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Sunday, August 29, 2010

RAZOR BLADES!

Quick post here-No idea why but eating has taken a nasty turn for the worse today. Had a real difficult time with brunch today-nothing more than a nice omelet with soft ingredients and my throat was on fire. Now dinner-WOW-WTF is going on as this is even worse. Nice soft poached Opakapaka but I feel like I am swallowing razor blades-I am this close to hitting up that bottle of liquid Vicodin I still have....I so don't want to get back into that vicous cycle but man this is bad. NOT HAPPY!

Friday, August 27, 2010

10 Weeks

We are at the 10 week mark here and actually had 2 minor scares this week to deal with that got the WTF meter going for a bit. I had an very odd episode last weekend where I woke up and found I was completely unable to swallow. Literally took a sip of water and found it immediately exiting my nose! YIKES! That certainly generated some concern but it soon passed and I was back to as normal as can be these days as there are always challenges swallowing but that was a bit much. Fortunately that episode has not occured since yet I primarily notice I still have throat pain about half way through a meal-regardless of the meal. Simply not up to full usage yet apparently.

The second thing that got me this week was an early morning call from the oncologist office informing me I need to come back in ASAP for "further blood work and tests" EXCUSE ME? WHY? I was there last week and not due till next month-what is wrong. As is standard it seems, the only thing the nurse can tell you is that the Doctor has requested this....i.e it stresses the sh*t out of you! So far all I have been able to confirm after I went in is that the vampires claim to be at fault as they apparently did not take sufficient blood from me last week to run the full chemistry of tests he needs. That allowed me to relax somewhat however, that means I actually did not get all the results yet either. Good news is the tests would be complete and reviewed by now and there have had no further calls to stress me out so keeping the positive attitude! Even made it to my buddy Bill's little French soiree Wednesday evening to de-stress from that scare and was able to find a few wines this time that the throat could handle. I'd like to officially blame him for facilitating the first hangover I've had in probably six months-Thanks Bill!

On a completely different tangent here, I received the nicest e-mail this week regarding this blog that got me thinking. I have been continually and pleasantly surprised over the months as to some of the feedback I get, not only for the comments themselves, but in who authored it as it is my measurement of how many of you actually read this. Outside of those registered, I have no other way of knowing where this has gone or who reads it when but I thank you for your support! Some of the commentary you send me is great and in return I am thrilled to hear how this is of benefit to you all as well. Not only has this and Facebook been a huge asset to me and my family as a tool to disseminate information, but I am amazed to hear how many of you actually find this to be a source of entertainment in the way in which I write this thing. Love to hear that as I know I write in more of a conversational format and that irks the hell out of my sister, the professional editor-HA take that Pam. On a more serious note however, I have also learned that there are some out there I have never met but this has been passed on to you as a means to help in what you may be going through as well. All I can say is I am glad and I thank you for keeping up with my trials and tribulations and if this proves to be helpful or of some entertainment value to you as well, we all will win.

Have a great weekend.

Friday, August 20, 2010

Still on the mend.

Didn't realize I passed the two month mark while I was in Oregon last week so as we actually finish what is the 1st week into the 3rd month of the recovery, we seem to be fairing pretty well. A few items to watch but all in all...... The improvements are more subtle than in previous weeks, but I still feel improvements nonetheless although am certainly not out of the woods just yet.

My fatigue has diminished as has my insomnia. My taste recognition continues to improve and I now seem to be able to eat and drink almost anything of my choosing. It is odd though as those factors seem to hold true at the beginning of a meal, but as I progress through I often loose flavor profiles and the throat will get irritated and sore preventing the desire and ability to finish most things. I have also noticed on occasion, the throat will get irritated and painful enough where it will effect my speech so that obvioulsy still needs more time. On top of that, I must say my salivary issues have continue to deteriorate and that is depressing me a bit. I mentioned my dry mouth issues on the trip and that continues now that I am home as well. I simply can not have a meal, a conversation of any length or work out without a constant supply of water. I am experimenting with numerous potions and such that I have picked up or a dentist friend has given me and hope we will find a suitable remedy.

