Blinded By The Light...

Pretty pumped these days as it's my last full week of treatment! Radiation every day. Chemotherapy on Wednesday. Yep, the light at the end of the tunnel is very bright!

The chemo is a drag, it's a very long and boring day. It's starts at 7am when I check in to the hospital. Sometime before 9am, the IV will be inserted and it'll stay put for 24 hours. I have a radiation treatment at 9:45 on Wednesday, so I'm not sure if the nurse will start the fluid intake beforehand. After a couple bags of fluid, for hydration, the drugs are administered.

The dosage this time around is supposed to be adjusted, as we want to mitigate any further issues with my hearing. I'm not sure if dosage adjustments relate to the volume of intake or the mixture of the drugs. I'll ask for an explanation from the nurse.

By about 4pm, the drugs will be "all in", so to speak. Then, it's a bunch of fluid through the IV until the next morning. I'll be forced to pee-in-a-bottle at least every couple of hours to ensure my kidneys are flushing, which means I will not be sleeping worth a damn. Throughout this teatment, I have been fortunate to have slept very well...at home.

As I've said in the past, the fatigue I have experienced seems to come from the lack of rest. But it's probably the drugs, too. All in all, it just makes for couple of sh***y days.

Small Package, Huge Heart...
Tanner Marshall is a 12-year-old youngster I met early on this year. His father James, the owner/operator of Marshall's Home Living in Kelowna, is an old friend of our family from the neighborhood we grew up in back in Saskatoon. James brought Tanner into the golf shop to buy him a Play Golf Kelowna junior membership.

In terms of first impressions, Tanner was well-dressed by golf standards and carried himself with obvious confidence. He was very polite, and looked me in the eye when he shook my hand. Over the course of the season, he learned how to handle himself very well on the telephone when requesting tee time reservations. It's just really nice to see a youngster embrace the concept of good public relations, maturity, and gentlemanly behaviour.

The "Announcement"...
On a Sunday morning in late September, James came into my office at the Shannon Lake Golf Club and explained that Tanner had made kind of an "announcement" that day over breakfast. He told his father that he wanted to raise some money, then donate it for use relative to the cancer I'm dealing with. Both James and I were impressed and perhaps a bit surprised. To say the least, I was very touched.

About a month later, James called and told me that Tanner had plunked down $50 on the dinner table at home that day. He wanted his dad to give it to me. Tanner makes "duct tape wallets", and was able to sell ten of them. His commitment was to turn over 50% of the proceeds to me.

Now remember folks, this is a 12-year-old kid!

The call from James came during my real "down week" in mid-October. It came just a couple of days after my daughter Ashley presented me with her drawing. ; "Guardian Angel".

The "Plan"...
So the challenge for us became, what to do with this $50? Well, I have matched it. James has matched it. And my parents have matched it. So now we're dealing with $200.

The idea is to take Ashley's "Guardian Angel", have it professionally framed, and donate it for display at the clinic in Kelowna. Also part of the framing will be a section we'll have matted that explains Tanner's fundraising effort.

I spoke with Cynthia Waldeck-Peters at the BC Cancer Agency in Kelowna. She's the director of development for the Southern Interior. The clinic does have rather a specific protocol when it comes to donations of artwork, which means that after we produce the piece, there is still no guarantee that the committee in charge will accept it. However, we believe there is rather a poignant story associated with what we are going to produce. We'll see where it all goes.

What is important to me is profile for the kids, Tanner and Ashley, because they should both be commended for their efforts. And over the long-term, any inspiration folks might take from viewing the image and reading the story of its origin, must surely be seen as beneficial.

Before turning it over to the clinic for their consideration, I will be speaking with James about having the piece blessed.

Tanner...many, many thanks!


Countdown...

#7: cancer cannot steal eternal LIFE!