Saturday April 30, 2005

Cycle 8-C (End of Cycle)

Well, I have completed 8 months of chemotherapy and things have changed quite a bit. The highlights (and lowlights):

1. My PSA has gone into a regression (remission?) status.
2. My hair disappeared and reappeared looking like a professor.
3. My toes are numb - actually feels tingly good!
4. I feel punk all the time due to low blood count, but that is the way most of my patients tell me they feel.
5. I had blood clots in my leg with resultant swelling but the hi-tech clot busters
have resolved that.

Anyway I am grateful and very pleased to be at this point.

In other happenings:

My daughter and my grandchildren spent a week in Fresno and I got to take my gdaughter to see The Wiggles and Blues Clues. Now Marlee wants to move to Fresno!

Here they are:



Also, they came and woke me up one morning - don't tell Tom Sneden.



Finally, we have a new addition to our house - his name is Django!!! He is delightful.




Whats next - I don't know but next week is the off week and in two weeks I will have more info.

Happy Mother's Day. Here is Steve with his Mom and Grandparents

Friday-Saturday mid April 2005

Big Day


From the beginning of the cruise my left leg swelled much larger than the right.
Although clots are a complication, I have been taking rat poison (d-con---warfarin) in low does, so I thought I was low risk.

Well the airline trip was lots of sitting and thats where it started. During the Cruise Carole Kennedy RM MSN wrapped me with corform-ACE bandage which seemed to help, but mostly I ignored it.

Anyway, an Ultrasound today of the leg showed clots in two calf veins (Popliteal and Peroneal) but both are starting to recanalize indicating its been ahwile.




Well this is good news and bad news.

Good News

* I have a curable condition
* There are a number of compression sox to make it better
* Can lie and get out of work (just kiddin')
* Can get a temp disabled sticker

Bad News

* Hads to miss the moe. show in Ventura (can have long car rides.
* Have to take shots for 10 days to disolve the clots
* Have to stay on higher doses of the rat posion for 6 months
* May need one of those Alert bracelets
* Do to bleeding, have to avoid fist fights, gunshot wounds, rock climbing, and
skydiving

Otherwise, the chemo continues (Cycle 8). My numbers are good:

- Prostate numbers have stabilized low
- Blood counts almost normal

Ovwerall this is not a setback but a change of plans. The scary part is over - flipping a clot to my lungs and having to go to the Jamaica Ganga Hospital for treatment.

Grace Ann and her family are coming up this week and that will cheer me up.

Finally, I am trying to get a Burning House Festival for May 29 Sunday. I need feedback. e-amil or leave comments on the blog.

Ta Ta

Tuesday - April 12 - 2005

Post Cruise Greetings

Well - 10 days on the

Dawn Princess

in the Caribean does wonders for you (as well as your waistline). We stopped at Princess Cay (private beach), St Thomas, St. Martin, Jamaica, Grand Cayman, Cozumel-Mexico.

I won't bore you with the details, but a real highlight was racing the Stars and Stripes - Dennis Conner's boat that won the America's Cup. Check out the website.

No chemo for over two weeks feels great - we will find out in a few days - what next.

Here is a pic from one of the "formal nights".

.

Click for more Cruise Pics.

C-ya