today

Maggie was in Indiana last evening, trying to get into Ohio before stopping. In any case, she'll be here today, or maybe tonight. Trip continues to go well. Sure be nice to see her again! (BTW, "here" is central PA.)

I'm not well, but better. This chemo is bad news, but it's keeping that gorilla from doing me in, so I guess that's a good thing. This is for sure the worst post chemo I've had. It may be due to the enzyme I restarted. I looked at the data sheet yesterday, the enzyme reaction follows the same pathway as a typical lab hydrolysis- splits the triglyceride to fatty acid and glycerol. Why glycerol or fatty acid gave me the symptoms I have is beyond me. Right now I have no gastric distress at all. I just feel lethargic and sick all the time. I'm slowly adding foods back into the diet. Yesterday I had eggs for breakfast and grilled chicken for dinner. I'm being very careful with fat and oil, since I suspect that caused the problem with the enzyme. Life goes on.

Cubs finished their collapse. They really looked lame- bad pitching, lots of errors, no hitting. Looks to me like they were pressing instead of relaxing and playing baseball. They certainly didn't look like the team with the best record in the league. They haven't won a post season game since the infamous Steve Bartman- Moses Alou incident in Wrigley.

SOON

Maggie was in the vicinity of Tulsa last evening. She was tryng to make Joplin before stopping. She was happy and cheerful; it's going well.

I am coming out of the colic. Now I have to start eating again. I'm also in the post-chemo sicky feeling, where nothing feels good.

colic

The gorilla won a battle last night. I spent the night with a world-class case of colic. I had severe gas from both ends at once. On one end, it felt like I was going to barf, but only lots of gas. On the other end the same sort of thing- felt like I was going to poop, but only lots of gas. This all made for lots of quick trips to the bathroom. Lots of fartin' and burpin'!

I think it was caused by the enzyme I started taking again. It's breaking down the fats and then they have to digest, which is something my bod is not used to doing. I had some beef patties for dinner, there's lots of fat in those. I feel a little better this morning, but kind of wiped out from being up most of the night. I've got to run down to Danville again to get the post-chemo shot too.

The cold sensitivity is worse than it's ever been. Even drinking a little water to wash down meds hurts my lips. Same with the pain in my jaw joints- wore it's ever been. These are side effects I've had before, but they are getting worse. One of the doctors told me the side effects are cumulative. I guess I agree.

Maggie

Maggie called at about 7:15 (EST) and was in the vicinity of Tucumcari NM. She sounds fine and says everything is OK.

I, on the other hand, am suffering from early and severe side effects from the chemo. Ugh.

chemo

Just got back from Geisinger Medical Center. J the PA says I'm fine, continue to be stable. After the next cycle of chemo they will want to do another CT scan.

My stool is very greasy (you don't want to know how I determined this) so I'm back on the enzyme Dr S prescribed back in early Spring.

She doesn't know what to do about diarrhea. She suggested I try Imodium. Part of the problem is the best anti-diarrhea is the oxy I'm already taking, and it's not doing much good that I can see.

Basically status vis a vis the 800 lb gorilla remains quo. Not bad, considering the alternatives.

Flagstaff

Maggie told her sister she was planning on stopping in Flagstaff overnight. I talked to her at about 6:30 EST and she was in Kingman at that time. She said it's all going well, except for the heat. No AC in that Jeep.

I'm off for my every 3 week chemo treatment in a few minutes. This includes a consultation with the medical people. I'll blog again later today, if I have a chance, and pass on what they tell me.

Later!

road

For those of you who are interested in Maggie's progress, she was planning on leaving LA at sunset yesterday, after the heat of the day. I don't know when she stopped for the night either. So I presume she's out of LA somewhere to the east.

All quiet here in the EF. Cloudy, a little chilly, rain last night but nothing now. Tomorrow is my next chemo treatment, which is a real drag. Beats the alternative, I guess. But my quality of life is not ideal. I need to go in to town today to get goodies for Maggie's arrival, whenever that may be. The plan is steak and cake, with margaritas on the side. Slay the fatted calf- the prodigal returns!

I did walk a mile and a quarter yesterday, and had a few leg cramps last night, so I guess that's enough for a while. I'll do 1.25 until I'm comfortable doing it, then escalate.