Time together

We were able to spend five days together on our family vacation which felt like a miracle given all that has been happening over the preceding weeks and months. That’s not to say that the five days were without challenges, sadness or pain and I’d be a dreamer to say that things felt like they’ve always been. But there was a huge blessing in it – I can’t imagine any one of us wanting to be anywhere else. Kids (and adults) got to be kids – playing in the water, family meals were shared, pace of living slowed down a bit, usual errands and chores were on hold, there was time to just hang out and be together in one physical space – it was such a needed change of scenery, good for the body and the soul. It may not have been the care-free vacation that one imagines when they think of vacation, but it was a precious gift.

Researcher and clinical trials

After being discharged from the hospital on Monday, and before getting to the vacation home on Tuesday, mom, dad and Maria went to see an oncologist in Vancouver (Dr. R) who is also a researcher and the co-director of the Pancreas Centre BC. Maria had reached out through her networks to connect with Dr. R and we worked with mom’s oncologist (Dr. O) to get a referral. Dr. R focuses on pancreatic cancers as well as on clinical trials. We wanted to meet with him to ensure we are exploring all options for mom’s best care. We walked away with reassurance that the current chemo protocol is the best current option for mom. Dr. R also told us that he is now part of mom’s care team and will be receiving any test results from here on. Overall this visit was positive in that it provided a little bit of peace of mind in spite of the heaviness of these conversations and disease. While there are some clinical trials out there, they are highly experimental at this point and hence chemo was the recommended course of action at this point.

Hereditary Cancer Program

Another referral we received was for the Hereditary Cancer Program. This is something we have been requesting since mom’s diagnosis especially since her brother passed away from pancreatic cancer just one year ago and there is strong suspicion that their mom also had this cancer. We have our first appointment set up for August 16th to learn more about Familial Pancreatic Cancer Program and genetic counselling. The people running this program work closely with Dr. R so information will be easily transferred and could be useful both for mom and us, her kids. I am glad we have received this referral and mom has been really pushing for it not just for the three of us but also for our cousins. I’ll speak for myself, that I believe it’s important for us to explore this program, however it is also scary and feels like a membership to a club you wish you didn’t belong to. We will see what new information we gather at the appointment on the 16th.

To end things on a more positive note, while we were away in Hope last week, I was struck by how little it can take to smile and experience joy from a simple sight. Upon entering the hallway of the vacation house I thought to myself:

Happiness is: a house full of familiar shoes

(there was only one pair missing…those were somewhere on their travels in Singapore and Bali!)