Levels, etc. 8-31-2010

Levels, etc. 8-31-2010

I apologize for not 'blogging for a while, but my status is very Bo-ring!  I guess I feel like I've settled into a very predictable routine.  Thing is, if I want people to read my 'blog, I have to update it on some kind of regular basis.  I'll try harder. 

Levels yesterday, 8/30, as shown, click to enlarge, use back button to return.

Chemo next Tuesday, 9/7.  I usually get Chemo on Mondays,  but I guess the staff wants off for Labor Day!  Go figure!

I'm feeling very good.  Last week I managed to get out on the bike 3 times, for a total of about 50 miles, which was pathetic.  Part of the reason was that I had some stuff going on, but really I could and should have done better.  This week I had levels last night, then went to see my mom tonight, so no bike rides yet.  Hopefully I'll get a few more rides in yet this week.

My mom is doing well.  Seems to be getting her mind around the idea of being in a care facility while she heals up. Tonight when I arrived to see her, I bumped into my brother Ed and sister Deb, singing for the folk.  It was very well received.  The two biggest sing alongs were Home on the Range and God Bless America. 

 I'm sure it's nice for the people to hear live music, real people singing familiar tunes.  Nothing lifts the spirit quite like music. 

They sang quite a mix, a few religious songs (The Old Rugged Cross got a nice sing along), Everly Brothers, ...some Jim Croce (I Got a Name...no, wait, I got a... No. 2 engine out!).

OK, that joke was in very bad taste, but as we all know, tragedy + time = comedy and so that is what I was going for.  Feel free to crack jokes about me when I'm gone.  We both know you will.

Anyway, my mom's doing OK, waiting for the arm to heal so she can get to rehab.  She's impatient but seems to be settling in for the long haul.

Our pals The Bs belong to Florida now. A bunch of us helped them load their moving truck on Saturday.  Saturday night we posed for our version of the "Last Supper".  Judging from the picture, our Last Supper was grain based, pretzels and hops.

Notice the LIVESTRONG bling.

Monday morning they closed on the sale of their house and pointed their moving truck south.  About 9:00 tonight we got a picture of them in their new home in The Villages.  Our 'hood will never be the same. 

Austin was crushed, I'm sorry to report.  But he's doing better now.

RANDOM THOUGHTS:

My beloved White Sox are in the playoff hunt, at least, and that makes things interesting.  I find sports a nice distraction in my old age.

I've been DVRing some old movies.  For some reason, I like watching them.  I don't mind that they're in  B & W.  I've watched 3 or 4 old Bogart films recently, Dark Passage, Key Largo, The Big Sleep, Treasure of the Sierra Madre (the ORIGINAL source of "Badges? We don't need no stinkin' badges!"). 

OK, was Bogey a matinee idol?  Or were people drawn to him because they perceived him to be a good actor?  He was a scrawny dude, looked old in every movie I remember seeing him in, baggy eyes, and his teeth were pretty tobacco stained...

Betsy Bacall, to me was a babe in her day (is she still alive?).  I do "get" her as a star.... Bogey, I'm not so sure.

Edward G. Robinson (Johnny Rocco, Key Largo) was part lizard.  You expect him to zap a fly with his tongue from about 10 feet away at any moment.  A face only a mother could love, indeed.

Why did they pull their pants up to their armpits, back in the day?  Most of the stuff you see in the old movies seems pretty normal.  Then you see a guy whose shoulder blades are rubbing the top of his waistband, and it makes you wonder wt_ was up w/that.

And the ties, which hung down about 3" below the knot?  Was there a textile shortage?  Please explain.

Here's another thing that LEAPS out at me:  Hair care products in 1948 were for shee-ott. Girls hair looks like a giant frizz bomb.  What's up with that?

... So, like I said, very boring right now. I guess I should hope something exciting happens, but maybe I shouldn't wish for that either. 

Hope this finds you all well.  Thanks for checking in.  I'll be 'blogging again real soon.

Levels 08-23-2010

Levels 08-23-2010

Levels are good (what's up with my wbc? way up!), click on a chart to see full size, use back button on browser to return to this page.

Here are the specific counts: wbc 7.4, rbc 4.8, hemo 14.1, gran abs 4.8.

Positive changes are in white boxes, negative changes are in pink, e.g. "11%" in a white box means the count went UP 11% whereas "-2%" in pink means the count went DOWN 2%.

