On the Right Track!

Happy Winter everyone! Yes, it’s started. We have the white stuff out here in Linwood already. Too soon!

The “Anniversary”

We purposefully skipped the “anniversary no one wants” which was October 18th – the day I was diagnosed in 2018. Incredible to think it’s been over a year now and all the amazing treatment and care, tremendous support, and endless positivity that has surrounded us since that date. Y’all are amazing and we found one hell of a team in this process. Picture here is from almost 1 year ago…with long hair!

Our last update was about one month ago. That’s when I celebrated a monumental occasion by ringing the bell at the end of radiation at Juravinski. My eyes have recovered quite nicely in the last weeks. All irritation and itchiness has stopped, and really I’m just dealing with the extra almost non-stop tearing now (Derek likes to say I’m extra emotional now, but that’s only ½ true!). No biggie, and otherwise I feel fantastic!

Eye Appointments – On the Right Track

Since treatment ended, I’ve had two check-ups with Dr. Hooper at the Ivey Eye Institute. You’ll recall he has been my primary eye care guru and Ophthalmologist extraordinaire throughout this journey. He really goes above and beyond, and has the biggest heart as well as seemingly infinite expertise. The first appointment was days after the radiation ended, and he was happy with my general eye health. This was in terms of not seeing any adverse effects from the treatments, but had nothing significant to report otherwise given the recency of treatment. He’s always said – let them take care of the cancer, I’ll take care of the eyes. He’s true to form again. And we’re on the right track!

This past Monday was very encouraging in that he sees the offending cells in my right eye decreasing. This likely means the cells are either dead or dying, and are sterile meaning they cannot reproduce. This is the expected result of radiation – no, they don’t actually get “zapped” by the radiation and vaporize, they get neutered more or less. Then, the scavenger cells and cleanup process take over and start the final flush which is what he thinks he’s seeing now. This IS the news we want, and I can’t say how thrilled we were to hear we’re going in the right direction! He will continue to monitor my eyes ongoing. At this point, unless I have specific visual concerns, he is content to do this every few months.

Next Steps

Up next, a brain and eye MRI is booked for later this month. This is then followed by consultation and results from my Oncologist, Dr. Tom Kouroukis and my Radiation Oncologist, Dr. Greenspoon. There has been nothing in the MRI’s ever, so we expect this trend to continue. MRI’s will be a regular part of the monitoring process ongoing as well, with each successive negative result (actually a good thing) hopefully giving confidence this is done and dusted.

Some Fun

So on to the fun! We have plans this weekend to go to Fallsview Casino in Niagara Falls to hang out with our buddies in Collective Soul. They play two packed shows and it will be a great opportunity to have some fun and catch up. If going to the show(s) or around area, please let us know! The entire group, and their families, have been so good to me and a great support to us in the last year. An amazing extended family always. Their positivity and good vibes give us so much energy – the same as all of you have in this last year!

Thanks again to you all for your constant support and encouragement. We love you and we’re on the right track for now!

Cindy and Derek