Wow... What a difference blood makes...

Well yesterday afternoon I received 2 units of blood, and today I feel like a whole new person. I have some energy, feel alert, don't quite feel good enough to run a marathon, but a few laps of the 5th floor are definitely in my future. Things seem to be going very well and doctors are really well. My blood seems to be clotting normally which in turn indicates a very low amount of leukemic cells.

It really seems that this week is the one where I start to get stir crazy. There really is nothing to do but wait for my body to respond. No more counting down procedures. No more anticipating the next chemo treatment. This is really the first morning where I am actually thinking of what life is on the outside of my fifth floor penitentiary. Could that be in future soon?

The roller coaster continues...

In terms of energy, yesterday was awesome... I felt great... today is another story. When the nurse came in at shift change to check up on me, she was stunned that I was still asleep. Normally, I would've been up and about and ready for my day... today... not so much... Simply sitting in my chair and thinking of what to write is pretty exhausting...

Later today, I will be getting my first blood transfusion, which really should help with the fatigue a bunch. So who knows... in a few hours I might be ready to run a few laps of the 5th floor :)

Things are right on track...

Yesterday was a bit tough when it comes to the fatigue... I was definitely pretty out of it for most of the day. Appetite seems to be really good for chemo standards. The one thing is that is really interesting is that it really does dull the tastes buds (which doesnt help the dull hospital food) luckily i have awesome friends that are always willing to smuggle me in some food from the outside world.

The doctor came in yesterday just to chat and talk about how things were progressing... and the news is very good... I am right on track.... My white blood cell count are dropping as we want them too and all other factors that they are looking at right where you would expect them to be for this time in treatment.

I just everyone to know that sometimes it might seem that I am bit down, nothing could be further from the truth. My optimism just might have a little bit of trouble showing through the waves of fatigue that I go through. Thank you so much for all the positive thoughts messages, and emails! I know I haven't responded to all of them. But I promise you that I read all of them, and they all warm my heart :) I will get back to all of them! I promise :)

Over the last few days I have been fantasizing about an Office Space type demolition of this IV stand and pumps that have followed me around for the past week... I will plot my revenge for your tubes tangling, power cord tripping, useless battery, endless beeping, constant whirring... I will have the last word in this, but in the mean time thanks for helping me beat cancer :)

Last day of chemo on deck!

Well this is it for this round... I get my last dose of chemo for a few weeks later today... Honestly though, considering how I have been tolerating it seems a bit anticlimactic. They are gonna come in here at around 3 and hang a bag of sweet and sour sauce looking stuff... It's gonna work its way into my vein and then go on with the rest of my day... The thing is with this stuff is that is the cumulative effect. My blood counts are dropping (Yay!). Most likely they are gonna give me a blood transfusion tomorrow to compensate for my falling red blood cell counts...

Yesterday was really really cool. Victor came by and spent pretty much all day hanging out until his wife picked him up after work and made him go home. I really did have that sorta flashback to times when you were a kid and you got dropped off at your friends house and picked up later in the day... :) although we never get around to stomping in a creek yesterday. Maybe we will get around to it today when he swings by.

In the evening Han and Linda came by to watch the caps dominate the penguins using the sling box Han installed the night before... Elaine and her booooooooooooooooyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyffffffffffrrrrrrrriiiiiiiiiiiiieeeeeennnnnnnddddddddddd came by and gave me this awesome model BMW M3 :) Funny how the car world and cancer world are intertwined :)

One Week....

Funny, I just realized today is Thursday. I have been now in the hospital now a whole week. I mean i cant really say that this week has flown by, but it for sure hasn't dragged on, thanks to the constant stream of visitors that come by.

Right now I really do consider myself really really lucky. I don't seem to have any of the legendary side effects that you hear about with chemo -no nausea, no hair loss (actually my hair seems to have a very nice sheen to it with help from all the fluids they are giving me).

The thing what is really stunning is how much fatigue sets in from the chemo. You just feel like you are functioning in slow motion all day... I was watching an episode of Scrubs on Hulu yesterday, and it really did feel like it was taxing my brain.

There seems to be a bit of a pattern to this for me. The full effect of the chemo dose doesn't seem to hit me until 36 hrs after I receive it.

Just thought I would share a funny Ching story again. He happened to be there as I needed to get blood drawn. Since i have central line this is nothing... no needles no stabbing... just pretty much just suck the blood out of my arm like a vampire and we are done. Ching again started squirming in his seat looking pale and counting holes in the ceiling tiles... My nurse Stephanie looks over at him, and asks him if he is ok, and if he needs anything? Ching... get it together.... :)

Plugging along....

Really that is all that there is to do right now... I get my third dose of the chemo later today, which I seem to be super lucky to tolerate fairly well. I might be in for one more dose on Friday, it all depends on what my values look like.

Yesterday was the first day I actually crawled into bed during the day. I have been stubbornly staying away from it during the daytime, in an effort to keep as 'normal' a schedule as possible.

Along with my folks who came by earlier in the afternoon Becky and Jennifer dropped by this evening after work, which really helped to break up the day.

It really is amazing how things really start to slow down for you as the treatment works its magic. I really does take some mental Jujitsu to convince yourself that the worse you are feeling the better you are getting :)

Well thats all I have got on deck for now... but i am never far away from my laptop :)

Ah yes... here comes the first wall...

As soon as I got up yesterday morning, I could tell today was gonna be different. And from what I guessing the next few days are gonna be more of the same. Yesterday morning was the first time i really felt the chemo starting to kick in. I had no energy, sort of felt like i was in that morning fog you have every morning, but this one doesn't seem to want to go away with a cup of starbucks that my mom smuggles in for me. The other thing, is that my appetite is totally gone. Not much seems appetizing anymore.

It kind of seems like yesterday was a transition day. During my first few days post diagnosis, I honestly seemed somewhat high, my brain was pumping out endorphins, like no ones business, prepping me for what is ahead. This really seems like an amazing thing. By doing this, it really seemed to have short-circuited any real feelings of fear and anxiety. I could easily imagine such stunning diagnosis be so daunting and intimidating that without this flood of endorphines you could be easily feel overwhelmed by the road that is ahead of you. It is pretty clear that I am now prepping for a long haul here. Sorry guys, as sports fan i feel an irresistable urge to insert a sports cliche here... This a marathon not a sprint.

Jacques and Elodie were my first visitors of the day. It was really great to see them. Jacques walks into the room and proudly pulls off his hat to show me his newly shaved head. Grinning from ear to ear, I had to inform that the doctors do not expect me to lose my hair (I might lose some, but since I still seem to have plenty that shouldn't be a problem -knock on wood). Jacques I totally love the gesture, and it brings a huge smile to my face just thinking about it :)

My parents came by shortly after, bringing me more news from my family back in Europe calling and and checking up on me. Elaine, Tina, Eric and April came by and brought me and awesome cork board, and some funny pictures. Between the four of them they couldn't find a way to hang it up, we will cross that bridge later :).

Annick came by and brought a ton of books and game of Presidential Scrabble, took me a while to realize this, but what she was really doing is bringing me a game where she could kick my ass in -way to go Annick, way to pad your ego on beating up on a cancer patient :).

Bill, Ching, and Fed showed up later in the evening and we spent a few hours just chatting and laughing.

And somewhere in between that whole day, I received my second dose of chemo. It really is amazing how that really isn't the biggest thing happened to me yesterday.... Thanks guys! I love you all!