Donate to help Roddy & his family

I know it’s been a while since my last post but there hasn’t been much to update until now. I don’t like keeping people in the dark but I also don’t like dangling a carrot unless I have news or all the facts. Sorry in advance but this one may be long.

Well the facts are in. I completed my last chemo treatment four weeks ago and have been feeling better almost every day since. I had a CT scan 10 days post chemo to check on the tumour. Unfortunately there was not much change in size. However, the scan did show signs of necrosis (dead tissue) on the tumour! This is at least a good sign and my body still needs to work at flushing it out.

This past week I had appointments with the team from Toronto. The medical oncologist said that my chemo treatments are done! Since there was no substantial change from treatment 2 to treatment 4, he doesn’t see enough advantage to keep going on chemo. I’m good with that as I have made it clear in the past on how I feel about chemo. . Now I can start looking forward to having my hair grow back!

So with chemo done now what? Well the next step is surgery. I was really hoping that we could delay surgery until after summer. Why you may ask, well I’ve been cooped up in my house for the last 8+ months doing very little, especially since chemo started in January. A very drastic change in life compared to how I lived before. That being said, I was looking forward to being able to enjoy summer, and the outside, without having my body mutilated. Unfortunately my surgeon recommended I have the surgery before summer. There is a slight chance that the tumour may grow again in that time which could possibly lead to the tumour not being operable at all.

So when’s the surgery? Please fasten your seatbelts and be sure that all arms and legs are safely tucked in for the emotional roller coaster dip! May 30th is surgery day! Holy f#%k!

What does surgery entail? The plan is to remove the tumour, my thymus gland and my left lung. I will also need reconstruction done on my diaphragm and heart lining. The surgery will take from 6-8 hours. I feel for my wife and kids who will have to wait through that. Recovery will be a week in hospital and then stay around the Toronto area for at least two weeks after in case there are any complications.

Now the planning begins. We are all gonna be flying out and staying in Toronto for the duration of time recommended by the team. We are currently looking into accommodations for a month stay for everyone. Because of this I would once again like to thank my cousin Lise Denis for organizing a go fund me page as well as everyone who has been so kind to donate on the page as well as in private. Your contributions have helped so much to ease the financial stress for this trip!

My next appointment was with the radiologist. She gave me a heads up on what the projected plan would be after surgery. There is a possibility that around 2 months post op I will need to go back to Toronto and have radiation treatment for up to 5 weeks! We’ll cross that bridge when we know more from the pathology report from surgery.

Lastly, my thanks and appreciation goes out to everyone who has been praying for my family and I and putting out good healing vibes. I know that with a positive attitude, and plenty of love and support, we will get through this unfortunate chapter in life.

I’ve been asked if my situation ever makes me mad? I’ve gone through truck loads of emotions when it comes this and yes anger is definitely one of them. However, I’m trying to stay as positive as possible as I know this will only help with healing. Believe it or not I feel blessed that it’s me dealing with it. I’m still young and healthy enough to be able to fight this fight. I look at my wife and kids and am so thankful that it’s not one of them dealing with this. If it were one of them I’d be standing there wishing it were me instead of them. Well it is me and I’m great full for that, and this stubborn Frenchman has a lot of fight in him!

Again I’m sorry for be so long winded on this one.

Love you all!

Roddy