Feeling OK, I wouldn't say terrific yet, though. Coming off the prednisone this time wasn't as dramatic as last time.

Saturday 08-21-2010

Saturday 08-21-2010

I took my last prednisone for this cycle of chemotherapy yesterday morning. My ankles are still swollen but hopefully not for much longer. I don't feel too bad today, just a little tired. Looking forward to tomorrow.

**

Today we went to see my mother at the nursing home. She fell last week (see previous entry) and broke her right arm. Since she can't take care of herself, she's gone to the home to heal up and get the help she needs for daily living.


After she heals, the plan is for rehab and then to get her back home.

Here's the story:

Jori is nice enough to watch our kids so we can visit my mom. It's strange to be without both of our kids on the ride over. It's about 30 miles and Julie and I are anxious to see my mom, but a little bit apprehensive as well.

50+ years ago the nursing Home was the site of the Harris Hospital, although the original building is long gone. Some of my older brothers and sisters were born there. At some point a new hospital was built across town (so long ago that its replacement is going up now) and the Harris became the Mendota Lutheran Home. It has grown and grown and grown since then. It now takes up almost an entire city block.

My father's mother lived there for some time before her death. She died there in 1978... or 1979. I had seen her there shortly before she died. That was the last time before today that I had been in the building. 31 or 32 years ago.... where did the time go? And I moved away in about 1981 or so.

We enter the building and Julie's first comment is about how clean and nice it is. Thank God (Lutherans, God, get it?) for that. We ask directions and find out we came in the wrong entrance and have to traipse through the entire, sprawling complex to find her. There are residents sitting in common areas, some asleep, some conversing. We are directed to a room with a Dorothy C, but the last name on the door is wrong... someone else stops to help and finally we find her room.

When we enter, my mom is sleeping in her bed. There is a bruise on the right side of her face from when she fell and it makes both Julie and I cringe. Her arm is in a sling and she has a call button strapped to her blouse. We look around the room. Spacious, spartan, and clean. She has a roommate but she's not in the room now. Mom wakes up.

We both say hello and I give her a kiss. We give her a flower we stopped to buy for her on the way.

Her shoulder is bothering her and she's on painkillers, which have her somewhat confused. She asks about Austin and Tessa and others family members. We have a nice talk and I think she's happy to see us. She asks how my treatment is going.

After a while, she has us page an aide to help her go to the washroom. When the aide opens the door to the washroom she finds mom's roommate tending to some business. Eventually mom uses the washroom. The aide brings her back to her bed. The aide asks if mom will have a tray or eat with the others as it's just about lunch time. Mom's not sure. She asks who's sponsoring the dinner.

A short time later, the aide wheels her to the dining room as grace is said over the PA system. We follow behind. Her table has 2 other ladies and one familiar looking man. As they are waiting to be served, I speak with mom's dinner guests while Julie talks with my mom.

My mom seems uncomfortable. Out of her element. Not in her own dining room. Not in control. This is new to her but given time I'm sure she'll adjust. She has some work ahead of her to get back on her feet. Socializing with other residents would help her pass the time.

Suddenly it occurs to me. "Are you Paul S?" I ask. His eyes light up. "Yes, I am!" "I used to play basketball with your daughter Denise in your driveway" I tell him. Denise S schooled me (and every one else I knew) when it came to basketball. She was what we called a tomboy in my day, and she definitely had game. The S'es had THE best driveway/backboard setup in the neighborhood, Paul had seen to that.

We talk about Denise and his other children, where they are and what they're doing. Paul (where are my manners? I should call him Mr. S) and his family had lived 2 blocks from us when I was growing up. I always remembered him as a quiet, nearly silent, man, with an ever present smile on his face. And there's no mistaking the face or the smile, even 40 odd years later.

One of the other ladies turns out to be the other Dorothy C, whose room we'd mistaken for my mom's. She asks if I played baseball. I tell her that was my brother Dave. I was a good spectator, that was about it (anyone picking up on a theme here? I was NO GOOD at sports!).

Her son is Dan, she says. I remember him, a legendary cross country runner when I was about 15 or so. This was before the running craze started, really. This guy ran and ran and ran and ran. He'd run past our house. Then two hours later you'd be on the other side of town and you'd see him, still running. This was all the time. He never seemed to stop running.

