I have not written an update for a while now. Primarily because the space bar on my laptop is not really working well and I have been too lazy to fix it or use my other laptops. I can not remember the date of my last update or what I wrote since then. The news that I can share is that I am now cancer-free after two scans. When I last saw my oncologist in January, he was coming back from paternity leave and did not know about the emergency brain surgery. When we saw him on camera he seemed a bit nervous and I was quite concerned that I was going to hear some bad news. He had asked if I had gone through my results with anyone else and he told us that everything was fine. I think that he was a bit surprised about the brain surgery thing. I was surprised at how nerve-wracking the scan and appointments are. I am not sure if I would be ready if I was told that the cancer had come back. I like to think that I would be but I am not sure right now if I would be. The good news is that it is not something that I need to worry about right now. The doctor asked me if I wanted to have my scans further apart but I am ok with having them every 3 months. I have my gastroscopy appointment on June 6th and my next scan is in August I believe. Instead of having it every 3 months, I think it is every 4 or so right now.
Olivier has started writing a gratitude journal in PowerPoint at school. He is quite skilled in his computer skills and it is nice to see that some of this has been passed onto my kids. Melanie shared that I write one online. I think that one day the kids will stumble across it and read it. I am going to try and go back to it. It helped with a lot giving you a different perspective on things. I have gone back to working long hours and one thing that has come up at work is the lack of appreciation. I do not think that my team thought I did not appreciate them as I tell them frequently, but it is something that is missed. We highlight good things that we have done. Generally we focus on the negative things and do not celebrate the small things.
I have taken on another co-op student this semester and I realize that I miss the mentoring aspect of academia. I am trying to focus on coaching my team and with my new student. This student is quite bright and I would hire them on my team full time if I could.
As I am working more now I am starting to be more active. Melanie thought that I should start working out more and doing some light weights. I went to see a health specialist that deals with exercise and nutrition. I had to keep a food diary for a week and then go see him. When we chatted he said that right now I can not do anything strenuous as I do not have the caloric intake. He suggested some things to do and I have tried incorporating it into my daily life. I think Mel thought he would say I should exercise more. Aerobic exercise I am not too bad at the moment but lifting heavy things makes me so tired….I have no more muscle mass. I have started to buy new clothing as most of my stuff does not fit anymore.
Xavier’s custom gear that we ordered in September came in March….he has used it for practices but not in a game as of yet. He is quite large on the ice now. His obsession for hockey has increased as he goes out and plays it whenever he is home and free. Some kids down the street saw him and invited him to come play with them. He does not play in net with them but as a player and he seems to really enjoy it right now. Olivier still does not like to go outside too much as their are bugs.