The Last Day of 2007

I thought it would be appropriate to end the year with an entry into this blog. Now that life is coming back into some degree of normalcy, I have not been as regular with my entries. I will try and do at least 2 entries per week and maybe use a little more graphics and pictures to make my points.

What a year! 2007 will go down into my books as a very good year even though I have battled another monster in my life. Looking back a year ago, I had an "internal sense" that 2007 would be a challenging year because I knew I was scheduled to see a Urologist in January 2007. My family doctor told me not to worry about my elevated PSA score. He was just sending me to his friend and colleague as a precautionary action. Boy am I glad he did!

By February I had a biopsy; on March 12 I was told I had an aggressive type of prostate cancer and on April 25 I was "gutted" (a.k.a. radical prostatectomy). Then recovery and this blog. In 2007, I am grateful for the following:

1. My "A"; she was stronger than I thought she would be. She has stayed with me through this terrible roller coaster ride and actually moved back with me to Regina. I know she didn't want to leave Nova Scotia. We will move back someday (if you want). I promise.

2. My 12 Step Program, the friends in Nova Scotia and the friends in Regina made me feel "not alone". I became closer to GOD because of the Program. I Heard his Wisdom through the voices of the friends of Bill W and through the voices of my co-workers in Nova Scotia and Regina.

3. My doctors in Nova Scotia and in Regina. Thank God there are individuals who have the talent to heal and be friends as well. I will forever owe my life to 3 doctors in Nova Scotia; Dr. G., Dr. B. and Dr. R.

4. My family, my Winter,my Justin, my HarveySon, my Gloria and especially my grand kids ... my Dustin, my Boh, my Demetrius and my Aaliyah. I want to watch them grow up and I want to make special memories with them. They give me a chance to be the best person I can be and I don't want to blow that.

5. My four legged friends, especially my Max. His companionship during my physical recovery was unconditional. He was always a friend. He sensed when I was sad and tried to make me feel better by encouraging me to go for a walk around Lake Banook. He lessened my fears by sleeping with me and snoring. His snoring was sign to me that everything would be OK; just relax a bit "Dad".

6. Finally, my employers. The benefits I have received are second to none.

That is a pretty good summary of my existence for the past year. I am sure I will look back on this entry with fondness and warmth.

Thank you 2007!

From The Desk of COOKIE “Monster”

The 2007 Update – Merry Christmas & Happy New Year

Dear Family and Friends,
Seasons greetings from the flatlands of Saskatchewan; we are no longer Bluenosers! What a year of highs and lows. We hope this letter finds everyone in good spirits, in excellent health and a little bit richer than last year. I apologize for being a little late this year but as you will soon find out, I have some very good excuses.

What can I say? 2007 has been a good year for all of us in our home and it was exciting. We cats (Isis, Chloe and I) had to take another plane ride this November as we found out we had to move back to Saskatchewan. It seems like the 4 year placement for Harvey Sr. to Nova Scotia ended just as quickly as it started. It was the summer of 2003 when we arrived in Nova Scotia and now we have returned home to Regina. The experience in Nova Scotia was absolutely wonderful and both Angel and Harvey Sr. feel so blessed to have had the opportunity to live in the wonderful province of Nova Scotia. They met so many good friends, had great working careers and seen so much of the Maritimes. They both feel like they have two homes … one in Saskatchewan and another in Nova Scotia. However, I really hope he doesn’t move again for a while. Air travel doesn’t thrill us cats!

We had another exciting start to the New Year. On January 3rd, 2007 Aaliyah Diamond was born in Halifax. The proud parents, Gloria and Harveyson and Grandmother Angel were surprised and overjoyed that “he was a she”! Everyone thought that another boy was on the way but when Aaliyah arrived on the evening of January 3rd, everyone was in tears when they knew that a new baby girl arrived. I am sure Grandma Angel will spoil Aaliyah rotten in the future. New dresses, new shoes and a diamond or two will probably be in store for her in the future.

The return to Saskatchewan for the family actually started in early 2007, when Harvey Jr. was offered and accepted a new job in Saskatoon in early April. Harveyson had to be in Saskatchewan later that month and he had to take the car back to Saskatchewan. It was decided that he and Harvey Sr. take a cross Canada road trip. It was an excellent time even though they made it back to Regina in record time. It only took them 2 ½ days even though they stopped in Ottawa to see Winter, Justin and Boh! Harvey Jr. will continue to work in natural gas construction. In September Harvey Jr. moved from the Saskatoon office to the Regina office. In July Gloria, Dustin, Demetrius and Aaliyah traveled back to Saskatchewan from Nova Scotia. Harvey Sr. accompanied everyone on this trip once again and took the time to look for a new home for us in Regina. And what a home he found! It is a beautiful house in northwest Regina that back onto a park. It has new hardwood floors and a large basement for everyone to enjoy; more on the new home later.

