Christmas Letters

We all get Christmas letters from relatives and friends. I am no exception. Some times they are a little hard to take.

Today, I would like to feature two such letters from two of my nephews who are polar opposites.

In summary, Harry writes that his children are wonderful, the family went on two exciting vacation trips. Harry is working as a missionary in the Yukon and his wife Matilda was elected chairwoman of the Home and School Association for Yellowknife..

He then discussed relatives and amazingly included me. He indicated that I had stage 4 colon cancer, but that my current treatment was working better than my doctor expected. He noted that my hand/foot syndrome was continuing to be an issue and perhaps having a little more effect on my tennis hand.

Sammy, his brother, is conducting research in Antartica (I told you they were polar opposites,) He is single but  indicates that he enjoys his work and boasts of travelling extensively. He is quite the researcher and had recommended Turkey Tail Mushroom capsules when he learned of my diagnosis, He wrote in hand at the bottom of his letter that he was upset that I did not mention Turkey Tail in my blog last week when I listed the many supplements that were helping in my cancer fight.

As I get more letters, I will share them if they are interesting. Maybe even on a night other than Wednesday.

Meanwhile, my dry mouth is getting slightly better and a bridge friend, whose daughter is a dentist has arranged to get me several samples of items that will help dry mouth.

I had one very proud moment this week. When the nurse at the cancer center injected the needle into my port for the infusion of Avastin yesterday, she was quite excited that I had "Good Blood Return." I have never been told this before and am so excited to have achieved this lofty goal.

It has made my Christmas. May you also have a Happy Christmas/Holiday. And a big THANK YOU for your support.

Good News.......er Great News

I am excited to tell you that the results from my petscan last Friday were better than I could have hoped for. My liver was very close to background, which is great. Anything in my lymph nodes is getting smaller.

So, the big question is why?

It could be any, part or all of the following:

The Xeloda
Curcumin
AHCC
Essiac Tea
Beta Glucan
Chaga Mushroom Tea
Far Infrared Saunas
Epsom Salt Soaks
My positive attitude
Exercise
The prayers and support of many.

I don't care which of these are effective. I will keep taking all these things. I am so happy that something(s) is(are) working as well as it(they) appear(s) to be.

Sure, I have hand/foot syndrome. Yes, I still have dry mouth. Yes, it took Jillian, a new tech at the petscan center three pokes to get blood out of me. But these things are worth it.

Meanwhile, people continue to tell me that I look younger. I was beginning to think about my roots. Would you believe that 23 and Me identified that I come from Ork!?

Thanks to the research manager for helping to get me to this point. Thanks to you all for your prayers and support. Don't take me off your or your church's prayer list yet. I need all the help that I can get.

Professional, Petscan and Publishing

Here we are,,,,,,another week and only a little change.

In terms of my health, the hand/foot syndrome is slightly worse, I think. You might think that this is not good news. However, there is an element of good news to this. I am going to wear two pairs of socks when I play tennis. Why is this good news? I have learned that most professional tennis players wear two pairs of socks when they play. So, I am being elevated to the professional ranks. I will effectively be the first 1.0 professional tennis player!

My mouth dryness persists, but the Biotene Gel is fairly effective.

This coming Friday, I will have my next Petscan, I am anxious to see the results, but also a touch anxious about the results.

Everyone knows that french fries are not great for my diet, but some days, I weaken and we get an order of fish and chips to share. The other day, I took about 9/16 of the fries and left the rest for the research manager. She alleges that she took 5/16 of the total number of fries and left 1/8 in the box. When I took my plate into the kitchen, there were no fries in the box.

Now, the research manager alleges that I took the 1/8 portion and that my guilt about it has repressed my memory.

I know that she must have taken the 1/8 portion and am sure that her guilt has repressed her memory of it,

If anyone has a video of our kitchen activities this past Monday, I would appreciate being able to prove the research manager wrong.

