Author: Katie Thomas

So Dec 8th came and Katie was not feeling very well that day. She had a lot of pain, abdominal bloating, nausea and was generally not a happy camper ( I don’t blame her one bit) the Dr.’s and nurses threw everything they could at her to help her feel better but to no avail. She was also really nervous, because well it’s chemo:/ Katie’s sister Brooke had a lot of bad reactions/ side effects to chemo like blood clots , anaphylaxis , severe nausea and vomiting….She had every right to dread her upcoming chemo, but she also really wanted to get it over with, as that is her ticket to hopefully feeling better and frying the crap out of the cancer. 
After being heavily pre medicated she was still not feeling good , actually she was feeling increasingly worse. When she went downstairs to the outpt chemotherapy treatment area, our first clue that it would not be smooth sailing is the word outpatient. Katie is an inpatient… so that made everything more complicated. Nothing seemed to be working properly with connect care:/( the new system AHS is rolling out) she needed a different wrist band , they needed to get report from upstairs because they had difficulty finding orders, they couldn’t access any of her drugs or pain meds from down there, so there were significant delays but hats off to our amazing nurse and his fellow colleagues for patiently sorting it all out. Meanwhile, Katie is feeling more barfy , more pain by the second and she hasn’t even had chemo yet 😰by this time she had been downstairs in the treatment area B for 2 hours! Katie started to develop a red rash on the side of her face, he was a bit concerned as we hadn’t even started chemo yet, but I explained we have noticed this redness coming and going all this past week, it never seems to cause any concerns and it always resolved itself in a couple hours…. I discussed Katie’s fears about chemotherapy with her nurse so he could have a better understanding of her concerns. He was excellent at reassuring her and explaining that sometimes emergencies occur like in her sisters case, but they are well equipped to handle them. No sooner had he spoken his words of reassurance all hell broke loose! The charge nurse was also in the room with us at this time and was concerned that it was getting too late to start, she also felt that Katie was too sick to get chemo and……the lady right next to us receiving the same chemo therapy as Katie was getting , had a sudden cardiac arrest, code blue. It was terrifying. The room was immediately filled with Dr.’s , residents, the code team all the nurses we’re running around getting emergency meds drawn up and the crash cart. Our nurse didn’t bat an eye he just kept talking to Katie, you could see the fear and uncertainty in her eyes. I implored the nurse to please, please not delay her treatment any more. He agreed and hung the bag, no turning back and at least the code team and half the Dr.’s and nurses in Foothills were outside her curtain… then Katie vomited 🥺everyone was was holding there breath… oh crap. But then Katie stood up and said ahhhh that feels a bit better actually….. I kid you not , she handled that chemo like it was nothing. She felt really jittery from all the pre meds like gravol, haldol, ondansetron, but didn’t feel so sick anymore. She got back to her room around 6 PM. 
Something that never crossed our minds during all of this were her dear nurses up in the palliative care unit. When they heard code blue over the hospital overhead announcement to treatment area B they all we’re afraid for Katie. The charge nurse called down and the unit was relieved that Katie was ok ♥️ Once Katie was settled back into her room, the meds wore off she generally started to feel better! Exhausted but better than earlier in the day. Her nurse said it’s not very often that he has a patient leave chemo feeling better than when they arrived. Long story, I know , but this morning I came into a smiling Katie and FINALLY a smiling octopus! We joked that we swear we could hear the quiet screams of her cancer cells dying …. Boy do I hope those F( rhymes with suckers) are dying. 
On a side note, we send prayers of comfort to the poor woman beside Katie yesterday and her heartbroken family ♥️ 
#FuckCancer

