Getting rolling

As you all know by now, Derek is not too strong right now, so walking is a chore, rather than a pleasure. We have a wheelchair in our family, which has had some use in the past. I picked it up from our downtown storage this afternoon to make it possible for Derek to be rolled to places other than the immediate surroundings of the house, where he then can go walking. The Metrotown Mall is not far away (and it's a big mall), with many interesting shops and many people, where he can have a meal or coffee. We also have a nice park in our neighbourhood. Additionally, the wheel chair is light enough to put into the car, and be taken to areas farther away. Vancouver is a beautiful city; there are many interesting spots.

I'm sure that all this will lift Derek's spirits. He already sounds much happier.

Flat line today

You'll have noticed that Derek's not been blogging lately. While he is eating more and more each day, he still feels very weak and gets tired very easily. He does try, though. This afternoon, he went for a one and a half block (slow) walk, and he just took another one in our garden and in the back of the house. Nonetheless, he doesn't feel any better than yesterday.

I think that this can be expected. Derek's body has been subject to a major medical assault. His weight loss cannot be made up in short order. The restricted diet he has to follow limits progress in some ways. Recovery rarely occurs in a linear fashion, there are ups and downs.

It's easy to talk this way, because when you feel the way Derek does right now, this is all academic talk. It's painful as a parent to see him labour to do any of the things he used to do easily - Derek feels this most of all, no doubt. For Derek, the time must seem interminable.

Of course Derek, Airdrie, Marina, and Lauren have our unquestioned support. It is depressing to think that we can't speed up his recovery - time is the only healer.

Sometimes you get sore

Literally..... Derek has developed a bedsore from all this lying on his back. It's something he can handle, but it does affect his sleep. Otherwise, he's eating more regular food, and intends to go for a walk later on. There will be a home care nurse visiting tomorrow, to make sure that Derek is progressing and to deal with whatever issues Derek has.

A little while ago, my sister and brother-in-law dropped by, and we had a beer. Derek joined us (he can't have any beer yet), and ate a fair bit of ice cream, and we had an animated conversation about various things; food and colon cancer, mainly. My brother-in-law has just recovered from a very similar bout with colon cancer, so the discussion was "authoritative". You sure can see that, at the bottom of it all, the only things that count are still the basics: health, food, family, and a roof over your head. It sure gives you a sense of perspective.

A day of rest

No doubt Derek is appreciating the "home" feeling - no hospital noises and the feeling of having his family around. He is eating more. He and Airdrie went for a short walk outside the house to the end of the block. Derek knows that excercise and any physical activities promote healing, so is doing as much as he can. Naturally, this is still tiring, and so he also has to rest.

I haven't seen a post in his blog for today. Maybe he'll blog a little later.

In any case, it's great to hear his voice around the house again.

Home

Derek's home, but very tired. So, I don't think that he'll be blogging today, but who knows, sometimes he does things during the night when he can't sleep. I any case, we're all glad to have him back.

Before he left the hospital, his friend Simon came to visit, and they spent an hour or so together, in the room and the little lounge at the end of the hospital hallway. Simon may be leaving the hospital tomorrow. I imagine that Derek will leave a post on his blog tomorrow as well

Perhaps coming home?

Derek just phoned from the hospital to tell us that he may be coming home today. He'll have his lunch at the hospital, and then he'll decide whether he feels up to it. He told us that he walked all the way across the street to pick up a cappucino (his room is on the 10th floor of the hospital), and walked up a flight of stairs as well. It sure looks like eating normal food makes for rapid improvement. More later, perhaps from Derek on his own blog

Moving along

This morning, we visited Derek again at the hospital, and we went down to the internet room where Derek put in a post on his own blog (http://www.penmachine.com/). You can see his comments there.

We spent a good part of the day with Derek. The thing that delights us is that Derek ate some really substantial food today. He had chocolate pudding, a real hamburger, a few slices of canned pears, and tea, as well as a tall Coffee "Americano" from the Starbucks I mentioned in one of my previous posts, along with a cheese sandwich. He is also reading quite a bit, and taking some naps to combat the fatigue which unfortunately still overcomes him after some physical activity. I think that, with the more substantial food, he'll overcome this situation soon.

In the early evening, we went to the cafeteria balcony, where Airdrie and their daughters Marina and Lauren dropped in a little later. This perked Derek up. Hilkka and I left soon after, to pick up some glucose strips for Dereks blood sugar tester.

Derek intends to watch the fireworks with Simon tonight.

The target for Derek's return home is still Monday. We'll see...