From Mark (Aug 29)

Hi everyone. . .
As you may have heard yesterday, I got my staples out, and we received a flood of new information. After all of this, Meg and I are doing well. We've spent the day basking in the glory of Vancouver summer, picking some things up for our apartment, and enjoying the company of my brother Mike and his partner Liz.
This all feels like the beginning of something real now, and Meg and I are ready for whatever comes our way. With the treatments beginning on Tuesday, though, it feels like we're getting on top of this thing and showing it that we don't need it here. I have every confidence in the BC Cancer Association and my team of Oncologists / Lymphoma specialists led by Dr. Kerry Savage. From what we can tell, they'll be offering me the "best practice / state of the art" treatment, and the quality of the care and science at the BC Association seems second to none. I'll also be receiving holistic health advice from an agency called Inspire that will be dealing with things like education, diet, exercise and mental health. If these salmon runs and the Thai massage I'm looking into are all they're cracked up to be, my quality of life down here should be pretty good.
Our goal right now is to take on the first two cycles of treatment (3-4 days in hospital, 11 days off, 3-4 days in hospital), see how I'm handling it, and then head to Whitehorse for a visit of about 10 days. That should be sometime around the 20th - 27th of September. I was hoping to get out on a moose hunt during this time, but the Oncologist was less than enthusiastic about me being any significant distance from hospital for any period of time in between treatments in case of complications. Fishing and bird hunting can get me out there too I suppose.
Meg and I are now settling into our apartment at 15th and Granville. It's been a godsend. It's central, accessible to shops/restaurants/everything we need, a 15 minute walk from treatment and hospital, quiet, all we need and nothing more, and has a private outdoor patio space that will likely provide some refuge when needed. We've also got an army of friends and family lining up to help us out at the drop of a hat. We've been blown away by Vancouver so far and figure there are likely much worse places to be dealing with something like this.
Now, more than ever, we feel like we are going to smash this thing. We're going to smash it with all our communal strength, power, positivity, love, medical science, hippie voodoo, community spirit, Yukon toughness, Ontario stubbornness, will to live, will to love, and all of our futures together. Plus, we've got a baby on our side. This thing doesn't know what it's getting into.
Thank you all so much again. We feel you every step. Take care of eachother, and we'll be in touch.

xoxo Mark and Meghan

Dr. Redekop removing my staples.

The charming Dr. Redekop, Meg, and I.

Look at that bump!

The road ahead.