Hey y’all,
Haven’t written in quite awhile I guess so let me do a bit of a catch up.. I was transferred back to Foothills (from Rockyview) on the evening of December 2nd and spent the past week settling in, getting another PICC line put in, getting set up on TPN (liquid IV diet) and waiting to start chemo.
I have been on the TPN as well as a a full fluid diet, so still just juice, water, popsicles, ice cream, puddings, yogurts, cream of wheat and things like that in small amounts that i’m able to handle. It has been pretty hard, not being able to tolerate solid foods but I have been having little treats like rice krispy squares and doughnuts.. I also keep a constant stash of candy canes (peppermint or cherry? 🤔)
Yesterday afternoon I was able to start my first round of chemo.. and it’s weird to write about because it’s something that I was have been anticipating but simultaneously dreading for almost 2 months.
I don’t know how to describe to anyone what that was like or how it felt. I think i’ve blocked it to some extent already..
Despite trying to not think about it and settle down before they took me, I was extremely anxious and nauseous and my pain felt out of control all day leading up to treatment. It was just a nasty cycle.
I felt the worst when I arrived at the outpatient unit. I felt completely out of it from all the drugs — fentanyl, hydromorphone, ondansetron, gravol and ativan at that point..
I couldn’t get comfortable from the increasing pain and my pressure in my back and chest. Everything was rising up.. (continued in next post)

Tuesday I rested, saw family, tried to eat.. but got extremely frustrated because i’m just feeling so stuck in these endless loops of bullshit! (let me elaborate 😂)
The first is that the tumors causing me to be blocked are still there and I need the chemo and cancer treatment to start in order for them to fry and shrink.. but I keep blocking and ending up in emerg 🙃 aand they won’t start the chemo and cancer treatment until i’m ‘stronger’ and not in the hospital soo there is pretty high potential that i’m just going to keep blocking over and over and going back to emerg (Evidence: this is my 5th emerg visit in 7 weeks!).
The second loop of bullshit is that in the cycles of either being blocked or NPO, I am getting weaker and losing more of my body weight& muscle every day. I’m starving, but can never eat enough to satisfy my hunger because it causes so much pressure and pain every time I try.
I have lost more than 25% of my original body weight at this point 🥴
Anyways they wanted to discharge me yesterday but I told them I didn’t feel comfortable leaving because I felt nothing had changed and that I would just be headed back to Foothills emergency if Rockyview let me go.
This brings me to the third and final loop of bullshit — absolutely hating being in the hospital, sharing this space with a bunch of strangers that are sick or always in my space, poking me and prodding and asking me questions BUT the hospital also being a safe place I know I can get the help and care I need..
..Versus returning to the comfort of my home but knowing that nothing will be different, my pain still won’t be under control, I won’t be able to sleep (neither will my family) and I will most likely have another middle of the night drive to emerg where I will suffer for 3-8 hours minimum before being seen and treated. (Before being sent home to start the cycle again).
After a long, hard (much needed) snot bubble sobfest I talked to my doctors here yesterday and made an all new plan:
I will stay in the hospital, they have ordered for a new PICC line to be put in and also to restart me on TPN (the liquid nutrition). They will transfer me back to Foothills as soon as they have a bed for me (so I won’t need to go through emerg). My pain will be managed, I will be given nutrition through my picc but I will also be allowed to eat what I can manage without too much nausea/ pain/ discomfort until I start chemo next Wednesday.
I know.. everyone thought I was starting chemo today but unfortunately I missed the appointment with my oncologist Monday (because I was in emerg) soo everything has been pushed back a week.
The new plan is to try to gain as much strength as I can leading up to this first round of chemo so I can get things moving with my treatment.
Thanks again everyone for reading and for all the support and thoughts you’ve been sending my way 💜💕💜💕

Another wild turn of events this week! 🙃
Actually I wish winding up back in emerg was wild but it’s kind of not at this point.
I woke up in extreme pain early Monday morning and my mom phoned an ambulance to bring me into Rockyview emerg and they hooked me up to the usual cocktail of IV fluids, pain meds and anti nausea meds.
I stayed in the hallway on a stretcher for probably around 8 hours if not more before getting a room in emerg, then at 3 am Tuesday was transferred up to a room in unit 93.
Before the transfer they did a whole bunch of tests again.. bloodwork, CT, ECG, swabs etc. They found that I had high white blood cells (can signify infection) and the CT showed another intestinal blockage along with a large volume of ascites (fluid buildup in my abdomen due to irritation due to the presence of the tumors).. everything else came back relatively normal.
The ascites (alongside the actual tumors) is the likely culprit for my pain and all the pressure and discomfort I always feel SO we did a fun little procedure and drained out 1L of fluid from my abdomen ✌🏼
They also opened up my g tube and hooked that up to suction.
Because of these two procedures, I was able to actually find a little bit of comfort for the first time in weeks ☺️ and slept a bit more than usual. Shoutout to the great doctors and nurses that made that all happen instead of just trying to treat my symptoms with band aids and IV drugs 💛

