January 21, 2017

A New Year

Happy New Year everyone! I hope the holidays and the start of this new year has been good to you.  I have been enjoying my new found life so much that I've neglected my blogging! No apologies. S, Zoey and I are "vacationing" in Victoria, BC. We were here for much of December and returned, after a busy holiday schedule back home, in January for at least another month! While the rest of Canada was freezing, Victoria, although colder than previous years, had much more tolerable weather. Winter has been awesome!

Before I tell you what we've been up to, I should update you on my health. Throughout the ordeal in the hospitals in late summer, as I started then stopped then restarted Tagrisso, I continued to have routine brain MRIs and chest CTs. Tagrisso is working miraculously! My first scans and scans eversince (my most recent being early January) have shown massive  decreases in tumour burden in all parts. There are now only two tiny lesions in my brain and one small nodule in my lungs. My bones have all healed nicely and I feel 100% better! Tagrisso has proven to be very tolerable. I honestly think Tagrisso had very little to do with my hospital stays. Thank you AstraZeneca. Thank you everyone for all your prayers, words of encouragement, and support. I am thoroughly enjoying this renewed life with an abundance of gratitude! 

I thought I could just show you what we've been up to on Vancouver Island. A friend of mine introduced me to a new app called Prisma. It can take mediocre photos and turn them into art! Being artsy myself, thanks to a very talented high school art teacher (thanks Mr. G!), I have been busy collecting "art pieces" to share with you (most of which are from our weekend trip to beautiful Tofino/Ucluelet)! On top of that, we discovered Russell Books in Victoria and I have steadily been devouring novels. There are also great walking trails, parks, restaurants and villages to explore here. Today, we stumbled upon Victoria's Women's March and happily joined in on the rally! I am healthy and happy. I hope you are too:).


Along the Lighthouse Trail, off the Wild Pacific Trail, in Ucluelet.


Lighthouse Trail, Ucluelet


Zoey on Chesterman Beach at sunset, Pacific Rim National Park


Long Beach, Pacific Rim National Park


Little Qualicum Falls, lower falls


Peacocks at Beacon Hill Park, Victoria