Winter, Justin and Bohdan continue to make Ottawa their wonderful home. Angel, Harvey Sr. and Max went to Ottawa 3 times in 2007. The first was in early April to celebrate Boh’s first ever birthday. It was a great time. Gido (a.k.a. Harvey Sr.) worked hard with Justin to install a new patio door for Boh and Winter to enjoy during the summer. Grandma Angel and Gido returned to Ottawa in August to baby-sit Boh and then once more in November, just in time to watch the Saskatchewan Roughriders beat the BC Lions to get into the Grey Cup. We all know who won the Grey Cup this year, don’t we? The Cup looks good with Green.

For Angel and Harvey Sr. the decision to move back to Regina was a difficult one, however, it was made easier on March 12th. That was the day that their lives changed forever; that was the day that Harvey Sr. received a call from his doctor to tell him he was diagnosed with an aggressive type of prostate cancer. It was a complete shock! After all the tears and after wiping away the heart stopping fear, both Angel and Harvey Sr. realized they were really blessed to be in Nova Scotia to face this illness and to recover from its cure. Harvey Sr. had the best doctors, urologists and nurses in North America looking after him. On April 25, Harvey Sr. had an extra radical prostatectomy to remove the cancerous prostate gland. Since that day he had been on sick leave and worked hard to recover from the side effects. All spring, summer and fall, Max (the yellow lab) and Gido walked and walked and walked around Lake Banook and Shubie Park in Dartmouth. It has paid off. Harvey Sr. is in full recovery. He has regained control of his “plumbing system”, his incision has healed perfectly and all post surgery signs indicate the cancer is no longer present. To make sure all the nasty cells were destroyed, the doctors in Nova Scotia persuaded him to complete radiation therapy in the fall. In 2008, he will be visiting the doctor in Regina and completing PSA blood tests every 3 months. We are all hoping that the PSA readings will be non detectable because this will mean no prostate cells are present. We all think this will happen.

Harvey Sr. will deeply miss all the friends at Heritage Gas and his Bill W. friends in Nova Scotia. The natural gas project was an engineer’s dream job and was honored to have been part of such a significant effort. He worked the best people ever … but life moves on. He is very excited to be returning home and working in the Safety, Health and Well-Being department. 2008 will be GREAT!

Angel has left behind many friends as well. She was sad to leave the Mic Mac Dental Centre, her co-workers and her patients. She cried when she left but the tears represented happy memories. She ran in the Blue Nose Marathon for the first time and ran the entire 10 kms without stopping. She is planning on returning to the Blue Nose in 2008. She is not sure where she will be working in Regina but will be looking for employment in the New Year. Hopefully she will take care of us and Max for a while … at least until spring.

Looking back, 2007 has been a very good year. Angel, Gido and Max traveled to Ottawa 3 times, traveled to PEI to see Anne of Green Gables museums, traveled across Canada twice and seen more of Nova Scotia than they have in the past 4 years. They spend a night in Pictou at a good friend’s 1830 farm house and spent a day in Chester with more friends. They went on another fantastic tour of the Chester harbour and the Atlantic coast line. They attended a fun filled Heritage Gas Christmas party and are now having sleepovers again with Demetrius and Dustin. If Boh could be here the weekends would be perfect! Live doesn’t get much better than this.

That’s a rap for this year. We wish everyone all the best in 2008. We hope you are blessed with friendship, GOOD HEALTH and maybe some additional new found wealth. If you want to get in touch with us, don’t hesitate. More Meow Mix is always welcomed!

Top 10 Things I Like about Gloria - Merry Christmas

Gloria,I have tried to figure out what I should get you for Christmas. I have been thinking about this for quite a while. This seemed to be the best I could come up with and I hope this will make 2007 a little bit brighter for you.

Gloria, these are the Top 10 Things that make you special to me:

10. Gloria, I admire your rigorous honestly. It is nice to know that you always tell the truth no matter what.

9. Gloria, I am so glad you had the courage to call in 2001 to let us know we had a grandson. Dustin has been a gift from heaven.

8. Gloria, thank you for moving to Nova Scotia in 2005.

7. Gloria, you are are a great Mom. You have a patience of a saint and you are a good teacher for Dustin, Demetrius and Aaliyah.

6. Gloria, thank you for giving Nova Scotia two bluenosers ... Demetrius and Aaliyah.

5. Gloria, I love your positive attitude. You always seems to have a smile on your face. Please keep it up. Your positive attitude will go a long way in making Dustin, Demetrius and Aaliyah strong individuals.

4. Gloria, thank you for coming to see me at my Nova Scotia work office. When I would see Demetrius and Dustin, all my problems would disappear for a brief moment. This helped me remember what was important.

