Wednesday, August 29, 2007
A Health Update -- Post Cancer Surgery
I’m home and it’s so good to be here! After emergency surgery on August 12 to remove a cancerous tumor from my colon, I spent about a week of recovery time at Grand River Hospital in Kitchener before being sent home. In less than 48 hours later, I was readmitted for a few more days to be treated for infection and tested for blood clots (thankfully, there were none!). I’ve now been home since Saturday (August 25). I am appreciating the home care nursing visits and the support of family and friends.
How am I? I’m very weak. About two or three short visits per day is about all that I can handle. I’m slowly regaining an appetite and can eat solid food. I estimate that I’ve lost probably about 15 pounds through this ordeal. My incision is now healing well and I’m learning how to manage with a colostomy. My pain is minimal if I am careful not to overdo it.
What’s next? The priority is to gain some strength for what is to come in September. Initially, we’ll get the oncology (an analysis of the tumor) report and then go to the Kitchener Cancer Centre where I’ll commence chemotherapy to address the cancer that remains. We don’t know what the treatments will look like and how long they will take until we have the oncology report.
Our Support Team. We’ve got a good support team in place beyond the nursing services provided by the health system.
Dianne has taken time away from her relief work with Christian Horizons.
Our daughter, Rebecca, a family medicine physician based in Ottawa in her final year of her residency program, has taken a leave of absence and came to help during the surgery and early recovery. She will return to Kitchener for a week or so in September to help us as treatment starts.
Our son, Paul, who lives in Kitchener, has been incredibly helpful in a variety of practical and encouragement ways including helping to set things up at home for me.
Our home church, Wilmot Centre, is providing meals three days/week.
We’ve had lots of pastoral support from our church as well as both Outreach Canada and Christian Horizons.
The mountain of cards, e-mails, gifts, and flowers have been a huge morale boost.
“People tend to think when things are bad, that they will always be bad. And when things are good, they will always be good. The truth is that neither one is the case.”
In pondering this with Dianne during an afternoon walk around the block, it occurred to me that the same type of thinking is common concerning health and illness.
In the meantime? This is the first update I’ll send to try to keep you posted. I’ve been advised on several fronts to request that access be limited to me during this critical time of surgical recovery and preparation for chemo. Thanks for understanding my need for rest. But please drop me a line at ggibson@outreach.ca or glenn.gibson@sympatico.ca. And please pray for strength and courage for Dianne and I as the time arrives to start treatment.