Today’s blog post is called Angry Octopus Day!

Helloo everyone, sorry it’s been soo long since the last update!
Still not much has changed.. it’s a huge comfort to be at home instead of in the hospital, I have all my family members around me, taking care of me, supporting me, loving me 24/7 ❤️ Have also been able to see some friends which has been hugely healing.
I don’t know the best way to describe my life and experience right now.. it’s just been really difficult.
Nothing in my mind or body ever feels quite right. There is no way for me to stand, sit or lay that doesn’t cause discomfort or pain. I’m hungry, but I can only eat small amounts at a time because it always feels like i’m full. My taste also has been off the past couple days and i’m not sure why.. if it’s from a medication or what but everything tastes just a little bit off. When I eat or or drink it feels like there’s no room for it in my body, everything pushes up against everything else and causes more pain and discomfort.
I am on pain meds but i’m on a constant roller coaster ride of either being really drugged and out of it or in pain, or sometimes i’m both.
We also have been changing pain med types and doses non stop since leaving the hospital. It’s kinda like being a little guinea pig.. never knowing if what we’re changing is going to actually manage the pain this time. I did manage to get 4 straight hours of sleep last night though (that’s a lot), as well as a few patches here and there so I slept better than I have in a few weeks.
Today has been extremely frustrating because I just can’t seem to get control of the pain. It seems to decrease a little bit then just shoots back up again. Even though I think i’ve had more pain meds today than I have the past few days.
l just want to not be in pain 😂
And I want to sleep.
Is that too much to ask for?

Anyways i’m meeting with my oncologist tomorrow morning and starting chemo Wednesday.. so here’s hoping that things are gonna change this week 🤪💪🏼 because I really need for things to change.
Will post some updates after my meeting with the doctor & my first round of chemo but right now Cookie is on the way here to watch Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets with me 🤩 soo I will talk to y’all later!

Hello!
Sorry it’s been a whole week since I updated y’all, there hasn’t been much going on honestly 🙃 but I have some BIG updates today!
I just met with my oncologist this morning 😊 and the news is that we are planning to start chemo as soon as next Wednesday (the 30th!). After an almost month and a half wait is great news.. we finally have a starting point and a plan. This is a huge relief for me & my family right now ☺️
The hope is that I won’t need a port or central line (also a massive relief) only a little butterfly IV for 3 or 4 hours to give my chemo once every 3 weeks 🤩
The chemo will go for 4 rounds (1 round every 3 weeks) – 12 weeks total to start, then we will do another ultrasound after 2 rounds (6 weeks) and another CT after the full 4 rounds (12 weeks) to see how the tumors have responded to the chemo. After the 4 rounds and the CT, we can then assess whether surgery is possible/ feasible to remove the tumors on my ovary as well as on my abdominal wall.
The plan for today is to break out of the hospital and get settled in back home 🥰 continue to rest and take care of myself & get ready to start the process of kicking this cancer to the curb in only 8 days! 💪🏼💪🏼 Let’s goo

