Thursday, June 18, 2009


The Treatment Continues


Week 31: Last week was great except for when I was told I have to resume chemo this week (today, in fact). I was hoping I'd be spared from more treatment. You'll recall that while I had a week off from the chemo tower, I had to go in for a visit with my oncologist to discuss my progress. Stephanie was out of school early that day, so she came with me to the appointment. After delivering the news of my having two more cycles of chemo (2 cycles equals 6 more infusions over the next 8 weeks), he entertained us with a couple of cool card tricks. The best one was when Stephanie drew a card randomly, took a pen and wrote her name on it, then placed it back in the deck. The doc shuffled a few times and then told her that the first card would be hers. He turned the top card over and said incredulously, "oh no, that's not it!!"   "Okay, I think I made a mistake. It's the one on the bottom." He flipped the deck over and, "wow, what's going on? That's not it either!!" At this point Stephanie thought she had him beat. He went through the entire deck one card at a time looking for her card. When he was out of cards, he said to her "oh my gosh!...now I remember what happened to it." Then he removed his shoe and inside was a folded-up card. He took it out, unfolded it, and there it was, Stephanie's card. We were both very impressed. That was one of the best card tricks I've seen. And it was a good way to distract us from why we were there. At the end of the week, we went to Kings Dominion and the beach as planned. Unfortunately, I don't have time to provide details about these excursions at the moment, but if I'm inspired later, I'll fill you in. Gotta run. Nurse Nam and the rest of the infusion center staff await me.

Thursday, June 4, 2009


Another Day, Another Victory

Week 30:   Yea, baby! Another one bites the dust. Finished my Day 15 toxins today. Cycle 4 is history. The infusion seemed to take forever because I was restless. I have to take "anti-allergic reaction" medicine and it wires me out. But now I'm free...no toxins next week! My chemo appointment will be replaced by a visit to the onco to check in and see how things are going. Rumor is, it'll be judgment day in terms of whether or not I need to continue with more treatment. We'll see how well it's working and go from there. I know it seems odd - even contradictory - to say this, but somehow despite the outward signs of the pounding my body is taking, I feel "strong" on the inside. I feel like my organs are handling the poison pretty well. As long as all of my parts are cleansed, I'll be happy. We shall see.

Monday, June 1, 2009


Purple Puff-n-Stuffed


Week 29: This week I'm battered but not beaten, so I soldier on. I was feeling pretty good until I had my Day 8 of Cycle 4 chemo last week. Imagine that. Now suffice it to say that besides feeling sick in general, I'm as bloated as a submarine sandwich, and I'm so bruised I look like I was flogged with a stick of nails and a bicycle chain. My body needs a break, but I'll have to get through this cycle first.

If my blood work comes back okay when I go in for testing tomorrow, I'll have my 12th infusion this week and get a day off next week! That should work well since it'll be Stephanie's last week of school. Then it's off to Kings Dominion for a day of thrills and spills, and hopefully no vomit, followed by a trip to the beach. Everyone else will be staying for a week or more, but I'll have to come home early for my next injection. It's a little disappointing to have to cut it short. I don't think I've spent a full week at the beach since I was about twelve. At least I'll get a few days of R & R before hitting the needle again.

I'll let you know how things go.