Cancer Adventures and Other Travel Stories
Rather than make my dear readers wait till the end of the blog post to find out the good news, I will start with it. The medication is working! I had a CT scan last week. And the oncologist confirmed that the metastasis on my liver is down 30-40%, and the spots on lung are also reduced. The metastasis in bones not progressing from what they could see (to get more detailed reading, I’d need a bone scan). I’ll stay on the current treatment since it is working. I’m incredibly thankful that the metastatic breast cancer was diagnosed, that I could return to Canada for treatment and that it is working! Yay universal health care!
In other news, after 3 months in Canada (and Cancerland), I returned to Guatemala to finish work, pack up and say farewells. My sister Sandra came down to help me with the transition. Her visit was a good opportunity to visit some of my favourite places in Guatemala - Lake Atitlan, Antigua and Tikal. They were short trips but truly wonderful and awe-inspiring. It’s such a beautiful country, with challenges but still a great place to visit. It’s sad news about the violent eruption of the Fuego volcano, especially since those most affected are the rural population who often do not have many resources.
The best part of being back in Guatemala was seeing my wonderful friends and colleagues. I have been in the foreign service for 28 years, half of which has been overseas. Apart from the work and adventures, it has really been about the people. Friends from postings and HQ form part of my extended family. I am hopeful that I will remain healthy enough to visit these people in the years ahead.
So, 32 years after leaving, I moved back to Prince Albert, Saskatchewan (pop approx 36k). I left Guatemala and travelled back with my dog, Ginger. There didn’t seem to be a way to send her to Saskatoon via cargo so she was certified as my Emotional Support Animal (ESA) and travelled with me in the airplane (business class, natch). To be fair, if you can’t have an ESA when you have Stage 4 breast Cancer that would be pretty sad. Ginger had her thunder shirt on, which is supposed to calm the dog, so most people thought she was a service dog and didn’t ask too many questions. As it turns out, Ginger does not like planes very much. She was very nervous with the sounds and various rumbles. She was given some anti-anxiety meds which worked for most of the day but it was still a long and stressful day. And for me too, once she pooped in the Minneapolis airport. Luckily I was pretty quick with the poo pad so no damage was done but still.
In other travel news, I went to Cambridge and NY in early May. It was my week off the Ibrance which is usually when I have the most fatigue, paradoxically. I was at a conference on Indigenous Self-Determination that was invigorating but the experience was bittersweet given the uncertainty of my future. The 10 year reunion I attended last year seems so far away given that I’m in such a different space this year.
NY was as fabulous as ever, I met friends, went to museums, shopped and went to Broadway shows. A tiring but fun week.
One thing I did in Cambridge was buy “The Emperor of All Maladies” by Siddhartha Mukherjee, who won a Pulitzer Prize for this history of cancer and its treatment. He is an amazingly good writer who manages to make the subject incredibly compelling, even for those not personally affected. I highly recommend the book.
So my day to day life involved getting settled in PA, taking my dog for walks, getting exercise and relaxing. I try to meditate but it’s not yet a habit so I need to keep at that.
I’ve joined a few online groups which are interesting and often useful. They form a community with its own lingo and stories. It helps to hear about the experiences of others are going through it. There was mention of a woman one person met who has been stage 4 for 17 years. So it is not out of the realm of the possible.
Last month I went to my former high school to speak to students, including Indigenous students, about my career and experiences. The school is bigger than when I was there and it has a more diverse population, as does the city, which is very nice to see. The visit reminded me of the speech I gave to the high school grads in 2013. If you are interested, you can find the link below. Although the speech could be updated, it still remains very relevant to who I am and where I come from.
SMHS speech
SMHS speech
I also spoke at the University of Saskatchewan in 2015 when I received an Honourary degree. There are many similarities between the two but, of course, it’s not plagiarism if the same person wrote them. ;)
Verla and Ginger