Still in hospital today.. have been fairly miserable all day as this is the 3rd full day that I haven’t been allowed to eat anything (not any real food anyway) 🙃 Today I was finally allowed clear fluids so i’m back to broth, juice, jello and popsicles. Those kinda sound like food but really don’t do anything to satisfy how starving I am.
Also very frustrated because I thought the point of doing this surgery was to prevent getting any more blockages from happening 🙃 so I wouldn’t have to wait 5+ hours waiting to get into emerg two nights back to back in unbearable pain & throwing up into a plastic baggie in the waiting room 👍🏼 This was my 3rd emerg visit in the past 6 weeks and I really hope it will be the last for awhile.
We still have yet to be in touch with anyone from oncology/ Tom Baker.. which is really irritating because it’s been a month since I was diagnosed and it feels like no one has done anything 😅 Even though that’s not true and i’m sure they’re doing something, whatever that may be has not really been communicated to us at all ☹️
I’m getting pretty sick of this to be honest..i’m sick of being ‘strong’, i’m sick of being ‘brave’, sick of emerg and hospitals, never being able to sleep or eat enough, and i’m sick of waiting.
The plan now is to have an MRI tomorrow morning and hopefully then one of the three oncology teams following my case will decide to take me in and make a plan for how to get rid of this cancer 🙃
Will let you know what happens next in this fun roller coaster that seems to be my life, and hopefully I can have some actual food tomorrow! 🤪🎢

Well, I had a very nice 5 days at home with my family and all my animals, eating and resting as much as I could. Unfortunately I have had a rough past couple nights at the Rockyview emergency and then the Foothills emergency. I was having similar symptoms to when I went in for my bowel obstructions.. lots of pain, nausea, a distended and bloated tummy 🙁
I have been re-admitted to Foothills as of this afternoon, and am currently back to NPO.. so i’m only allowed sips of water & ice chips 😢
Not sure yet what exactly is wrong or what the plan is to fix it..
From what I understand the tumors just kind of push on things that they shouldn’t causing partial or complete obstruction of my GI system (or what’s left of it)..my g tube is also open again to allow things to drain that way to relieve any discomfort & nausea until my ostomy starts working properly again.
As always will keep y’all updated ✌🏼

Happy Caturday! 🐱
Unfortunately I got a little too excited about being allowed to eat real food and overdid it that first day, so I wasn’t feeling great yesterday 😅 I need to slow down a little because my body just isn’t used to me eating yet. I am on a post surgery diet so i’ve been eating softer easier foods like cream of wheat, toast, yogurt, soup/broth, pudding cups, meatballs, rice, cooked vegetables etc in small quantities. Honestly my favourite thing was probably the butterscotch cup, I can’t remember the last time I had one of those 😍 10/10 delicious.
It has been a crazy couple days transferring off the epidural and letting my nerves unblock for the first time since my surgery on the 30th. I have been in quite a bit of pain but they’ve been giving me some good pain meds don’t worry 😉
I also got my urinary cathether out which feels great except that now I have to get out of bed much more often 😅 which is good for me but also hurts.
Today the plan is to try to eat more than yesterday without eating too much such that I don’t feel well 😅 As soon as I can eat enough, they will take me off the IV nutrition. Then, once my pain is low enough that I can manage without IV pain meds I will be allowed to go home! 🥳🙌🏻 We are hoping this will be in the next 3 days or so 🤞🏻🤞🏻 but of course i’ll keep you updated.
Bye for now 😊

Yesterday we clamped my g tube so that hopefully we could start directing things to move through my ostomy bag like they’re supposed to. And so far so good, it’s working! 🥳 Yesterday was just on clear fluids – pretty much my intake is a lot of apple juice with small amounts of broth for lunch and dinner 🤪
On my second walk of the day I was also able to get in and out of bed completely by myself which was a really big step for me 💪🏼💪🏼
Today the plan is to get me off my epidural and taking IV or pill form pain meds instead. I also am allowed to try a bit of actual. real. food (!!!) to see how it makes me feel. Soo I will let y’all know how it goes.
Hope everyone is staying warm and dry ❤️🔥

Oh and lastly my first super gourmet post surgery breakfast: toast w strawberry jam, cream of wheat, and peach mango yogurt 😊

