Big Puss's November Book of the Month
Ol' Big Puss has been on quite a roll recently. He has shortened his sleeping to only 22 hours per day so that he has more time to eat, as well as fit in a new book on his favourite subject -- animal magnetism. That's because Puss fancies himself to be quite the bon vivant with all the dolly birds out there. Even though he never gets his fat ass outa the house!
This month he's really into Animal Magnetism, by Rita Mae Brown. To quote from her website... "Rita Mae Brown’s earliest memory is of the soothing purr of Mickey, her family’s long-haired tiger cat, who curled up and claimed a spot in her crib. From there, a steady parade of cats, dogs, horses, and all manner of two- and four-legged critters have walked, galloped, and flown into and through her world. In Animal Magnetism, the bestselling author shares the lessons she’s learned from these marvelous creatures as well as her deep appreciation for them."
You see, Puss, being a long-haired, suave and sophisticated bloke himself, can really identify with such a story. He has intimated that it resonates with him because he always knew that he knows much more than the 2-legged thingies running around his compound, giving him food and cleaning up his poop. After all, he does nothing and it gets done for him! Now that's animal magnetism! Thus, he gives the book 4 paws. He would have given it 5, except that there are too many other animals in the book and not enough cats.PS... I've gained 3 pounds and am progressing more each day. We had a lovely meal out for our anniversary last Friday and I got some work done in the yard for the first time in quite a while over the weekend. And, I was told again today by Dr. Avital's great Research Nurse Specialist, Melissa Walker, that I am still their "star patient." Life is great!
PPSSS... I got my blood markers back today (from 10/23) and they are all still normal! And, as I suspected, I was still somewhat anemic then (hemoglobin was 9.4 and should be around 13), but I can "feel" it getting better since then. Yippie!!
Labels: book review, fun, idiocy, life as we now know it 2, NIH/NCI, pusses
Life is Great!
I'm still hangin' in and getting a bit better every day. I have put on a couple of pounds but still look like a thumbtack when I wear a ball cap. The only thing that really bothers me now and then is the peripheral neuropathy in the soft tissue of the bottom of my feet. The numbness and tingling can be quite annoying at times, especially after a lot of walking. It could take months to subside and was caused by the Taxotere and the Oxaliplatin chemo. The epidural (for pain relief) I had from the surgery likely didn't help, either. Oh, well....
I was at the NIH last Friday and all went well. I ran into Dr. Avital in the clinic waiting room and we had a brief chat. He's a great guy to talk with and he remarked how it was miraculous what was able to be accomplished with me in the OR. I concurred wholeheartedly!!! I had a very good meeting with Dr. Kammula in the clinic and he said that my blood work was just fine. I'm still waiting to get my marker numbers back, though, as they take a few extra days because the analysis is done at a lab off site. I continue to be amazed by the caring and compassion of those two gents!Finally, it's our 5th anniversary this coming weekend... YIPPIE~!!!
Labels: good news, good wishes, life as we now know it 2, NIH/NCI, surgery
I Believe...
I Believe
I believe in mind over matter
I believe in the human spirit to prevail
I believe in miracles and blessings, both great and small
I believe in possibilities
I believe that hurdles in life are meant to be jumped over,
not as something to stop us
We believe in you.
That was on a great card we received from some good friends in Edmonton this past week and it hit the nail on the head perfectly. I am firmly convinced that my spirit has had a lot to do with where I am today. It's been a struggle at times, but from what I have read on pancreatic cancer web forums, particularly the Johns Hopkins one, I have faired far better with resepct to chemo and disease side effects than most people with the same diagnosis. I thank God for that!The past few days have seen an increased amount of energy and mobility in me. I can now get up and lie down with almost no effort or ache along the suture cutting a path from stem to stern down my abdomen. I can eat more per sitting. I'm sleeping better at night now that I can rest on my right side for 1-2 hours at a time. And, best of all, I can drink 50% caffeinated coffee without any stomach grumblings -- bring on that 100% soon.
Janine and I are looking forward to a quiet, restful weekend. We relish that fact that the sun was shining brightly this morning after 16 days of rain, fog, cloud and crap. We are still getting our heads around the fact that I no longer have this beast within, unlike our thought patterns the past 16 months. Onward and upwards!Thanks to all for your calls, emails, cards and good wishes. I believe you shall be rewarded in your own right.Labels: life as we now know it 2, NIH/NCI, No Evidence of Disease, pusses
News 'n' Stuff
With all the rain we have been having, Vanilla Ice Fred relaxes under the front courtyard overhang to stay dry. And to poop.I'm sill progressing and feeling pretty damn good. I have not put on any weight -- I'm bouncing between 135 and 139 lbs. But, my muscle tone is getting better in my upper body, where most of it withered away recovering from the surgery. I walk regularly and am eating well. The only thing that really bugs me is that I still have to sleep on my back only. When I try to lay on my side the pressure on my sutures starts to nag me after 5 minutes. I expect that I'll be at home till middle of next week at the least.I use Google Analytics to measure traffic on the blog. It tells me where people are viewing from, number of page views oer session, number of visitors per month, etc. Before this game-changing surgery, I got an average of 550 visitors per month to the blog. Since then, it's jumped to 741. The U.S. supplied 407 of those visits and Canada supplied 254. The rest were from all over, and a few of those were because the blog likely turned up on a keyword search they were doing, not because of me. In Canada, Edmonton supplies the largest number of visits, followed by Calgary. Down here, it's the DFW area, followed by New Orleans and northwest Arkansas (tied). The average time spent on the blog is 1:53 minutes and 27% of visitors are new (or it's a return visitor on a PC that does not have a cookie/IP recorded earlier).
