Sooner or Later

As an unnamed peasant pleads in Monty Python and the Holy Grail “I’m not dead.” On the contrary, I’m doing very well but more on that later. (Monty Python fans will know that this is almost always misquoted as “I’m not dead yet” but clearly he does not say yet.)

My apologies for not providing an update sooner but as they say, sometimes life just gets in the way. And thank you to all those who have been asking about me or contacting me directly.

Apollo has been back with me since we said goodbye to Jazz and he’s been keeping me company and getting me out to walk rain or shine – actually he hates the rain LOL.On June 6th I attended a formal Regimental dinner at Casa Loma where I was presented with a Lifetime Achievement Award on behalf of the Regimental Senate and was honoured to share one of the readings which recognized the anniversary of D-Day.One of my sisters kindly invited me twice during the summer to her cottage on Grand Island in Balsalm Lake. One of those visits also included my other sisters and my parents (see photo above) which made for a great family gathering.I did have the opportunity to drop by the MHSTCI offices during the summer. It was a Monday however and pretty sparsely populated but it was nice to see some faces in person that I had not seen since pre-COVID.And whenever possible I’ve continued my Regimental Museum work by helping with research requests, processing archival material, updating the next 5 Year Strategic Plan, and even giving the odd tour.I’m also taking an online course on Collections Management through the Ontario Museum Association which should keep me busy through the end of November.And the Health Update On June 13th I was finally weaned off the steroid and able to restart treatment with just one of the two medications I’d been taking originally (and which was always the plan.) That continued every two weeks until September 21st.  All the most recent scans have continued to show tumours shrinking. And on the most recent brain MRI, 6 of the original 10 lesions in my brain were undetectable and the others had shrunk by almost half (AGAIN!) – clearly exciting news. As a result, the treatments have been scheduled for every 4 weeks which I hope will continue to show positive results while meaning two fewer visits to the hospital each month.Luckily the only two side effects I still seem to have are a lack of appetite and taste, and a lot more drowsiness than usual. Clearly, things could be a whole lot worse!  I even made my first visit to the barber since December as my hair has grown back enough to make it worthwhile – well almost LOL. And after the end of the steroid, the puffiness/swelling in my face and feet finally faded away and I look somewhat less like the Stay Puft Marshmallow Man :-)Clearly Autumn has arrived and I’m looking forward to Thanksgiving with some of my family in Brighton, and a day trip with my sisters to Elora the following weekend.Hoping everyone else also has a happy Thanksgiving and I’ll try my best not to take so long for the next update!