A journey in life - musings of a doctor, husband, dad, grandad, brother, and friend

This past week (June 26-30) - was different yet again.  Instead of the abdominal wall side effects (I guess I have those under control with antihistamines) and the nausea (thank you, Zofran!) - I just had to deal with the fatigue and then...  All the other GI side effects -- early in the week, (how do I put this delicately)...I was the "post-Drano" commercial and late in the week and through the weekend, I was the "pre-Drano" commercial! Yikes!  Back on track now ... thank God! I pressed the oncologist last week (after Jan left for another appointment) like this: "Nick, this is taking so long... Can you give me more intense therapy to get me along this path quicker!".  He wisely and kindly replied that the chemo I'm getting is at the right dose and the right pace. I pressed harder: "I can take this...(after all I used to push myself through pain on long triathlons and open water swims for goodness sake!)".  He softly pushed back: "Tr

Today, I started my fourth week of chemotherapy in the 12+ weeks since my diagnosis.  I think I've called it a 'grind' and indeed it is.  Today, for some reason the staff had a hard time getting going at the Cancer center and I arrived late at work today and remained behind the rest of the day.  This is particularly hard since I was already tired and mildly nauseated through the whole day.  My ANC is over 1000 in my red cell counts are slightly up from last month.  This is hopeful. I have been telling folks that "I don't deserve to feel as good as I do".  I think I'll take that back today!  All in all, God is good and I am blessed.  Again, thanks for all the prayers sent to my family and I.  Especially, my dear wife, Jan!! BTW, the week before last week, I able to go to the Outer Banks with my family.  We were all in a beach house right on the beach.  All 16 of us!  As hectic as it may have sometimes been, it was a restful time with the family!

For the most part I have enjoyed pretty good health (save for a few mishaps along the way).  Last week was rather rough getting my 3rd week of chemo in the past 8 weeks.  However, this disease, myelodysplastic syndrome, has given me cause to reflect on the blessings during this infirm time.  (By the way, I do feel much better this week!) As I've mentioned, I continue to be overwhelmed by the love and caring of my family, friends and the community. Although some have approached me in a different (but caring) manner... Some have come up to me and asked, "This is a terrible thing you have.", "Are you OK? You must be devastated!", etc. etc.  Actually, I tell them no, I'm not devastated and all things considered I'm doing fine. As I'm come to realize over these years, there are lessons to be learned when things don't go as planned.  Life is always precious but seems so much more when you actually stop to think about it. That is a blessing.