Thanksgiving Update

First, let me be the first to wish you all a Happy Thanksgiving. Many of us get so wrapped up in our lives, and the sheer commercialism of this time of year, that I think it is wise that we all sit back and reflect on the true meaning of this Holiday.

And what is Thanksgiving about? For me it is a time to remember all the blessings and benefits that we all have in our lives. A time to share those thanks, and whatever else I can, with family and friends. Some of us have more, some of us have less, but we all have something to share and to be thankful for. For myself, I am mainly just thankful for the fact that I am alive and relatively healthy, and that I am blessed with one of the best family's around. Both blood and "adopted". I truly could not be going through this so easily without the support of all. Thank you.

Now, on to the update stuff. Today I went to see the Onc, and to get another infusion of the "Bone Juice". My doc--and the whole team--are quite happy with my current situation. The current plan is to resume the chemo on next Tuesday, and after the cycle is over to run a complete battery of tests. So sometime in early January I will have another set of Brain and Spine MRI's, as well as the neck to nuts CT. After the tests are done I will be off to RWC and Stanford for my follow up appointments for the Craniotomy and CyberKnife. Also, after the tests I will be scheduled for the removal of my primary tumor. Yep, time for the Radical Nephrectomy (Kidney removal)! Seems kinda odd to be excited about another surgery, but I like the idea of treatment progressing. The only drawback is that I will have to be off work again for a few weeks. Ah well, I don't know anyone who died of boredom; so I doubt that I will.

Hopefully the next few days will not be as rough as after the last bone juice infusion; but what will be, will be. The Onc team all had some ideas to try out, so I am hopefully applying their suggestions.

Turkey day should be pretty quiet; we have some friends and my brother bringing food and spending the day with us, so that will be a big help. Of course, stubborn cuss that I am, I insisted on cooking the turkey, stuffing, and gravy. So, come hell or high water, that is what I will do. Besides, I did most of it today. All that is left is plopping the bird on the barbeque or into the oven...

Last of all, I have a special request. A good friend of mine--he stood with me when few would--recently underwent surgery and the pathology report came back this week. Turns out the two of us have another thing in common; we both have Renal Cell Carcinoma. His prognosis is rather better than mine--thank God they found it relatively early. Anyway, I am sure that he and his wife and kids would benefit from your prayers as much as me and mine have, so please remember him.

Thanks again to all of you; and remember that Thanksgiving is about sharing your bounty and being thankful for what you have. Sometimes a hard thing to do, and this year has been harder than most, but I am positive that we all have at least one thing to be thankful for. For myself, many more that one.

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Catching Up With Reality

OK, I have to send out an apology to a bunch of people. Evidently some people worry about me, and when I don't post here they email my family to find out what is going on...

Sorry all. I let myself get so caught up in returning to work that I forgot about everything else.

Things are going pretty well with this cycle of the Sutent. Amazingly enough, it seems that Benadryl is quite effective at staving off the side effects. Since day one of this cycle I have been taking 50mg of benadryl in the morning and at nighht. For me this dosage causes no problems, but it has sure kept the side effects down.

I am currently ending week four of this Sutent cycle, and I only just experienced the metallic taste side effect on monday. As for the funky oral swellings, they have not arisen this time around. All in all, this has been a good cycle.

Let's see, catching up on the rest of things...you have no idea how good it feels to be working. Of course, it probably helps that people seem downright ecstatic to see me, but the personal satisfaction of doing something to earn a buck really helps the old self esteem.

I finally finished all the dental work and started the pamidronate infusions. Boy, do those make you feel like crap. I basically get to write off 2 or 3 days after every infusion. Luckily they are every 4 weeks, so it is not too bad. As long as it keeps me from having pathologic fractures it will be worth it...

***WARNING: POLITICS SPOILER***
The craziness of this state's and country's electorate never ceases to amaze me. Millions of people get caught up in a movement to effect "change". So they all march like lemmings to the sea (in this case the promised land--as interpreted by Obama and Soros), They vote that chickens deserve what are basically an extension of HUMAN rights to the animal kingdom (what ever happened to being fruitful, multiplying and having dominion?); while at the same time they reject a similar dubious extension of "human rights" to fellow humans. Go figure.

Well, the majority of the public has spoken, and they deserve what they will get. As for the rest of us, BOHICA.

As one of my favorite authors says, "Despair is a sin. And bad tactics".
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