WEEK THREE!!

Hi there...so here we go again - week 3 looms ahead. So far, Dallas is feeling GREAT! We are really pleased that he's had no major side effects from the meds.

Our week began with a special visit with my brother Ron's family. Tina and Ron are the parents of our super star niece and nephew, Emily and Connor. It's always wonderful to catch up with our little munchkins! Connor and Emmy are the kids that you see featured in wrestling poses with our boys on the blog. We hope to be able to get in another visit with them soon.

We spent a great weekend with our good friends Steve and Peggy. They came over from Victoria to help us pass the time here. We explored Granville Island, dragged the guys out for some shopping and did more sight seeing. Vancouver traffic was a real gong show this weekend because of the Juno awards. There were free concerts going on at several different venues in town so no matter which way you turned there seemed to be a traffic jam! We still managed to get in a good visit with Steve and Peg - even though a lot of our time seemed to be spent in the car!

On Sunday evening our old friends (not in age!) Jim and Di were over for dinner. We have been lucky enough to be guests at Jim and Di's B & B for many of our visits to Vancouver.

Dallas starts another testing cycle tomorrow morning. Tomorrow is a shorter day so we'll only be at the Cancer Clinic for about 4 hours. During that time, Dallas will have several lab tests including 3 separate ECG's. Wednesday is another very long day - 12 hours at the clinic with a lot of that time spent in the chemo room. Fortunately, as the day progresses we'll be able to escape a couple of times for lunch and dinner. After Wednesday our schedule will be clear sailing - Dallas will once again go AWOL and we'll escape to Victoria for a couple of days. Dallas hopes to get in a day of halibut fishing again and I have a baby shower to attend (that is unless baby boy Ireland decides to make an early appearance - he's showing signs that he's ready to come out and meet the very large cheering section waiting for him! Go baby go!!).

Our good friend Ed Wiens is planning a quick visit this week too so I'm sure the time will just fly by. Thanks, as always for staying in touch! More later....

Love,

Patty and Dallas

ON TO WEEK TWO!

Hi everyone...as I write this we're relaxing in our new little suite in Kitsilano - still trying to get used to BIG city life. As most of you know, the Big Guy decided to go AWOL this weekend. We went home to Victoria for the weekend - a big no-no as far as the docs here are concerned but island time can be the best medicine of all! Dallas and Steve had a great time in the halibut derby. It was a good day for the guys - 3 halibut caught (17, 20 & 27 lbs.) so we will feast on it for awhile. Despite this, they didn't get into the money - there was a record breaking 180 pound halibut caught during the derby. It was one of the largest halibut ever caught in the Sidney area so the guys enjoyed just seeing it at the weigh in!

Dallas had a good check up today with the oncologist. He has some minor side effects from the drug (a bit of an acne like rash on his face which is common) but that's all so far. The doctor gave us some pretty awesome news today - they are starting to see some positive results with the drug. A woman that has breast cancer is showing signs of it diminishing so our doctor is hopeful that the drug will work for other patients as well. Since we're the new kids on the block, we still have a few weeks until they'll know how Dallas is responding to the drug, but we're very hopeful. It was a great cancer day! More later...
Love, Patty & Dallas
PS - Pearl - you did just great on your first blog - thanks for keeping in touch!

Week One Almost Finished!!!

Hi everyone...thanks again for the support! Dallas is almost through the first week of his treatment and so far so good! He's being monitored very closely and his blood is tested frequently because this is a new trial drug. He also has a few ECG's a week just to check up the ticker which is in tip top shape. These types of cancer blockers are the newest of the new on the war on cancer and the staff here seem pretty stoked about them.

We arrived at our new little suite yesterday afternoon and it's just as cute as in the pictures. We have a lot of pitter patter of many little feet upstairs during the afternoons but that's okay too - they usually zonk out pretty early (I think the owner forgot to tell us that she runs a daycare!). Our phone number here is 604-738-2258 - just in case you're in the area and want to pop by.

Dallas is feeling so well that we plan to go AWOL this weekend and sneak in a quick trip home to Victoria (something about a halibut derby calling his name!). He's supposed to stay in Vancouver but he's feeling so well - being on the ocean is probably the best medicine of all, right? More later...
Love, Patty and The Big Guy

HERE WE ARE!!!

Hi everyone - thanks as always for the update reports, comments and support. We arrived in Vancouver on Sunday and today is Dallas's first full day at the cancer clinic. By full day I mean 8:45 am to 10:00 pm! They have a schedule so his blood is drawn at certain intervals throughout the day. It makes for a tedious time but at least we can get out for some walks during the longer breaks.

Tomorrow we'll move into our suite - up until now we've been staying with good friends Di and Jim over on the North Shore. It will be nice to have our own place within walking distance so I don't have to contend with Vancouver traffic - YIKES!!!

I'll try and keep you posted more often now that treatment has begun again - so far so good! More later...

Love, Patty and the Big Guy

We have a date!

Hi everyone...we finally have a date for the clinical trial in Vancouver - YIPPEE!!! Dallas starts on March 17th (St. Patrick's Day should be lucky don't you think?) and we probably have to be there a few days before that so that he can undergo some more tests. We've rented a cute place that's about a 20 minute walk from the hospital. If you want to check it out go to:

http://www.avancouversuite.com/suites.html#arbutus

-we have the Arbutus Suite. We already have some reservations for the second bedroom which is great - we love the company! You are all getting us through this. Lawrence, you were asking where the cancer clinic is in Vancouver - it's pretty close to City Hall which is on Cambie, almost at Broadway. The clinic is on 10th Avenue and Ash Street, which is about a 5 minute drive from City Hall. Thankfully, it's not right downtown!

Dallas is feeling pretty well- his biggest complaint is nerve pain from the surgery. Hopefully, those nerves will reconnect soon so that phase will be behind him. He's getting out on the boat a lot - halibut season opened March 1st so the hunt is on! More later...
Love,
Patty & Dallas