"Dan had to get a metal plate put in his foot".

OK, so maybe now he's stopped running.

The other lady is Lois, my mother's cousin. Always friendly and outgoing, she outlived 2 husbands. She rattles off chapter and verse where each of her children are and what they're doing. Now legally blind, she seems well adjusted nonetheless.

One of the wait staff asks if we are going to stay to eat. Lois tells us it's only $5.50 a plate and it's delicious. We opt out. I tell them that it was like old home week but that we have to be going. We say goodbye and depart.

I imagine this is how my mom felt when she dropped me off for my first day of Kindergarten.

In 1963.

3rd day after 2nd chemo 08-19-2010

3rd day after 2nd chemo 08-19-2010

Almost no hiccups today.  Had a few of those uncomfortable, heartburn type things but they didn't turn into the nonstop hiccups.

Ankles are still swollen.  Seems to be a little hard to stay on task.  And I still feel kind of floaty.

Looking forward to taking the final prednisone of the cycle tomorrow and getting back to being myself.

1st and 2nd days after 2nd chemo 8-18-2010

1st and 2nd days after 2nd chemo 8-18-2010

Going backwards to Monday morning past, here's what my counts were pre - chemo

wbc 4.1
rbc 4.76
hemoglobin 13.7
platelets 156
absolute granulocytes 2.1

From 7 days prior to that, wbc went down 2.2 pts, to out of range low, hemo and platelets went up (both still in range), but the absoulte granulocytes went down to 2.1, still in range. For my next level check, I'll drag the chart out again.

Obviously since they gave me chemo, the low wbc is not a factor... yet. It will be interesting to see if I get to the next chemo session without having to get my levels pumped up.

**

The night after chemo (Tuesday the 17th) I was up late and realized I hadn't taken my new sedative (lorazepam). So I took a half a pill, which was ridiculous because it's already super small. Finally I went to bed even though I didn't really feel sleepy. My hands started to feel funny, like they were vibrating wildly. Hadn't experienced that before. So I just laid there in bed for a while and it finally subsided. I believe I finally fell asleep about 4:00. Then I got up about 6:00.

Went to work and started with the prednisone symptoms. Hiccups, pretty bad. Then in the afternoon, my cheeks started looking puffy. What I also noticed this time is that my ankles are swollen. Never noticed that before but not sure that I had looked. Also, I don't know if the symptoms are progressively worse the longer you stay on the 'roid. This picture is from tonight. Flourescent (bad) lighting, foul looking cankle.


Today, Wednesday, I didn't start out with the hiccups but they showed up before lunch. Then they quit for a while and came back just in time for me to look stupid at my daughter's doctor's appt. It was one of those things where I didn't know if I should mention the cause or not... now that I think about it, maybe I should have. (Did Doc deduce: "Dad's Drinky"?)

I'm not sure when it's appropriate to discuss my chemo outside my circle of friends/family/immediate work associates. Probably because I don't think most people know how to react and might think I'm just looking for sympathy. And I don't want to make people uncomfortable or get distracted from the task at hand.

I came home after that and laid down and watched tv/snoozed a little bit. No hicks. Then I got up and ate and back came the hicks. The Bs came over for a short visit. After they left I worked on my bike for 45 minutes or so.

Now it's 11:15 (which is fascinating considering I took the sedative at 8:30) and the hicks are still here. Sometimes they kind of like reverberate or resonate, like they will flutter for a couple of seconds. They sometimes make you feel like you have heartburn. Kind of a drag but I can deal with them.

Looking back in the 'blog, this is following true to form. Hopefully after tomorrow morning they'll be gone.

Otherwise, I've just got that disconnected feeling a little bit that I had before with prednisone. Don't seem to have the same energy level I had last time though. Maybe I'm not caught up on my sleep.

**

My mom is doing better. The plan is for her to check into a nursing home so they can take care of her while she's without the use of either arm. The ortho thinks slinging, immobilizing, and building up her calcium, etc. along with letting gravity go to work, should allow it to heal on its own. Initially they think 2 weeks in the nursing home and then on to rehab, whether that's at home or somewhere else I don't know.

Anyway, she'd had a rough day yesterday but today her pain is under control and we think the arrow is pointing up.

