Results tagged “Toronto” from Birmingham Mail - I Will Survive

John and I went to Canada for Xmas when thick snow covered the landscape and your fingers froze if you dared to take them out of your gloves. Now I was going to see Canada in the summer and after such a hectic year I was looking forward to just chilling out with my son Jonathan and Jaimie.

The day before my flight I attended the funeral of a friend Sue, who had died tragically young of bowel cancer leaving two children barely twenty. It was held at the lovely St. Alphage Church. Solihull and my heart went out to the Hannah and James looking so slight and alone in the pew. Then suddenly James leapt up and went to the front of the altar where suddenly the most amazing piano music filled the church. He had written a piece for his Mother and as the music soared to the rafters, we sat in total awe and amazement at James' wonderful tribute to his Mother, how proud she would have been.

The next day I was standing nervously in the queue to book in for my flight. Had I too much weight? Would they confiscate my bottles? Had I left my fruit knife in my case as I had accidently done last time almost causing a national incident? Would I bleep going through security despite my shoes and all my worldly possessions travelling through in a grey plastic tray separately? Air travel since 9/11 has become a nightmare, but finally I collapsed exhausted in my seat ready to enjoy a relaxing flight. 7 hours later I was being welcomed at the airport by my Son.

Canada is beautiful in the summer and everyone seems so much more relaxed than in England and I never saw a policeman. For the first time I saw the boardwalks round Lake Ontario where people walked, skate boarded and cycled. The beaches were clean and sandy and the beautiful people played volley ball and swam. We walked there most days and went to the Scarborough Buffs (so many English names) where prehistoric cliffs majestically fringe the beach.

Niagara Falls is a must, so off we went on a long journey as I took in the landscape amazed at the number of vineyards we passed. Finally we arrived at what looked like Blackpool. The main drag is very tacky, but nothing can take away the magnificence of the falls. After queuing we finally donned our very fashionable blue plastic macs and climbed on board the"Maid of the Mist" and headed out on the Niagara River to the very heart of the falls, passing the much smaller Swallow Falls on the American side. Only here can you experience the sheer force, power and awesome sound of this wonder of nature.

I had no idea that the Niagara River divides Canada and the USA, but Buffalo is just across the bridge that spans the canyon with the flags of Canada and the USA flying side by side. On our next port of call at a Butterfly Farm I discovered that most only live for a couple of weeks which seems quite tragic to me.

Most species in the world were housed in this great butterfly paradise where they would land on you for a brief moment before flying to the nearest nectar filled flower.

Jonathan and Jaimie are having a baby in February, so we went house hunting which I loved. Every house had a large basement and a veranda. Why don't we have a basement in English houses, it is such a great idea to utilise more space. My cosy bedroom was in the basement and every day I felt like a mole emerging as I climbed up the stairs to see what the weather was like today.

Jaimie took me to her yoga class. I had been doing yoga for years so this would be a piece of cake, I'll show them what we English are made of! This Yoga was so strenuous, the exercises so powerful that I realised I wasn't quite the expert I thought I was as I toppled over trying to do the tree balance. Luckily for me there was an incredible storm with thunder and lighting like I have never seen before. People were screaming in the street whilst desperately trying to find shelter from the torrential rain. This distraction meant that the lovely yoga teacher didn't see some of my less than perfect yoga poses. The storm was over when we left the Yoga class and the night was beautiful and warm again as Jaimie and I walked home and I plunged into a hot bath to soothe my aching limbs.

The next day we caught the tram to Toronto City where all different cultures and nationalities seem to live in harmony together. I went Downtown, where in the winter people don't need to face the bitter cold as there is this fascinating underground world of shops, restaurants and offices. I felt a bit like a mole again!

All too soon, it is time to say fond and sad farewells after a truly wonderful stay in Canada. I understand why Jaimie and Jonathan love it and I look forward to returning in February to see my new little grandchild. Nevertheless it is still hard to leave not knowing when you will see your loved ones again. So I take with me my memories and can't wait to tell John of my adventures when he meets me at the airport back in England.

