With Xeloda, watch your mouth.

There is a lot to report this week. I hardly know where to start.

Let's start with the blood tests from yesterday. They showed good improvement everywhere. The only note which will affect the next item in this blog is that my platelets improved to 101 up from 91, but well short of the desired level of 140.

The next stop is at the status of side effects. My hand/foot syndrome is holding steady. My feet can withstand two or three sets of tennis, but I feel it later in the day. My hands hurt when handling anything that has an edge to it, but this is bearable.

The other side effect is my mouth. No good news here. I have a sore on my lips that persists in bleeding most evenings, creating interesting red blotches on my pillow. My mouth is dry every night and does not respond to anything I take before bed time. Thankfully, it is okay during the day.

However, I have developed a sensitive tooth and this is causing pain up to my ear. I went to the doctor when I felt the pain, but not the tooth sensitivity and got 10 days of Augmentin, which does not seem to be doing much. The cancer center has ordered my "magic" mouth wash and that will likely arrive tomorrow. I can't wait.

They also said that I should go to the dentist. I went that afternoon to a dentist who recommended extraction of 4 teeth.  All dental procedures, and particularly extractions require careful coordination with the oncologist. The platelet level is an issue and often chemotherapy, (even of the oral kind) may have to be suspended for some dental procedures. I am not sure about the validity of 4 extractions. The fact that the toilet paper in the dentist's washroom was put on the roll the wrong way was the first thing that gave me pause. In any event, I am going to seek a second opinion tomorrow. I will keep you posted.

A few other interesting things occurred this past week.

The week prior, I had gained a fair bit of weight and the research manager was not impressed. So I decided to do something about it. The first thing I did was cut my toe nails. Yes, I cut back on a few other things also. The result? I lost 10.8 pounds in one week. I told one of the volunteers at the cancer center about this and she commented on the 10 pound toe nails. I think that is or certainly could be the name of a rock group.

I should tell you that my visit to the cancer center two days before Valentines Day had an appropriate theme to it. I signed in as Olive Yu. And I brought the blood technicians a small Valentines Snoopy given that they know my preference for Snoopy bandaids.

This past week my favorite purveyor of wheat grass told me that he was cautious about making claims as to the effectiveness of any cancer "cure" because his father died when he was seven. Imagine having a child when you are only 6 or 7. He obviously matured early.

Thanks to those who have visited Kickstarter. It is effectively a way of preordering the book. I am now on the second edit review of Red Shirts and Rubber Duckies. I still hope to be public with this in May.

That's enough for tonight. I am going to have a soak and get to bed early tonight.