You know how you can go back in time and mark your life by significant dates? That is how I knew how long I could remember Lennie being unwell. It was from his birthday party in August of ’09. So now I find myself using Sundays to mark the progress of his health. I can [...]
I think that in any situation or crisis one of the best things that you can do is to keep a positive attitude. That seems to be half the battle won. Through all of this we have also managed to keep our sense of humor. Len told me the other day that some men pay [...]
The most expensive clinic that we toured was across from the beach in a mostly residential community – “Hope 4 Cancer” is both an in and out patient facility. The cost here is $27,500 for a 2 week stay which is the recommended time frame for most of the patients that are treated here by Dr Jimenez. [...]
Very early in our relationship Len coined a phrase: Five-dark-thirty. Five-dark-thirty in Hawai’i became our favorite time of day. The air is still and it is about 20 minutes before the sun comes up. The cacophonyof tropical birds has not started and we lie there in the peaceful dark with our pillow talk. And so it [...]
I hear the fireworks outside the hotel. Tomorrow is the 200th anniversary of Mexico’s independence. Inside our hotel room the last 24 hours have been grueling. The pain of Len’s rectum and the spasms have been exhausting for him and for me. The support person or caregiver can be under as much stress as the [...]
Lennie has had a couple of really bad days which have revolved around the catalyst of crossing the border back into the US. No problems going (there aren’t too many Americans trying to sneak into Mexico). Coming back it is a whole other story. The lineups are anywhere from 1 1/2 to 4 hours!!! You [...]
It’s late Thursday night. Lennie has been asleep for hours. Yesterday was my first day here in San Ysidro, California. We are staying on the American side and taking one of the free shuttle buses to and from the Stella Maris Clinic in Mexico. The ride there takes approximately 10 minutes. There is no wait [...]
Life hands us two certainties. The first is that we have made the right decision. The second is that we haven’t. So it came to me as no surprise when Lennie phoned me on Saturday evening saying that he had just rented a car and was going to drive 150 miles to Los Angeles for [...]
Ten years ago when I had cancer I would always go to the Cancer Centre in Hamilton by myself. I didn’t really feel that I needed a support person with me and there were always plenty of magazines to read anyway. But that’s just me. Most of the people there had someone with them and [...]
A heartfelt thank you to all of the friends/customers that came over to my home on the weekend and either purchased a piece of artwork or gave me some uplifting stories and support. I received nutritional samples, books on cancer therapy and many, many stories of people that had beat the odds and were [...]