I'm not bald, I'm just built for speed

Hello!!

It has been some time since I have updated this blog, but this is mostly due to be consumed with sitting around trying to put on some weight in preparation for the commencement of round three.

I can safely say that  I was successful in my weight retention strategy.  It's amazing what banana cream pie 3 times a day will do for a guy.

I once again find myself a resident of East 8.  I officially started Round three of my chemotherapy regimen yesterday.  They don't waste any time with getting started.  I've been here for just over a day, and I think I've seen 4 doctors 6 nurses, and have had 4 different drugs that are hard to pronounce.  Over the past 5 days, I think I've completed almost every test that could possibly tell us anything, and I'm happy to say that so far, none of those tests have come back with results that make me uncomfortable.

Things seem to be progressing according to plan.

Notes on Immune Systems and ineffective forms of Hand Washing

I'm sure everyone is familiar with the old cliche "you don't know what you have until it's gone"?  Never has the cliche been more true then with a guy that doesn't have an immune system.  Even with past experience of being imuno-compromised, I've always taken my immune system for granted.

I've always been the guy who would throw caution to the wind and eat at the sketchy buffet place because I had a 2 for 1 coupon.  I had pretty good faith in my body's ability to fight off whatever interesting organisms that I might have picked up.  I've always liked the idea of my body having these little mini microbial battles that ultimately made me stronger.

Interestingly, I think generally these little microbial battles have been solidly one sided.  I like to think of my immune system generally consisting of an entire battalion of US Special forces pitted against a group of mongol raiders from the 13th century.  Sure, the mongols would probably be terrifying warriors, but really, compared to an Abrams A1, I don't think we'd have much to worry about.  Occasionally, I might have had some skirmishes where my immune system took some time to adjust and conquer, but generally the sickest I've been in the past 9 years was a couple mild colds, and maybe some random stomach bugs.
One of the less then stellar things about cancer, is that it takes your immune system and downgrades everything from US Special Forces Status, to a bunch of guys with BB guns shooting from the hills.

Funny to think that it took me getting cancer twice to figure this out, but needless to say, this time around I have been a lot more militant about hygiene  and germ control.  When all you have in your immune system is a bunch of over-matched pea shooters, sometimes the best policy is retreat.
Natalie has been particularly astute, she has strategically placed hand sanitizers and soaps in various locations throughout the house, and very subtly reminds me to wash my hands.

I love kids, and am especially fond of my own, but that doesn't stop me from knowing that kids are walking, talking, mess making, germ factories.  Natalie and I have been really eager to work with Brad and Lucy to get them to understand the importance of germ control.  They have generally taken these types of jobs/lessons pretty seriously.  When I was still in the hospital, we had Lucy pretty well trained as a personal exercise motivator.  First thing she would do when she saw me was to say in a pretty dictatorial tone, "Dad, we need you to walk, We want you to walk!"  Hard to say no to a cute 4 year old who is acting like your own personal drill sergeant.

We've had some good discussions about germs, and hand washing, and about why it's very important right now to make sure that we wash our hands.

Natalie and I were having a conversation in our hallway right outside the bathroom.  2 minutes previous to this, we had asked Lucy to go in and wash her hands.  As we were talking we could hear Lucy go into the bathroom.  She's pretty quite until we hear her say, "WHOOOOOOOOOSH" , doing a pretty good impression of the sound the sink makes.  At no point does the faucet actually come on.
I look at Natalie, Natalie looks at me.  Did I daughter just pretend to wash her hands by making sink noises with her mouth?
She opens the door and looks at us innocently.

Us:  "did you wash your hands"
Lucy:  "Yeah"
Us:  "are you sure?"
Lucy: "Yeah"
Us: "let me smell your hands"
Lucy: "OK I'll wash them again" *smiling sheepishly

First, did my sweet little girl really just pretend to wash her hand by making a whooshing noise?  Second, did she really have the audacity to double down on the fib?  Wow.

We will, needless to say, be having some additional discussions on actual hand washing, as well as some conversations on honesty.

I suppose that was kind of a convoluted story to get to the news that I heard back from the lab, and it appears that I HAVE AN IMMUNE SYSTEM AGAIN!!  My most recent course of chemo ended about a week ago, The chemo did a spectacular job killing off the majority of the fast growing cells that compose our immune systems (the hope is that the chemo is also killing off the fast growing cancer cells), and for the past week I've had a pretty low white blood cell count.

