Screening is a good idea.

 Good Day

As the week has gone on  I am still doing great. Really really enjoying the warmer weather while it is here.I have some energy back, the mood swings are considerably less.  (The ones I recognize that is)   It has been a busy couple of days getting ready for Thursday's Steak Night Fundraiser for Relay for Life.  It is going to be a fun night - I will post some pictures and a note on the nights events.  Thank you everyone from across the country who have contributed to this weeks event.  With everything combined we are set for a successful night which will bring the J-Team a little closer to reaching the $5000 goal.     


For those who missed the facebook post earlier today - The website says it all.  Enjoy. 
http://www.getyourbuttseen.ca/

 Some facts:

¨ On average, 430 Canadians will be diagnosed with colorectal cancer every week .

¨ One in 14 men is expected to develop colorectal cancer during his lifetime

¨ One in 15 women is expected to develop colorectal cancer during her lifetime

¨ Overall, colorectal cancer is the second-leading cause of cancer death in Canada.

Keep Smilin

Jason

Hello Spring

Dear Spring:   HUG thank you for joining us FINALLY!

Fish Joke;  This one is for anyone out there looking to extend the weekend.
Monday morning a guy calls his boss:: “I can’t come to work today The boss asks why and the guy says “it’s my eyes.” “What’s wrong with your eyes?” asks the boss. “I just can’t see myself coming to work, so I m going fishing instead…”

A first: More facial hair then ontop of my head. .

Hope everyone had a safe and happy holiday weekend.  Now it is time to work off ALL that chocolate though.  or if you are like me - work on devouring more candies and chocolate.   
We had a great weekend.   The weather was excellent, we were able to go for a very nice walk through part of Wascana Park,.  Some yard was done, patio table and chairs cleaned up and ready for use.  Front walk way finally almost all clear of MUD. 

This picture is where part of the park path flooded and a barrier to stop the water from covering the back alley and reaching back yards.   


We had a great Easter dinner over at Teresa's parents place followed by a couple of games.  I have discovered I am really good at winning and not so good at losing.  When I win I crush it - when I loose well whining is about it. 
Overall a great weekend  and in particular some really spectacular time spent with my Super Star wife Teresa. 

Over the past week I found some additional fatigue compared to previous weeks and some nasty mood swings.  The patience Teresa has been exercising the past week deserves a medal.  The roller coaster ride can be tough for me deal with sometimes, I cant even imagine how hard it is to for her.  Counting before speaking or responding to something,  has become a conscious effort to help ease some of the swings.  We are really going to be watching this and doing what we can to have not so rocky a coaster ride.  At least fatigue is easy to deal with.  Eat, sleep, eat sleep and try not to change from that routine. 

Well off to enjoy some of the outdoor splendor with a walk to the park and perhaps little yard clean up.

Enjoy the day everyone.  Keep Smilin

Jason

Raffle Tickets on Sale Now

Good Day Everyone 

 As you know we are participating in this years Canadian Cancer Society Relay for Life. To help raise funds I have put together a Raffle.   Participating in the Relay for Life event is really important to me as it gives me purpose over the next few weeks while going through the process of fighting Cancer.  Setting the goals I have are there to help me focus on achieving something - well other then getting better.  See the flyer below for details and please contact our team with any questions or for digital tickets.  

jteamfundraising@gmail.com

Keep Smilin   - Jason

Making Progress

Sorry no fish joke today.  But not to worry the chuckles will not be gone long.

Yesterday was treatment day and Rich and Sheri were able to join in and experience a morning at the Cancer Clinic.  Not a whole barrel of fun - though it was nice to be share what Teresa and I do every other week.  We did play a card game, which there was no sympathy to let me win. 

This week has been a really good week.  My energy levels returned to near normal, started sleeping better and no pain.  It has been over a week since any pain medication was required. Thursday we met with the Oncologist for a progress review and he was very happy with the results.  All my blood work came back with positive and track numbers.  He was happy to hear the pain had subsided and was no longer a problem.  Most importantly the CEA levels, the tumor markets found in the blood stream which is used to track progress of treatments, was of normal levels.  Normal levels meaning they could not use this to track effectiveness as there are no markers to track.  Future progress will be monitored by CT Scans and all these results are showing the treatments are being effective. 

We are extremely happy and relieved to have had this great review with the doctor.  Then because of the progress and time for my port implant to heal I was able to start having the Avastin Treatment along with the standard chemo.  This medication basically stops blood vessels from and feeding the tumor to prevent growth while the chemo attacks the tumor. We are very excited excited about this additional  because of the statistically increased results this can have when combined with my chemo regiment.  Check out the link for more information.  The side effects we are not concerned with as they are pretty much the same as chemo and I have been handling them well.  Actually after receiving treatment yesterday - I slept most of the day / night and today feel really good.  Stomach is alittle flip floppy though very tolerable and easy to handle. (mild hangover feeling - easy peasy - some popsicles and plenty of munchies)

Keep Smilin

Jason

The New Look

In the begining there was hair.

Crazy Andrew helping to trim it up. Was hoping to keep the mohawk.

