Supporting My Local Hospital & Cancer Centre

No update to share as of yet on my biopsy results. My oncologist called me today to let me know that the lab is reanalyzing the sample. The results must be really close and they want to be totally sure of the results as this will determine which next path I will take in my cancer treatment. 

Supporting My Local Hospital- Southlake Regional Health Centre

I am so fortunate to have a hospital in my local community that has a regional cancer centre attached. This has meant the world to me, as I can attend appointments, tests and treatments with limited worry and relative ease. No long commutes, hefty parking fees or hours on the road going to and from treatments. This also means that my family is always close by. A blessing for sure. I am so fortunate so I want to ensure that others who may need our hospital, can get the same support that I am currently receiving, especially from the Stronach Cancer Centre with excellent, modern and up to date facilities and the wonderful, helpful caring staff.  

In my previous post, Supporting Cancer Research, I talked about the various cancer charities that I have supported over the years, not knowing that one day, I would myself be needing to rely on these resources for my own personal health. Our family had planned to participate in the Southlake 5K Run/Walk last year. Unfortunately due to COVID this event had to be cancelled. I am happy to announce that the Erdmann's have signed up again this year for the virtual version of this event. We invite you to join us!

This years event is called Run for Southlake Virtual Challenge. Michelle and I have created our own Virtual Challenge team called Richard's Roadrunners. We are always looking for people to join our team and cause. Between April 12th and May 9th our team have committed to focus on being physically active, supporting our personal wellbeing by eating well, being physically active, building our walking endurance & going the distance. We hope to record at least 40 km of walking during the four week event.

We invite you to join us!   You can find our team registration information here. We would love to have you join us virtually and set up your own goals. Lets achieve this together and raise money at the same time. Alternatively, if you can't commit to being apart of our team but would like to make a donation to the cause, you can do so here: 

Donation to Run for Southlake Virtual Challenge. Please be sure to donate under our team name Richard's Roadrunners. Our goal is to raise one thousand dollars for Southlake Regional Health Centre. We are almost halfway there already! Thanks to those that have already sponsored me, Michelle or our team. We really appreciate it. 

We will keep you updated on our progress in an upcoming blog post, once the event has begun. 

Thanks everyone and get your runners on!

Beep! Beep! Go Roadrunners!

Richard

Sometimes I forget!

It's true! Sometimes I forget that I have cancer. Hard to believe right? It is strange. It might be just for a few minutes during the day or sometimes, when I am lucky, for longer periods of time. There are days, when I can almost get through the entire day without thinking about cancer or my own personal circumstances. These are special moments. They are carefree moments. They are 'normal' moments. They provide a much needed escape from reality, my reality. Often they occur when I am distracted, busy or thinking of others. I talked about finding distractions in one of my previous blogs. I must say that it is getting harder and harder to find these lasting moments of distraction, especially as I wait for next steps in my cancer journey. I am thankful that they they still provide me with some respite from my reality.

Unfortunately there are also constant reminders or prompts that pop up all the time that quickly bring me back to reality! It might be a zap or a pain in my body or a telephone call that seems to come out of the blue, to book another appointment or to share some recent results. It can even be a television commercial about cancer treatments, cancer lotteries or donating to cancer causes. It is amazing how many commercials there are about cancer when you pay attention and notice them. Let me tell you that you can't get through an episode of Wheel of Fortune, Jeopardy or Sunday Morning (our latest obsessions) without seeing a commercial about cancer, often multiple commercials, sometimes two in a row. These are shows that come over the US networks, where they can advertise directly to patients.  It is everywhere and impossible to ignore! I have noticed that even the talk shows seem to be highlighting people and families that are dealing with cancer or who have survived cancer. It is then, that my own reality comes roaring back.  Oh yeah, that's me, I'm a member of the cancer club.  It is sad and disappointing to say that prior to my own cancer diagnosis, I really didn't notice or pay much attention to cancer. Now I can't escape it.

Sometimes I forget what it was like 'before cancer'. I am now in my seventeenth month since being diagnosed with esophageal cancer. At that time, being here at seventeen months after my diagnosis was not even a possibility or part of the discussion.  That was the dream, to be an outlier! It has been a whirlwind since that fateful day back in September 2019. Sometimes it feels like a lifetime ago. I remember being so excited for the start of my retirement, excited for our planned retirement trips and exciting adventures that were upon us. Little did we know that we would have to detour, postpone and alter our plans due to an unplanned and unwelcome adventure that would take us on a medical roller coaster ride. This ride has had many ups and downs and plateaus along the way. I guess it is the ride of our life, for better or worse.

Sometimes forgetting is a good thing but I will never forget the love and support from my wife, family, friends and colleagues. You are what keeps me going, keeps me positive and keeps me hoping! 

