Halifax, Nova Scotia - December 15, 2013

Smoke on the water - Eastern Passage, Nova Scotia

You know it's cold out when you see "smoke" on the water! Yesterday morning it was - 15°C, but with the windchill it felt like -25°C. For those of you that don't know Celsius -  it was cold enough for your nostrils to stick when you breathed in! The snow was crunchy underfoot and so we only did rv's in service. Today we are under a Winter Storm Watch and the meeting was cancelled for this morning - we weren't too sorry that we could stay home and keep warm!

This past week has been rather busy with appointments and information in regards to Pat's health. First of all, on Tuesday we met with the ENT surgeon that performed the biopsy. He indicated that the initial results were in and the results showed a "low" indicator for Lymphoma. We were excited and discussed the other possibilities (i.e. Sarcoidosis or Wegener's) and that there was a possibility that we would only have to stay in Canada for about 6 months. We left the appointment feeling pretty good and my mind was already on "the exit" plan back to Nicaragua.....

At noon on Wednesday the surgeon phoned to say that the final pathology on the test was back and that it unfortunately did confirm that Pat had Lymphoma.... We didn't even bother to ask if it showed what type and only confirmed that we would be following up with the Hematologist's office in the coming days.

On Friday Pat had a followup appointment with the Infectious Disease guys. They confirmed what we already knew that the results came back negative for TB and the other diseases they tested for. The doctor did however let it out of the bag that Pat has Hodgkin's Lymphoma. We had been expecting him to have non-Hodgkin's - so this was a big surprise. Since it is likely that Pat will require Chemo they decided to do a few more blood tests because there are some parasites, that if Pat has them, will go into overdrive from the Chemo. When we got home Pat received a call from the Hematologist's office. He has an appointment Tuesday morning next week to meet with the doctor. There are also some more tests that are being booked - a PET scan and a Wall Motion study. We should get the dates next week. Pat also had to head back out to the lab for some more blood work that they need the results back for Tuesday's appointment!

On other news, last week I went to see my old boss and she indicated that there might be a job for me. We had just found out Pat's diagnosis so when she asked if I was looking for temp or permanent, full or part-time work I had to say - permanent full time! Looking ahead it will be good to have a job that provides benefits (medical and dental). We are still considering looking after an apartment building, but Pat would be the superintendent rather than me. Many of our friends are busy collecting everything that we need for an apartment and by the time we move into a place of our own we will be well setup - thanks everyone!

Pat in his "office"

While we wait for treatments to begin Pat is keeping busy sorting out the congregation's territory. There has been a lot of construction over the last few years and nobody has had the time to make cards for them. The pioneers were thrilled to have new territory to work last week and are looking forward to some good calls when the weather improves. The room we are using as a bedroom has a "wall bed" that can be put away during the daytime. Pat sets up a table and chairs, puts on the "fire" and gets to work.


We want to say how much we miss our "family" down in Nicaragua and hope you will keep in touch. We are thinking of keeping this blog going so that you can know what is happening with us - I guess we'll have to change the title....

Evey and Debbie braving the winter cold

Eastern Passage, Nova Scotia