New Days

Thank you so much to each person who has taken the time to contact me after the last entry regarding Tim's illness and our current challenges. It really means so much. I was also a little surprised to learn that people I don't really know would take time from their life to contact me and offer support. What an amazing world.

I post entries in the blog to practise writing. I am not very skilled at it and know that practise make things easier. I lost my ability to read and write for awhile with two cancer challenges. The drugs I was taking took away my ability to concentrate enough to write. I couldn't put sentences together and had very little comprehension or ability to remember. It was called chemo brain.
I also had problems with my eyes. The eyes have been fixed and are better than they have ever been. The chemo brain is much improved but I still have some problems remembering and sorting information. It gets better every day. I push it to make it better.

When I was really sick and hardly able to talk let alone read, my writer friend Peter, read to me at least once a week. He patiently listened while I struggled for words and brought me inspiration and ideas of all kinds. So did Charles, my friend and practicum student. They did this lovingly and by dedicating part of each week to allow me to re-enter the world and survive. Neither knew me well when they started doing this. Katherine, from Paris, also came and taught me to breath again after my lungs were radiated. She only knew me a little but she came every morning and spent time breathing with me. MaryEllen came and cleaned my house. Gayla came and made me tea. Juliet held my head up while I vomited. Jonathon came and just made sure I was safe. Christine brought me laughter and left me in the hospital. Alice made crumble, Karen talked to me everyday, Barney wept and held me on the bus, so did Hannah. Polly and Roberta and Marie stayed in touch with treatments and information. My children came and carried on with ordinary life in front of me. My nieces just knew when to call. Someone used to anonymously leave me prairie flowers. Derrick moved things. So many people did nice little things I will never forget.

Wonderful people are showing up again and we are learning to accept help. We are letting them in and really appreciating the support.

Encouraging words are arriving daily via the Internet and telephone. I had no idea how many people read this blog. In the last few days I have heard from Whitehorse , Yukon, Calgary, Wells, Iraq, Israel, England, New York, Winnipeg, Quebec, France etc. All words of love and encouragement.

Tim is still waiting for his treatment regime and some tests to be completed. They will decide what to do when this happens. We are in the world of waiting for results and treatments once again. But we both know that people are with us again.

Thank you so much!
xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxox