An Opportunity to Help a Helper
Have you ever ridden "The Mindbender?" The double loop rollercoaster that was part of the West Edmonton Mall amusement park? If not, allow me to give you the opportunity to do so from the comfort of your stationary seat.
Many, many years ago, before I had children (Anyone else become risk adverse after parenthood?), I managed to ride it two times is a row. I recall thinking "This isn't so bad!" during the first part where you ascend to dizzying heights, then the speed suddenly doubled as the car hurtled downward, and I realized that this was no kiddie ride. 😱 Well, life hasn't exactly been a kiddie ride either.
My moments of "I can't believe this is actually my life now" are usually reserved for times when Google Photos surprises me with a montage of photos from life BC (before cancer), aka. more than 5 years ago. I knew our lives were good, and yes, we were grateful, but we really had no idea how different life would look in 2026.
Instead of getting up at 6:30 am and spending the day at the office with Ken, coming home between 5:00 and 6:00 pm, eating supper, doing chores, then falling into bed only to do it again the next day, the days are much less structured. Previously, I worked with Ken 3-4 days a week, and my days off were precious; living in a continual "day off" is not quite as pleasant as I imagined. 😏 Don't get me wrong, Ken and I both realize and appreciate that this "early retirement" is a gift and we thank God each day for the opportunity to spend this time together. However, that doesn't mean that we don't mourn what could have been. Then again, who actually gets to live their life exactly as anticipated? 🤔
In May, prior to Ken's scan, we got away to Victoria, BC, our favourite
vacation destination in Canada. (Travel insurance,
when being treated for Stage 4 cancer is rather cost prohibitive, that's
if you can find a company to insure you!) Here we're at the
Butchart Gardens, a place we visited on our honeymoon, 31 years ago. 💞
As many of you know, the spots seen on Ken's February scan were confirmed as a recurrence of cancer on his May scan. Since that time, he has begun immunotherapy. We are grateful that we paid for the testing to have his tumour tested for genetic anomalies, as we would be completely without options without this information. There's no guarantee that it will help, but it's certainly worth a try.
In June, our eldest son became engaged to an absolutely wonderful woman. She is also a doctor...which means that Stefan and I are now severely outnumbered as the only non-medical people in the family! 😬 They're planning to marry in January, 2027, yes, that feels like a long time away, and yet it's not. At Ken's last in-person appointment with his oncologist, Dr. Zhu, I got the distinct impression that he was rather surprised at how well Ken's doing. At this point, other than fatigue necessitating at least one 2+ hour nap per day, he is asymptomatic. I believe that this may actually be somewhat miraculous. In less than a month it will be 2 years since his appendicitis, which means that he's had cancer for more than 2 years. Given that he has the most aggressive form of Appendiceal Carcinoma, more like Peritoneal Carcinomatosis with both Signet Ring and Goblet Cells, this is much better than his initial prognosis led us to believe. Perhaps he'll be one of the 10% who make it to 5 years? 🙏🏼
So for now we are back to living in 3 week blocks of time. Ken is receiving the immunotherapy drug, Keytruda, at a private infusion clinic every 3 weeks. So far, other than weird arm acne and additional fatigue, the side effects are not too bad. Then again, due to a pharmacy error (NOT Theo's Pharmacy - this would never have happened there!) he received his first full dose last Monday. Oh, this was his third infusion, but instead of receiving 400 mg every 6 weeks, he received 100 mg. Oopsie. 🫣 That's 25% of the recommended dose. I may have been a wee bit perturbed when we discovered this! 😡 Actually, when we were told, my first words were, "Good thing God doesn't need Keytruda!" However, just in case He wants to use it to heal Ken, we will continue with 200 mg every 3 weeks, as the side effects are supposed to be less debilitating when taking a lower dose more frequently. We all know how well Ken tolerates meds...🙄
Unfortunately, because this therapy is not recommended in Canada, the costs are not covered by the government. 🫤 When he was receiving 100 mg every 6 weeks, the expense was manageable. However, with each infusion bearing a price tag of $10,000, our healthcare costs no longer fit within our budget. 🤑 As such, we have finally convinced Ken to allow us to set up a GoFundMe for him. We have already received unexpected money from people who knew about the costs, while others have encouraged us to start a fundraising campaign, but it's hard to admit that you didn't plan for an extra $13,000 per month in your retirement budget! Actually no, it's not. 😊 Ken has been a helper all his life, and I know that there are many who would like to return the favour. Now's your chance! 😊 There are 6 possible infusions before our son's wedding. That's $60,000, so we've set that as our goal. I've posted a link to the GoFundMe below. (You can donate anonymously, if you're concerned about privacy.)
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