Speaking of wrong, based on last week's reveal about my recreating television shows, given that there is no television in the guest bedroom, I thought that I might recreate a "Days of Our Lives" scene (verbally!), As I began "John's" words, the research manager yelled "NO!" several times. Apparently, she does not enjoy that show.

Oh well, I will have a video of my Petscan on Friday and I hope that it will be a show that we can both enjoy.

On other fronts, I have submitted my book to a publisher and they are beginning an editing process. I will keep you informed.

I want more steroids

What a difference six days of steroids make.

I was prescribed steroids to deal with an itchy rash that developed due to the Xeloda. They proved to be very effective at dealing with the rash. They also gave me energy. I mentioned to the research manager that I had a lot of energy this past weekend. She reminded me that I was taking steroids and that was likely the reason.

I had blood tests yesterday and it proved to be a very positive event, notwithstanding the fact that there was a long wait due to spillover from the Thanksgiving days off last week. Most importantly, I got a Snoopy bandaid. In addition, my blood numbers were great. My white blood cell count was in the normal range for the first time in a long while and my platelet count was better. You'll never guess this, but the research manager pointed out that this improvement was also likely due to the steroids. I guess that any tennis wins this past week will have to be marked by an asterisk to indicate that my performance was steroid enhanced.

In terms of other side effects, the hand/foot syndrome continues. My fingers feel as if they have a bandaid on them (Snoopy, of course.) My feel are reacting and I am using a lot of cream to make them survive.

We are still getting over the water incident. Our bedroom is all disheveled and we are sleeping in the guest room where there is no television. As a result, each night, I feel compelled to recreate televison programs for our entertainment When I mentioned this at the tennis court, a few of the ladies recoiled in horror imagining that I was recreating One Life to Live or Days of Our Lives or some such racy show. Hmmm, I will have to check those shows out.

Speaking of the guest bedroom, the research manager usually wakes up early and often gets to work at her desk long before I arise. The other day she said that she could not lie there any longer. What lies was she telling? Will she continue to lie in other places? Such things to have to worry about.

The other day, I went out to play tennis with my shirt inside out, A few of the women noticed and told me. I think they were hoping that I would remove my shirt to reveal my near Nadal like body. They got their wish, but I made sure that not many of the women did not see this, It would of distracted them too much!

All in all, I feel good and many people tell me that I am looking good. Next week, I will have a petscan and we will be able to tell exactly where things are.

Thank you for your interest, caring, prayers and support.

Not as good as it looks

It is a tough night for a blogger. My "Notes" file disappeared from my phone today, leaving me with not much to base this blog on. However, I will do my best.

At tennis this morning, someone took some balls to play with and came back saying, "These balls look good, but they are not as good as they look."

That can be said of some people, they may look good, but their behavior is not good.

That can also be said of me. Many people say that I look good, but I may not be as good physically as I look.

I really am feeling pretty good, but..........

1. My hand/foot syndrome is slightly worse, creating blisters and red marks on my toes and soles. I am treating this with cream and it at times shows improvement and at other times, not so much.

2. I have developed an itchy rash, which is another side effect of Xeloda. I now have steroids to treat that.

3. I get tired easily. Of course, that could be affected by the 5 days of noisy water equipment that we had running in the house as the result of a cracked supply line nut. (It looks like we got away with less permanent damage than we thought, but will likely have to replace the vanity in the master bathroom.

4. I still have some dry mouth, but the Biotene gel is helping.

5. My hands are affected by a combination of hand/foot (well, the hand part) syndrome and neuropathy. They are sensitive touching or carrying anything that has an edge to it. Fortunately, tennis balls, tennis racquets and (censored by the research manager) do not have sharp edges.

My stock continues to rise with the receptionist for the far infrared sauna. Apparently, she tells people that are feeling down about me and my attitude. Having said that, I overheard her calling someone else sweetheart again this week.

That's all I've got for tonight. Thanks, Apple for losing my notes. No wonder that their stock is dropping.

Emergency

Things have been going along smoothly and you just know that something will happen. Well, it did.

