Date with a Hair Salon

Looks like it's time to get a haircut (but probably not the one in the picture). By far, my easiest and hardest cancer-related decision was to resume my Erbitux. It's the medicine that causes the face rash. While it is a targeted medicine (goes right to the cancer cells), it has the unpleasant side effect of giving me a wicked face rash. I resumed that medicine on Wednesday. Starting yesterday, I saw the first signs of the rash. Today, my electric razor drew blood from my cheek for no apparent reason (the rash tends to make me bleed from my face for very minor bumps and touches). Eesh--I have to admit, it really bums me out. But, at least it's killing cancer. The rash doesn't hurt, it's just really unpleasant. When it gets bad, it makes my face feel dry and yucky.

Good news--Steve encouraged me to go with him to a book talk at his temple last week. We met a Rabbi who wrote a book about cancer. He had rabbis (mostly) who have been touched by cancer write chapters about their experiences. It's a great book and is called "Life, Faith, and Cancer" (by Rabbi Douglas J. Kohn). I read the 1st 2 chapters last night--good stuff.

My finger neuropathy is really being a pain, so my boss was kind enough to order me voice recognition software for my computer. If you see me talking to my computer, I'm not going crazy--I'm just using an alternative to the keyboard. My typing has gotten really bad due to me being unable to feel my fingertips properly. I can't wait to try the new software out. I should have it in a couple of weeks.

Of other news--Robin is getting over her cold, I'm working today, my dog is doing well, and I'm going out to eat sushi with an old friend today.

Best wishes to all,

Tim

Tough Week

Hi All,

Well, it's been a long week. I'm doing well and Cleo is doing great. She doesn't even seem to know that she had throat surgery. She does seem to like being a house dog instead of an outside dog.

It's been a tough week for Robin. Not only is she dealing with a husband with cancer and a dog who had throat surgery, but we also found out that her dad has early stage throat cancer (I think esophageal cancer). It's stage 1 or 2, and we're sure that he'll kick it's butt. She also had a tragedy hit home this week. Her friend Kirstie was at church on Sunday and had a massive stroke in her brain stem. She was 39 years old and seemingly healthy. Kirstie passed away on Wednesday shortly after her family remove her life support.

That's quite a combination of things to have to deal with. Needless to say, Robin has a lot on her plate. She's been amazing and strong, but please keep her, Kirstie, and her family in your thoughts and prayers. It's very much appreciated.

Who, Me?!?! And Dog Surgery...

Cleo had her surgery on Saturday night and is doing very well. I'm fine too and have chemo this week. :)

Spot Remover

Happy Saturday to all of my friends, family, and blog readers. This post has taken me a little time--I had to decide whether to post and if so, how to do it. I got my most recent CT Scan results. They were not exactly what I was hoping to see, but they did have some happy results.

They said that I have an "unremarkable...pancreas, gallbladder and adrenals...as well as the bilateral kidneys. When dealing with cancer, unremarkable is a good thing. They also said that I have "a 3-4 mm low density lesion in the dome of the liver" which hopefully is just the previous spot that was on my liver (we thought that it was gone, but perhaps it was just hiding during the last scan). They also found a "3 mm lung nodule seen in the right lower lobe" and that they question the "significance" of it. Hopefully, it's nothing.

So, here's the plan--we wait until my next CT Scan to see if there are any changes (growth, shrinkage, or disappearance) in the areas indicated above. Waiting's not fun, but a person can only have so many CT Scans without having enough radiation to glow in the dark and set off Geiger counters.

Of other news, my dog, Cleo will be having her surgery on Saturday Oct. 18. She'll be in the doggie hospital for a day and a half. Bowie (our Boston Terrier) has promised to do his best to be a good nurse while Cleo is healing. Also, I'm getting older (it beats the option of not getting older!). I'm turning 38 on Sunday and plan to celebrate with some family. Cheers to all and please pass the spot remover...

Tim

Don't Put Your Electronics in the Washing Machine

While I was doing my laundry today I discovered my personalized flash drive in the dryer. It went through a wash cycle and a nice hot drying. Much to my surprise, I plugged it into my computer and it worked perfectly. The only noticeable difference was a nice clean exterior and an air of Downy freshness.

I'm doing well and have chemo this week. I have a vet appointment for Cleo for another consultation. I see my doctor next week. My final note for the night--I set up a Facebook account. It's totally cool and is much better than I expected. Really neat stuff.