Northern Lights: Spring Thaw
On a morning walk recently, I was impressed by the brilliant blue sky and happy to see more people and their dogs out walking than there were in the really cold weather. Overhead, magpies were gathering twigs to build nests, Canada geese were honking as they look for nesting sites near the river, and woodpeckers were drumming into trees, power poles, and even roofs of houses. Snow geese have been seen flying north, and a porcupine was spotted walking on our street. It finally is springtime here in the foothills of the Canadian Rockies.
My husband and I took a winter vacation to Australia last month, which is in a much warmer climate zone than where we live in Canada. In Sydney and up to the north at Port Douglas, we enjoyed going about without the winter clothes we had been wearing for months! We had a wonderful time there, seeing a great city and taking a boat ride out to the Great Barrier Reef. We rather reluctantly returned home, flying from Sydney through Vancouver to Calgary. (Days after we returned home, we were shocked and dismayed to find out that tropical cyclone Debbie devastated parts of the Queensland coast and caused extensive flooding. Our thoughts and prayers go out to those affected by the wild weather.)
At the airport, sitting next to us, was a couple from Quebec. Their English was much better than my French, and we started talking about the Canadian winter.
It occurred to me that much of what we spoke could relate to my multiple myeloma winter too.
Back in the winter choir season, one of our songs was ‘The Huron Christmas Carol’. The opening line is ’Twas in the moon of wintertime when all the birds had fled, that mighty Gitchi Manitou sent angel choirs instead’. This line in recent years to me denotes how one’s hope can all but desert one when faced with a serious cancer diagnosis such as multiple myeloma. The angel choirs are sung by those who have left this earth.
Truly daunted by winter as we sometimes are, we have to remember that in very cold and stormy weather, there is a danger to being outdoors. At temperatures below freezing, hypothermia can damage one’s fingers and toes, or cause sleepiness. Frostbite reminds me of neuropathy, damage to the nerves. I have very warm, down-filled coats, mitts, and even a sheepskin hat to face the elements. Sometimes everyone is so bundled up outdoors that we resemble a crowd of snowmen. Even on bright, sunny days, there can be frost in the air, and it can be dangerously cold. Sometimes I think that multiple myeloma is like that. One can look well and be energetic, yet be harboring the dangerous cancer cells – looks can be deceptive.
Our vehicles are subject to winter problems, and one must remember to put on snow tires in the fall, get oil changes, top up windshield wiper fluid, and generally look out for the maintenance of the car or truck. I won’t forget that this last winter during a cold snap we forgot to plug in the block heaters for our car engines. When trying to leave for a choir practice on a Tuesday night, the car wouldn’t start. There was a long wait to get any help that day, and it wasn’t until the next morning that a repair tow truck showed up to help. My vehicle had to be towed to the service center where a new battery was installed. This took up most of a day, and I was worried that I wouldn’t have my car for getting to appointments and other commitments.
In a sense, having car failure could be similar to being slowed down by illness, injury, or extreme tiredness. These can all be features of multiple myeloma treatments. After my stem cell transplant, I was so exhausted that I could have used a ‘boost’ to get up and around again!
It is a truism that many folks take better care of their cars than they do of themselves. Just as our vehicles need regular service checkups, so do we. I am so grateful to have caught my recent breast cancer diagnosis early, as a follow-up to an annual checkup. I only wish that my multiple myeloma had been caught earlier, but that was a more complex diagnosis. At least it was caught early enough for me to avoid some of the serious complications I could have had.
Just like our vehicles require tires with good treads for winter driving, so do we have to wear warm winter boots with good treads, and perhaps use a pointed walking stick (ski pole) when going about. You just can’t walk around outdoors on the snowy, icy streets without those. Not getting enough exercise, either outdoors or indoors at a swimming pool or gym, is not good for one’s health or immune system. I wear a fitness tracker to try to encourage me to get enough ‘steps’ in a day, no matter what the weather.
Here in the foothills, we have a phenomenon called a Chinook. This is a warmer wind blowing in over the mountains to the west of us, from the Pacific Ocean. The Chinook’s arch of clouds lifting over the western horizon is a welcome sight, for it signals warmer temperatures. I think that my recent break from treatment has been my own personal Chinook wind.
I’m hoping that my personal Chinook continues to blow for a long time.
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The quotation for this month is from Terry Fox (1958 - 1981), a Canadian athlete, humanitarian, and cancer research activist, who said: "I just wish that people would realize that anything is possible if you try; dreams are made possible if you try."
Nancy Shamanna is a multiple myeloma patient and a columnist at The Myeloma Beacon. You can view a list of her columns here.