I know you are thinking that I got a major set back or some new strange disease. Well, that is not true. I do have it confirmed that I have a mild case of Hand/Foot Syndrome. I am treating it by using Udderly Smooth cream three or four times a day. But that is not the emergency.

The technician gave me a Finding Nemo bandaid instead of a Snoopy bandaid when I did my blood tests yesterday, but I have survived that.'

The emergency is that the research manager came home this afternoon to find two inches of water in our master bathroom and water running through the carpet in the bedroom, in the cupboards and into the kitchen. The cause was a broken supply line to the toilet and it has resulted in several hours of working at removing water, having the plumber fix the supply line and finally having the water restoration people come to start the drying out process. I think they will be here till midnight and will leave all manner of equipment to run for four or five days. I guess that the guest bedroom beckons us tonight.

The hand foot thing has garnered a little attention. The research manager said that part of my toes looked as white as the sheet. I figured that I could solve that by using flesh colored sheets, but apparently the cream is a better solution.

When I quietly mentioned it to the blood technician, but that I wasn't going to tell anyone, she said that I just did and made me go to see the nurse. She watched to make sure that I went there rather than ducking out.

The nurse asked if she could look at my foot. I complied by holding up my right foot still clad with a sock and a shoe. She told me that she did not have X-ray vision and that I would have to take the shoe off. She felt that all was under control and to continue to use the cream.

Finally, two medical breakthroughs. The research manager has been complaining about snoring, mine, not hers. By coincidence, she also observed that I had been slacking off on my vitamin C. I have resumed that part of my 40 odd pills and liquids a day and, mirabile dictu, my snoring has stopped.

The second is that my friend Mike, from Canada, sent me some samples of Biotene Gel. I have been using the Biotene rinse and the Biotene spray, but not the gel. It works great and it has reduced my dry mouth issues and decreased the number of times that I wake up during the night.

I think that is enough for tonight. I will be watching Cash Cab or Jimmy Fallon until the water restoration guys are finished.

Fun at Publix

Developments on many fronts.

First, my blood tests showed significant improvement yesterday. White blood cells were up and other measures were decent. The doctor seemed happy.

My blood pressure was excellent  116/73, a number that I have not seen in a long time.

It is a good thing that they check my blood pressure before they prick my finger for my blood work because the bandaid that they used after the needle prick was a Snoopy Christmas bandaid. I was so excited that I am sure my blood pressure rose significantly.

I got my every third week infusion of Avastin. Even though the center was so full that I had trouble finding a chair, it went very quickly, much better than three weeks ago. Why this is particularly noteworthy is that, being old and forgetful, I arrived 90 minutes before my appointment time. I signed in as Al Exion and suddenly realized that I was early, but they took me anyway.

The research manager has determined that my mouth sores/dryness is in part due to the fact that I had not been taking my lypo-spheric vitamin C. She also claims that it has stopped my snoring.

My neuropathy is significant. I actually suspect that it may be a mild case of hand/foot syndrome, but it is so mild that I do not think about it. As long as I can play tennis, I will not talk about it. Ooops, I just did.

A lot of activity occurred at our local Publix store this week.

First, I was sitting in my car studying the shopping list when a woman came up to my driver's side door and her friend opened the passenger side door. I offered to drive them home, but apparently they had a white SUV also and got confused. I am glad that others are so inflicted.

A few days later, I stopped at Publix for a quick visit and as I backed out of my spot noticed that the research manager's car was right next to mine. I parked the car and went back into Publix and asked the clerk on what aisle they had wives. I found the research manager and was able to help carry out her purchases.

As we left, a man commented on what a great shirt I was wearing. That is ironic because it was one of the shirts that I wear when I get an infusion in my port. Because of the connection with the chemo infusions, I am not particularly fond of any shirt that has full buttons. I thanked him though.

That's about it for this week. Except to say that I continue to get hugs from Kim at the Hydro-colontherapy clinic. I think she is still trying to make amends for calling someone else "sweetheart." Besides that, she seems to like getting mentioned in this blog.