Happy Hour

On the fourth Thursday of every month the Tuaca group meets for a happy hour.  I haven’t made too many of them since last January but tonight I was there.

Had a reason to be happy – PET scan results were clean.  There was a sub MM nodule but the doctors agreed that it was most likely scar tissue as it was not active.  Pretty much this means I’m out of the woods for the near future.  Next scheduled check is in three months.

Hearing the words was a real load off my mind. I was getting a tad bit anxious and the relief was pure bliss.  All this set up the stage for a celebration this evening.

The happy hour was interesting, beer still burns but not as bad as a couple of weeks ago. The shot of Tuaca was unbelievably painful, the burn was liken to eating habanera peppers, nothing short of pure pain, but thankfully short lived.

So for a 4 hour happy hour, three beers and one shot, a new record for me for the least amount of alcohol consumed at happy hour.

It felt good to get out again, a lot like a normal social function. But I am very much aware of how lucky I am to have such great friends.  My main chemo buddies, Ron and Laynette were out of town and couldn’t make it but others were there and I appreciated them for all the support they provided over the last 90 days.

24 days to GE2K13 and the cool mountain air of Colorado.  I am really looking forward to trout fishing and outside temperatures of 70  vs 100.  Life is slowly returning to normal and I am glad for it.

Thanks to my nieces and nephews for the fine Hawaiian golf shirt that I wore to the doctors today.  The picture does not do this fine shirt justice, I need a new camera.

Quote of the day:

"Aequam memento rebus in arduis servare mentem."

Laissez Les Bons Temps Rouler

Anticipation

Just like Christmas Eve, wondering what the morrow will bring. At 10:30 tomorrow I meet with Dr. llahi, the radiation Oncologist to review the results of the PET scan.

The best we can hope for is that it’s negative, with nothing showing up.  The worst is to have to come up with a new treatment plan.  I’m ok with chemo but that radiation was a butt kicker.

The PET scan was a pretty easy procedure that starts with an injection of radioactive glucose followed up with a pint of water to drink.  Now I carry a water bottle around as a defense for the dry mouth, so I am pretty much drinking non-stop.

All that drinking means I visit the facilities quite often. Any way, after drinking down the water I was escorted to the head to take care of business then in on the table for the scan.  The scan required that I lay there not moving for about 25 minutes. 

Takes about 5 for the dry mouth to set in.  Now I’m trying to not choke, and the rest of the water I’ve consumed is letting me know that intake means output and I need to get that taken care of pretty soon.

Long 25 minutes, but I made it and all is good.

Another day of triple digit temps, but it’s only 67 in Platoro and that’s where I’ll be in about 25 days. It was 108 at the ranch so I am glad I’m not up there. 

Quote of the day:

ab actu ad posse valet illatio 

Vital stats:

Weight 190

Throat 80%

Blood Pressure 106/74

Laissez Les Bons Temps Rouler

Cochise the Wonder Dog

For you who don’t know him, Cochise is my blue heeler. He’s a $70,000 dog.  Most of that was the result of him tripping me and causing the need for reconstructive surgery on my right shoulder. Since he cost me that much I put that price tag on him in case you are interested.

He’s a good dog and evidently has powers I am not fully aware of. Today I do the PET scan and since he is the only pet I got I guess he gets to do it.

History lesson – Cochise was a nantan, (chief) of the Chiricahua Apaches, a real bad ass, the dog Cochise was originally going to be named coach, after the brother-in-law who gave him to me. But I knew it would be confusing to talk about coach crapping in the yard and doing other things, people wouldn’t know which one I was talking about. 

Anyway to show a modicum of respect I changed the dog’s name to a more formal one, Cochise. 

Anyway, today is PET scan day, this is the first of many (I Hope),  results will be ready in 2-3 days.  If nothing shows up then we wait another 6 months or so and do it again.

I am now at about 80%, still having issues swallowing, mostly due to the dry mouth, which is in of itself causing trouble with the few remaining teeth.  But not to worry, I have a dental exam scheduled for the first week in July.

Planning continues for the great expedition, I am hoping that the high altitude isn’t going to be an issue. I think I can manage to tote my daily limit up out of the valley. Right now it looks like a pretty good group is headed up to Platoro. I’ll take lots of pictures so you guys stuck back here in 100 degree heat can see what it was like to be in the mountains in 65 degree days J

Time to roll, I’ll follow up with a shot of today’s shirt.  The count of used shirts stands at 53.  There are 16 still available in the closet.  Looks like I made it, thanks to the help from all you guys.

Mighty fine shirt

Quote of the day:

Humor is also a way of saying something serious.

             --T.S. Eliot

Vital stats:

Weight 188

Throat 80%

Blood Pressure 117/78

Laissez Les Bons Temps Rouler

Satisfaction

I’m really late posting this update. Maybe that is because I am doing so much better than I was.  The first part of what follows is what took place across the memorial day weekend.

Memorial day was.  After a hiatus of 90 days I made it back to the ranch.  Being there is one of the most relaxing things I can think of doing.  Plus being there was a milestone I had set for myself about 45 days ago.

Lot’s of smaller milestones since the last update.  I can swallow with almost no pain.  For the first time since mid-February, I woke up without a sore throat.  That happened Sunday, and it meant that I was able to almost double the amount of food I would try to consume at a meal.

Meals were interesting as well; when at the ranch we tend to eat rather well, one of the hunting buddies likes to cook and does.  You’re not going to be eating kippered snacks on saltines.   And while I asked for mac-n-cheese what I got was homemade gourmet mac-n-cheese with real bacon, it was  awesome.  

We managed to accomplish quite a bit of maintenance work, I didn’t run out of steam too soon or over do it.  But it wasn’t all work, we took weapons so we did some shooting and I was able to meet another mile stone,

The mask was the worst part of the treatment. I found I really hated being locked in that damn thing. Those were the longest 20 minuets each day. So since I was finished with treatments I got the mask and It was dealt with at the ranch.  Take a shot at this video, I did:

Since that day I have made small improvements each day getting back towards normal.  I still tire really fast and when I run out of energy it’s crash time. This past weekend I went back to bed about 7Am and slept until 5PM, guess I  had been running on empty.

Tomorrow is PET scan day – this is the first big milestone in the recovery process, it will tell the tale on rather or not charley is really gone or if I need to follow up.  Wish me luck.  I’ll post tomorrow with shirt and a treatment update.