Weekend North

Just a short FYI today.

Dave's feeling pretty good considering the dose of chemo he received yesterday. And he says he's been sleeping a little better which helps a lot. 

If he still feels good tomorrow afternoon, we're planning on heading up north for the weekend to stay at a cottage with friends. I plan on skiing and Dave will hang out by a fireplace.

Tomorrow mid-day he has another appointment to have his feeding tube site looked at as he still seems to be having unnecessary pain from it. We've also asked the doctor to switch the tube from a GJ to a G tube - which just means the tube will empty into his stomach instead of his small intestine. I don't think I've mentioned this here, but Dave actually hasn't been using the feeding tube for more than a few weeks now. He's been able to eat enough on his own to pretty much keep his weight up. (They put him on the feeding tube early on as he was losing weight because of his difficulty swallowing. Also people often lose weight on chemo because they don't have an appetite.) He can use the tube for supplemental feeding and it would just be easier if it were in his stomach. You can basically do the feeding faster through a G tube than a GJ tube. (Put it this way - he'd be more likely to use it for supplemental feeding if it didn't take so long to do. He was on it for 12 hours a day when he started with it. The pump is noisy and he couldn't sleep well with it running. It was just very frustrating for him and once he found that he could eat a little more and do OK without it, there was no going back.) We don't want it removed entirely, but just want it to be a little more convenient to use.

Hopefully that isn't a big deal and goes smoothly tomorrow. (It's not supposed to be a problem at all. They apparently just pull the old tube out and put a new different tube in.) And we hope they can figure out what the pain is from. (Dave still thinks it's from the suture pin that the VON nurse impaled him with.)

Also, we've pretty much finalized our trip next week to this wellness centre in Michigan. (www.creativehealthinstitute.com) Cale will be home with Brady. We'll be going between his chemo treatments on Wednesdays. We really aren't entirely sure what to expect but do have a good feeling about this. I know you stay there, they feed you, and teach you how to prepare your own 'Raw Living Food' (vegetarian) diet. They also supply wheatgrass juice throughout the day. Dave will be on a cancer diet, and I will be on a general detox diet. (My only vice is my morning coffee. I might have to sneak out to a coffee shop every morning or smuggle in some instant coffee!) They also show you how to grow & juice your own wheat grass and send you home with some trays, soil, & seeds. 

Well, we're crossing our fingers that tomorrow is another good day for Dave and we'll be able to take off for the weekend!

Val