Finally, major congrats to Barack Obama winning the Nobel Peace Prize -- wow!!!
Labels: good news, life as we now know it 2, No Evidence of Disease, peacocks, surgery
Recovering Very Well
I will post something with more detail tomorrow, but suffice to say that I am doing very well. I walk the block 3-4 times a day and am up and down to the loft media room with no trouble. Still eating light due to the stomach surgery part, but can eat most anything as long as it's not spicy or fibrous. I sleep pretty darn good (like the Big Puss!) and the only real bother is the ache in my abdomen (due to the long incision) when sitting up or lying down.Later...Labels: life as we now know it 2, No Evidence of Disease, surgery
Sleeping Like a Big Puss
Tonight and tomorrow night I will be able to stay across the street in the Safra Family Lodge, where Janine stayed and then my brother John took over the room when she left last Sunday. It's a full hotel-type room with 2 double beds so I will have peace, quiet and darkness for the whole night. I can hardly wait, as I shall sleep like the Big Puss.They give out these passes when a person is nearing well enough to go home. I anticipate that to be Friday right now. I am recovering very well and Dr. Avital called me his "star patient" this morning. Such flattery will get him nowhere... ;-)Thanks again for all your support, prayers and good vibes.
Friday 10/2 Update: I had 2 great nights sleeping like the Puss. I flew home today and arrived back at home about 4:15 PM. It is soooooooooooooo good to be back after 12 days away. Can't wait to hit the ol' bed in a few hours.
Labels: good news, life as we now know it 2, NIH/NCI, No Evidence of Disease, pusses, surgery
Needles and Pins
First of all, Janine and I would like to thank the many, many people who have emailed, texted (never do this for Janine's cell -- it's Greek to her) and left voice messages. Last night was the first night I had the energy and wherewithall to fire up the PC in my room and start through it all. All of it us both very, very deeply and I cannot thank you all enough and nor can Janine. The only people that were stupid about it were some idiots those named Jose or Jeni or Chan offering 30 caps of oxycodone from Canad or New Zealand (hillbilly heroin -- Rush Limbaugh's drug of choice) for 60 bucks. Hell, where I am I can get all the pain meds I want for free... ;-)Here's the inital recap from Janine on surgery night...Bill was taken to OR at 7AM Wed 23rd. He was in surgery about 8 hours. All goals were accomplished. Tumors were a little stubborn so they had to cut out very slight arcs in two organs (top of kidney, bottom of stomach) to completely remove the tissue the PC tumors were locked onto. Pancreas and spleen completely removed. Yes, he will be a sore boy! Liver was microwave ablated in many spots. At surgery time he had only 3 visible active tumors and the tail tumor in the pancreas had shrunk about 40%, after being the same zize for tha past 14 months!!!Bill here again...I did very well. All the doctors and nurses say he is an exceptional and remarkable patient! We are so lucky to be at the NIH/NCI... truly the most amazing place! Dr. I. Avital (the surgeon in charge of the cancer research project I am in and Dr. U. Kamulla (who lead the surgical team) were OUTSTANDING... simply AMAZING. My lovely sweetie was TRUE CHAMP and has helped me greatly through this week. She left for home this afternoon and my brother John arrives about 5:30 pm. We have a room at the Family Lodge here so it will be a painless, free stay for him.I walked once around the cancer ward the night after. The next day it was 4.5 times around. Yesterday it was 4.5 times twice and 3 times once. I'm not done walking today and can remove myself from bed quite easily. It's quite tedious with one big incision from my breast bone to my belly button, but they tell me I am healing remarkably quickly. Plus, all tumor markers that are used to measure cancers for this research protocol are normal. Even my CA19-9 is normal at 35 when it was over 8000 a few months back. I am truly blessed and will never quit.Although now, I can't "quit" from this because, as of this past Wednesday I showed NED -- no evidence of disease by today's measure. I nonger have pancreatic cancer or liver or spleen metastisis.Labels: life as we now know it 2, NIH/NCI, No Evidence of Disease, surgery