**

I was questioned about my use of "scrip" for prescription today. Here's what I found:

scrip³, script

n

(Medicine) Informal a medical prescription

[short for prescription]

I had to look on more than one site to find it, so it's a little obscure, but so am I. I believe this usage is more common in GB, maybe?

**

Thanks for checking in.

8-16-2010 Chemo, the Sequel

8-16-2010 Chemo, the Sequel

Hope all is well with you. Thanks for checking in on me.

WARNING - this post is long and ... different. I've had a roller coaster of a day and I guess it comes out in my writing. A lot of artistic license has been taken here. This entry runs the entire gamut, from farce to very serious. READ AT YOUR OWN RISK.

I should have called it Chemo II or something, maybe....

Anyway, 2nd round of chemo was today.

My sister Marta, who spent many years as a nurse at the University of Iowa, and now works at a state prison in Iowa as a nurse (this will be important later in this post), came along to chauffeur me to the appt. I love her dearly, and thanks to her for being there for me.

We stopped at the Dollar Tree en route as I've lost 3 pairs of reading glasses at home and the only pair I had, to take w/me, were my funky-ass construction reading glasses (no correction on top, +1.50 correction on the bottom, THEY ROCK, old people. Check Harbor Freight!) and Jules would rather not have me seen in public with those on. Or private, either for that matter. They make me look like I should be running a table saw or something. Nothing wrong with running a table saw, it's just that I never run a table saw, so why wear the glasses?
While we were at the Tree we also snagged what turned out to be some killer trail mix, which I highly recommend, for chemo or any other application you can think of.

I went in for the draw. The nurse was an interesting, very blunt and matter of fact lady and we had a nice discussion. She did my draws last week and I was GRILLED about each blood component. "You do know what each one DOES, right?"....gulp! "Well, I know SOME of them." Then I got "Well you better know ALL of them, they're very important!" To which I reply, silently, YIKES! Nurse Square Nuts has reported for duty! Audibly, "I will make it a point to understand them."

Just kidding, she was a nice lady, but she expected me to be the informed cancer patient, and that's reasonable. I'll do my best to do my best.

Anyway levels were good, I'll try to get my chart started back up so we can watch for trends.

On to vitals (weight was 190) with another nurse, all good, then the doctor. I introduced him to Marta. Last week Dave, this week Marta... I still got 6 siblings I can throw at 'em! He did the exam and said the tumors (do I call them tumors? They're enlarged or cancerous lymph nodes, I guess they're tumors...) were definitely shrinking.

He asked how I was doing. I told him great, only problems were that I "crashed" a little the day after I went off the steroids, and I had some trouble sleeping on the steroids also. He asked if I was agitated also while on the steroids, I said only by my wife. That was to be expected. He gave me a scrip but told me it was ONLY for the days I was on the 'roids.

On to chemo.

It actually went better this time for some reason. I wonder if maybe one of the IVs didn't go as fast, or maybe since they had it on the chart that I went into hypothermia (the literary device of "exaggeration" has just been employed for comic effect only) last week that they adjusted something.

The new glasses. REORDER CODE is "Grandpa Bookworm". Dollar Tree, Devastating Fashion, FOR A DOLLAR!




All went well as I said, and I only needed one blanket. At this point, I celebrate all victories, big and small.

They have bookshelves with quilts and afghans for us chemo types. They are laundered after every visit, so there's nothing cheesy about them. Our mother has spent the better part of her life making afghans. It will be a large part of her legacy. I tell Marta that we'd best not tell Mom about the afghans or she'll begin a personal crusade to provide 500, by year's end.

Although she was not assigned to my case this week, Nurse Becky and I spoke. I apologized for not adding up 2 and 2 to get four, thereby missing the fact that SHE was Stacy's pal. It was kind of old home week for two Kids from Korn Kountry (Leland and Mendota). She's very friendly.

Marta caught up on all the latest dish as we had stolen some rags like "People, and Celebrity Underwear Drawers, Exclusive Pictures", etc. from the waiting room so that we could divert ourselves from the BO-RING wait. I don't think they'll care that we stole them as they were all circa 1992.


At one point the nurse asks if I'm warm enough, or do I need another blanket? I answer no, and think to myself that the word of my 3_blanket_day on my first round of chemo must have gotten around and that I'm branded forever as a complete wuss.... how sad. Now cancer has stripped me of my dignity, as well.

