It has been awhile since I posted, so I will back up a bit.
December 30
For those of you who are not from the Victoria area, you may not know about our world famous Butchart Gardens. There are mega acres of gardens which are beautifully displayed. Each year from December 6 to January 6, people come from far and wide to walk through the gardens after dark, to experience their amazing light show.
A few years ago they started to add the Twelve Days of Christmas. They added one day per year, and finally of course reached twelve. As you walk through the gardens, you watch for each of the 'days'. They have also added a carousel, a skating rink, and you will come across a quartet of carolers and a brass band. It is truly a magical experience.
Jenny decided last week she wanted to go, and it would be 'safe' for her (regarding her compromised immune system as a result of chemo) to be outdoors. As it turns out, some of our friends were going that night so we met them there. Here are a few pictures we took that night. Just click on THIS LINK, and you will go to a slideshow. The photos aren't great, but they are the best we could do.
Jenny really enjoyed herself, but about half way through started to feel nauseated. We had forgotten that we need to take a snack with us each time she goes out. We learned this last time, and were reminded of it that night. She did soldier on after I went back to the concession to get her a snack, but by then she was pretty much into feeling rotten. All in all, though, it was a good experience and so good for her morale to get out and do something enjoyable.
January 2
We had an early morning phone call from Australia to inform us that Jenny's brother Peter had just passed away. You probably know that Peter was diagnosed with colo rectal cancer the same day Jenny was diagnosed with her cancer in August of 2008. In fact there were days when they had chemo on the same day.
Peter seemed to be doing well, but when Jenny was in Australia staying at his home this past September, he was diagnosed with matastasized colo rectal cancer, and it was spreading very very fast. They tried more chemo but it did not work, so stopped it after a few treatments.
The past few months have been extremely hard for him (he was at home until the last 4 days), his family in Australia, and of course Jenny. He lived much longer than anyone expected;in fact, it was hard to understand how he kept going.
While Jenny is sad to have lost him, she is grateful that he has now passed over to a better place, away from his suffering. She is also grateful to have been able to spend three weeks with him in September. Over all, she feels much more settled and far better now that he is at peace.
Today, January 5.
She is feeling great today. She took down the outside Christmas lights, and puttered around the house, drove me on some errands and generally felt pretty normal.
She had some tests done yesterday, and we found out today that her immune system is not compromised too much. She will still opt to take the precautions she has before - the only wise thing to do.
So - things are going pretty well at the moment.
Thanks for tuning in.
