Friday, September 30, 2005

I was only going one way officer

Had the 3rd dose of phase IV yesterday, more doxorubicin and vincristine, and I am finishing up the dexamethasone steroid, grrrrrr, tapering off, a little cranky. The steroid indigestion/gas bomb/hiccupping madness should stop in a week, that’ll be nice. No more meds for a couple weeks, then whack whack whack.

I wobbled out of the doc’s yesterday – they always ask if I have a driver, and I always wondered why. They give me a big bag of diflucan anti-nausea before the meds each time, and I never felt it until yesterday. I am walking back to my car when I realize I can’t walk straight. Like 2 beers. The steroids have really messed with my sleep, and I have a yeast infection (thrush, babies get it from milk) in my throat, so I am typing this at 5:30 in the morning, the latest I’ve awakened in a week. I am baking bread and brewing beer, right in my own throat! Self-sufficient!

The freaking vincristine is starting to numb my hands and feet again, and I better get used to it because I get vincristine for another year at least. I am using it to explain all my bad golf swings, no legs, can’t feel my feet. Unfortunately I think it’s true, I have no leg action, hitting my driver about 200 yards, pathetic. Putting well though. Shot a 90 Wed. from the whites at Dairy Creek with no wind, sure was nice playing that course the short way for a change, and the weather has been awesome. Now if we could get some surf.

Go Red Sox!

Saturday, September 17, 2005

Everything is swell

Oops, I skipped a week, guess nothing happened. I started phase 4 of chemo on Thursday, peed brick red (doxorubicin) for a day and I am waiting for the numbness to start in my hands and feet (vincristine). Two more Thursday treatments and then no more shots until mid-Oct. No nausea. I started the steroid dexamethasone on Thursday, and take it for two weeks. I woke up Friday and had no backache, no elbow pain, no neck pain, and had a steroid buzz all day. I have to watch the timing on those bad boys or I’ll be up all night. The peach fuzz on my skull is going to fall out again, and my eyebrows are short-lived. So what.

Same old same old otherwise, trying to stay in shape, working out 4 times a week, some yoga, surfing, golf practice (not accomplishing anything), and walking the dog. We have this nice south swell this weekend, which was hyped as the swell of a generation but is nothing we don’t see almost every year at least once. Every surfer within 50 miles of the coast is out and it is untenable, 25 guys on a peak that holds 6 guys, 5 guys taking off on every wave, what a zoo. I’ll wait for it to fade a little. Beauch and I went down to Rincon (the most classic right wave in CA, near Santa Barbara) on Monday aft. hoping the S swell would hit there on Tues am, but it was knee high at best. The only good thing about that is nobody was there, for a reason.

Mike has recovered from his cold, Dana is sick with a cold, and John is rocking. He has new veneers on his teeth, so they gave him the title role in the school play, Dracula. He will also be in the Tempest, role unknown as yet. What a stud.

I may take an overnighter into Big Sur tomorrow night, see if the jade got churned up by the big swell, maybe surf Sand Dollar beach. I am burping and hiccupping like crazy, maybe from the steroids, so I should drink some beer and force the issue to a bubble. Could be explosive. If it wasn’t for the fact I have leukemia, this lifestyle would be alright, like retirement. There is this nagging issue, in the background, that I probably survive this ordeal and then what?

Sunday, September 04, 2005

Class dismissed

My eyebrows are back with a vengeance, and if I don’t control them I will look like an old English actor. I never did understand the guys that don’t think they should trim their ears and eyebrows and nose; it is so distracting. I bet they wonder why people don’t look them in the eye – they’re looking to see what will crawl out of the bush!

Pretty boring times. School is back in, Dana is working full time this week to help out her co-teacher who needed some personal time, and the boys are trying to set the homework expectation to low. Hah. I am spending time on working out, yoga, my golf game, and goofing off. I should set up classes in goofing off, because to do it well takes skill and planning. For instance, you don’t just work out, you work out when something interesting is on TV. All right, sort of interesting, like golf or COPS or the History Channel, otherwise you’d never work out.

Now with the price of gas I have to reconsider driving out to Morro Bay to the golf course. I wonder if anyone would complain if I started hitting wedges in the park, may have to test that.

The headaches remain, and my blood counts are fine, slightly anemic. Doc says I probably have some brain damage (we knew that) that may or may not go away over time. Nothing to worry about, much. I am in a chemo free state until the 15th, then I get whacked with daunorubicin and vincristine and a bunch of pills. Looks like Yellowstone is out, brother Frank.

I am trying to take on the cooking chore, but I don’t care that much about food. Tell me what you want and give me the recipe, and we’ll see what happens. Dana does not like me to do the shopping, because she shops for ‘meals’, and I shop for what we don’t have. When I get to the recipe, I still don’t have everything, and I have to go back to the store. It seems like the grocery store is the epicenter for the obese. I see more obese people in an hour in the store, and I mean 300+, than I did in a year in Spain. I suppose it makes sense, because you’d have to eat a lot to get that obese, so you’d be in the store more.

I’d love to see the government try to organize all those people in shelters in N.O. to start cleaning up the mess. We are going to see the worst in human nature, already have, but the scams that will come out of that mess will be disastrous. I am researching building materials companies and mobile home companies; someone will make a killing. Don’t forget, love your country, fear your government, invest in the best scammers.

John and Mike recommend this website, one of their all-time favorites:

http://www.albinoblacksheep.com/flash/idioth.php