Now the nurse asks Marta if she's cold. Would she care for a blanket?... What's this, everyone in my family has a defective thermostat now, just because I needed 3 freakin' blankets? I might start to take this personally. Say anything you want about me, but don't drag my sister into it too, OK? But I say nothing. Maybe I am a wuss.

Marta replies, "No, I'm fine. I guess I'm used to it. It's always cold in the prison."

Pins drop in faraway corners of the clinic, and we hear them. All of them. Slowly I realize that the nurse is not breathing. I've got to say something... SAY SOMETHING!!

Finally I come up with "Oh, she WORKS in a prison. She's not an inmate!"

And silently, to myself, in my best Jimmy Cagney voice (think White Heat or Public Enemy), I'm saying "Don't worry about running me and my sister down by questioning our thermostat genes, see? She's not packing a home made shiv! She didn't stand up in the commissary in the Big House bangin' her tin cup on the table and say 'Hey you mother effers, my bro has the big C and I'm bustin' out of here, now, see? It's his second chemo and it's my turn to drive the Lymphoma Limo and haul his ass, and no-one here's gonna stop me, see, not even the warden, see?' "

But I never said that out loud

See?

The tension goes out of the room. Pins drop silently once more. They finish up poisoning me in order to restore my health. We thank everyone and leave.

Marta and I begin to make our way home. We go back to Dollar Tree so she can grab a couple more Trail Mixes and I buy some assorted junk. It's a character flaw I inherited from my mother... well no, I don't really NEED the ZOOM nail clippers with the 2x SUPER MAGNIFICATION, but THEY'RE ONLY A DOLLAR!



You thought I was kidding.

So you pick up a few little gadgets because everything's cheap, and get to the checkout - "Your total is two hundred eighty seven dollars and sixty five cents." What the...?


And then...

Still on our way home, I call my mom. No answer. Call my sister Deb and talk to her. Give her the 411 on my treatment. Ask if she's seen mom as she lives in the same town. No, and sister Sylvia just called Deb looking for her as well. That creepy feeling you get when a loved one turns up missing is present in my gut now. Deb offers that she's probably on her patio talking to the neighbors.

After I hang up, I mention to Marta that it's great to see her since I never do as she lives about 2 & 1/2 hours away. And I rarely talk to Deb, but I have now, 2 times in 2 days as she sent me some blueberry cobbler mix and I called to thank her. Gee, Marta, in case someone wants to talk to their family more, all they have to do is get cancer! Black humor, my specialty.

We pull in the driveway at home and Julie comes out and gives us the news: Deb just called. Mom fell in the parking lot at the grocery store and may have broken her arm. She's en route to the hospital via ambulance.

An update comes in: Her arm is broken, badly. High, near the shoulder socket.

My mother is 85 years old. She is "Granny" to all kids, and proud of it. Bore eleven children. Buried one as a weeks-old infant and lost another who was 47 years old. She never has fully recovered from either of those losses (and never will). Buried her husband of 61 years 7 years ago and has really been lost ever since. Both hips are artificial. A few years ago she fell coming in her back door and got an artificial shoulder as well. Which has failed, and as a result, she's in pretty much constant pain.

Although she needs surgery for the failed shoulder replacement, they are very concerned about anesthesia because she also has developed COPD, even though she never smoked. So she opted to live with the pain because she can still crochet pretty well without that arm. And so now, she falls and breaks the OTHER arm.

Tomorrow the orthopedic surgeon will examine her and lay out her options. I had thought that maybe they'd just go ahead and do BOTH arms but Marta says they would never do that as she'd have to be "under" for too long and they wouldn't risk it. Hope is that they can put pins in this break and it will work out. But she may need another shoulder replacement. So we will see what her choices are, and go from there.

There are a million other sweet little old ladies out there like my mom. On The Home Front, she fought the Second World War. She survived the Depression and is now living through what will probably be the Second Depression. She raised a HUGE family, and has had a good life, all things considered. And so it would be a mistake to categorize her entire life by reviewing only the sad chapters. She's certainly had her share of misery. But so has everyone else.

She's my mother, and she's very special to me and everyone who loves her, just as I'm sure yours is or was to you.

You are born, you live, you die. In between you try to make the world a better place. You make the best of what God gave you, and she definitely has done that. She's got a ton of good memories and is very proud of all her offspring. And in the final analysis, what else is there?

