Mon & Tues

Worked both days, but was really tired afterward. Millie, Theresa & Bud stopped by Mon and took Mom out to dinner. I took a nap while they were gone and Jan and I had Pizza. It's hard to find things to eat that actually taste good. The pizza wasn't great but better than a lot of things.

Sunday

Not as good as yesterday, but not as bad as last time. Energy and appetite are down and in general just feel kinda crappy. The cold, grey, wet weather may be contributing.

Saturday

A surprisingly good day compared to last time. I did the grocery shopping and then picked up a pot for Jan's little palm tree. I want to go spray some Round-up after I finish this.

OK, here are some pictures. The hair mostly fell out, but not completely, so Jan's friend Nelaine came over and gave me a buzz cut.

Before:

During

After

Bald & skinny

Friday

Had to go to the doctor's office at 10:00 for a shot to jump start my immune system. Seems strange after years of methotrexate to tone down my immune system to prevent arthritis and polymyositis.
Went to work afterward and had a good day. A little tired after.

Thursday

2nd treatment done, 4 more to go. The treatment went well, partly because I felt better to begin with and partly because it was shorter. 7 hours instead of 8 1/2.
No adverse effects yet other than a drop in energy level, but they usually don't kick in until the 2nd day after. It can't take much more hair from my head, it's pretty close to gone. Something to look forward to.

Wednesday

See Mon. & Tues.

Mon & Tues

Nothing much to report the last couple of days. Work, eat, sleep, lose more hair.

Sunday

Very quiet day. Too chilly to do anything outside, so I just sat around the house, watched basketball and read. Feeling fine.

Saturday

Saturday was a very good day. My only complaint was the scalp pain and most of the time I can ignore that.
Jan and I decided to try to see a movie. Our thinking was that the movie (Crazy Heart) had been out for a while and most people that wanted to see it already had and little kids wouldn't be interested. Randy Kaines came and took Mom out to lunch while we went to a 2:00 matinee. We guessed right, There were probably 10-12 people total in the theater.
I liked the music and thought Jeff Bridges did a great job, but overall the movie wasn't all that good.
Richard mowed the lawn and I got my roses fertilized. As I said, it was a very good day.

Friday

Oh, the hair is falling out for sure. I expected it but I didn't know it would be painful. My entire scalp is tender to the touch. It even hurts to comb my hair. Maybe the little follicles are protesting. I just wish they wouldn't try to plant their stupid signs.
Otherwise, it was a pretty good day, all things considered.

Thursday

Not so good today. Had a stiff neck and head-ache most of the day, so when I got home I took a Tylenol-3...on an empty stomach. Not smart.
Also, I think the hair is starting to go and I never was a fan of Kojak. Oh well, it'll come back. I hope.

Wednesday

Nothing much to report today. Appetite, taste, and energy are all slowly improving. I may be back to normal by the time I have to do it all over again. fun, fun, fun
It would have been a pretty good day except for Murphy showing up at work. What did I expect on St. Patrick's Day.

Tuesday

Worked again today. My energy level was somewhat better, but when I got home I fell asleep in front of the TV before I could finish a cup of tea.
Jan informs me that I slept thru 3 old women yanging away in the dining room. I guess there are benefits to a low energy level.

Monday

I went to work today. It went really well, but I was pretty much done in at the end of the day. For sure the only way to follow me home was to follow the hiney track. It was draggin' out any footprints. (If you can follow a hiney track, I don't want to know it.)

Richard fertilized the blueberries for me. Hopefully, we'll have a little better crop this year and more each year for a while.

Sunday, Mar 14

Today probably would have been a good day, but I worked on the taxes. "Good day" and "Worked on taxes" are mutually exclusive terms. You can have one only.
Speaking of taxes, when I turned 65 I began collecting my Tektronix pension, last fall I started collecting Social Security. Those things, coupled with the IRS not taking as big a bite to 'stimulate the economy' led to my paying the feds for the first time in years and years. $37.00 - dang!

Saturday

Saturday was definitely a good day. The best since last Monday. Still working on the taste thing, but able to get food down and keep it there. That's an important improvement.
Sam greatly improved my hopes for a complete recovery. She phoned to let me know that she made a Call in Solo. Anything is possible with prayer. lol (Love ya, Sam.)

Update on Dad

Relatively speaking yesterday was a better day.
And this morning he was able to eat most of his breakfast
(first since last Tuesday). He says he has no taste.
But that must be better than a bad taste, right?

And with my cooking - it might be a blessing.

One week down

If Dad wants to post for today later he can. For now I'll just say it was a rough day.

Tues & Wed

Not so tough after all, Sam. I only worked half a day yesterday and didn't go in at all today. Wait and see how tomorrow goes.

Monday

Went to work today. I'm hoping I can get away with working since I'm pretty much by myself back in the Model Shop and can avoid much personal contact with others. That plus a lot of hand-washing and sanitizer might get me through.
I'm a little tired, but glad I was able to get out of the house and actually feel like I was contributing.

Sunday

Sunday was a kinda 'tween day. Not as good as Friday, but not as bad as Saturday. Richard cleaned up the front yard and Rose Garden, so that looks alot better.
My chemo treatments are every 3 weeks thru June 17th and it'll be about 2 months after that before my immune system gets back to normal. Look's like we won't be coming to any reunions this year or going on our usual Memorial Day jaunt. Maybe we can get in a little camping trip sometime in late Aug.

Saturday

Saturday wasn't as good as Friday, but not toooo bad. Had to resort to the Tylenol a couple of times. The worst part is that gawd-awful taste in my mouth. You CANNOT get rid of it and everything tastes the same - really bad!
Jan helped me prune the roses and Amy came over and mowed the lawn. She got a really good work-out. I think she was 3/4 done when I showed her that the mower really is self-propelled.
Thanks, Aim.

Friday was good

Friday way a very good day. I woke to find the tumors greatly reduced and the pain with them.
Swallowing is much easier now. Still not great but better.
For the last 2 or 3 days, I've taken Tylenol-3 every 4 hours. I only took it once on Friday and that was as much preventative as for pain.
The nurses and doctors tell me that the day following the treatment is the good one, then the next two are bad. They were definitely right about day one.

Treatment #1 went very well.

Jan: "It was a long day. We were there at 8am and left at 4:30pm.
Dr Byrd told us some news we had not heard before. The second tumor that was found is actually bigger than the one in his neck. That was a pretty big shocker, but the treatment plan and prognosis are still the same. Seeing the word CURE hand written and signed on his treatment plan made me very happy. Not shrunk, Not remission, CURE."

The 5 different medications are given one at a time. At some point, one of them made me very light headed, so they put in phenergan which pretty much knocked me out. I slept through most of the rest of the treatment.
After we got home we took a walk down to 5th and back. Both of our butts were really tired of being in a chair by then.

Ready or not, We start

So far Roger has had a procedure/test every day this week and chemo starts tomorrow (OH, I guess tomorrow is now today). He is very tired and weak, in a lot of pain and the last couple of nights nauseated. I'm hoping the treatments will help the pain and not make the other problems too much worse.

Thank you all for your continued prayers and cares.

Sweet Lynnette brought Roger a quillow tonight. That is a quilt with a pocket and when it is folded into the pocket it becomes a pillow. It is made out of fleece and very nice.

Lynnette is Rachael Seeley's mom and a R.N. I told Roger, " Lynnette has already walked the walk and is able to talk the talk." She is truly a wonderful and valuable friend.