Update 17 March 2022 - A new year, a new drug

So, I started on a drug Piqray in January. It is a fairly new drug. The results have been good for other patients though not without the insidious side effects (diarrhea, fatigue, nausea). It also causes higher glucose levels so now I have medication-induced diabetes. I have to take more pills and think more about my diet. Less sugar, more hydration. There is another medication that I get monthly. That one is given by two shots in larger muscles so it is a pain in the butt, if you know what I mean.

I haven’t had a CT scan since starting with Piqray. In talking with the oncologist on Monday, he was pretty optimistic about the drug as the tumour markers are heading in the right direction (down). Don’t ask how those tumour markers work as there doesn’t seem to be an agreed understanding. My oncologist doesn’t look at the number itself but just at the trend.

Last month I had a bone scan in Saskatoon. The report notes that there has been some progression and heightened intensity in some areas but overall not too bad. The difficulty in knowing about these metastases is that I feel I should be covered in bubble wrap before I head outside into the snow and ice. Mind you, it has been such a cold winter that most days I don’t want to go outside. As a side note, on our way home, we ran into a blizzard and we might have been stuck on the road or in some community centre if not for a kindly truck driver who drove slowly to allow us to follow him to Prince Albert.

There have been another development that you may or may not have heard of. I was appointed as a Member of the Order of Canada for my work as a diplomat. It’s hard to find the words to explain how honoured I am by this award. I always read the list of honourees when it comes out each year and am so amazed by their contributions to their communities and the country. I recognize that I am not the first Ambassador to receive the honour but I am the first First Nations woman. It’s now clear if or when they might have an awards ceremony in Ottawa but I will be sure to post a picture if there is one.

A friend of mine, Elin Sandberg Miller, is making a podcast called Everyday Reconciliation. She spoke to me about some of the work that I did on international indigenous issues over the years.
https://podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/everyday-reconciliation/id1586349226?i=1000548440194

Another friend posted a Seamus Heaney poem for the new year that seemed appropriate.

So hope for a great sea-change
On the far side of revenge.
Believe that a farther shore
Is reachable from here.
Believe in miracles
And cures and healing wells.

(Thanks again Patricia)

That is all for now. I will post again once I have my next CT scan.

Deborah