The Straight Goods

Hi Everyone,

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We hope you had a wonderful Christmas - ours was very special. We were surrounded by family and our wonderful sister-in-law Tina took over my kitchen so that I could rest and relax. Imagine having your own personal chef (who provides all the food!) and clean up crew - the best gift ever!

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Dallas wanted me to update the blog and let you know that he's not recovering from the last round of radiation the way we'd hoped. He is still spending most of the day sleeping and his appetite hasn't returned. Visits are particularly difficult right now because he is so tired - please excuse us if we put a "temporarily closed" sign on our B & B - we know that you'll understand.

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Thank you as always for your love and ongoing support. I'll update the blog again soon. More later...

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Love,

Patty & the Big Guy

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!

Hi there,

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Dallas and I wanted to wish you and yours a very Merry Christmas and all the best for 2011!

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We are looking forward to a wonderful Christmas with our family. I'm hoping that Dallas will be able to enjoy turkey and all the trimmings by then - he's slowly gaining back his appetite but it has been a real struggle this time. We saw Peter this week and he reassured us that the last few weeks have been difficult for Dallas because of the cranial radiation that he had as well as the cold/flu that he picked up along the way. Right now the Big Guy is resting and sleeping a lot of the day which I take as good sign - his body is healing. Although he's still getting most of his nutrition from boost meal replacement drinks and fruit he is starting to eat more "real" food every day. And of course that smile never leaves his face so I know that things are improving.

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We'll also celebrate Marcus's birthday this week - I can't believe that our "baby" will be 28! Yikes - where does the time go?? Jordan will fly home Christmas Eve so we'll have both our boys in the same place again - yeah! Yesterday I enjoyed a great day with Heather - pedicures and lunch - it's so nice to finally have my girl!

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Hugs and every best wish for a wonderful Christmas to all of you! More later...

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Love,

Patty and Dallas

A Tough Week

Hi Guys...just thought I would give you a quick update on my Big Guy. He's had a tough couple of weeks but is now pulling through in his usual style. Dallas was tired from the radiation treatments and unfortunately picked up a virus or bug which set him back in a major way. Peter ran all the tests and reassured us that Dallas's symptoms were not related to the cancer. Unfortunately, the symptoms were pretty severe and knocked the wind out of Dallas's sails - he's spent the better part of the last week being feverish, nauseous and exhausted. Today is the first day I can honestly say he's getting his colouring and appetite back, thank goodness. Knowing my guy, he'll be out on the boat within the next few days as his energy improves.

We recently enjoyed visits from Calgary friends Ev and Bill as well as Bruce and Assunta from Vernon. Old friends really are the best anti-cancer drug going - thank you all. Bruce set to work right away hanging Christmas lights so we're on track for December 25th. Jordan was able to fly home for the weekend and Marcus visited with puppy Sadie so there was never a dull moment!

Thanks as always for being there. More later...

Love, Patty

UPDATE

Hi Guys,

Thanks so much for all of your support - as usual you walk the walk with us. Dallas had an appointment with our cancer doc (Peter) so I thought I would give you a quick update. First of all, there are two people in my life that can put a positive spin on this terrible disease. The first is my Big Guy and the second is Peter. Peter works with a team of medical staff but he always makes us feel like we are just sitting down for a chat over coffee. Today, as always, he introduced Dallas as a very active guy - so of course that leads to fishing stories like the recent halibut hunt. It is fun to watch and I never leave without being thankful to have been a part of it.

Dallas is doing well. Peter thinks that he's responded to the radiation treatments and that stopping the herceptin hasn't left any negative effects. We'll continue to see Peter every two to three weeks and more often if needed. I know that Peter has a team in place to deal with any problems and that Dallas has that fighting attitude that makes anything possible. It was a good cancer day. More later...

Love, Patty

Fishing Report

Hi everyone,

I am starting to get the energy level back slowly after the radiation treatments. Dad and I fished yesterday with lots of blue sky and calm water. WE had the best thing possible happen as we caught a 33 pound halibut while fishing for salmon. It was the first one my dad has ever seen let alone caught so it was quite the day. The legal season is closed to halis but this one seemed to follow us home. I am slowly getting back to emails and calls so please keep them coming.

Take care,
Dallas

The Latest News

Thank you so much for all of your support over these past years. We don't know what we would have done without you!

As you have probably already guessed, our news isn't good - but as we always say - if the doctors give us a few months we will somehow work those into years. And that is what we intend to do. For right now we are spending close time with our boys and family, trying to figure out what the next step should be. We plan to live each day that we have left together to the fullest. We're actively pursuing alternative health options (as we have been all along) and are in touch with the Mayo Clinic. We'd like to get an opinion from them to make sure that we've pursued every avenue open to us.

In the meantime, you'll find us in the garden or out on the Cinnamon Girl catching fish or prawns. We'd love to take a trip to Italy together - that was always on our dream list. If we do that we'll probably cruise the Mediterranean because it's just more comfortable for Dallas.

We feel so fortunate in our lives. We've made great friends and have had a love that we know is rare. We have two wonderful boys who have grown into men that we are so very proud of - what more can you ask for in life than that? Please remember that our B & B is always open.

More later...

Love,

Patty & Dallas

Thank you!

Hi everyone,

As usual thanks for the emails, calls and care packages. Please know that they are very appreciated even if we can't get back to you right now. Dallas and I are both feeling really EXHAUSTED so our return emails and phone calls are few and far between.We both feel very blessed to have so many friends and family who care so much - you are all so amazing.

Dallas has now finished this session of radiation. There were five treatments in which they radiated both sides of his brain. Dallas's headaches are gone (yeah!) but he's disappointed that he will lose his hair again. I think he looks pretty cute in a toque so I don't care but hair loss is important to him. He went to the barber on Saturday and had his hair cut down to a military cut so it won't be such a shock when it falls out.

Dallas took the boat out of the water today so he and his Dad spent the day buffing and polishing it - the Cinnamon Girl looks as good as new. On Wednesday she goes in for servicing and will be relaunched in time for next weekend.

On Tuesday Dallas and I will meet with the oncologists at the cancer clinic to see what the action plan will be. The Big Guy is ready to fight the big fight so we'll see what plan they come up with - more later on that...

Until then we're looking forward to having Jordan home this weekend. We'll also be joined by my brother and his family and hopefully Marcus, Heather and puppy Sadie will be able to make it out a few times. I'm sure that there will be some prawning and crabbing going on - we seem to have more success with this than with fishing right now.

I'll post again as soon as I can - in the meantime, please keep those prayers and positive thoughts coming our way. As always, you carry us through the darkness. More later...

Love,

Patty and the Big Guy