CANCER CHRONICLES PART 2

I'm getting a number of inquiries (thank you all) about the progress, so I guess I'm overdue for updating this blog. Treatments are over! Last chemo was Feb 13, and the last radiation was Feb 29. I'm happy to be rid of them both. I took a selection of my favorite bakery's pastries to the radiation techs on the last day. They seemed quite touched. Guess their patients generally just disappear after they're done. They were a good bunch, however, and made those 35 minute sessions (every day) as tolerable as humanly possible, and I'm grateful for their good care. I got turned on to some new music by one of the techs, who went so far as to burn me some CDs of his favorites. Pink Martini, anyone? My neck was an ugly mess after the radiation, and I walked around with my collar turned up or with something wrapped around it, both so as to avoid stares and to avoid getting any sun on it. Happy to say that it went through the usual ghastly peeling process, with baby-smooth new skin to replace the old. It's all healed now, except for some minor stuff around the edges, which will fade. A paradox of the radiation is that the throat continues to get worse for the first ten to fourteen days after the last treatment. Zowie. Like having multiple icepicks jabbed into you with each swallow. I'd been on a liquids-only diet for a while before that, and I sure stayed on it for those additional two weeks. Finely blended soups, shakes, etc. Even with those, I lost about 14 pounds. Yikes. William Powell had nothing on me, brother. I'm walking around with rocks in my pockets to keep from being blown away. In mid-March, I tried my first solid food -- mac 'n cheese. Couldn't taste it , but at least it went down without killing me. The tide has turned on the throat pain, and it's been steadily diminishing since then. Down to your basic cold's sore-throat, with a hot spot where, I hope, the tumor is dying. I really want to get to work on the taste buds. Went to a birthday party which featured a fabulous (so I'm told) flourless chocolate cake that had everyone's eyes rolling. Me? Nada. The texture was great, but not a hint of sweetness or chocolate. Bummer. I never did lose all my hair. In fact, from the front and sides, I look about the same (despite the gaunt face); it's only from the back that you can see the fallout. The reverse mullet look, but with Loni's careful trimming it simply looks like an aggressive military cut.

We got the RV out of storage and headed up the coast. Two days at Jalama Beach (see sunset at left; click to enlarge; that's the rig's license plate glowing at the bottom right), four at Morro Bay, and two at Lake Cachuma on the way home. Had an excellent time. Even got the bikes out for the first time in months and promptly got a flat. Guess I'll stick to walking. Here we are at Montano de Oro Park, just south of Morro. Those pocket rocks came in handy as it was windy.

So, what now? On May 6, I go in for a series of CT scans to see what happened as a result of the treatments. I've got a meeting on May 8 with my medical oncologist, who presumably will have the scan results by then. If I'm "clear" (remission), then I'll go on my merry way with periodic follow-ups. If not, well . . . . . let's not go there. So, if you have a couple of spare fingers around those dates, give them a cross and me a thought. I will follow up with the results, whatever they may be.

We're off to Indianapolis next week for my Mom's 85th. She's been in good health up to now, but she recently had a sky-high blood pressure spike and collapsed at the supermarket. She's had every test imaginable (which is good, since she hadn't seen a doctor in 15 years) and they still don't know what caused it. She seems to be back to normal and is ready to be stuffed with cake. With that, I'll end this with thanks to so many of you for the kind words and thoughts you've given me over the last few months. 45th reunion in Motown this July? How about the 27th? Best regards, Jon.