I hope we can get her patched up and going again.

I can't imagine life without her.

And then..

When I talked to my sister Mary about my mom, she told me that her ex-sister in law (whom I will refer to as "K" for privacy reasons) was just told that she has cancer. Her specific situation dictates intense and frequent chemotherapy sessions and she is expected to be very ill. Her long time partner died from cancer very recently.

Tonight I'm wearing my LIVESTRONG bracelet for "K" too.

It will probably never come off.

cellphone text msg update ...Round two of chemo is in the books. it"s all good. film at eleven er i mean more on this later.

8-16-2010 couldn't sleep

8-16-2010 couldn't sleep

Woke up early and I had a couple thoughts in my head about so I thought I'd get them posted.

Chemo, round 2 in about 7 hours.

**

My brother in law Bill sent me an email and asked about Austin -

Steve,

Good luck with the next round of chemo. I hope it kills all the little bastards.

I like reading your blog. In the midst of so much shit it's heartening to read something meaningful.

How are the kids? I'm concerned about Austie. Does he understand what's happening, does he talk about it?

Here's my response:

Bill,

Glad you enjoy reading the 'blog. I enjoy writing it. It's probably therapeutic in a way.

We really haven't said a whole lot to Austin. He knew I had something going on. We told him that I was sick and had to go to the doctor but that I would be OK. I think he picks up on vibes as much as specific conversation and at first the vibe was not good but now it's been good for quite a while so I think he's pretty much at ease.

Austin is big on denial and so if it seems to be going well he won't rock the boat.

Years ago I was unemployed and things were looking pretty bleak. Austin picked up on the miserable moods of both Julie and I and he was feeling very insecure. Although I didn't think he heard us, Julie and I had discussed selling our house. One day I put a political sign up in our front yard (VERY unlike me, I've never done that before or since, but there was a particular candidate that I despised deeply, and so I was moved to "signage" I guess you could say).

When Austin got off his bus that day, I was in the garage. He looked at the sign and his shoulders dropped. He walked in the garage and said "Great!" very sarcastically. I asked him what the problem was. He said "Sellin' the house!" I explained to him that the sign was for an election, not a realtor. So although he can't read and might not understand everything that is said, he is very perceptive.

I realized when I read Bill's email that I had posted previously about Austin being upset, around the time of my surgery. After that I had never really mentioned that Austin seemed to be feeling more secure after we got the prognosis and continued into chemo, with what seem to be favorable results.

The 'blog is an excellent way to communicate but I need to remind myself that I need to be sure to close the loop on some of the details... sorry about the oversight, reader.



**

The Bs.

Steve and Laurie have been our 2-doors down neighbors for 11 years. We have become very good friends. They bought a house in Florida and have finally sold their house here. They're moving out at the end of August.

Their kids and Julie and I had a farewell party for them over the weekend. It was very bittersweet. We are happy for them because they are realizing their dream, but at the same time we are (selfishly, I guess) sad for ourselves because we'll miss them so much.

NOTE TO READER: Being diagnosed with cancer and having your best friends move away, all within a period of less than 2 months, will dramatically illustrate that your life is, indeed, zipping by at the speed of light. Please heed this advice, from someone who knows: Cherish your friends and family and enjoy your good health while you have the chance.

Steve and Laurie have been so good to us, and have been so good to our kids as well. Austin loves them to death and I know he'll have a hard time with this. Very few times in my life have I made friends with people who become as close as family. Steve and Laurie are that kind of special friends.

So Saturday afternoon we lured them out of the house to go to a favorite restaurant, Santa Fe, for a cocktail.



Then we came home for the surprise party.

Drinks followed. Memories were shared. Tears were shed.

Time marches on.

8-10-2010 WHAT I'VE BEEN MISSING

8-10-2010 WHAT I'VE BEEN MISSING

NOTE: this post is not about lymphoma, it's about riding a bike. Hopefully it's not too boring or repetitive.

So it's gotten to where I have only been biking about once a week. Which is no good.

I've either had work, blood draws, other commitments or bad weather the last couple weeks. I did get out Sunday and did about 15 miles. Last night we had a bunch of things going on. So I told myself that tonight I WOULD NOT BE DENIED!

