Hard Knocks

    As June comes to a close soon all I can say is there's more hardship  for us. The cancer test revealed the colon is completely clear. YAY!!  But there are those newer lumps and bumps all on the left side of me, my limbs and my tummy and my chest, likely tumours that have had a chance to develop over the last five years. The cancer surgery removed the large stage three mass from the colon but that didn't make me cancer clear.
   For me having chemo was not an option at all. The success rate of surviving that with an already weakened immune system just was not for me because I would likely not have been able to survive the secondary infections. I already have a chronic lung and immune deficiency from over exposure to mould while teaching many years in a mould ridden portable classrooms.
   My chosen option using alternative medicine is working reasonably well when I stick to it but being human I did slip up after my daughter married and left for UK. I failed to exercise and eat carefully and stopped drinking some specialty teas and other natural juices. I realized my foolishness in January when all the cancer symptoms reappeared after another bout of pneumonia so I quickly got back to the better routine of healthier foods and lots of activity. Our body needs plenty of oxygen for it to do its job properly and being active makes that possible.
   Buddy had begun to have another flared up skin plaque, likely caused by worry? Anyway on June 16th the two of us found a great deal and booked another trip to a Caribbean resort. We packed hastily for our next day departure. Hubby drove us to the airport. He had opted to remain behind to work on filing client tax returns and other year end stuff due on June 30th. This was to be the second time ever that Buddy and I traveled alone. We were excited.
   Our trip was awesome! We walked a lot, swam a lot , danced too and ate the most vegetarian menu we could put together with only a few pieces of freshly caught fish mixed in. We also rested. All was designed to help us both regain some vigour and smile more. It worked. We were very happy the whole time. We made new friends too. It felt very special. It was a lot of fun too!

   However, we knew from text messages that at home things had taken a nasty turn and that our flight home would lead us to a very sad situation, one we could really not prepare ourselves for. Our eldest daughter picked us up from the airport on June 25th and brought us straight home where we retired right away since it was 4am.
   Later that morning I drove to the ICU at a local hospital where I had to face a very shocking and scary reality that hubby was on a respirator ,  on many IV's and heavily sedated to keep him still. He had suffered a serious brain trauma from a fall onto his head the day after we had left. Apparently it happened in the kitchen where there's marble and ceramic tiles. He hit his head on the side ,likely the countertop and then landed nose down fracturing it. When he gained consciousness much later he found himself in a pool of blood. Scared he managed to find his cell phone and make the ER call.
   When he was first admitted he appeared more surfacely hurt. He had to have stitches and a transfusion for his blood loss from his nose and skull wound. He was mobile and talking from Tuesday until Friday afternoon when all that changed because of some internal bleeding in the brain that had set in and caused some massive behavioural changes along with his ability to breath on his own. It became very erratic. From then on there has been little change in his responsiveness meaning no opening of the eyes, no squeezing a hand to a command, etc.
   Again that same evening I went to him taking along Buddy. He very much needed to see his Dad. The two of us stroked his whiskers that had begun to grow on his face and we softly talked to him. His lack of interacting with us was not important. We love him no matter what condition he's in. That's how it is. Quietly Buddy initiated a circle with the three of us joining hands and us praying for him. It was touching. 
    Since seeing hubby for the first time on the June 25th the only thing that has changed is his pneumonia has improved and a cat scan has revealed that the bleeding inside his brain is way down. 
   Today Buddy brought him his TY Beanie '#1 Dad' . He collected it from hubby's office, a place Buddy also loves to visit, where he has a desk and room of his own and would often spend time drawing or whatever pleased him while his Dad worked. He loved meeting up with the clients and they sure loved him. 
   We had to drop by to pay the employee and figure out what things will need to be attended to in the next little while. It will be a challenge for sure for all of us! Much has changed for us at in such a short time. We are now praying for hubby more than you can imagine.

   The above scene is like one from a movie drama but it is our real life drama. We are having to deal with the fact that a brain trauma has unpredictable outcomes. Here's hoping we can have one of the more positive ones, a complete recovery! 
   Please keep us in your hearts and help us along this road of hard knocks. My cancer seems far less worrisome now that a newer challenge is in front of us. And the amazing part in all of this is of course Buddy and his very touching ways to be of comfort and full of hope.