Friday, August 29, 2008
Out of the Mouths of Babes...
I just tried to explain the concept of Vice-President to my six year old son. His take on the whole conversation and concept: "So, basically, she gets to be his side kick."
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End of the First Round
It has been quite a day. I took the last dose of the first cycle of Sutent this morning. Now I get to look forward to the gradual decrease of the side effects and about 10 days being able to eat. I intend to gorge myself.
I had pretty much resigned myself to watching a boring Presidential race, with two teams of Senators--none of whom have any sort of Executive experience--trying to out do each other. Boy was I wrong! Saw the speech by Sarah Palin this am. She Rocks! I have a feeling that she will upset many apple carts before this is all over... At least now there will be someone who actually has done things, rather than telling others how to do things!
Did anyone catch the immediate response by the Obama crowd? “Today, John McCain put the former mayor of a town of 9,000 with zero foreign policy experience a heartbeat away from the presidency.” Last I looked, the only way she could be put a "heartbeat" away from the Presidency would be for McCain to be the President, not just a candidate. So, does that mean that the Obama campaign has conceeded defeat? Or, that they just can not write using proper english...
I also find it interesting that their first response makes it seem that towns of 9,000 do not count for anything. Last time I looked there were more small towns in america than large towns. Careful whom you insult Barack, your words may come back to bite you!
As for the foreign policy experience, let's see. So far we have 3 Senators--they get to vote on treaties, not make treaties. Their committees get to vote on appropriations, not decide the policies and priorities that determine the appropriation requests. Let's see, that primarily makes their experience that of saying "Yes" or "No" to other people's decisions on both foreign AND domestic policy. On the other hand, we have the Governor of the one state in the Union whose only land border is with a foreign country. One of only two states in the union that shares no borders with the "Lower 48". Seems to me that Sarah potentially has more experience dealing with foreign nations--especially on matters of trade and energy policy--than all three of the other candidates combined!
On to other news of the day. The mouth is much better today, no Benadryl since last noc and it is still getting better. The work gang sent me a "bouquet" of balloons congratulating me on completing the first round of the Sutent (THANKS Guys!). We are looking forward to going to Penn Valley this weekend for our nephew's birthday.
Enjoy the holiday.
Read more!
I had pretty much resigned myself to watching a boring Presidential race, with two teams of Senators--none of whom have any sort of Executive experience--trying to out do each other. Boy was I wrong! Saw the speech by Sarah Palin this am. She Rocks! I have a feeling that she will upset many apple carts before this is all over... At least now there will be someone who actually has done things, rather than telling others how to do things!
Did anyone catch the immediate response by the Obama crowd? “Today, John McCain put the former mayor of a town of 9,000 with zero foreign policy experience a heartbeat away from the presidency.” Last I looked, the only way she could be put a "heartbeat" away from the Presidency would be for McCain to be the President, not just a candidate. So, does that mean that the Obama campaign has conceeded defeat? Or, that they just can not write using proper english...
I also find it interesting that their first response makes it seem that towns of 9,000 do not count for anything. Last time I looked there were more small towns in america than large towns. Careful whom you insult Barack, your words may come back to bite you!
As for the foreign policy experience, let's see. So far we have 3 Senators--they get to vote on treaties, not make treaties. Their committees get to vote on appropriations, not decide the policies and priorities that determine the appropriation requests. Let's see, that primarily makes their experience that of saying "Yes" or "No" to other people's decisions on both foreign AND domestic policy. On the other hand, we have the Governor of the one state in the Union whose only land border is with a foreign country. One of only two states in the union that shares no borders with the "Lower 48". Seems to me that Sarah potentially has more experience dealing with foreign nations--especially on matters of trade and energy policy--than all three of the other candidates combined!
On to other news of the day. The mouth is much better today, no Benadryl since last noc and it is still getting better. The work gang sent me a "bouquet" of balloons congratulating me on completing the first round of the Sutent (THANKS Guys!). We are looking forward to going to Penn Valley this weekend for our nephew's birthday.
Enjoy the holiday.
Read more!
Thursday, August 28, 2008
A Busy Week
Boy what a week! Last Tuesday was the first day of the first grade for the twins so Robin and I walked them to class and did the whole parent thing. Wednesday morning the kids informed me that I could drop them at the curb to school and they would walk the rest of the way...my, how fast they grow up!