Only it was freaking hot and freaking humid. But, that's exactly my favorite biking weather, strangely enough. As I was preparing to go, I had both, the missus and the motherinlaw (Jean) telling me I was crazy and I better not go too far IN THIS HEAT!

I wolfed down a quick snack of Cheddar Jack Cheezits and hit the road, with water bottles, cell phone and my sportiest shades.

When I got to the corner, I heard my neighbors Doug and Mandy yell at me from the comfort of their pool that I was crazy. Which I freely admit. The air WAS awfully heavy. But I felt really good and got a good cadence going. I made sure to hydrate, hydrate, hydrate.

I took a favorite loop of mine, with some good hills. When I got to the river, I took a couple joyrides on a favorite climb. Then I rode into Millbrook and took a little rest in the bank parking lot.

98 degrees at 5:52. Humidity, simply ridiculous.



As I was guzzling water, another biker, young guy, rode by and pointed at me "You OK?".

Well hell yes, I'm OK. What? Does it look like I have cancer or something?



But I didn't say that. "Yeah, I'm good. Thanks for asking." Dude.

Nice of the guy to check. I didn't think I looked like I was in distress... just old.

Press on, regardless, that's the order of the day. From the bank it's on to Silver Springs, about 2 miles. And I'm cooking, figuratively and literally. This air is drank, not inhaled. It's hot and heavy I have to exert pressure from clear down in my lower abdomen to do the heavy lifting that breathing is on a day like today. I sail along.

I get to SS and I stop to drink some more. Then I decide I'll do a video with my cell phone so I can put it on my 'blog. Riding through the park is one of my favorite rides. There is a downhill section in the open, hard right, then a de-lightful cruise with some little bumps... now under a canopy of trees. Keep up a nice cadence and you can really haul.

Traffic is all one way, so no worries about oncoming cars. Then after a little while in the shade, you come out at a corner of one of the (Silver) springs and into the light. That part always makes me think of being born, into the light. Hard left and downhill, another left and fly right along, more springs on your left, the Fox on your right.

So I get the cell phone ready and take off... and run out of memory in about 4 seconds. I didn't get the video. But there's another one on youtube I took a few months ago if you'd like to see it (sound off the cellphone doesn't work right on youtube but you do get the visual):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_NTOkEJ5chE

I cruise through the park, climb the hill back up and out, out the entrance right, right again, down the hill, cross the mighty Fox again, left on Millhurst, right on Burr Oak for the last hill. Like Jimmy Buffet, I "cruise on back home".

Legs are pistons pumpin', lungs are working hard and I feel great.

I wheel back into the neighborhood. Doug and Mandy are no longer in their pool. In my garage, I hop off my bike and just now realize that I am drenched in sweat.

18.386 miles in 1:16:19. About 14.5 MPH. Not great, but the old man feels a little younger right now.

That is WHAT I'VE BEEN MISSING. Wish you could come with me sometime. We'd have a blast.

08-09-2010 Blood Levels

08-09-2010 Blood Levels

Got my weekly blood level check. ALL my levels are considered to be OK. See charts which show deltas 1) week to week and 2) this week versus start, pre chemo. Positive changes are in white boxes, negative changes are in pink, e.g. "11%" in a white box means the count went UP 11% whereas "-2%" in pink means the count went DOWN 2%.

CLICK ON THE CHART TO BE ABLE TO READ IT. THEN USE YOUR BROWSER'S BACK BUTTON TO RETURN TO THE 'BLOG.






Seems like the ones to watch are wbc, rbc, hemo, and absolute granulocyte. I probably represented a different subset previously, that would have been due to my own ignorance. This time the nurse wrote explanations on the printout. This is my take:

wbcs fight infection, rbcs carry oxygen and ALSO carry carbon monoxide to the lungs where it can be expelled, hemo carries oxygen, platelets enable your blood to clot, and absolute granulocyte is a representation of your "BEST white blood cells" to fight infection. The Marines of blood cells, so to speak. The few, the proud, the Absolute Granulocytes!

Levels this week: wbc 6.3, rbc 4.56, hemo 13.0, platelets 138, abs gran 3.8.

She had trouble w/my port, second week in a row. For some reason they poke me and then it's like a dry well, no blood comes out without a bunch of gyrations or a re-stick. This week same as last week, except she didn't have to stick me twice.

