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

For the Birds!

Well this is the final week before the holiday season officially begins for the Erdmann family. Michelle, Jon and Joshua will be off work for the holidays and Sophia has finished the last of her exams and essays for the term. I am so looking forward to the holidays. Christmas is one of my favourite times of the year. I love the decorations, the lights, the food and the cookies (can't wait to eat all of those cookies)! I am counting my lucky stars that for now, the chemo seems to be working and I'm able to eat most everything.  Bring on that turkey dinner!  For us, Christmas  is a great time to slow down, reconnect and do things that we normally don't have time to get to do. 

Last year our son Joshua bought Michelle and I a wonderful Christmas gift that we make use of each day during the winter. He gave us a bird feeder, a North American bird calendar and bird themed hats. It was a very thoughtful gift. Both Michelle and I love to bird watch, especially from our comfortable chairs in our kitchen. We strategically placed the feeder so that we have a great view of the birds. (We might have had to move it a time or two, to get just the right spot!). We love to see the large majestic Blue Jays and vibrant red Cardinals, along with a variety of other birds that visit our feeder. This summer our feeder had a visit from a rare blue bird, they are gradually coming back to Southern Ontario - it was the most beautiful and vibrant shade of blue.  Nature is amazing!  Occasionally we get a visit from a local squirrel or two who try to get their fill of the seeds too. Although not a welcomed visitor (based on the amount of seeds they eat), a squirrel has to eat too, right?

We love identifying new birds that come to the feeder. It is surprising how many different birds rely on the feeders over the winter. Chickadees are the most common visitors but we do seem to have a pair of Blue Jay and Cardinals that are frequent visitors. We enjoy that they come in pairs to the feeder, a male and female couple. I am still trying to get a good photo of them both. Easier said than done! They seem to visit when my camera is not easily accessible or become easily spooked when I try to take a photo of them. Interestingly some of the other birds are more than willing to remain at the feeder even if I am approaching the feeder to get a good shot.

We say that we are doing it for the birds, keeping them fed over the long, cold winter months, but actually we are doing it for us, as a family. Feeding and watching the birds is another wonderful distraction from our daily worries and troubles. They give us small moments of joy and wonder each day and a reminder that despite what we are going through, life must, and does, go on. Sometimes our feeder will be emptied in just two days. It is our pleasure to refill it to see who will visit next.  

This will be the final blog post for 2020. We can all agree that we are happy to see this year come to an end. We are looking forward to all the promise of better times in the new year. Let's hope they come true for us all.  Over the next two weeks I will be focusing on family and relaxation. My Personal Cancer Journey blog will return in the first week of January. My treatments are going well so far, I am enjoying life, we are staying the course!

Wishing you and your families a wonderful, restful holiday season. Take advantage of this time to reconnect and make some new family memories. Don't forget to feed the birds (and squirrels too).

Look forward to seeing you in 2021!

Richard 

Birthday Season, AKA Cake Month!

This week's blog comes courtesy of My Michelle.

October is Birthday Season at the Erdmann’s, AKA Cake Month. 😊

Between October and early November, our 3 children and myself all celebrate our birthdays.  At times it feels not a week passes by and we are blowing out candles, singing “Happy Birthday” and cutting yet another cake.  When the kids were small, things often doubled up yet again, as we had kid parties with all of their friends, and then we would have a family celebration on the day.  Over the years we’ve tried things to try and decrease the sugar rush:  combining parties, foregoing cake for at least one of us (usually I would volunteer as we were totally caked out by the time my birthday rolled around), decreasing to a few cupcakes, substituting fruit or ice cream and even going down to “just a slice” rather than the whole cake.  But no matter how you slice it 😊 it has become lovingly known as October is “Birthday Season” for the Erdmann’s!  Thank goodness Richard’s birthday is in June, it gives us a break and something to look forward to and by then, we are surely ready for cake!

We have had a few memorable cakes that stick out and have become “Erdmann family legends”.  There was the year we had all of these little Barbie dolls whose “skirts” were made of sponge cake and with each doll of a different colour of fondant icing, from soft pinks to lavender and powder blue.  There was the year we had a 3D Teddy Bear cake and full on teddy bear picnic.  Then there was the year we had a 3D pirate ship, 100% edible, even down to the “gold bullion” and treasure chest – even the sails were edible.  That year we had the party at a bowling alley and people came from all around the building, to get a look at this cake.  The kids still talk about that one, and Josh who is turning 24 this year, asked if he could have a repeat!  I remember the year we also had a “James Bond” theme the year Casino Royale came out, now that too was a cake to remember!  Sometimes I’ve made the cake, (I love to bake), and many times we let the professionals handle it.

The trouble with having birthday season, is that because each week it’s someone’s birthday, sometimes the pure fun and joy can get a little lost in the shuffle – especially when as parents we  were working full time, the kids had full agendas with school/university and after school activities/jobs, throw in work travel and commuting and well sometimes it was like “let’s just get this done!”.  We knew this at the time, and tried to change it up, but sometimes you just got sucked into that birthday planning vortex!

This year, we’ve been trying to slow things down a bit, trying to savour each special moment and memory.  This year we have decided, everyone gets cake (including me, whoopee!), and we are making each birthday a special one, highlighting the one day for the person, and making sure that we are making those special memories.  With COVID and what we fear is a 2^nd wave, with Richard on treatment, we’ve been especially careful to keep our bubble small.  Birthdays this year have been just the five of us, fairly relaxed, and trying to make a few dreams come true.  

We count ourselves extremely fortunate to be celebrating these days together and we hope for many more.  We have been fortunate that Richard’s treatments and procedures seem to have been scheduled all around the birthday dates, but leaving those key dates free.  Last week Richard wrote about changes to his treatment, the need to pivot and move to Plan C, and our hopes to be considered for a clinical trial at Princess Margaret hospital.  We were all feeling discouraged and disappointed at the lack of options and next steps out there.  Now, it feels like a little bit of hope has been injected into our lives as we head into October and birthday season.  I am happy to report that those assessments for him and the clinical trial are underway!  We just need to stop that cancer in it’s tracks and slow it down,  so we can have more time, more celebrations and more cake!

I am so happy and grateful that we are celebrating yet another October and Birthday Season with Richard and our family, and I look forward to my double fudge chocolate cake, and it’s many candles.  I’ve earned every one!

I can’t wait to celebrate with you,

Love Michelle