Holding Strong

After today's good results, we're moving the chest scans out to every three months instead of two.

At least I only have to chew off my fingers four times a year now.

I'm serious, I have no feeling in two fingers. Kinda rough for a dedicated nail-biter.

I feel very lucky and grateful.

What a ride...

For those keeping count, the next chest scan will mark one year from the recurrence in my lung. After another year of clean scans, I'll space check-ups out to only twice a year. It was interesting talking with the radiation doctors yesterday. At the end of our discussion, I was mentioning how bitter-sweet these clean scans are, filled with such a range of emotions (mainly tears of joy from Ash at the time). On one hand, it's great to know things are unchanged and the worry is over. On the other hand, the worry is over for only a few months and there is no forgetting that my last pair of problems arose well after the one year mark of my diagnosis and beginning of treatment. She fully agreed and added from their perspective that they have come to know me well and view me as a peer. Seeing my struggle makes them reflect on the idea that it could have one of them just as easily been one of them. It's nice to have doctors with such a realistic view of the disease. Every step in the right direction is a blessing.

To all the ladies out there with real hair and real fingernails....Happy Valentines Day!

PS Snout is home. He is as adorable as he is loud when we're trying to sleep.

Sorry to be a Slacker...

There hasn't been any breaking news for the past few weeks but here is a list of the more important recent happenings.

1. Most importantly, my chest scan has been rescheduled for the 13th of February at 2pm.

2. My mother’s chemo has lasted somewhat longer than anticipated. Her original protocol wasn’t having the desired results so they made it more aggressive and spread them out from every week to every three, giving her more recovery time. This has caused a tremendous reduction in her white cell counts, both good and bad ones, as well as shrinkage of her enlarged spleen. A bittersweet success, because the stronger chemo, though effective, has been much more difficult to tolerate. Weakness, nausea, and overall crumminess are all some of the symptoms she’s had to deal with for some time now. It’s a tough journey, but hopefully the end is in sight.

3. Although the pain in my hand continues to improve, my doctor wants to keep my pain medication where it is for now. She fears that a decrease in the meds too fast could result in a reemergence of the pain with the possibility of not being able to recapture it with my current medication regiment. I guess I won't be crunching numbers in my head for a few more months... Oddly enough, she believes it's the Lyrica and not Methadone that has the most impact on my cognitive skills. Lyrica and 2 years at the Junkyard.

4. We're heading to NY today and will be back Monday. At that time, Snout should be ready for pick up. We decided on one pup.

5. Physical therapy continues. We're still trying to maintain the straightening from the casting, which basically means wearing a brace that works like a retainer to bed each night. It really only gets unbearable after a few hours and robs only one or two hours of sleep from me each night. I actually have another brace to help retrain my fingers to straighten properly and another that pulls my thumb into an opposable position so I can pick up things like a sock or a sunglasses case on my own. Physical therapy and corrective surgery could continue for the next 5 or so years. What a lucky turn of events that my therapist and I like the same shows on TV, giving us new material to laugh about each week. If I get a chance, I’ll upload some photos of my brace collection.

6. Flavor of Love 3 starts in less than a week.

7. When I return from New York, I’m going to start volunteering at Duke. I’ve found a program that I like and have just about completed all the requirements and classes to qualify. I’m excited to begin this stage of my journey and feel it is an excellent turn down the path of recovery.

Thanks for checking in and I hope everyone is doing Awesome. I guess Megan & Daisy are my favorite ROL2 girls, keeping Bret’s best interest in mind, of course.

PS Watts has been pointing wild birds (quail) at the farm lately. It’s been exciting.