SSD And The City: May 2015

Sunday 24 May 2015

Montreal Day 2: Shriners hospital, waiting around, back to Toronto

I have been home for a few days now but have not posted an update about our second day in Montreal.

We woke up at 5:30 AM on Wednesday and were at the hospital around 7:00. I was the only person receiving treatment that day so everything went fairly quickly, which is great. We had a bit of trouble getting my IV in but that always happens because I have bad veins. After the 4th try, it worked and I started my infusion. My zoledronate treatment went well but we have decided not to schedule another one at this time. We are going to wait and see if the pain comes back and if it does, we will schedule it then. The longer I can manage between treatments the better because my bone density is within the normal range (my bones are still very fragile but the thickness [density] is in the normal range. It's still all OI bone though) and the treatment is now just for bone pain. Long term side effects are unknown so the less I receive in my life, the better off I'll be.

The doctor could not see a femur fracture on the xrays but as always, that doesn't mean there isn't one. It just means that it's not visible. So the pain I've been having since December is still a mystery. If the zoledronate helps then it was probably just my body telling me that I needed more zole. We'll see. Until then, Advil and Tylenol around the clock continues.

The surgery for my knee is being scheduled and it does not sound like it will be as big of a procedure as I thought. He gave me the option of being awake throughout the entire surgery! It is day surgery but if I decide to go to Shriner's for it, I'll have to stay a few nights as travelling afterwards will be difficult. I am considering getting it done in Toronto though as it sounds simple, in which case my doctor at home could probably handle it and not cause too many problems. That's something I'll need to think about in the coming weeks. At least they agreed that the screw can come out now which will hopefully cause less pain in the future.

We were finished at the hospital around 1:00 but our train didn't leave Montreal until 5:00. We tried to get on an earlier train but it would have only got us home an hour earlier and cost 250 dollars for my mom and I. So, we waited for 4 hours at the station.

Troy really had to pee when we got to union because our train was delayed almost 30 minutes - and it was an express that didn't stop at all between dorval (Quebec) and Oshawa.

We finally got home at midnight and have been taking it easy since. We tried to come to the flag raising ceremony on Friday at city hall in Toronto but the go trains were all cancelled/delayed so we wouldn't have been able to make it there on time. I hope everyone had a great day and we will see you at the Toronto West (High Park) Walk for Dog Guides on the 29th!

Tuesday 19 May 2015

Montreal Day 1: Via Rail and Poutine!

Today was full of new adventures for Troy...

This morning we caught the 7 AM go train to Union and then boarded the Via train at 9 AM. Troy has been on the go train many times before but we have never been on the Via train together. There was a slight issue with boarding (I took my walker instead of my wheelchair just because I have my mom with me and accessible taxis in Montreal are very difficult to book compared to regular cabs. I also knew there wouldn't be too much walking involved as most of the trip is spent sitting around waiting. It will also be nice to walk in front of all of my doctors for the first time in over 7 years!). Because I had my walker, Via forgot to bring the lift to the platform so I had to climb the stairs very carefully. This was not a great start to our trip but we managed.

We were pleasantly surprised with the type of economy seats we had. They gave us a quad section with 4 seats to ourselves to accommodate the two of us and Troy. I was expecting just two normal seats so we had a lot of extra room which made the train ride a little more pleasant.

My mom tried to take Troy outside for a quick bathroom break while we were stopped in Kingston. She was told that they would need to be escorted by the service manager and that she was busy at the moment. So needless to say, Troy didn't end up going outside for the entire trip. I was almost hoping he would go in the train after that just to prove a point - but he didn't. Good boy Troy!

Troy is having a little bit of a tough time getting used to being in a hotel. He is sleeping beside me now but at first he was restless and interested in all of the sounds from the other rooms and outside (Montreal is much noisier than Toronto!). I'm not really sure why because we live in an apartment but our building is fairly quiet and I guess he just misses our bed as much as I do.

Our evening has been spent relaxing as much as possible and eating poutine from Angela's - they have the best chicken poutine in the city!

Tomorrow is going to be a very long day. We have to get up at 6:00, be at the hospital by 7:15 and then wait around for the nurses to start my treatment, get X-rays and two bone density tests, see my surgeon and a few other doctors, see PT and OT, and then wait around at the train station until our train departs at 5:00. We will be home around midnight if all goes according to plan. (Last year our train broke down in Kingston and we were stuck there until the the next train came which delayed us about 5 hours and we got home just before 2AM).

I'll update either on the train tomorrow night or on Thursday to let you all know how our appointments and treatment went! Have a goodnight everyone. Troy and I are off to get some sleep! :)