The Second Round and Other Things

April 26, 2022

I won’t be doing a blog on every one of my 6 treatment sessions, but I thought I would let you know about this one. Today I had my second course. You may recall that for my first one I was admitted to hospital. I was very sick and when I look back on it now I think I was near death…at least I felt that way. I got through it. That was three weeks ago. The first week after that chemo session was rough, but the past 10 days to  2 weeks I have been doing great. So I entered this second session of chemo feeling very well, not feeling sick. It was also different because it was done at the Ambulatory Treatment Clinic, as an outpatient, not admitted to hospital. Another huge difference was the first drug, which was given slowly IV over about 6 hours during my first session, was given by subcutaneous injection over 6 minutes!. Then the other drugs were given over about two hours or so. I did not get nauseated. I felt nothing untoward and we  went home at around 11AM this morning (went in at about 8:30AM).  So all very different.

So that’s all I’ll be saying about today’s treatment. I feel fine.

Now about my writing. I have been stuck on my book “2066” for months. I decided to put it aside and have started another  manuscript of a novel called “Jack and Gillian: A Newfoundland Novel”.  A large part of it involves the crew of a longliner.  I don’t know much about longliners. Never been on one. What I do know about longliners could fit on about a half page double spaced!  What I don’t know could fill volumes. But a good friend and colleague of mine, Dr. Farah McCrate, happens to be married to one Gregory Careen, who is a longliner captain, and has two of them, or at least skippers two of them.  So Glenda  and I have invited them to our cottage in Trouty and I will spend two days picking Gregory’s brain about longliners … the politics, the financial aspects around the fishery, the process of fishing the different species, the dangers, the experience.  And of course we’ll enjoy some wine and beer, and barbecues, and do some hiking, and stuff.

On Saturday past (April 23)  Matt Lloyd and I drove to Musgrave Harbour, a five hour drive,  to pick up a 27.5 trailer he and Jane were purchasing. Great road trip. Got it back to St. John’s and parked in their driveway in Torbay. Plan is for them to get it all set up and maybe go on a camping trip and then in a few weeks take it to Trouty where it will be parked on our land  when not being used by Matt and Jane and the kids.  For us it means we will have access to it to use as a place for people to stay when we have visitors and there are too many to all stay at our Trouty house…. a bunky, it is generally called.

And finally, we have discovered today that Peter (our son) and his family  are coming for a visit for a week in late June. Glenda  and I are so looking forward to it. We’ll spend time with them both in St. John’s and out in Trouty.