Friday, March 14th Update

I completed the third round of Chemo yesterday.  It went well, but today I am feeling a little under the weather, very tired and a sore stomach.  I think maybe the shot I got yesterday to boost my white blood cell counts up is getting to me a little.  Anyway, the Chemotherapy doesn't seem to affect me to bad. 

 It's kind of fun to visit and build relationships with other patients athe Chemo center.  Tuesday I met John.  He is about 65 years old, has Lymphoma,and is just about done with his treatments. He is close to being cancer free.  He told me last week he took his grand kids ice fishing at Causey reservoir.  Come to find out he loves to fish!, so we had lots to talk about and plenty of pictures to show each other for a couple hours.  He lives in Ogden but grew up on the Oregon coast near the Mckenzie river. He still has family up in Oregon and spends 2-3 months a year up there fishing the rivers for steelhead and salmon.  He has 2 boats he keeps up there, and a boat he keeps here in Ogden. He wants to figure out how to fish Flaming gorge, and has been frustrated with the times he has gone there and not been able to catch fish.  So we made a deal to help each other.  We exchanged information and hopefully can hook up with each other this year.

It's now Friday morning.  Yesterday I visited a nutritionist/herbalogist with a friend of mine.  For many weeks now I have thought that there is a lot I can do to improve my diet and eat better, to increase the potential of the results to beat this cancer.  We worked up a program and am committed to change many of my eating habits. Sorry Jeff, no more Golden Arches.  (My son Jeff manages a Mcdonalds)

Today has been pretty rough so far.  I didn't sleep good last night, and am very tired today.  So I decided not to go to work and stay home and take it easy.  I need to go to the clinic and get another shot to boost my white blood cell production, and will do that soon.

Again, thanks for all your thoughts, prayers, and concerns for me.  I feel strength from all of you. Later

C-T Scan

It's afternoon Monday, about half-way through today's Chemo session.  This morning Dr. Johnson

(Oncologist) reviewed the CT scan with Susan and I. The results are somewhat encouraging.  The growth of the tumors have slowed down, and there is dead cancerous tissue in the tumors. So the Chemo-therapy is working on attacking the cancer tumors.  The Chemo-therapy treatments will continue for About 4-6 months more.  

A major concern is the blood lab results showed a very low level of white blood cell counts, so Dr. Johnson advised me to be careful not to be around sick people, especially little children and large groups of people.  He suggested I do whatever I can do to keep my energy level up, and to get more rest.  After this round of chemo, I am scheduled to get 5 shots, ( 1 each day for 5 days) to stimulate my bone marrow to produce more white blood cells.

Overall, Dr. Johnson is positive about things.  He says it's unusual that I don't show more signs of side effects. He usually schedules the follow-up CT scan after the 3rd or 4th cycles of chemo, not the 2nd.

I guess I pressured him to do it sooner then normal.  He feels the next couple rounds of chemo will show a more progressive change on he tumors than the first 2 rounds showed on the scan.

I will follow-up with another entry after this chemo session on Thursday to let you know how things are going. I appreciate everyone's concern and support through this ordeal. 

Happy B-Day Dad

Happy Birthday Dad! 83 today.

Nothing new or extra ordinary to report from last entry last week.  Had a great lunch Thursday with

Good friends, Mike, Bob, Sherm, and Brent.  It's amazing how our personal characteristicts stay the same throughout our lives!

I actually went and played nine holes of golf with Dallas, #4 son yesterday.  Had a good time, didn't

Get very tired, (we rode a cart) and played pretty well, once I figured out 15 yards more club is needed on every shot.

It is now Monday morning.

Today is a big day.  Friday was C-T scan day. This morning at 8:30 I have a consultation with the Oncologist to determine how well the treatments are working so far. Plus I start the next round of

chemo today.  My plan is to update you all during chemo today.  So I will post another entry in about 5 hours. 

The New 'do...

For many people loosing their hair while undergoing cancer treatment is a major deal. 

 For others it was always in the cards and the treatment just sped it along.

He does look like Dave kind of...