here we go, part 2

Well, I promised my faithful readers I would update this more often than I have in the past, but a month has gone by and I'm way overdue for an update. The second cycle of chemo treatments that were scheduled for mid-June was postponed a week because of a low platelet count, and postponed another week due to low white cells. Those little buggers finally got themselves aligned with "normal" and I started the second cycle on Monday. That was an all-day deal, eight hours, followed by four hours today and four tomorrow.

So far, no nausea and no obvious (to me) impairment as a result, except having to get up every hour during the night and having to recover from Benadryl, which knocks me out for a couple of hours when the session starts. I still have my appetite, which is good. I lost a lot of weight last Fall when all this started and the idea of food didn't sound good to me. I think the loss of appetite was a psychological problem. For the first several weeks, I was in (but fighting) the "woe-is-me" mode, struggling to accept the fact I had cancer, the Big C, the death sentence, and then realizing that, no, it is treatable. A wonderful word, treatable. A life-saving word.

The oncology clinic is a wi-fi zone, and I can take my lap-top and my iPod Touch. I can also take my brand-new Kindle, a surprise gift from my in-laws, who decided I'd much rather take a Kindle that weighs mere ounces instead of a dozen or more heavy books to read when I go into captivity - I mean, the hospital - in August. It was a wonderful gift. I have wonderful in-laws. I've mailed them old-fashioned written thank-you notes stuffed with photos of our three grandkids.

So now I'll have a couple of weeks to recuperate, and in mid-July I'll go to Moffitt Cancer Hospital in Tampa for three days of testing of my vital organs. Barring any ugly surprises, I'll enter Moffitt in mid-August.

And I promise to keep you up to date more often than I have.