Could start auditioning for some martial arts flicks at this point. 

But in the end.  Here is the New look for now. 

And we will keep smilin. 

Going to buy some hats.

Fish Joke:   What fish sounds like a telephone? Herring, herring…herring, herring…herring.

Over the weekend we noticed some hair loss and started monitoring to see if it was steady.  The hair is steadily coming loose so it is time to shave it down.    Hair loss is a side effect of the treatments and was a possibility to happen, does not happen to everyone these days, but in my case it has.  Which is ok, I will save some money on shampoo and not have to worry about my hair being all over the place.  Makes going out easy.  Great excuse to pick up a couple of new hats as well.

Otherwise I have been doing exceptionally well overall.  Over the past week I have spoken with a lot of people on the phone.  The amount of support, prayers and love has really built up our spirits as well.  The reinforcement is amazing and truly Teresa and I are really blessed.  

It is hard sometimes to hear all these stats and stories about increased risks developing cancer.  Seems no matter what we eat, some product we use or something we do has a study to advise it may increase your risk of cancer.  In recent weeks I have gone through a ton of this information and in the end the common outcome is we are all at risk and the disease will select some and not others.  Just seems to be the way it is in my opinion.  Sticking to the basics is really the way to reduce the risk.  Balanced diet, some exercise and everything else in moderation.   Of course smoking, seriously look at stopping that is 1 common factor that was clearly an increase risk. 

What are the Risk Factors for Colorectal Cancer?


Keep smilin

Jason

Cruzing into the weekend.

Fish joke: How much fishing tackle can a man accumulate before his wife throws him out? I don’t know the answer but I think I m nearly there.

So the week after treatment has gone by, besides fatigue or getting tired easily it was a good week.  Still maintaining a strong appetite, taking very limited medications as needed and able to be physically active to a point.  Scents were not nearly as bad as before.  Though beer is still really repulsive, I tried to have a sip last week and once I smell the beverage - BLAH.    Otherwise feeling good overall.  This weekend is "bubble boy" weekend or quarantine, due to low white blood cell counts causing a weak immune system, I have to limit public interaction for the next 3-4 days.       

As an addition to my blog I am going to be adding more information about Colorectal Cancer. Part of my daily struggle is going through this process to treat a disease which went undetected for so long.  There are many unanswered questions once we enter that arena, which I realize there are no answers so I try to stay out.  In my blog I love sharing with you how I am physically feeling and hope the degree of my positive attitude shines through, though I am still left with a feeling of something missing.    Until my diagnosis I was completely uniformed to the disease, causes, symptoms and testing.  I knew going for a scope was going to be a part of regular check ups in the future, as informed by my doctor during a regular check up 2 years ago, but not sure about the relevance and what that really meant.  Being informed is power and could make a difference.

So for today:

Tthose of you who should be visiting the doctor for regular check up or testing be sure to follow your doctor recommendations.  Early detection can drastically change the treatment required.  If you are not sure what you should be doing - ask your doctor.
Some facts.  

• Colorectal Cancer screening rates in Canada are improving but are still low.
• Canadians have positive attitudes toward screening and think it’s important to be screened. 

Keep smilin

Jason

Monday Monday Monday

Good Morning

Fish joke:  Heard the one about the three blondes that went ice fishing and didn’t catch anything? By the time they cut a hole big enough for the boat to fit in it was time to go home.

The weekend went well. Simple activities: eat, sleep and some washroom breaks.  Outside of fatigue no major side effects this time around.   The feeling is much like a hangover and having a woozy stomach throughout the day.  As long as I am snacking or drinking the feeling seems subside, so I ate alot.  Being in better physical shape compared to the last round I sure had a big impact.

My aquarium is coming along nicely as well. Formed a nice volume of algae in there so picked up a Albino Pleco as my algae eater.  He is gold in colour and looks really cool on the blue stones along the bottom.  He almost glows when swimming along.   In 2 weeks I will be picking up some Angel Fish to finish of the take.
 In the mean time I have some plants to trim and a water change to tend to.   

Oh and then there is the clean up still from the water issue.  Blah.  That should take all week chipping away a little each day.

Keep smilin

Jason

Treatment day a smooth run.

Fish Tale:
So a friend at work as able to get out fishing on the ice 1 last time this week and was braging about his 15LB Northern Pike.  To which of course I asked about pictures and witnesss's to this fish tale.  To which his answer was of course there are, otherwise it would have been a 25lbs Northern I caught with my bare hands.

Went for another treatment today which went very smooth, just a simple process to follow.  Was also nice to have alot  more energy going into this treatment.  My physical state also showed in my blood work results, as everything was exceptional.    At home now with my bottle for the weekend.  See how the tastes and smells go.  Feels like an experiment going on.  I will try things just to see if there is the same "result" as before. 

The water main situation is being resolved today as our front yard and basement are now dug up.  In the end the 2 projects we were expecting to work on at some point are now started.  Front yard landscapping as there was none and refinish of the basement for added living space.

Keep Smilin everyone and I will let you know how the weekend goes.

Off for a nap.

Jason