I was told yesterday that my white cell count was within normally accepted ranges.

For me, right now, I'll take pretty much anything within normal.

I'm probably not going to go out and enjoy my favorite taco cart any time soon, and I'll probably be pretty militant about hand washing and coming into contact with obviously sick individuals, but I hope that at least for a few days, I'll be able to have a little more face to face interaction.

Getting closer to normal.

Just Finished my First Marathon!!

Not really,

but I did manage to put on pants today.

I thought a Marathon sounded more impressive.  I'm getting to the point in my treatment where I start to realize why no one really wants to get cancer.  I mean, the fashion is pretty cool, and it's a very effective way to lose weight, and, let's be honest, how can you not like the hairdo?, but man, the chemo thing really is a kick in the pants.

For those of you keeping score at home, I finished up the chemo portion of round 2 last Saturday.  I so far have been Hurl-Free for more than 2 weeks, so I am either getting better at gauging my nausea, or, Natalie is getting better at making me take my meds.  I still assert that I have some pretty impressive vomiting skills.  I haven't tested this, but I'm guessing I could hit a pink hospital basin with pretty good accuracy from at least 3 feet.  I am guessing that Natalie would be reluctant to test me in this experiment, so we will likely never know for sure.

I came home on Saturday night, and I have been enjoying some nice time away from all my friends on east 8.  Prior to departure we had a very..... nice isn't really the word.... how about.... thorough discussion with the doctor leading my team of physicians.  
I continue to provide a source of consternation for some of them.  As scientists, I suspect that doctors really like being able to quantify and classify things into little boxes.  I'm just unique enough that I'm frustrating their attempts at classification. I'm slowly working towards  acceptance that there is likely a pretty low likelihood that I will ever get any sort of satisfactory answer as to why I got to deal with this not just once, but twice!  I think I'm almost there.

If all goes according to plan, I'll be able to be out of the Hospital until the end of this month.  I get to do a bunch of really awesome tests (awesome meaning scientifically amazing, and impressive that we have the capability to do said tests, not to be confused with pleasant, or in any way something that I actually would choose to do).  Assuming those tests show what I think they will show, I'll proceed with round three of my CODOX w-Rituxan course of treatment towards the end of the month. 

Cancer chic

I am officially once again a resident of East 8.  This time I was upgraded to the presidential suite, cause I'm such a big deal. 

I tried my hand earlier today at modelling the latest in cancer apparel.  I don't know if modelling is in my future.  I know that tyra banks is always talking about being "fierce".  Hard to look fierce wearing a silky yellow kimono thing.

In any event my new digs are at e852.  I'm told that if I behave, there might be a chance to go home by Saturday.  Let's shoot for that. 

Bald is Beautiful

So I got to go to church today!  It's been a pretty long time since I've had to put on a tie for any reason, so feeling good enough to go to church was a big deal.

I was pretty emotional.  It was nice to see a so many of the people who have provided so much love and support.

I was kind of confused when Natalie received a nebulous phone call from one of the brothers in the ward, asking "to stop by for a few minutes."

Imagine my surprise when a bunch of handsome guys with bald heads start showing up at my house.

I'm lucky to have great people in my life.

I thought this was funny

This post brought to you by Handerpants.

I've received some pretty sweet presents over the past few weeks.   My brother Matt decided that the one fashion accessory that ever self respecting cancer patient needs was Handerpants.  The box advertises "literally hundreds of uses"  I'm especially fond of using them while "night blogging"  I know there must dozens of people in the world who wonder how they ever survived without handerpants.

Combine my sweet Handerpants, with the awesome viking helmet my Aunt Sharron was able to make for me, and I've got some fashion style that is probably so incredibly ill advised,  it's a good thing they don't let me out much.

On the cancer battle front, things continue onward and upward.  I had some labs done yesterday that suggests my immune system is in great shape for round two.  I get to enjoy a few more day's respite before once again checking into what I like to think of a very exclusive health spa.   Once again the crystal ball begins to look cloudy after more than a few days.  I expect that I will be in the hospital for at least a week or two, and then hopefully I can catch another little break of life on the outside.  

Doctors seem to have a pretty amazing talent for the non-committal committal.  Can't seem to nail them down on anything since everything depends on everything else.  

I'm pleased that I feel so well, and that I feel like I'm starting round two from a really nice health baseline.  This cancer is going to be way better than the last cancer.