165. Chemo Points of Interest (Part 2)

I camped in the Meota Regional Campground. The sites are spacious, mostly treed and well laid out and maintained.  Walking around town a bit towards the edge of the lake, I was impressed that the houses were so well kept.  I couldn't believe it.  What a difference from south of Lake Diefenbaker, where I camped with the boys last time, and where the surroundings looked so forlorn and depressed.  It turns out that the soil around Meota produces good crops and in addition contains an abundance of oil and gas.  No wonder that people in this part of the province are able to make a good living.  And although I am not a big fan of the oil industry (I know, I know, I do drive a car 😳), it was nice to see that the area and the local population is prospering!

Next, onward to a place I had been wanting to visit for a long time!  Near St. Walburg you will find the studio of Count Berthold von Imhoff, an artist known for his religious murals and paintings.  The church Dave and I were married in had paintings by this painter.  Born in Germany, he first emigrated to the United States and then moved to Saskatchewan.  By all acCounts (sorry, couldn't pass this one up 😄), he had an interesting life.  The studio is located on private property belonging to his descendants.  Make an appointment and the lady of the house will give you a tour of the studio and part of the house (a separate building) where the count and his family lived.  The studio is chockful of artwork and the other part of the house is still lived in by the grandson and family and therefor off limits to the public.  The photos are the outside, and a glimpse of the inside, of the studio, not the house.  A modest fee for the tour helps the family toward maintenance costs as the province provides no funding.

164. Chemo Points of Interest (Part 1)

I have been referred to a liver specialist at the University of Alberta (Edmonton) for liver resection.  I haven't received word yet whether they will take me on. There is more waiting ahead and more chemo.

So I went car camping to distract myself from all this medical stuff. I left on Wednesday and was back home Saturday night.  I would have stayed away longer but the incessant wind made me cold and miserable, so I had had enough of that after 4 days.  When Dave and I went camping, we made it a habit of stopping at the Points of Interest: in part because we thought it might reveal something interesting, but also it was a good excuse to stretch our legs and move around a bit.  I do not stop at these signs anymore for the following reason:  it mostly describes a building or an event that is mostly only interesting to folks who live or lived nearby and most of the time, other than the surrounding landscape, there is nothing to see, no building left, some rubble at most.  You need an extra-ordinary portion of imagination and historical interest to picture what would have been there.  So I try and discover my own points of interest on my travels.  Here are some I have come across this summer.  You may like them as well. (or not) 

After visiting my son and grandson I decided to check out the RemaiModern Art Gallery in Saskatoon.  The building is not-so-new anymore but I hadn't been there yet.  There were several exhibits spread out over several floors.  What I preferred were the spinners in the foyer and the very creative photos of the First Nations artist Meryl McMaster: bloodline  And a propos: there also was an exhibit of pottery decorated by Picasso: interesting but not earthshaking, I thought.  Some reproduction tableware with his artwork on it sold for a whopping $ 430.00 a piece in the museum's store...  Are you kidding me?

Next Point of Interest was a tiny gem store in the small town of Raddison (population 505).  The store's owner is 19 year old Judah Tyreman.  This young man is so knowledgeable about stones, fossils and anything else that can be found or dug out the ground.  And he is an excellent salesman to boot.  He sold me a dragon's egg for my grandson.  He just blew me away.  His shop was featured on the Discovery Channel.  Wow!  Impressive!

Chemo Still No News treatment-wise

 So I decided to go Car Camping again.

163. Chemo Second Liver Biopsy Results

The results of my recent liver biopsy were positive for cancer, i.o.w.: last fall's Nanoknife surgery did not get rid of it and may have made things worse.  Now I'm waiting on the decision of the surgeon whether or not I will get liver surgery.  Meanwhile the chemo treatments continue.  I'm on round 10 so far.  On the Up Side: I feel fine and am enjoying summer.  I don't think I will be posting much till I hear from the surgeon.  SanTeh! 

162. Chemo On Cold Capping

A couple of months ago I didn't even know it existed, but during my latest visit to the Cancer Clinic I witnessed a Cold Capping treatment.  Cold Capping is a cold treatment applied to the scalp during and after chemo treatment so that your hair won't fall out.  It works on the principle that freezing the hair follicles will prevent the treatment from affecting the growth of your crowning glory.