3. Gloria, thank you for allowing Dustin and Demetrius to have sleepovers with us. They make the weekends wonderful. We can't wait until Aaliyah can do the same.

2. Gloria, thank you for looking after Max, Isis, Chloe and Cookie for us in Nova Scotia when we would go away.

1. Gloria, I thank you from the bottom of my heart for allowing Dustin, Demetrius and Aaliyah to use our surname. This unselfish gift is one of the best things you could have ever done for me.

Merry Christmas,

With all my love,

Gido

Making Contact with Dr. V

Yesterday "A" and I went to my appointment at the Allan Blair Cancer Clinic in Regina. One thing that I have found in common with the Cancer Clinic's is that everyone who works at these care giving places are wonderful. I can feel their warmth and understanding. It certainly provides me hope for the future!

Not much happened at my session yesterday, just a get to know one another and physical exam to establish baseline data. One major difference though ... my new Radiation Oncologist is a woman. So have a DRE was a "new treat" so to speak. I thought the 6 inch scar on my mid section would have convinced this great lady that I no longer had a prostate to feel, however, she wanted to make sure. I think that is a good medicine.

Therefore the next steps are fairly straightforward; PSA blood work every 3 to 4 months. Next meeting with Dr. V will be in early April 2008, although I will probably get my family doctor to do a blood test before then.

This has been a very good year. I think I should get working on my Christmas letter. This weekend I will solicit the help of my grandson's.

Farewell to Nova Scotia ...

Last weekend, "A" and I had the good fortune to return to the Heritage Gas Christmas Party and farewell event. It was great! I also was invited to another dinner event that was quite a nice surprise and was very touching. "A" and I will miss Nova Scotia deeply. The past 4 1/2 years was a wonderful experience but professionally and personally.

My main goal when I moved to Nova Scotia my primary goal was to maintain my sobriety, no matter what happened. I have done that and sometimes I am amazed. It was through the good folks at Club 24, my HP and help from "A" and others that kept me on the "wagon". Obviously the past 9 months have been quite a ride.

Fighting (or dealing) with the monster has been one of my greatest challenges. Where could I go to escape, even if it was for a few hours? There were times I wanted to take a "liquid vacation" but I knew that I would have to come back to reality. And reality would be worse after a "run".

So I decided to do 3 things at the end of March to make sure I stayed on the straight and narrow (so to speak). I commit ed to myself to: (1) go to more meetings than I normally do; (2) get more exercise and (3) do what the good Doctors tell me to do. The Plan has seemed to work, however, I am sure the Big Guy really had the ultimate influence in my recovery.

This brings me back to the Heritage Gas Party of last weekend. I had the opportunity to say thanks to every one for their support and have a few good laughs. It was nice to be recognized by my peers and commented for achievements we all shared. No one person is bigger than the whole. Someone told me that a long time ago (it was probably my Mom) and the saying is so true.

However, the best award I received was a simple plaque with 3 pairs of running shoes. It summarized my spring, summer and fall and it recognized "mans best friend". Thank you Craig for this wonderful creative gift!

Happy Birthday Winter Binter !

Today is my daughter's birthday and I am so proud of her. Happy birthday Winter Binter!

I have been lucky this year. I have had the good fortune to be in Ottawa 4 times this year and I spent time with Winter, her great husband and my beautiful grandson. Because 2007 has been so interesting for me, I made sure I enjoyed the moments with Winter and her family. It was great! We built the back yard, went out for suppers and enjoyed each others company.

Winter have a great day!

Harvey

Is it December 3rd Already?

I can't believe how time flies! It will be 2 weeks tomorrow since we arrived in Regina. It has been busy trying to get used to the new house, the weather and new surroundings. I am not sure if I am as comfortable with change as I once thought. I am working hard to control my edginess and anxiety.

One of the best ways I know how to do this is to go to meetings. The first meeting I went to was my Friday AM meeting in downtown Regina and it was a good one; I shared my fears, frustrations and gratitude; just what I need to do and I need to do more of this. Fear is my biggest enemy. I am baffled sometimes how I can face a life threatening disease like cancer with ease and then be scared to meet new people or move into new places. It doesn't make sense. Someone told me last Friday that what I was experiencing was bulls*** fear and bulls*** guilt. These emotions, he said, are not reality based. It kind of made sense.

Enough of this whining. Tomorrow, "A" and I are returning to Nova Scotia for a few days to see old friends and to formally say goodbye to the good folks at Heritage Gas. The past 4 1/2 year in Nova Scotia have been great and we consider Nova Scotia our second home. Who knows, we may return to Nova Scotia to retire there?

Finally, I just wanted to say something about the radiation. It is true that one does lose hair after treatment! And the hair I am losing is not from my head.