A Week of Adaptation

Dr. Hugh Tildesley

The day following the Masters dinner my right leg started to swell above the knee. This had happened before and had abated with some prolonged elevation. This was very worrisome as I thought that this part of the DVT (deep venous clot) was over. Unfortunately this was not to be. The swelling persisted.

This had unfortunate ramifications. A trip to Victoria with the original TWA group had to be cancelled. A huge disappointment as everyone had made schedule changes and the Pope, Gorgeous and Aydin had been very coordinated in planning. Hope reigns eternal that this bothersome condition will allow a rebook.

Rubber Gloves to help position the stocking

Dually Compressed

What is exactly going on with the leg anyway? Simply put, blood is trying to get back to my major vein, bypassing the clots, which formed a few months ago. Those clots are resorbing, but in the process, the valves in the veins have been damaged so blood is pooling. My treatment is elevation, and knee length support stockings. These things are fitted, and actually I need help from Deborah to put the damn things on. In fact she needs to put rubber gloves on to get a proper grip. Those of you who know Deborah are aware there are no shortages of such equipment, given her penchant for cleanliness.

It was 10:30 pm, 1:30 am in Toronto. My brother in law Ted, from Toronto was on the line. “ Hughie, I am coming out, landing Thursday or Friday, no return plane ticket. “   

It was all settled, I looked forward to his visit and knew our shared passion for the playoffs and golf would be well fed. As mentioned my leg precluded playing upon his arrival but slugger was able to guide him around Point Grey as a replacement host. The course was idyllic as the PF Financial Open was to start in a few days.

My days have been filled with uplifting messages, by phone, email and cards. The sentiments are heartfelt, and very much appreciated. I cannot reply to many of them and hope that my profound thanks here will suffice.

Hamish flies back every 2 weeks or so. He has been great both with his emotional and cooking support. When diagnosed I put on fast track things I wanted to deal with. One of them was the damned barbeque!

We finished a substantial renovation 6 years ago; part of it was getting gas out to the deck for a new barbeque. I must say this renovation went spectacularly, it was within 10% of budget and in retrospect very few things would we have changed. We researched the replacement-cooking unit, and followed the best advice. This thing turned out to be a dud! The lighting mechanism broke within months, and in spite of a great cover, each month generated more rust than a battleship. Lighting the damn thing risked a slipped disk, as only a member of the Cirque du Soleil could position the lighter properly. Any laziness in this regard would lead to an uncontrolled defoliating facial, eyebrow replacements not included!

You guessed it; we bought a replacement barbeque, spit and all. Hamish has become the expert cooking on the spit. He loves doing it, we love his creations.

Catherine has committed to staying home. She chose to stay the summer to support Deborah and me. This has not been without some hardship on her part. She had to cancel her trip to Africa and quite reasonably used my medical condition as the reason for her cancellation. 

Don’t mess with Catherine! She spent a total of 6.5 hours on the phone with the fraudsters from Expedia! (Keeping track of hours is the first class given in law school). Only after mentioning there would be a legal action taken did the stalling stop.A full reimbursement followed. She will be a great advocate for her clients. The lesson:

DO NOT USE EXPEDIA!

Donovan makes a point of hooking up for dinner a few times per week. Conversation often reflects on wonderful shared moments in the past. With Ted in town, these memories go back 30 years. The advantages of being blind is that a whole bunch of cerebral cortex in the occipital lobes is suddenly available. His storage capacity for events and dates past is prodigious. No one argues when he pronounces when an historical event occurred.

This is a true Hazard! Chateau Whistler Course

We spent 4 days in Whistler last week, Ted and I driving up together in the sports car, top down, Beach Boys playing. My leg improved enough for 3 rounds in spectacular scenery.I pulled my tee shot on 3, Ted refused to go look for the ball!

The family came up (save Hamish who is finishing his studies at UCLA). Drew and Alice Thompson lent us their beautiful home and we enjoyed great weather, 
 mediocre golf and wonderful family meals. 

Donovan has never seen a mike he doesn't like

HT and DT at Whistler FM

In 2007 Donovan and I became partners in a radio station in Whistler. After my heart attack in 1009 we sold our share. Rob Wilson became the owner operator and his tenaciousness has put an excellent product on air. He and Donovan can talk the business for hours together.

Ted in his glory at The Open

Ted and I returned to watch the final round of the PC Financial open at Point Grey, sitting on the deck as VIPs with the Butlers and many Point Grey friends. The 4-way playoff was a fitting end to a wonderful afternoon.

It is clear that sometimes my rambling does not provide answers to common questions so here are some Q and A’s:

When are you starting treatment?

This Friday I will have an indwelling catheter put into a major vein to allow access for therapy. The poisons start early next week.

What will your therapy be?

Initially it will be a combination called folfirinox; this will be continued until we get the DNA testing from the tumour studies. My best chance is to have genetic guided therapy based on the markers within the tumour.

How will decide whether the therapy is working

Two ways. First if there is objective evidence of improvement based on CT imaging. Second is a subjective call, mine. Simply put are the side effects affecting my quality of life in an inacceptable fashion.

How is the Bucket list doing?

The bucket list is made up of dreams. On it were things like an Alaskan cruise, going through the Panama Canal, a safari, etc, etc.

This has been modified to a list of “Wants”. What do I really want to do? Going on a cruise for 7 days, with 1000 people I do not know. Not exactly a "want."

Thus the dreams are being converted to “wants”, and ultimately modified to “what can do. “

It’s been about 2 months since the diagnosis, a lot has changed, but I remain in good spirits and at peace.

Thanks to all for your support!