During my latest chemo session I was sitting across 2 female cancer patients in their 30s.  While these 2 women were of the same age, they could not have possibly been more different from each other.  The first one  was finishing up treatment and getting ready to head out the door.  She was trim and slim, without being gaunt, with short, dark stubbles covering her scalp.  She seemed to have a lot of spunk because she bounced out of her chair.  Before she left, I commented on how well her "hair style" suited her.  She smiled and said that she often gets sideways glances from people wondering whether her hair is short due to chemo or whether she shaved it like that on purpose.  It was obvious that she felt very comfortable with it.

The second young woman on the other hand, had long wavy reddish-brown hair, looked pale and frail, and gave the impression she wanted to be left alone.  She stared ahead vacantly. Her husband was at her side.  He could not have been more attentive to her.  Eventually I noticed that she was wearing an unusual hat with a strap around her chin and that maybe, because of this contraption, it might be nearly impossible for her to open her mouth, let alone carry on a conversation.  Oh no! brain cancer, I thought, but then remembered the radio feature on Cold Capping a while back and my curiosity got the better of me.  So I quizzed the husband.  He confirmed it was indeed a cold cap and asked if I had any experience with this.  No I did not.  He said they had ordered all the necessary supplies from the States.  In front of him was a large hamper, containing, I assume, a cooling mechanism, a certain amount of hats and other paraphernalia. Every 20 minutes or so a cold hat was dug out of the container and was carefully and snugly strapped to the wife's head after the previous one was removed and returned to the hamper.  In addition, the woman had some kind of "visor" on her forehead.  It occurred to me that the treatment might not be too pleasant and joked she might end up with "brain freeze", to which the lady solemnly nodded.  Since this was her second treatment I couldn't help but think: Poor girl you have a hard road ahead of you.  But obviously her husband was just the perfect  man who would be able to help her through her ordeal.

I'm scheduled for the long-awaited Post-NanoKnife Liver Biopsy tomorrow morning.  I don't expect to have a report on the results till the end of the week.  If the results are unfavorable, I will need some time to absorb this.  Keep well!  SanTeh!

161. Chemo A Song with Scandalous Sound Effects

Jane Birkin passed away a few days ago.  Being a former French Immersion Teacher and music lover, I payed attention to such an event.  Naturally it got me thinking of the 1969 song "Je t'aime moi non plus" that she is famous for, duetting with it's creator Serge Gainsbourg, who wrote the song for, and at the request of, French sex symbol Brigitte Bardot.  I was only 13 then, but remember said song for a couple of reasons: it caused an uproar when first released, and, whenever DJs would play it in dance halls in Belgium, the floors would fill up fast and furious with couples dancing very slowly and extremely close and personal. 😉  I'm not sure if in North America any of this would have been tolerated.  I may be wrong of course.  While the French tend to have a reputation for eroticism, the Americans on the other hand tend to prefer other forms of action.  At great peril of alienating the only two U.S. people who read my blog, most movies originating south of us invariably contain the obligatory car chases, explosions and roll-overs and of course gun violence as well.  Different strokes for different folks!  Now hold on a minute:  "Age-adjusted firearm homicide rates in the US are 13 times greater than they are in France", taken from healthdata.org.  Both are some examples of each country's culture and what is deemed important I guess.  Jane Birkin: Rest In Peace!

Feel free to blame my ranting on the steroids and accompanying insomnia due to the 9th chemo treatment.  Although a bit of social commentary is healthy in my opinion.  Maybe the above comparison is a bit harsh toward the Americans.  After all in 1969 they were fighting their own battles with the Vietnam War.  Still to date the country is an outlier as far as gun violence is concerned.  

In a few days a post on Cold Capping.  Stay Tuned!  Good Night or rather Good Morning already!

160. Chemo The Waiting Game Continues...

We went camping with our son and grandson.  It was so nice to be together and take a break from the worries about cancer and the treatments!!  Now it's back to reality unfortunately.

Not much new showed up on the CT scan.  The part of my liver was virtually skimmed over in the report on the results, so I did not get any usable info on it.  I am scheduled for the long-anticipated liver biopsy on July 24th.  This coming Monday, July 17th,  an appointment with my oncologist is taking place.  Hopefully she can explain a bit more.  As usual, bloodwork is coming up this weekend, just before my next chemo treatment.  I am considering whether or not to continue with chemo.  

I may not post anything for a week or so, possibly till after the biopsy.  Keep Well!  SanTeh!