In the Meantime...

Since my last post, we have been occupying ourselves by becoming established in our new location and settling in (oh, and watching world cup!) while waiting to receive the start date for Charl's radiation. Although he still needs to rest during the day,  it is wonderful to report that he has been regaining energy steadily and able to do increasingly more each day. So much so in fact, that for the Canada day long weekend, we went camping with our friends Megan, Allyson and Dan Link in Johnston Canyon (about 20km north off the TransCanada between Banff and Lake Louise), and had an excellent time!

It is a spectacular location, nestled right in the Rocky Mountains with picturesque views from every direction.

We hiked, had camp-fire chats, had lots of laughs and spent two very cozy, warm and dry nights in our tent (even though it was only about 3C at night).

Spending a weekend camping felt so "normal"- not worrying about bloodcounts, or fevers or hospital visits - it was just great to be spending time in nature worry-free (well except that there was a grizzly in the campground the day we arrived and a black bear spotted in the area the next day - both of which caused me great duress, though for Charl it was a bonus and he couldn't wait to tackle whichever creature we came across). Charl still napped but had lots of energy to spare for all the activities of the weekend.

However, as I said that was in the meantime. We just found out that his radiation will start July 13 - each weekday for 20 days - which will take us to about the 11th of August. The radiation oncologist told us that he should expect little or no side effects for the first 2 weeks, but that we should expect difficulty in swallowing for the latter half, as his esophagus (the food tube) will be radiated to make sure they zap any cancer cells that may have decided to migrate north. Side effects are supposed to peak 7-10 days after the radiation is finished. As usual Charl is ready to take it on, get it over with, pray earnestly for total healing and move on from this episode.

It's astonishing to think of all Charl has gone through in the last 6 months since this all started. I look back at photos from just before he found out (Jan 19) and you'd never have known he was so critically ill. Here's one I love of Charl just before we got married, during a short hike with the family near Kal lake during last Thanksgiving weekend.

PS note the hair colour prior to chemo: BROWN. His hair is now growing back BLOND!!