The mouth blisters were entirely out of control by Monday, but now seem better. Funny story there; I took what I thought was "50mg" (2 capsules) of Benadryl late Modday to help me sleep. That it did not do, but within 1 hour my mouth felt light years better and all the blisters had reduced. So I started taking the Benadryl every 8 hours. Last night Robin asked me what I had done to make my mouth better, so I told her that I was taking a "couple' of Benadryl 3x a day, but that tomorrow I would be dropping to 25mg. Robin reminded my that we were out of the 25's and asked if she should go get some...well, after going back and forth about the size of the capsules she grabbed the bottle and made me put my glasses on. It turns out that what I thought was a bottle of 25mg Benadryl capsules was actually a bottle of 50mg caps. So, the end result is that now I am actually taking 50mg 3 times a day, rather than 100mg 3 times a day. Oh yeah, and I have also been told that if I grab any more meds without wearing my glasses I'm gonna get my ass kicked!
We saw the Onc yesterday and have arranged for a follow-up CT of the Chest/Abd/Pelvis for 9/10. He has also ordered an MRI of the Brain and lisinopril for my blood pressure as he is worried about the bad headache I had over the weekend and my BP of 170/110. The Onc is also a bit perturbed that now I want a second opinion after he started treatment, but his MA is putting the papers and disks together for us.
I have had a couple of bites on the request for the name of a Renal Onc specialist...the front runner is a Surgical Onc at UCSF. Thanks to all who wrote me with names and suggestions.
Had some calls and emails from friends this week, at least one every day. Boy, do they help. I'd be lost without the support of my family abd friends.
Last dose for this cycle is tomorrow am. I can't wait.
Read more!
The mouth blisters were entirely out of control by Monday, but now seem better. Funny story there; I took what I thought was "50mg" (2 capsules) of Benadryl late Modday to help me sleep. That it did not do, but within 1 hour my mouth felt light years better and all the blisters had reduced. So I started taking the Benadryl every 8 hours. Last night Robin asked me what I had done to make my mouth better, so I told her that I was taking a "couple' of Benadryl 3x a day, but that tomorrow I would be dropping to 25mg. Robin reminded my that we were out of the 25's and asked if she should go get some...well, after going back and forth about the size of the capsules she grabbed the bottle and made me put my glasses on. It turns out that what I thought was a bottle of 25mg Benadryl capsules was actually a bottle of 50mg caps. So, the end result is that now I am actually taking 50mg 3 times a day, rather than 100mg 3 times a day. Oh yeah, and I have also been told that if I grab any more meds without wearing my glasses I'm gonna get my ass kicked!
We saw the Onc yesterday and have arranged for a follow-up CT of the Chest/Abd/Pelvis for 9/10. He has also ordered an MRI of the Brain and lisinopril for my blood pressure as he is worried about the bad headache I had over the weekend and my BP of 170/110. The Onc is also a bit perturbed that now I want a second opinion after he started treatment, but his MA is putting the papers and disks together for us.
I have had a couple of bites on the request for the name of a Renal Onc specialist...the front runner is a Surgical Onc at UCSF. Thanks to all who wrote me with names and suggestions.
Had some calls and emails from friends this week, at least one every day. Boy, do they help. I'd be lost without the support of my family abd friends.
Last dose for this cycle is tomorrow am. I can't wait.
Read more!
Saturday, August 23, 2008
Looking For A Second Opinion
After thinking about things, and doing a little research, Robin and I are convinced that we need to get a second opinion on the treatment, even if only to confirm the current one. So, if anybody out there knows of a good Oncologist in California with experience treating Renal Carcinoma, we would like to hear.
It has been a relatively nice week, with letters from friends and a nice time with my dad. He brought by a copy of a lecture on evolution and divine providence from UCB done by John Haught, it is supposed to be well done and quite entertaining. Something to watch next week while the kids are at school.
Side effects are still annoying, with the left lower wisdom tooth socket now swelling and painful since yesterday. But, now I know what it is filled with. It seems to be some form of blood blister. The labs for the week are mostly OK, but the platelets are down to the 120's. Kinda worrisome.
Week four of the chemo starts today. I am looking forward to the med vacation, if only to give my mouth a chance to heal and get a ton of food into me!
Read more!
It has been a relatively nice week, with letters from friends and a nice time with my dad. He brought by a copy of a lecture on evolution and divine providence from UCB done by John Haught, it is supposed to be well done and quite entertaining. Something to watch next week while the kids are at school.
Side effects are still annoying, with the left lower wisdom tooth socket now swelling and painful since yesterday. But, now I know what it is filled with. It seems to be some form of blood blister. The labs for the week are mostly OK, but the platelets are down to the 120's. Kinda worrisome.
Week four of the chemo starts today. I am looking forward to the med vacation, if only to give my mouth a chance to heal and get a ton of food into me!
Read more!
Tuesday, August 19, 2008
A New Medical Slate PC?
Just to prove that I think about things other than cancer...look at this post I just saw over on Engadget. 20 bucks says that is a new medical tablet for hospital use.
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