!!  Tomorrow is hydration day......please, let it be Ivy’s day off!

Beautiful day today but certainly has the bite of fall in the air!  We headed west this morning and dropped in on our friend Ron.  Unbelievably, he had his accident on Friday night, was flown in to the Foothills by Stars, had his surgery Saturday afternoon and was sent home on Monday. They removed C6 and C7, took a chunk of bone from his hip and fused the vertebrae.  He is having problems with his hands at this point but the doctors do seem very optimistic that he will make a full recovery which is excellent news.  The bad part is that he has been told that he must not do much of anything for 12 weeks if he wants to get better.  It’s either 12 weeks of nothing or he won’t recover.  This will be very tough for Ron as he is a real go getter guy but I think even he realizes that this it is very important that he pay attention.

After our visit we headed out to Water Valley to meet up with Geoff and Lindsey to play golf.  It felt a little strange being out on the golf course on the first day of school!  It was a gorgeous day and if you’re a golfer and have never played Water Valley you must put it on your list of places to play.  It is a beautiful golf course out in the country.  There are no houses surrounding it and the only sounds you hear are cows mooing in the fields.  It is definitely one of my favourite places to play golf.

Tomorrow I have my appointment at the Tom Baker.  Don’t expect anything profound but do need to talk to them about the scheduling of my treatments around my upcoming trips to the Grand Canyon and Hawaii.  I spoke to the nurse last week and she didn’t seem to think it would be a problem.

Speaking of problems.....the hair is definitely starting to come out!  Thought I might dodge this bullet but it’s not looking good at this point  All my TLC and magic formulas seem to be letting me down.  The writing is on the wall.  Was washing my hair this morning and a big clump came out in my hand.  Let me tell you that is a shocker!  Have been checking it throughout the day and things seem to be secure for the time being but I’m thinking I should mentally prepare for this eventuality!  Good thing I have a good selection of hats to call upon!

Home from Windermere.  Kathy and I had a fabulous weekend!  We don’t get many opportunities such as this to get away just the two of us.  We have been the best of pals since we were twelve years old.  Started out as badminton partners.  She was from the Glencoe Club and I was from the Winter Club and neither of us had partners so our coaches paired us up.  It was the start of a long and solid friendship.  We have played together, trained together, worked together and lived together for a couple of years pre-married days.  We have shared joyous times and sad times and have helped each other through each.  She was my Maid of honour and I was hers!  It is a friendship that has never lapsed!  I love that girl and I know she feels the same about me!  We always have so much fun together and we definitely bring the goofy out in each other as you can see from the past two days blogs.  Last night after hearing message after message from other friends, my Dad finally decided he had better read the daily blog.  When I came upstairs to say goodnight to him he said to me, “That was priceless!  People are going to be wondering what the heck is going on out here!”......

I am home now and facing the reality of things at home.  My friend and neighbour, Marion, fell and broke her leg last week and is just home from the hospital.  I walked by their yard on my dog walk when I got home and asked a lady in the yard how Marion was doing.  She said better, although still in a lot of pain.  I know the weeks ahead will be a challenge for her but she has great family support as I do and that goes a million trillion miles!  Then, last night Bill called me and our good friend Ron fell off a hay wagon while doing haying and broke a couple of vertebrae in his neck.  He had surgery Saturday afternoon and is already home from the hospital. I find that unbelievable!  Ron is a go getter guy and to sit still for the weeks ahead is going to be pure torture for him.  When I called him this afternoon Marg said he was sitting in the living room pretending to watch TV.  Ron does not watch TV!!!   The good news is that he should make a good recovery he just needs to be patient.  Now what were those three p’s I talked about in the days following my surgery???  Patience, perseverance and positivity!  I will have to remind him of that when I go to visit.  Not easy but very, very important.  PATIENCE.......PERSEVERANCE........POSITIVITY!!!!!

TODAYS HEADLINE:  “TRAGEDY AT RIVERSIDE”

Longtime friends out enjoying the weekend when one gets careless and walks in front of cart!  RCMP were called to the site but deemed the driver not at fault (which explains the happy wave).  “I’m going to miss my dear friend,” said Leslie, “however we were able to complete the round in under 4 hours which is the important thing.  Kathy would have wanted it that way.”  Next of kin have not yet been notified.  Leslie will be taking possession of Kathy’s brand new KIA SUV.  Although she already owns a vehicle Leslie says it’s the least she can do in this sad, sad circumstance.  This is her good deed for September 2nd and I think all agree a hard one to match!

PS. I shot on the right side of a hundred today and it should be noted the “accident” occurred on hole 13.

Hope everyone remembered to say their “White Rabbits” this morning!  I know Kathy did!  My good deed today was to make certain I hit the ball clean!  No dental work required!!!  As you can see we are having a great time!  My game was on the wrong side of 100 this morning.....Kathy played decently...! Tomorrow will hopefully be better!  Have lost all my ladybug crystals and all my light blue crystals!  I hope Santa is reading this and fills my stocking appropriately!

As you can see I am struggling a little at finding good deeds to do out here.  May have to just start when I get back to Calgary.  

Am feeling good again this weekend.  My low days are 7-10 days following chemo and then all my counts start to recover again before they zap me again!  I can really feel a difference today.  Nice to feel my energy level increase.  Having said that I did take a cart for the entire round today which does make a difference.  

Stay tuned for tomorrows golf shot!  Hope everyone is enjoying their weekend as much as I am enjoying mine!