Rub a dub...hello from The Tub

Hello from beautiful Tobermory! I decided to escape from the big city earlier this week to the cottage for some much needed peace and tranquility...and I have it here in spades. Wow is it quiet up here on the lake and in town. In fact, Parker and I went into town yesterday with intention to grab a cup of green tea, blog on the patio of The Coffee Shoppe and grab some fresh local whitefish for dinner. We didn't make it into town until later in the afternoon, after 5pm, and much to our/my shock... everything was closed except the Foodland and LCBO. The Coffee Shoppe apparently closes at 3pm daily now and the fish store closed at 5pm. And I think I counted 4 people out on the streets of Tobermory while Parker and I walked around. Yikes! What a contrast from mid summer when The Tub is a busy energetic town thriving with tourists.

But this peace and quiet is exactly what I wanted...exactly "what the doctor ordered". You see... next Monday is an anxiety laden day for me (and my family). I am scheduled for a CAT scan for enhanced imagery of my pelvis, liver, abdomen, chest and lungs. This scan at four months is an important surveillance test which will assess the state of my cancer four months post surgery and with adjuvant therapy. Essentially it will tell my doctors whether (to quote my surgeon) "they got it all"...whether there has been any spread of the primary tumour to other organs...whether the chemotherapy has done its job to date in preventing any recurrence of the cancer. And admittedly I am worried. I am trying to NOT dwell, to NOT fear the tests (the results not the actual test), and to focus on ALL the positive things that have been going on with my life like my marriage to Victoria, the birth of our child in November, my wonderful in laws, family and friends...and all the positive things related to my battle against cancer such as my surgeon's assessment that his team was successful in removing the entire tumour, the low grade nature of the tumour suggesting that it was not aggressive, the blood tests that came back recently that showed no elevation of carcinoembryonic antigen, etc.

While I was hoping to spend some time outdoors up here at the cottage and potentially even take the boat out and land Cameron Lake Charlie my hands and feet neuropathy just would not allow me to do anything outside...just a couple of minutes trying to take off the boat cover had my fingers stinging like they were being stuck with needles. So no dice on doing anything outdoors in the cold. But I had no itinerary for my retreat up here other than to rest and relax...so I rented some movies and made a great dinner and chilled out with P dog. Perfect. And whether it is the cool fresh air or just being at the cottage I slept well...deep...refreshing...and well.

Anyway it is time to head back to the big city and reconnect with Victoria and attend our pre-natal class...enjoy the beautiful long drive home...and keep focused on the positive, think about positive results next week and continue to be winning the battle.

Until next time...sending good thoughts out into the cosmos. Take care all.