Tuesday, July 15, 2008

Chemo 3 (Round 2)

Finally back with Mary for the chemo infusions. It was good to see her again as she was away on vacation. We met with Dr. Erlich prior to the treatment to discuss a number of concerns and issues. All our questions and concerns were answered. Today I am only getting Erbetux so the week ahead should be somewhat easier (I hope). Physically I feel a bit better but my weight is still way down. My appetite is not what it was but hopefully it will come back. This may be due to the new meds. I am continuing to get the emotional support I need and hopefully will start to see improvement in the not too distant future.

Diana and the kids are wonderful and supportive as usual and Max never leaves me alone. It's a bit of a pain as when I am trying to get an afternoon nap he needs to lie next to me. When he decides to scratch himself it feels like a minor 2.0 earthquake! Yea, I know, kick him off the bed. My Mom and Sisters continue to be amazingly supportive. I have never seen so much of them as over the past few months. I love it.

Monday, July 14, 2008

Our Gaithersberg visit

Today we met with a Psychologist by the name of Dr. Rick Levy (no, not my cousin). His practice is in Gaithersberg, Maryland. About an hour from us towards Washington. You can Google him. He is quite famous. It was quite an amazing meeting. I am looking forward to a number of meetings with him to help me help myself heal. I now understand that a big part of any recovery is of course conventional medicine but combine that with mind body healing and you have the whole package! We are quite excited about all this.



The conventional treatments plug along. Tomorrow is week 3 of the 6 week chemo course. But I am hoping for an easy day as I am only getting Erbetux tomorrow. When we started the Erbetux over 2 weeks ago we were told that I would more than likely develop a rash on my back, chest and face. The worse the rash the better the response to the drug. Well, nothing on the back or chest but a definite outbreak on the face. It's bloody ugly and looks like I'm back at Milton School in Bulawayo dealing once again with teenage acne. Please look at the picture below on an empty stomach. I accept no responsibility for any one's reaction. Hey, I still have my hair (for now)!






What did you expect, George Clooney! Let the comments fly. I have thick "SKIN".

Sunday, July 13, 2008

Weekend Update



Greetings all,

The cartoon above was sent to me by my good friend Sandy (a fellow pilot from Toronto). It seems quite appropriate. Thanks Yoda.


Next, you will notice the latest in the Zimbabwe currency fiasco. Ilan (another very close and dear friend) sent this to me. As of yesterday it was worth a little over US$1. It is now called the "Special agro cheque". The notes are simply too big to call currency

Let me catch you up on weekend events! To say the least, it was a tough couple of days. The shot that I received on Wednesday for my white blood cell count gave me flu-like symptoms for three days, so that didn't help much. We really didn't do much the whole weekend, but what was great was Phil and Howard (her husband) drove down from New York. They spent Saturday and Sunday with us. It was great to see them again, as usual, particularly Howard, who I hadn't seen in a while. We have a busy week ahead; lots going on. Chemo, doctors, and more doctors. Oh, and a haircut on Wednesday.