A busy couple of weeks!

I have been a very busy girl!! I am just back from a week in Ottawa  Al is working up there for a few weeks and I decided to go up for part of it. I did the touristy thing and went shopping and to the Art Gallery and Museum of Canadian History. I watched an IMAX 3D film on the migration of the Monarch butterfly. We ate in the market, on Sparks St. and Elgin St.

One night we met Al's brother and family for dinner. It was nice to see them all together. We have a great niece expected in August, so it was especially nice to see everyone before the exhaustion of new parenthood, grandparenthood, and unclehood hits them! LOL! We had dinner with my brother one night, and were out with a group of Al's colleagues one night as well.

I met some of my work colleagues for lunch one day. It has been almost 2 years since I saw some of them. I am so glad not to be dealing with work stress right now. I miss the interaction with the people but I know that I would not do well in the current environment. Information Technology in the Federal Government is changing significantly. There is much anxiety amongst the staff (for good reason) and no answers about what the future holds. Not the best situation for someone in remission who is not wanting to wake the sleeping monster inside of her. :)

We stayed at the Lord Elgin Hotel and it was a super location for walking. I did a lot of it and seems like it is aggravating my peripheral neuropathy in my feet. I have said before how it is frustrating to feel good and want to do so much, but not being able to do it all. I still struggle with accepting that!

Overall, I feel good. I am back to needing a nap almost every day, but naps are not a bad thing. :)

My last check-up with Dr. Kouroukis at Juravinski went very well. I am still in complete remission. No sign of the cancer in my blood!! This is fantastic news. I am also tolerating the Revlimid well. This is the maintenance chemotherapy pill I am taking every day to prolong the remission period. Dr. K felt that with such a good response so far, I could expect a 4-5 year remission period!! That is fantastic news! If I did not go on the Rev, I would be looking at a 2 year period on average. When I come out of this remission, I will be able to have another stem cell transplant or try another protocol.

My overall goal would be to keep in fairly good health until a cure is found. There are so many trials on the go right  now, and many will be completed with drugs or treatment protocols coming into mainstream use in 8-10 years. I am confident that I can stick around for that time, since I have responded well to all the treatments I have received to date.   :) WooHoo!