I will always remember and be thankful,

Richard

B is for Biopsy

This week brought me back to Southlake Hospital in Newmarket for a liver biopsy.  Although the hospital was fairly quiet, I was still quite surprised to see fairly large numbers of people in the day surgery waiting room. The entire procedure from start to finish was about four and a half hours, although the procedure itself seemed to take less than half an hour. Surprisingly quick and painless, mind you I might have been sedated, so it could have taken a little longer than it seemed. I have to take it easy for a few days (no easy for the Energizer Bunny, but I am trying!).

This biopsy was scheduled by my oncologist to get a better understanding of what is happening with my liver.  This biopsy will hopefully provide us with some much needed new information about the tumours in my liver. Those three stubborn tumors that seem to be resisting all forms of treatment and continue to grow. How dare they! They may be stubborn, but I'm just as stubborn as they are!  Hopefully the results will show some biomarkers and results, that will open up some clinical trials options.   

In the meantime, life goes on! I'm going to try and take it easy for the next week and heal up.  This weekend brings both  Valentines Day and Family Day! Both centre around love and taking a little time to pause and recognize those we love, especially our families. I am so fortunate to have a wife and family that love me. I love them more than words can say. They are my life! I don't know what I would do without them. Michelle is my sweet valentine. She provides me with unconditional love and support. She masks her concern and worry very well, but she has had a few sleepless nights, keeping watch over me as I recover.  We are looking forward to getting some rest this weekend!  Our three kids are the best thing that ever happened to us. We are so proud of each of our children.  I hope they know it.  Family Day gives us that special reason to let them know, and to pause and show how happy I am to have them and our family. This weekend we celebrate love. We celebrate family. 

B is for biopsy, but it is also the "B" in Be my Valentine.

Wishing you a wonderful long weekend. Enjoy your family and spread some love!

Richard

Not Playing the Waiting Game!

I was going to call this week's blog, The Waiting Game, mostly because that is what our/my life seems to be right now, a never ending waiting game! Waiting for test results, waiting for next steps in my treatment and waiting for this lockdown to be lifted so life can return to some sort of 'the new normal'. Most of all we are waiting to check off more of our family bucket list items that are currently on hold. I guess we are all experiencing our own personal waiting game. This week, when I was discussing possible blog topics and titles with Michelle, like we do most weeks, she quickly pointed out that despite the waiting game that we are on, life still goes on, and despite cancer touching our lives, we've all made conscious efforts not to wait and to keep moving forward.

She reminded me that we really do have so much to celebrate and be thankful for, even during these dark times. While we feel like we are 'stuck in neutral' , life continues on for better or worse. She was quick to remind me of all the "better" moments that have been happening in our family's life over the past few weeks and months. It really helped to refocus my thoughts and reflect on some of the good milestones and positives. Sometimes we can get lost in a never ending cycle of negativity and disappointments, focused on cancer and treatments, and waiting for the next best thing, or any thing really, to happen. So with this in mind, and with a refocused attitude, I have to share that we actually have been doing more and we are not always playing a waiting game!

Over the past few weeks we have many instances to celebrate and be thankful for the blessings that have come our way. Michelle just accepted a new global role with her company.  She has worked hard for this and we are so very proud of her and I am so glad I am here to share it with her. Despite our personal family obstacles and support she gives me, she has remained strong and continues to be focused on loving us but also providing excellence in her career.  It's not easy and I know how worried she is about everything, but she keeps going.  Jonathan has completed his university degree and is exploring a variety of options that will use his skills and talents. He recently has been doing some stock footage/time lapse 4K video and posting it for sale.  Not easy to keep moving forward, when much of the film industry has slowed, and just when you are trying to launch.  Josh continues to move ahead in his job and at the same time he is exploring further post university studies. Not easy to keep working and advancing during a pandemic and we are so proud of him.  Sophie, our youngest, is a candidate to graduate with distinction from Queens, and has just completed her application to a Masters program. Her little sticker shop "Opal and Fern" just celebrated its first anniversary and has generated over two thousand item sales in its first year. An amazing achievement. Not easy to keep excelling at university and launching a business, when I know how worried she is about me, when she should be just enjoying her university years, but she keeps on reaching and we are so proud.  Even I have kept moving forward.  On a personal note, I supported a colleague in writing an article for the Canadian Association of Principals journal focused on leadership during the pandemic, was named as an author and it was published this month. This is one more  bucket item that I can cross off the list!  

Other positives include the health of my family remains good (except for me of course). We are generally happy and are managing/coping pretty well during this pandemic. Despite the constraints, we seem to be navigating it pretty well (even with five adults under one roof) at least from my point of view. Our little Lily continues to be the bright light for all of us and we just adore her. What a wonderful addition to our family.  

Michelle is right, we aren't  stuck in neutral, life goes on, we go on, and we need to appreciate these moments, the effort and celebrate all along the way!

No more waiting!

Richard