Steve has completed his first course of chemotherapy and sail through it. Since he has cerebral lymphoma they had to give him a strong concoction to penetrate his brain. He coped brilliantly. No nausea and no apparent side effects so far. Physically he’s doing really well. We are hoping he will be able to come home this coming Wednesday for about nine days before his next course of chemo. The treatment consists of five, 2 weeks cycle of chemotherapy and at the end Steve will have an assessment and we will see how he is doing.
Emotionally Steve often struggles but he is strong. Our lives have completely changed and there’s a lot to take in, accept and adjust to. The heavy dose of steroids he is also taking, intensify all his anxieties and worries so that’s a battle in itself. The doctors and nurses here have been amazing. I expect in a chemo ward like this, the staff are often dealing with people like us and have the support system in place. I am certainly glad of it.
Our plan for delivering Dignity to Australia is going well. Peter on s/y Nymph will be delivering our boat for us. We know him and trust his skills and experience. He is also the boatyard manager at Norsand, NZ where we hauled out and did work on Dignity so we know he has excellent knowledge of boats in general. Sam and Dignity will be in good hands.
At the other end in Brisbane where Dignity will be delivered to, Trish and Rob on s/y Bristol Rose have been researching marinas and making enquiries for us. We now have a berth booked at Manly at the MBTBC marina. Thanks to Trish for all her efforts.
We are hoping that Sam will continue the tradition and write about the passage to Australia for our blog.
Again thank you everyone for your best wishes and kind thoughts. I am sorry I have not answered many of your emails but every message was very much appreciated.
Good luck Stevie you can do it. Love you, Take care Helen.
Vicky R”
Way to go Steve, thats the 1st hurdle done, sounds like you’ve had a great start. We are walking with you step by step thru your blog. KIa kaha Helen, you make a powerful team. Pls remember, let us know if we can do anything for u both. Much love Tracey and Lew
hi helen and steve,
obviously thinking of you two. sounds like you are positive. keep it up. you two are some of the nicest people i have met and i believe in karma so everything crossed. you make a strong team. love to you all and everybody helping. If u need anything please let me know. if u need company i have holiday left from work.take care. love geraldine, hayley and jamesxxxxxx. by the way james got his maths degree 2:1 so very proud. it is his graduation tomorrow. lots of love againxxxxx
Thanks so much for keeping us updated. I know it must take tremendous energy just to put one foot in front of the other at this point, but we have all come to know and love you and Steve through the years of following your log entries. We are praying and rest assured – God is at work!
Steve… for some reason you have been on my mind lately and now I know why (my friends say I am a bit of a witch). I wish you and Helen all the very best on this journey. We too have had a bumpy year and my elder daughter has been diagnosed with an exceptionally rare neurological disorder for which there is no cure. Am leaving CS tomorrow to focus on her and the rest of the family. You will all be in my prayers. In NZ there is a saying -Kia Kaha – be strong, it means a lot to me. Hugs, Helen
Hi Steve and Helen
Thinking of you and wish you all the very best. Hope treatment goes well Steve and not too debilitating.
Kind regards
Ash