Weekend Away

A lot of little things to report.

In general, until this past Monday, I have been a little under the weather as it relates to the chemo effects. Dry mouth and mouth sores have been a big issue, Mugard, Oragel Rinse and Biotene have all been employed in the battle and the last few days have improved the sores, but not the dry mouth.

My neuropathy still is present, but again, it is slightly better.

I do get tired. More about that later.

Way back when I started this process a year ago, I joked about getting a sore toe from the chemo. I was rewarded almost immediately by a case of athlete's foot. (If I was an astronaut, it would have been missletoe!). Well, we are back to toes. I have developed a black spot under the nail of my big toe on my right foot. The research manager has listed possible causes - fungus, melanoma, bruising. The cancer center says "Chemo effect." We are watching this with interest as things develop.

The blood tests from yesterday tell a tale. My White Blood Cell count is down, but not grievously so. However, my Red Blood Cell count has been slipping steadily. This can cause fatigue and other maladies . The low count is likely caused by adverse effects on the bone marrow from chemo . I don't think we are at scurvy levels, but this is a matter to be pursued.

I am looking forward to a weekend away with my son Graham and then we are back for session six of the new chemo. After that there are decisions to be made re more plain chemo or maintenance and, if maintenance, pills or two days with Bob. Stayed tuned for developments.

I am afraid that my prowess on the tennis court is having a negative effect on attendance. A number of players are not showing up. I doubt it has anything to do with the fact that they are snowbirds.

Even the driver is going to be away next week. I asked if she could drive back from Hilton Head on Monday night, drive me to Morton Plant and then return to be with her family. She thought about it for 0 seconds and declined the opportunity. Surprise announcement on this next week.

Finally, Andy and my daughter Krista independently worked on converting my blog to "Word" format. Andy has then worked hard to make it into a true book presentation and then converted my email conversations with my dear friend Mary Jo, who has pancreatic cancer. It really moves me to read back over those first six months. I am close to being ready for a conversation with a publisher. I am excited about this.

I will be thinking of you all over the weekend and look forward to catching up with you next week.