2nd - Need a Pick-me-up?

Thank you to Cheryl Johnson for being my underground supplier of People magazine and to Bill & Cathy Clarke for the "Team Deets" hats.  A special thank you to my brother Doug for keeping me company during my treatment on Friday.

If you are thinking "I thought he was supposed to get treatment on Thursday?" you are in good company.  The visit to Dr. Frenette's started just fine (weight, pulse, blood pressure, etc.), but came to a complete stop when the results of my bloodwork came back.  I felt great, looked average as normal, but apparently the previous treatment had wreaked havoc on my immune system.  My white blood cell count was insanely low, as was my Absolute Neutrophil Count (ANC).  These cells are particularly important in fighting off infection and are the first responders to the traumas your body might experience, so you do not want to go without.

Fortunately for me, modern medicine saved the day again.  Dr. Frenette ordered up a shot of Neupogen and sent me home to wait for 24 hours.  Neupogen is aptly named, since it is designed to quickly increase your Neutrophil count, through stimulation of your bone marrow.  It is strong stuff and made my bones ache like I got hit repeatedly with a baseball bat.

I was naturally pessimistic upon arrival to Dr. Frenette's on Friday, thinking that there was no chance of receiving treatment and that my prognosis was tanking.  Jennifer, my oncology nurse for the day, was more optimistic however.  As she told Stuart and me, "I would bet the farm he is getting chemo today".  Why did she think this?  Neupogen works great in young, "otherwise healthy" people.  If I had a nickel for every time I heard that description of myself, I would be a young, rich, "otherwise healthy" person.  She turned out to be right though.

This treatment was a little quicker than the last, maybe 3 1/2 hours all told.  The side effects were similar...fatigue, nausea and that crazy pain in my mouth.  I graded the days as:

Friday: 7
Saturday: 5
Sunday: 4 (I did manage to force myself out to trick-or-treat with the kids for a few minutes)
Monday: 6
Tuesday: 8

Keep your good thoughts and prayers coming.  1 cycle down, 5 to go.

27th - Birds, Pigs & Me

Let me start by saying how wonderful you all are.  I am so glad Stuart has so many friends!

Thank you to Susan Bell, Courtney Lyons and Cheryl Johnson for watching our children over the last few days. 

Thank you to the Cohns, Freemans, Haynes, Hetzels, Kerrins, Rullers and my Mom for providing copious amounts of wonderful food.  Everyone has helped me put a few pounds back on, although they seem to be in the wrong places.  I asked specifically for biceps, not love handles. 

A special thank you to Brian and Sarah Thompson for not only bringing us food, but introducing us to the seductive world of slow cooker chocolate cake.  Only in the South people...only in the South.

The last few days have all been very good physically.  I would rate them each a 7 or 8 out of 10.  I continue to take extra Prilosec OTC for stomach pain / heartburn, which continues to be my chief compliant.  Other than that (and the dwindling cancer), I am in "ship shape".  Tomorrow (Thursday) is my second treatment and believe it or not I am looking forward to it.  I think it is the simple fact that my parents raised me to equate pain with gain.

There is one more special thank you that I have to give here and it lends itself to my story.  My wonderful teammates at Bank of America (too many to list here) chipped in and bought me a very "pimped out" iPad, pre-loaded with their favorites Apps, Books, TV Shows, Movies, etc.  My favorite App by far is "Angry Birds", where you become addicted to flinging birds with a slingshot at the pigs who have stolen their eggs (which has made them...wait for it...angry!).  In the last few days, this game has become my metaphor of choice.  Follow me now...the birds are the chemo, the pigs are the cancer and tell me that the house below doesn't look like my chest...

Wish me luck tomorrow...bring on the birds!!!


You can see the white bird on the right of the picture...working hard to kill one of the cancerous pigs...