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After a really fantastic time in Toronto John and I spent 7 hours sitting and waiting in Toronto Airport for our plane back to Newark. The sun was shining, the snow was clearing so no problems we thought. Wrong! high winds were preventing the planes which were little 50 seaters from taking off. Our flight home to England was leaving at 7pm and when we finally boarded a plane at 5.30pm we thought the 1hour trip might just make it, if not the threat of sleeping in Newark Airport was becoming a reality again.We landed on time but maintenance didn't bring the steps for 15 minutes and as we all waited stifling on the plane with no air conditioning frustration and despair set in - we had no chance! Finally we were free and we ran like we have never run before and arrived at the boarding gate hot and dishevelled at 7pm sure that we would find it empty. I truly believe that someone up there is looking after me because the plane was delayed by 15 minutes and so we caught it and were homeward bound to England at last.

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I had thoroughly enjoyed the festivities of Xmas and on the night we returned John and I opened all our Xmas presents that we had left under the tree and it felt like Xmas all over again, but now it was "back to reality".

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I had 2 hospital visits that week the first was on New Year's Eve when I went to have a bone scan at Heartlands Hospital. Chemo and steroids had caused problems with my bones and I had been having pains down the spine for some time. As you have probably gathered if you have been watching my video diaries of my journey with chemo, I try not to let these things affect my life, but when you are a cancer patient you can't afford to take risks so my doctor sent me for a scan.

The department had been completely revamped and had a brand new scanner. We are so lucky to have access to excellent hospital facilities here in Solihull and Birmingham.. A friend's grandchild has to travel 4 hours to her nearest hospital to have regular kidney dialysis where she lives in England.

I was greeted by the team of Matt and Julia and they were so friendly and kind. This makes all the difference to your hospital experience. I was injected with a radio active dye and sent away for 4 hours, so I popped to see my brother John who kindly house and cat sat for us. He announced he was going back to Australia at the end of the week to catch some sun and I can't blame him. When I returned to hospital I went through the new scanner which completed the job in less than half the time of the old one - such is progress and after wishing each other cheery "Happy New Years" I went home to prepare to enjoy our New year with our friends Jean and Ray who cooked us a lovely hot curry and we toasted in the New Year full of hopes and dreams for a better life and a better world.

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I was due to see Professor Poole, my oncologist at University Hospital Coventry and Warwickshire on Friday, 2nd January to see if he thought I should start chemo again. This is a new hospital for me but my oncologist left City Hospital to have a baby and I have great faith in Professor Poole so I transferred so I could be under him - so to speak! I had a phone call to say it was cancelled so I am now going tomorrow and I am just as nervous as ever.

Tonight is the start of our Solihull Cancer Support Group and our speaker is Mr. Budhoo who is a colorectal surgeon. He saved my Mom's life several years ago when he diagnosed her with bowel cancer when everyone else in the medical profession had missed it. He has also helped me over the last year, so it will be a privligege to hear him speak. The speakers are always fascinating - never depressing and I always learn so much and the people who support it are so jolly and friendly and we would really welcome new faces.

The joy of being on holiday for a cancer patient is that you can actually forget that you have cancer, no one knows your problems and you can live normally. That is a tonic in itself.
My friend Sandra, who has ovarian cancer like myself has just finished chemo and is off for a well earned holiday in South Africa next week. She and her husband Alan are coming to our house on Sunday for drinks so we can show them all the places we went to and give them some tips, I know it will make me want to go back again, but in the meantime let's see what tomorrow brings.

P.S. You probably noticed that I managed to put photos on my blog from Canada, that was thanks to my son Jonathan. I am still struggling to find out how to do it so if any of the team at the Birmingham Mail can help me I should really love to be able to put photos on so that I am not just a faceless person.

Xmas Eve and Jaimie and I trudged through the snow to the Supermarket and butchers to get food for Xmas and that important turkey.It was so strange being thousands of miles away from home and yet people here are preparing to have Xmas just like we do in England.I have always entertained at Xmas and am usually running around like a maniac shopping and preparing everything before going to midnight mass so it felt very strange having nothing to do but to relax. That afternoon we went down to the cinema in the basement and watched the film "The Bucket List". It was very poignant about two strangers who meet in hospital after both being diagnosed with terminal cancer and they made a list of all the things they wanted to do before they die. That's what I did 7 years ago when I was given such a short time to live and I thought aren't I lucky to be here and still making my "bucket list".

