Begin again…
You know it’s a sign you’ve been at a hospital too long when the technicians recognize you. I went for my re-staging CT scan today and the technician looked at me and said, “You were just in here a little bit ago, weren’t you?” I explained that I had had my surgery to remove the tumor and that this CT was going to serve as the new baseline for evaluating future progress / treatment. I have to say, they have not improved the taste of barium in the last 6 weeks, either. Ugh! And, thus, we begin again the treatment of my cancer. Chemotherapy with Gemcitabine begins next week.
This evening I took my kids to karate and actually put on the uniform and helped out on the mat. I continue to be honored at the number of people expressing well wishes to me and welcoming me back after my absence. It means a lot when parents come up to me and tell me how much THEY miss me on the mat. Several students told me they were glad I was back, too; which was all the more moving.
Lots of fundraising opportunities coming up in the next couple of months. The point of all of these activities is to raise money to support pancreatic cancer research and to provide services to people affected by pancreatic cancer. I’ve mentioned one of the activities already (my participation in the Atlanta Purple Stride event in November). Please feel free to go to my Atlanta Stride webpage and join my team (come out and walk with me and my family) or consider donating. Thank you to those who have already done so.
More about other fundraising stuff in the near future.
Merle
Glad to hear from you on the blog the other day. You looked great for only 3 weeks out. I also was glad to hear you listened to your body after a busy day. For what it is worth everything new related to the cancer has one common effect…fatigue. You will find it will just hit you like a wall. That’s not bad, just a fact. I found the cumulative fatigue factor with the gemzar to be progressive. I wish you well for the next few weeks cuz it seems six weeks is the critical time for us Maytag repair people. (remember Mr. Whipple). I read thru a lot of your blog and was very happy to read about the level of support you have around you. That is like the gift that keeps on giving. I would love to get your email address to keep in touch. Mine is rpc.coop@gmail.com. By the way I had my first major scan yesterday and got the results today. I am clean. In the words of that famous big round white tablet man “Plop, plot, fiz, fiz oh what a relief it is.
Sometimes we meet our best friends at the hospital.