Wednesday, November 2, 2011

(posted by Greg)

I apologize to those who check this blog often. I have slipped out of the habit of posting daily. I wish I had a good reason (i.e. an emergency call to consult on legal issues from Stephen Harper) but, unfortuanely, I think it was a combination of being busy with routine things and being a bit lazy.

We used the weekend to get in some more visits with Oma and Opa. Oma continues to amaze me. She has now made a couple of trips to the dining room with her walker (instead of having to be taken in her wheel chair) and is settling in quite well. Opa's foot (circulation) is an issue and he will have some surgery on November 7th to see if they can improve it.

Halloween was a busy day. Monica, Marley and I attended a program put on by the Cancer Agency for patients and caregivers who have completed their treatment. Monica had a different program than Marley and I but both programs focussed on nutrition, exercise and stress reduction. Monica seemed to enjoy her program.

Marley and I enjoyed ours as well.  We were given pedometers and (if exercise is one of our goals) asked to log our steps over the next month (we go back for a follow-up session on December 5th). Goal setting was one of our topics as well. This is something that I have always done/been interested in so I particularly enjoyed it and I found that I came away a bit "pumped". So I am logging my food and my exercise and on my way to being Greg. version 6.5. Marley who is already particularly good at goal setting was not quite as impressed/motivated as I was.

On Tuesday, Monica and I attended a group medical medical appointment with our Dr. at InspireHealth. This was a bit different as there were two other women ( both of whom have breast cancer ) along with Monica and I. However, the discussions (ie. how to decide between the various treatment options out there) were useful and relevant to all. Some of the discussions, related directly to Monica and were illuminating. The Dr. explained that stress can affect how symtoms are displayed and made me realize that the stress of the MRI and her parents' situation could be contributing to the little problem Monica is having with her walking. So, I plan on taking some steps to make sure that she is actually relaxing more. It also became apparent to me from the discussions that Monica feels badly that she cannot, because of her health, help her parents more at this point in time. The Dr made a point of helping her realize the importance/necessity of making her own health a priority and trying to let go of some of these feelings. I came away thinking that I will arrange for her to see one of the counsellors at the Cancer Agency or InspireHealth to help her talk/think through these feelings.

Today, Marley and Monica attended the regular Brain Tumour Support Group. Marley reports that it was useful again and that Monica seemed to get something out of it as well.

Tonight, Marley has to coach so Monica and I will likely go visit her parents.