Xmas Day was snowy and crisp and after opening our presents and having a great meal cooked by Jaimie,John and I ventured out for a walk and watched children tobogganing down the slopes and the local people taking their dogs for a walk. Nearly everyone seems to have a dog in The Beaches area and there are numerous doggy shops and parlours. They obviously are very fond of "man's best friend" in Toronto. After exhausting ourselves playing games and much merriment and copious drinks we all tumbled into bed happy that we could share a lovely Xmas Day together.

Boxing Day we ventured to Lake Ontario where the temperature drops dramatically and the odd lone seagull and the black squirrels were desperately searching for food.Just before we we went out on the night to dinner Jonathan shouted to me "racoons" and as I dashed up from the basement there were 2 racoons in the road that shot up the tree frightened by the headlights of a car.They are shy creatures and not seen very often so I felt very privileged to see them,

The next day was raining and grey and the beautiful white snow took on a dirty black hue as we journeyed on a tram to the centre of Toronto. Part of my Xmas present from Jonathan was a pre theatre meal and then a night at the ballet to see The Nutcracker at the ultra modern glass theatre.I knew that John hated ballet and so did Jonathan, which made it all the more special that he had chosen to do this for me, but everyone thoroughly enjoyed the performance. It was very different from the Nutcracker that I see every year by The Birmingham Royal Ballet and probably not as magical, but I loved the whole experience.
I took Jaimie to see it last year in Birmingham, who would have believed a year on we would be watching it in Canada.

The next day sadly we had to say goodbye all too soon as Jonathan and Jaimie took us to Toronto airport for our flight home.They had made our stay so special that I knew I was going to miss them, but we took with us wonderful memories, I said to John "Our flight home can't be as bad as the one coming" - how wrong can you be!!

5am Monday morning and bleary eyed I crawl out of bed to catch the flight to Toronto. My brother John is staying at our house to look after Chloe our cat and after stocking up the fridge and making the house welcoming I can at last relax as my son Justin takes us to Birmingham airport. All is going smoothly and we wave him a fond farewell only to be confronted by a massive queue on the Toronto flight, this doesn't look too good. When we get to the desk we discover our flight is delayed due to bad weather in Newark and we are going to miss our connection and the next flight they can put us on is 6.45am the following day!

With at least 6 hours to wait, we remember that all the toileteries, toothbrush etc have gone into the hold and we are left with 2 cases full of presents, a flashing, singing reindeer whose ears shake, flashing reindeer antlers for me to wear and a Father Xmas hat for John. All highly useful when you are sleeping overnight at the airport!!

Eventually we board the plane and Air Continental gave us a very comfortable flight although the films seemed rather old as I watched Ginger Rogers and David Niven in black and white. We finally arrived at Newark and we became hopeful knowing that there were still 3 flights to Toronto that day and we might be able to get standby tickets, but it took so long to get through security that already we had missed one flight and all the hotels were completely full, hope was fading fast.

Not one to admit defeat I went up to the Continental desk where the lady confirmed we were flying at 6.45am tomorrow. I must have looked so dejected that she took pity on us and went off to make a phone call and hey presto we are booked on the 5pm flight that night, so no sleeping on an airport bench in my reindeer antlers after all.

As we flew over Lake Ontario I never dreamt that it was so large and suddenly we were flying over the vast snowy Toronto landscape. 21 hours after leaving home we were given the warmest of welcomes and were sitting cosy and warm with my son Jonathan and his girlfriend Jaimie in their beautiful home nestling in over 2 feet of snow and we knew it was all worthwhile.

Jonathan and Jaimie's house.

After a good night's sleep in our basement bedroom complete with cinema we walked in -10C through the thick snow to Lake Ontario which in the summer is bustling with sunbathers on the beach - hence the area is called The Beaches.We walked through Kew Gardens where pure black squirrels were searching for food in the blanket of snow and headed for the wonderful smell of coffee at Starbucks Coffee Shop. As we sat in front of a roaring fire I knew that I would be sharing a white Xmas with the people I loved and the nightmare journey of the day before was long forgotten.

Jaimie making Snow Angels in the snow late last night on the way home from a wonderful meal at the Balsalm Restaurant.