August 23rd and we all celebrate this international holiday

I never ever pay attention to horoscopes, but my cousin Martin cut a horoscope out of the paper today, and I felt compelled to reproduce it here.

"Your values, both emotional and material, will undergo a profound change over the next 12 months. A new way of looking at life will capture your imagination and alter the way you think and act in subtle, yet far-reaching ways. Looks like you've found The Key."

Very weird.

The rest of the day was fantastic. Lots of phone calls with very weirdly-singing people and lots of really nice emails. Still no presents!!! No cool train sets or scale electric cars. Not even a cool BMX bike. What the hell is going on? But, Bobba got me a $2 scratch card, and I won $50! She also got a lottery ticket, and I'll let everyone know later if I am the grand prize winner.

We all sat out at the pool and swam. The water was a very senior 82F. No beach swim today, but maybe tomorrow. Afterwards, we went upstairs to the apartment and, lo and behold, there was a birthday party for me: cake with candles that almost set fire to the apartment, a bit of champagne, and decorations. What more do you need? Presents.

In the evening we went to Abie & Louie's, A really nice steakhouse here in Boca. The Suskin gang, Our Mom, Phil and Hannah, Ilan and Robin, and Martin and his daughters (Arielle and Yael) all attended. Great company, but others were missed (Russ). Food just kept coming - onion soup, lobster, filet mignon, chicken, salmon, mashed potatoes, onion rings, asparagus - it was a never-ending feast! The final touch was a fantastic creme brulee which came topped with fruit and berries. All I can say is that Mike sampled most of everything on the table, including half of Hannah's apple pie. A couple of good words were said by Ilan and me, and then, Ilan and Robin presented me with a bracelet with chamsahs ("evil eyes" in Hebrew). There is an amazing story behind this bracelet. Their brother-in-law wore it and, as a cancer survivor, wanted to pass it on to someone else suffering this terrible disease. That person was me. I can't wait to pass this on once I am officially a cancer survivor, and I hope that this bracelet will help someone else once again.

After dinner, we went to Deerfield Beach and sat outside on the benches looking out to the ocean like old people; a shoutout to Bobba, Russ, and Phil for hosting the birthday dinner.

Oh, by the way...........my Mom got me a scratch off lottery ticket for my birthday and I won $50. Awesome.

I can't wait to go into the ocean tomorrow, and I'll keep you posted...

Friday in Boca (must be something medical)!

The trip down from Baltimore yesterday was fine. Ilan was kind enough to pick us up from the airport and was rewarded with a bowl of "ox tail" when we arrived at my Mom's place. It was good to see him. It was fantastic to see my Mom again. It's was also so nice for her to see the kids and Diana as well, and for all of us to be spoiled rotten with food and meals (snacks). I really need this.



Friday, feeling I was in south Florida, I felt the need to spend the day seeing doctors and having tests. I am of course, saying this "tongue in cheek" with all the due respect to the south Floridians. But the truth of the matter was I did in fact spend most of the morning and lunch seeing a doctor and having chest xrays. Let me explain. I have had this cough now for quite a few days (no it's not cancer)!!! In Baltimore I was put on an anti-biotic and an inhaler. When we arrived here in Boca there did not seem to be any improvement, this after 4 days. So Diana called Dr. Erlich in Baltimore and he wanted us to get a chest xray. We went to my mom's Internist where after lots of paper work and questions they listened to my lungs and determined everything seemed ok. Especially after I coughed. I guess that's the whole idea of coughing. We then went to the nearby hospital for the xrays as they could give us the report right away to fax to Dr. Erlich in Baltimore. Once again, after much paper work and questions, we hurried up and waited for the xrays to be taken. After all this was completed we were in touch with Dr. Erlich and he looked at the report and seemed to think a lot of this still has and had to do with the post radiation effects. He put me on Prednisone which is a steroid. The down side is my Olympic prospects were shot down but at least I may put on weight with this regimen.

Off to Boca

Out of the way "Fay"! We are heading down to Boca for a couple of days. Looking forward to seeing my mom and also looking forward to a change of scenery.

I'm still not feeling great from Monday's chemo and Tuesday's Neulasta shot. The Neulasta shot elevates my white blood count to help ward off infections. But the shot makes me tired and achy. Combine that all with my cough which does not seem to be going away as quick as I thought. Hopefully relaxing in Boca will help all of this.

Chemo 2 (Round 3)

Today was my second last chemo treatment. You have no idea how thrilled I am that this stage of the treatment is almost over. It went well today and my blood work was fine. They have given me an anti-biotic and an inhaler for my cough so helpfully that will take care of things.

We leave for Boca on Thursday to visit my mom and celebrate my 52nd birthday. Jeez, that seems old! Phil will be coming in with Hannah (my niece) and we will all have a great dinner together on Saturday night. Hopefully, all will be OK with my mom and her apartment with regards hurricane Fay. Bloody nuisance.

Weekend Update

It's been a bit of a slow weekend. I have not been feeling that great the past few days. I seem to be coughing a bit more than usual. It seems to get worse if I talk too much or try and take deep breathes. Yea, I know. Me talk too much? We will discuss this tomorrow, at my chemo treatment, with the doctors.

Phil came in Saturday to spend the day with us. Her visits are always uplifting for me. We did not do much except for me to try and eat and try and converse (and cough). I also had a massage in the morning and Sue (the masseuse) told me my skin was really dry and it did not look like I was drinking enough fluids. She gave me this electrolyte powder to try so I have been making a conscious effort to consume more fluids.

Sunday we watched Man U play to a draw with Newcastle. It is so nice to have our English Premiership Football (soccer) season back on TV. Combine that with good Olympic coverage and what more do you need? Hmmm!