If you are interested in writing a regular column to be published by The Myeloma Beacon, please contact the Beacon team at .
Wonderful analogy Nancy. While you are at the northern end of the Rockies, we are at the very southern end in New Mexico. Our winters are mild compared to yours, but we still have to contend with winterizing our vehicles with snow tires, oil changes, etc. Since my husband's diagnosis almost three years ago, we both spend much more time dealing with health issues, both acute and chronic. Since we live in the mountains, our vehicles are our lifeline to medical treatments. If the vehicles breakdown, we have no other alternative to getting to where my husband gets his monthly infusions of immunoglobulin and Empliciti (elotuzumab). Months ago when you mentioned being diagnosed with breast cancer, it made me think about how long it had been since I had a mammogram. Thanks to you I have one scheduled for next month. I have been so focused on taking care of my husband that I am afraid I have neglected my own health. Please keep sharing - we really appreciate it.
Thanks Patty B for your post and I hope that you both are doing well. One really cold morning in February, I had a doctor's appointment. As usual, I parked down the hill from the cancer centre and walked up, about 2 km round trip. When I got there, about half of the patients had cancelled due to weather related issues! I was glad to have a good car and really warm outerwear!
That's smart of you to get in for any tests ordered through a check up, such as a mammogram. Usually it's just routine and no problems are found, but if they are, it's important to find out as early as possible!
It is spring here now, but it still snowed last night!
Hi Nancy, I live in Australia and my husband was diagnosed with multiple myeloma 16 months ago. He had an autologous stem cell transplant last July 2016. After consolidation treatment, he achieved MRD negative status, but oh my goodness what a journey! I myself was a nurse for 42 years and this rare condition has had a huge impact on our lives and our children while we traverse a somewhat treacherous journey. I make this analogy to our earlier life of long distance walking. However, walking aside I enjoy your regular column not only for your progress report, but for your information regarding where you live, for I have a sister who married a most wonderful Canadian many years ago, and over the years I visited regularly, so I find your local information gives me a a sense of indirect closeness to my family, which I find nurturing. You give hope to me personally in your courage..
I am also so glad you had "time out" to visit my beautiful Australia.
Irene
Nancy,
Reading your column brought back a time when I grew up in Cleveland. Not as cold as Calgary, but a lot of lake effect snow, so that we would get heavy snow falls several times during the winter. Now that I am in Texas, I can say I don't miss those times that much. (Do miss cross country skiing and the sled and toboggan rides, but those didn't make up for the countless cold overcast days.) We did put on snow tires every year, but never got so cold that we needed block heaters, expect for one winter back in the late 1970s. In Dallas we do get freezing rain that forms "black ice" that can make roads treacherous, but that is only once or twice a winter, and sometimes not at all. I am able to ride my bike almost year around as cold in North Texas is low 40s Fahrenheit for a high.
I like your analogy of preparation with respect to multiple myeloma and caring for your car in the winter.
Hope you have a beautiful spring both in terms of weather and holiday from treatment.
Thanks for the comments!
Irene, I am touched that you like my columns, and hope you have more chances to visit Canada, when everything is going better for you. Best wishes to your husband and family. He is lucky to have a nurse in his corner!
Ron, I am sure you have memories of childhood which include the ice and snow. One thing I find is that now we have much warmer and better clothes, cars, and better insulation in our houses than when I was a child here. Calgary has a milder climate than some parts of Canada, due to our Chinook winds. Most of the time we are fine with it, although if it gets too cold for dogs and children to be outdoors, then I have to really push myself to get out walking. Good luck with your cycling (I always enjoy reading about it).
Dear Nancy, This column was so well written with several powerful analogies from winter, cars, even walking to your journey with multiple myeloma. You have had a personal impact with my journey. One, I have a scheduled appointment for a mammogram, which got missed with all the myeloma treatments. I am glad that your treatment for that is done so you could travel to Australia. Next, sometime in 2018, we plan on a visit to Calgary. I have a sister who lives in Vancouver, and she also lived near Toronto so we have had chance to travel those places. But never Calgary. Your description of spring touched me by its lyricism.
Dear Maureen, thanks for your kind note and am glad to hear that you are taking care of your health by getting such a routine test done. Besides myself, I have talked with two women here who have been through both cancers, and of course some readers of the Beacon have also had that situation. It is pretty amazing how we can be helped by medical science to overcome these obstacles.
That's great that you are planning to visit Calgary next year, and I hope you will let me know about that!
I have something in common with you also in that a lot of my family live on the west coast of B.C. and I love visiting there. My mother and one sister live in Courtenay, B.C. and my other sister lives in Hope (no pun intended!). I have many cousins who live in the lower mainland area too.
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