Hello everyone!
It’s been another busy few weeks here at the Noonan house. One
of my best friends came down from Regina for a visit and observed that this
whole cancer thing is like a full time job. It’s amazing all of the things that
I planned to do that I never had the time and or the energy to get done. But I
am very happy to have had the time and the energy to accomplish what I have.
General Update:
I’ve now completed all 8 of 8 chemo therapy treatments. Which means it will take about a week for me to get off the couch and then probably about another month of recovery before I’m myself again. That said the process is not quite done yet. Our treatment journey remaining is as follows:
- Recovery for a few weeks and then surgery (details of which we do not know yet)
- We will be doing Hercerptin infusions every 3 weeks for another year. Herceptin is one of the drugs that is currently in the cocktail of chemo’s that I am taking but the side effects are minimal. This means that the port will be staying in my arm for at least another year.
- We will be on an anti hormone treatment for another 10 years.
- Whatever else the future may bring J
 |
| another great day for a float |
Part of my treatment causes pain but being in the water helps, so I was able to spend some of the beautiful summer days floating in my sister’s pool with my nephews who ferry me around and treat me like a princess! Tough life! I have been taking T3’s for discomfort caused by the chemo which helps get me through the discomfort. We are still battling ulcers in my throat but determined not to let them overtake me again as that was all kinds of unpleasant.
I’ve been slowly going crazy from not riding so Steve and I went on a nice trail ride out at moonglow in August. It’s been years since we have gone for a ride together so that was really nice. I have to say I’m pretty lucky to have met a city guy that can ride horses.
Next week we meet with the surgeon to discuss the post chemo surgery plan. I will admit I am a bit anxious as I thought we would have had this conversation a few weeks ago, and I like to be at least two weeks ahead in my brain. We are ready to have a plan and move forward into planning our post chemo life!
News Articles:
We realized that we never posted the links to the news articles
that we did in July! So here they are:
The original written article done by CTV national news
online.
The Canada AM interview with Ben Mulroney! We had to be there
really early! And therefore we had to get up crazy early! I mean even earlier
than horse show early! But it was a neat experience. Definitely a terrifying
experience.
http://canadaam.ctvnews.ca/video?clipId=396487&playlistId=1.1909227&binId=1.815911&playlistPageNum=1
After our interview with Canada AM, Saskatoon CTV morning
news asked us if we would do another interview that morning. We had an hour to
kill so we drove around and came back for another interview.
Later that day I ventured over to the hospital where I was
admitted to the hospital with Febrile Nutropenia (low white blood cell count
and a fever) and spent my week in “solitary”.
Surprise Fundraising:
On top of the go fund me fundraiser there were three surprise
fundraisers that were hosted on our behalf. I would like to thank each of these
groups.
Monday last week we went up to Regina to meet with
some wonderful people who had hosted a
surprise fundraiser for us. Here is a piece that Steve and I wrote to recognize
their outstanding work within their organization.
-
“In the health care industry there is an assumed and strived for
“patient focused” care; and in this case it also happens to be employee
focused. Although we are all cognizant and all strive for improving the patient
experience, some people go above and beyond. Alana, Amanda and her team have
truly gone above and beyond in making a special experience for the Noonan
family. We originally contacted Alana regarding a request for an appeal for a
particular oncology medication which was very costly and denied for coverage by
our Benefits Plan. Alana was honest and caring and thoroughly investigated the
situation. After making inquiries on our behalf she provided us both candid and
accurate advice. She then reached out on our behalf to several other interested
in an attempt to assist with the financial burden associated with access to
this costly medication. During the entire process even if unable to provide
positive updates Alana genuinely invested her time and energy in our journey
and her sincerity was apparent. Despite her best efforts, coverage for this
drug was not approved.
As a result, Alana, Amanda and the entire 3sHealth Benefits
Administration Team then went above and beyond and organized a fundraiser to
support us with this financial burden. They rolled up their sleeves, dug deep
and hosted a fundraiser amongst the 3sHealth staff. They successfully
raised over $1000 which was a significant contribution towards reaching our
goal. This sense of community is exceptional! The Benefits Administration Team
really went the extra mile for us and we believe they deserve recognition.”
We had another wonderful surprise when one of the local
“horse stores” or what we call tack shops ran a fundraiser for me over weekend. In addition to the fundraiser they
also designed and organized a tshirt as part of the fundraiser. They are really
cool and I am really impressed with them and love wearing mine and seeing the
support of those around me also wearing them! Greenhawk Saskatoon has always
been a strong supporter of equine community, including the sponsoring horse shows
and programs in Saskatoon and I was absolutely honored that they put so much
work into this! The t-shirts can still be ordered or picked up at the Greenhawk
location I believe. If there is someone outside of Saskatoon let me know and I
can arrange to mail the shirts to you! It costs about $3 to mail as I have
sorted out how to send them as “letter” post. I have to admit I had no idea
this was going on and was having a pretty rough day when I found out about it.
I was moved to tears and was awkwardly standing in the Dollarama checkout with
tears running down my face, I was so moved! Thanks again Greenhawk!
Lastly Steve’s brother Sean had organized another secret
fundraiser BBQ at two of the local Rona and Co-op locations. The Mystery
Hockey team all pulled together and did an amazing job of hosting the BBQ! We
were so touched by this! We were attending a wedding the day of the BBQ and
didn’t find out until the day of (it was a big surprise, I thought Sean wanted
to announce an engagement or something so I was completely off the scent). We showed up in full wedding regalia between
the ceremony and reception and were really touched with all the hard work that
they put in. After the BBQ they presented us with an awesome card and a new
hockey jersey for Steve for the winter season. I am looking forward to being
back in the Mystery hockey family!
We will try to put another update up by next wednesday after the meeting with the surgeon to keep everyone informed!
Until then,
Left Foot'n, Right Foot'n
Steve & Alyssa
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