Day 64 – 1.04.64 – Covid Vaccination!

Today I called the doctor to ask about the Covid-19 vaccination. There was a small window that he had wanted me to go for it between the two surgery dates and looking online the only date was May 8th, which if there were any side effects may potentially be an issue. When I called I booked May 6th. It was interesting because they ask you which group you are part of and why you need to do it, so I had informed him I was going through chemo and the doctor wanted me vaccinated before I was admitted into the hospital. I will also get my second dosage within 4 weeks, which is nice.

I ordered an adjustable bed after a friend of ours said that they were great. It will allow me to work from my bed if things are really bad. I am not sure if I can do nothing for two weeks straight. Doing nothing and resting for 2 days is difficult, so I think I will try and do what I can as soon as I can. I even found a doctor that concurs. Good thing there is no confirmation bias when searching online for something.

1.) I am grateful that my team is so versatile and willing to adapt, learn or take on any tasks. I may potentially be off for more than 1 week, so I need to plan and make sure that any deliverables that I may have are accounted for. I have 2 people covering various managerial tasks that I have along with their own workload. I should have all of this done by tomorrow in case things get complicated next week and I am incapacitated longer than I think. After the surgery I think that things will be pretty smooth with half a stomach and I think that the second round of chemo should be smooth. I am currently at the half point of the journey and am grateful that so far it has been pretty good besides the loss of hair and loss of taste. I have ordered Buddhist meditation robes and look forward to wearing those to my chemo sessions afterwards. They should be nice and relaxing.

2.) I am grateful for our parents willing to help out and have the kids for sleep overs during the week with the kids. Since we do not go anywhere and have been isolating and the kids do online schooling, it is not as stressful to have them interact with the grandparents who have all been vaccinated. They take them which makes it easier for us to work during the day and to make our appointments. I have the nurse come here occasionally and Olivier knows to not stay around them and he vacates the area. He will take all of his school work and go to another part of the house for the 15 minutes that I get my dressing changed. With the grandparents taking the kids at various times, Melanie can drive me to the hospital so I am there at 6am and pick me up without worry.

3.) In two weeks time, the cancer should in theory be removed from my body and the next round of chemo is to kill any lingering effects. It will then be going back to check periodically for the rest of my life to make sure that it does not come back. It will be interesting change to my life. This is a good time to adjust my diet and to start working out again to rebuild some strength, energy and endurance. I will need to take it slow and be careful, but I think it will be fun. Overall the care that I have received has been amazing and through it all I am just 1 week off schedule because of 1 setback. The doctor said 6 to 9 months off work, but I think I may be able to go through all of this with having less than 2 weeks off of work. Even though my work does not care if I miss, I do because I think I would be bored.

Quoc Hao