I have been Missing In Action for a while now. I have been very busy trying to get ready for Christmas by making some homemade gifts (not as many as I wanted to do), and buying and wrapping gifts for the grand kids Advent Calendars, and also for my adult children's stockings. My Sweetie as you know has been ill and we are still spending a lot of time going to hospital appointments. You might remember that just before he went into hospital for 12 days around our Canadian Thanksgiving, he had a prostate exam. While he was in hospital, we learned that indeed he did have prostate cancer, but it wasn't until we saw the Urologist shortly after being released from hospital, that we received the grim news that it was very aggressive. That meant more examinations to see if the cancer had already metastasized. The whole body CT scan was to look for cancer in the lymph nodes. The bone scan that was done just last Thursday was to see if the cancer had spread into the bones. Good news. The tests came back clear, so on Tuesday morning we went in for the "mapping" for radiation treatments which will begin in less than two weeks. The radiation treatments will be every day from Monday to Friday for 38 days. They will go right through Christmas and into the New Year. Besides these kind of appointments, my Sweetie has also been trying to keep up with his other regular appointments....blood tests, Renal Transplant, Eye clinics and Heart Failure clinics. A week doesn't go by without at least two or three days at one or both of the two hospitals in town. The wind was knocked out of our sails for about two weeks after receiving the news, but I think we are both ready for the fight now and very hopeful for the treatments to work.
Yes I have been busy. Because of the "lost" time, I have been crafting and shopping....a lot. I wanted to buy and wrap some small gifts to send out this Christmas to my adult children and their spouses when I send my grand kids their Advent Calendar gifts. Today I managed to wrap and send by mail two large boxes of wrapped gifts to British Columbia. I was so afraid they would not be getting there by December first, but I was told it would only take 7 days. I heaved a huge sigh of relief. I was also able to transfer money online to my two older grand children (in lieu of Advent gifts), and I sent money to my DIL so she can buy Christmas gifts for under the tree.
The Christmas Craft Sale on Amherst Island is this Saturday, so tomorrow I will be making ahead some homemade Christmas cards that I promised for the sale. I won't make many of them, but I am glad of the opportunity to see if my cards will sell. After the weekend, the time will be mine to wrap the rest of the gifts that I will be sending out to locations in Ontario, and to make Christmas cards to send out early in December. December will be my month for baking and decorating between radiation treatments for my Sweetie. So I want all the shopping done ASAP. My goals of deep-cleaning may not be realized until Spring cleaning, but I know my friends are okay with that. I am going to have to let some things go this year, and just enjoy the spirit of Christmas with all my loved ones. We will talk later.
Susan, I am keeping you and your Sweetie both in my thoughts and prayers. There is one prayer I've been saying every night for good health for family and friends and I include all my real life friends and virtual friends when I say it. You and your husband and your son are included. Not the best way to spend the holidays, at hospitals and treatment centers; I know how it was for me and my daughter, at this time, last year. I am glad you have the distraction of getting Christmas gifts ready, although it adds to the stress, trying to get everything done on time. I ended up sending New Year gifts to some of my family and friends! Just remember Christmas is not just one day! (((HUGS)))
ReplyDeleteThank you again Bless. Each time I posted about the tests that my Sweetie had to undergo, I was thinking of you as well. I suspected that you knew what we were going through because it would have been close to home. My emotions were quite raw and I couldn't speak the word "cancer". Now that the test results are in on the lymph nodes and the bone, it has given us renewed hope. Thank you for your prayers.
DeleteI am still feeling the stress, but now it is more of the kind of stress that I am used to. *laugh* This is the kind that I put on myself, like volunteering to make these Christmas cards for the Christmas Craft sale. What was I thinking? Guess I had better get busy.
It's a good kind of stress - crafting deadlines. :)
DeleteJust take it one day and one step at a time and know that the thoughts and prayers of all of us who know you personally or through your blog wish you all the best. We are all here for you as you go forward.