Today I have been upgraded to some clear fluids because my ileostomy bag is slowly starting to work! We will still keep the g tube attached and hooked up for now because the ileostomy isn’t fully functioning on it’s own yet so we just have to go slow and see how it does.
The goal is to not be using the g tube and have everything passing through the ileostomy.. which will not happen all in one day. I am happy with this small step in progress!
So I am now allowed apple juice, water, ice chips.. will maybe even try some tea or broth later 😊 (Wow I just wanted to let y’all know that sip of apple juice on ice was absolutely delicious after the past week of NPO 👌🏼 omg)
In case you didn’t know NPO means nothing by mouth which I have been the majority of the time I have been in hospital! I couldn’t even drink water.. the closest you get is a sponge you can use to wet your lips *do not sip the water* or sometimes you can suck on some tiny ice chips.
I was also able to get up and walk twice yesterday with the help of my nurses (and the moral support of my mom and sister ☺️). It is kind of surprising the seemingly little things like just sitting up, standing up and walking that you have to kind of relearn after a big abdominal surgery because I can’t use those core muscles currently. Things I have known how to do since childhood, standing. walking, eating.. all things I am relearning how to do this week 🙃 it really puts a lot in perspective for me.

Hii everyone! Can’t believe it’s Halloween today 🎃
Surgery yesterday went relatively well, they were able to place an ileostomy bag, a G tube, and also take a whole bunch more biopsies & samples of the tumours!
The G tube really just serves to help drain out basically the same stuff the Ng tube was but just without the tube down my nose and throat (which is much appreciated be me 🙏🏻).

I am currently using an epidural for pain management which is working well but also making me quite anxious soo I am currently resting & trying to find that right amount of pain control without feeling too jittery haha 🙃 They are expecting to keep the epidural in for the next 4-5 days, depending how I am feeling and recovering and they are also hoping to get some more results in this time period too.

Not sure if I will introduce some clear fluids today but as of now I am still just receiving IV nutrition & fluids through my picc line! Can’t wait until I can go get some of that discount halloween candy 🤪🤤 here’s to hoping next week?

The plan is now to recover, rest up, start eating again and get strong enough to endure chemo in about a month.

Unfortunately, on the night of the 24th (Monday) I found myself again in a lot of discomfort and pain and so I made the decision to come into the Foothills Hospital in Calgary where I was admitted again for an obstructed bowel.
I have been waiting since my initial hospitalization to share a lot of details about my actual diagnosis because truthfully there is still a lot we don’t know and still things seem to keep changing day by day..
Here is a hopefully short-ish summary of things we know so far:
It seems I either have a rare form or ovarian cancer or bowel/colon cancer.
Currently the tumours regardless of origin/makeup are what are preventing my bowel from functioning properly, preventing me from eating or drinking anything and preventing me from getting this dumb ng tube out of my nose (👎🏼👎🏼👎🏼).
I have been told that regardless of ovarian or bowel cancer the general rough approach will be chemotherapy to shrink the tumours that are there, followed by surgery to remove them.
At this stage though, I am too weak to start chemo so the plan is to go for a surgery (hopefully today or tomorrow) to place an ileostomy bag. The bag will allow me a solution to the obstruction and will allow me to slowly start eating again on my own so that I can gain weight & get ready to start treatment in a few weeks 💪🏼💪🏼💪🏼
Thank you all for your continued support, love, messages, thoughts, prayers etc ❤️ I truly feel all the love and support right now 🥰
I will provide updates on here as I feel well enough so feel free to follow along on my journey 🦄

So I was able to go home for a few days! My parents helped me to move everything — including my modest collection of 97 plants— out of my little basement suite in Edmonton that I have called home for the past 3 years over the last weekend.
I was able to get semi-settled back in Calgary surrounded by family and all my pets. I even started getting an appetite back & was able to start slowly eating some food again (🥳!). This is big news mostly due to the fact that I have lost around 30 pounds over the past few months due to the issues I mentioned in the last post.. even prior to the actual bowel obstruction and discovery of the tumors soo I have not been looking or feeling myself for some time. Many thanks to family & friends for bringing so much good food and also helping the move go as smoothly as possible ❤️ I appreciate it so much.