From a professional standpoint, I did have my monthly follow up with my oncologist yesterday. All in all he continues to be pleased with my progress but is also anxious to be able to run a complete set of scans to actually validate this. October (yes October now) can't come soon enough in that regard. Also, although he may be pleased overall there are a few flags up that we do need to keep tabs on as there are a few potential issues. There is slight concern as to the aches and pains I have in the head, neck and shoulder area but as he could not see nor feel anything in his exam, is attributing it to the healing process and my working out again for now. He did caution however, that if it persists over the next two weeks, to come in as he will run some further tests by way of a CT. As far as my blood work, although my counts continue to improve over all, they are still somewhat low for some reason. Further, my platelet count has actually fallen quite a bit since last month and is back below the normal range. Again not to much of a concern to him so that a relief but something he needs to keep tabs on. Obviously that was not really what I was hoping for.

He is also telling me again that my weight needs to come up. I took the opportunity to point out I did actually bulk up from the featherweight 183 on my last visit to a husky 186. Personally I am rather liking being back down here at Punahou weight although it is hell on the wardrobe-that actually seems to be the consensus amongst most of you as well -LOL.

That about covers it for this week!

Tuesday, August 17, 2010

Da Plane...da plane!


I actually got on one (four) for a little escape off the Island if you can believe that! In that however, I see I have been remiss and neglected to update last week-Sorry! Meant to do it from the mainland and forgot but yes I said mainland. Ended up being able to make the wedding of my cousin Alex and his new bride Kim up in the Ashland/Medford area of Oregon. Even managed to swing through Vegas and try retrieve some of the monies I inadvertently left there on my last visit. Although unsuccessful in that lofty goal, the entirety of the trip was a success and much needed break from all that has transpired in 2010. I did have some pretty significant discomfort that I had to deal with as the dry air of the airplanes, the desert and the Northwest were killers on my nose, mouth and throat, but outside of that, managed to have a great whirlwind of a trip. Had some fun in Vegas - then up to Oregon, a place I've never been. Little rural for me but certainly pretty and most importantly, I was able to attend what was the first wedding in this family in almost 50 years and I think Alex really appreciated it. Was even able to enjoy a Sunday afternoon of wine tasting at some Southern Oregon wineries on the Rouge River. A few of the reds were difficult or not drinkable for me but all in all, I was pleasantly surprised and enjoed the entire experience! Found a few new wines too although most too small to find here in Hawaii. All in all, not bad progress I must admit and now to address the balance of the taste recovery, the dryness that is certainly related to some ongoing salivary gland issues I still hold hope are not permanent and now oddly enough, some muscle pain I was first attributing to getting back on a workout schedule and stressing dormant muscle tissue but not so sure now as given the body a break of almost a week to recover although it has not. Questions for the Doc on Thursday-more on that then

Friday, August 6, 2010

Freezing!

And that sums it up-always seem to be cold these days but then again, I have shed the winter coat haven't I? Odd as I was always the one that was hot and sweat quite a bit so interesting changes continue.

Speaking of change, guess we have progressed quite nicely as I am now being asked by one of my Doctors to take one of her new patients under my wing so to speak and talk to him in the hopes it can put things in perspective from a patient standpoint. Isn't that a switch! I was able to speak rather extensively with him earlier this week as he is where I was back in late January. SCARED and CONFUSED! You might recall I too was fortunate enough to be able to speak with Bruce early on who gave me some insight and perspective as well so more than happy to return the favor. I hope our conversation was as useful to him as mine was and hope this can be an experience that is as uneventful as possible. Wishing him the best-Good Luck William!

As far as my recovery and getting back to some semblance of normalcy, I am again happy to say we continue to show improvements on all fronts and the weekend is upon us. With Prima still on Kauai after last weeks race and the ensuing...umm...activities of fearless leaders Dee and Rick there is again no sailing tonight so heading out for sunset at the club and then to First Friday in Chinatown -my first venture out into that type of setting in quite some time, but Lisa is excited with a friend who just moved back to Hawaii joining us and the usual suspects certain to be out that we haven't seen in a bit. Oh and she wants to go dance. Figure I'll be good at our regular hangout, Du Vin, as not over the top crowded and a clientele in our demographics versus the rest of Chinatown-LOL-little leery on where she has in mind for the "dancing" portion as the entire area tends to be a bit of a zoo but we'll do our best.

We have also learned that at this juncture, wine still stings, beer is tolerable but not necessarily great so wouldn't you know it, my friend Jen convinced me to have a sip of her cocktail last week and surprisingly, it works! Believe it or not, as there is no acidity, no carbonation and possibly a slight anesthetic element....Ketel One on the rocks with a twist...ROCKS! In moderation of course, but we have the beverage for the eve!

Have a great weekend-Jeff out