She was having me turn my head to the left, put one arm up, try both arms up, "bear down"(?), all kinds of stuff. It was the "HokeyPokey" for sure, but it could have been worse. It could have been "La Macarena".

She finally got it to work, but it was a struggle. Evidently the needle bottoms out or is too close to the side of the well to work effectively.

With regards to counts, she said sometimes levels fluctuate in 7 days, sometimes in 14, depending on the specific drugs used, physical condition, number of chemo sessions, etc.

She told me that whichever ones DO go out of range (she referred to this as "petering" which I found both funny AND strangely emasculating) there were things they could do to bring the counts back in line, whether it was medication to stimulate the bone marrow to generate new blood cells or a platelet transfusion.

I'm still feeling great and am scheduled for my second round of chemo on Monday, 8/16.

Thanks for checking on me.

Friday, 8/6/2010 Status

Friday, 8/6/2010 Status

I haven't updated the 'blog because nothing's new, and that's good news, I guess.

I feel fine.

All I'm taking is the allopurinol for my kidneys.

No upset stomach, no headaches.

No new hair loss (since about 1990 or so, anyway). Food still tastes like it should.



Next chemo is 8/16.

08-02-2010 Bloodwork

08-02-2010 Bloodwork

First chemo was one week ago today. I had to stop at the clinic this afternoon to get a blood draw.

Here's how it came out:

wbc 6.0, rbc 4.90, hemo 14.1, hematocrit 40.0, platelets 172.

And this is what it was pre chemo:

wbc 5.4, rbc 5.01, hemo 14.5, hematocrit 41.4, platelets 126.

So, nothing much changed. What does that mean?

I have no idea, but they said the levels are all fine.

I asked about the Prednisone. The nurse informed me that the Prednisone makes the chemotherapy drugs more effective. So I'm not going to lobby for less Prednisone.

I asked if I could predict my experience from here on out based on the first round of chemo. They either don't want to say, don't know, or can't predict. I got a very wishy washy type of answer.

So, I guess any way you slice it, it's a wait and see type thing. I can live with that.

I feel good, still. My expectation is that this (feeling good) will last until the second round.

August 1st, 2010

August 1st, 2010

FELT GREAT TODAY!

This morning when I woke up I could tell something was breaking. I just felt more with it, less detached than I had yesterday. I had just been feeling like one of those big balloons in a holiday parade, with the ropes attached so people can maneuver them down the street. I felt like I was running the controls of my body instead of just BEING ME.

I think it must be the Prednisone. Not a big fan of the side effects. I will ask the nurse tomorrow and see what she says. I'm sure I gotta have it, but I wonder if I really need it for 5 days.... Seems like initially it gives you energy, but you might feel a little out of it. Then when you go off of it, maybe you crash a little bit.

Felt great pretty much all day. This morning I mowed and trimmed the lawn, ran to the hardware store and the gas station. I was feeling good, and it was great to be back, especially after being MIA most of yesterday.

Last week I wanted to ride my bike post Chemo, but since I was trying to make 40 hours in just 4 work days, by the time I got home from work it was a little too late. And then Saturday I had no gas in the tank.

So today, I hit the road and had a nice ride. I took a back way to Millbrook. There's a few hills and one little detour I like to take that I call Heart Attack Hill. It's a good, steep climb and there's no way you can cheat because your approach is either uphill/turn left or downhill/turn hard right. I like to climb that hill over and over just to build up my legs/lungs.

So today, since I was feeling so saucy, I decided to climb it, 2 times. Once out of the seat and once staying in the seat. 2 times is not GREAT, under normal circumstances, but today I felt pretty good about 2.

I took care not to get too worn out on the ride, but I honestly felt pretty good. All in, it was just short of 17 miles and I really was glad to get out again. I know I feel much better tonight since I did ride rather than if I was sitting here now thinking 'I should have gone on the bike'.




I came home and got in the pool to cool off. After that I logged a little hammock time.



Then we grilled burgers and some fresh sweet corn my mom brought over. And nothing tasted like metal!

It was a beautiful mid summer Illinois day and I feel fortunate that I was feeling good.

Hopefully I'll be able to get some rides in this week and next before the next Chemo session on 8/16.

Tomorrow afternoon I'll find out what my blood levels look like 1 week after my first session. Should be interesting.