When Jeff & I connected with family and friends to inform them of his cancer diagnosis, it was a mixed bag of emotions for all. Nervousness, sadness, disbelief but hopeful. Jeff was calm, cool and collected about everything that was going to be involved and I reassured them Jeff was getting the best possible care, we were very open and honest about what was to be expected with the Chemo treatments, medications, catheter, pet scan, etc., but even with all the information we could provide them, a parent never wants to hear the word Cancer for their child, especially knowing he would be 4300 kms away. We decided that not only would we journal Jeffs cancer journey, we had a WhatsApp group for his family, so that every single day they would see him, hear from him and they would know what we knew every step of the way. I made this my mission to journal every temperature, blood pressure, weight gain/loss, medication schedule, side effect, you name it I wrote it down. Activate Caregiver mode! I would clean, disinfect, organize, and follow all the protocols that needed to be in place to ensure Jeff’s environment remained safe. The doctors explained that Jeff would require 6 cycles of R-CHOP. So, every 21 days, Jeff and I would travel to Anker Clinic in Guadalajara for him to receive 2 days of Chemo treatments. My best friends ensured we had a hotel room at the AC Guadalajara each visit, cooked, cleaned and ensured our Maple Lou was taken care of as well as anything we needed upon our return from the city. We were all in this together, all hands-on deck, this was a fight we were not going to lose, we are stubborn that way! As scary and serious as this all was, there was always room for some humour, leading up to the start of his Chemo treatments and during the better part of them, Jeff had this Doritos obsession, I mean seriously, almost made them extinct kind of addiction. SOOO many Doritos lol! We would laugh about it, when we would arrive the 1st day of each treatment, I would walk to the pharmacy to get his list of meds, hit the Walmart express for a few snack items and beverages, as well as the coffee shop for a mocha latte for each of us and ask “would you like anything to snack on?” Always “Doritos” top of the list, I would say seriously, jeff you are going to look like a Dorito! And Jeff would say he gained 15lbs of Doritos weight lol. Hey, it’s not like I was eating salads, we bonded over our love of all things junk food. It was a means to cope, comfort foods, whatever it was we would do it together!
I’m so sorry to hear about Jeff’s “C” diagnosis…but so lifted with hope to hear your optimism! I am gathering from reading your update journal that this has been going on for a while. Sending you both some healing ❤️🩹 hugs. ❣️❣️❣️
Thanks so much Vicki ! It started early 2022, and Jeff completed his treatment November 2022, and just recently received an all clear on his Pet Scan. It is a recovery in progess, but found value in sharing through my blog in the hopes it can help others going through Cancer and those that have come out the other side. Super appreciate all the support we have received =)
Sounds so very very hard but just read your reply to someone else and Very Happy to hear he’s doing so much better!!! Marge