Tuesday's weigh in

Hello all,

I thought I would get back on schedule today and weigh myself on time this week. The crushing weight this week is 164. Up another 3 lbs., but I am also now working the weights. Maybe I am building muscle. The arms still look skinny though. I am hoping to add some cardio in this week. Last time jumping jacks were more than I could handle, but we will try again, and maybe get on the elliptical.

The last two days have stunk with side effects, just tired and aches in the body. Typical for my schedule, but I think the cold just makes it worse. Yuk!!!!

Well its snowing and I need to see if I have to shovel or not, talk to everyone later and have a wonderful Thanksgiving.

Good night,

Jeff

A little good and a little bad.

Another round of chemo is in the books, and I am halfway to a pet scan to see my progress. I had a little setback this week, the numbing in my toes and tingling in my hands has forced the doctors to back off 20% on one of my treatment medicines. Most people recover after they stop taking the treatment, but some do not. We are backing off the see if I can recover and get a little more feeling back in my toes for balance. My numbers are still looking good the continue treatment even though my platelets are going down quickly. I keep losing hair and I am starting to notice now, Kojak won't be a good look for me.

The good news is that by keeping busy today and watching the race on time delay, I didn't have to take a nap like usual. Thanks to some snow shoveling and working out today I was not as tired, but I will go to bed early to get busting ass on a project tomorrow. Speaking of snow, we got about 8" last night and today. My neighbors came by last night while I was watching the Utes win, and again this morning to clean off my driveway. Rusty also called to check on me this morning as well. I want to thank all of you because I didn't spend much time outside and that stops a lot of pain for me when I don't have to be in the cold. Thank you, Thank you, and thanks again. It means a lot to me.

I am looking forward to a good friend coming to visit this week. Eric comes up from California every year for Thanksgiving and I always look forward to enjoying his company. Its a long 10 hours each way and I hope the weather cooperates for a safe trip.

We its coming up on 8:30 and I am going to get Paige to bed as well as myself. Good night everyone.

Jeff

Wednesday's Weigh in

Well we only gained 2 lbs this week to settle in at 161. This is good, I have stopped hitting the fast food places in the afternoon for chocolate shakes. The little snack bags Cheryl makes for me helps quite a bit. I've got cashews, peanut M&M's, pretzels, almonds, dried pineapple, and soon to add dried grapes. That takes care of my sweet tooth and the chemo sensitivity is starting to make eating/drinking cold things not so fun anyways.

I forgot to blog this weekend, but I went fishing Saturday up to Strawberry. I wore my ice fishing clothes because it was fucking cold (sorry kids). When we arrived and put Brad's boat in the water it was 24°F and the wind was blowing, so it had to be in the teens or single digits with the wind chill. However, I did catch a really big fish, it was the biggest that I have ever caught on Strawberry. Smiles galore, hopefully the pictures turn out so I can scan them and show all of you. It was a good day fishing for all except Mark who got shutout. He had a couple of bites , but nothing that really hit hard to catch. It was only 29°F when we left and the wind was blowing harder. Despite the coldness, I could barely sleep Friday night. I was so excited to get out with my buds and do something outdoors. This makes me think that with the right clothing, I might be able to ice fish and that would rule!!(it's an eighties thing, not all of you will get it).

There was some bad news Saturday. My old next door neighbor passed away - I believe it was from testicular cancer. He was diagnosed just before we moved to our new location. I never feel old, but I watched Kris grow up from a young boy, to a teenager dumping beer cans in my garbage can, to a young man leaving for the armed forces. He came back to live in his mom and dads house and I got to know him as a husband and father and have a few beers legally. Our kids, around the same age, played together all the time in our circle. He leaves behind a wife and four kids just before the holidays.

Round 4 of chemo is coming this Friday. Watching my Utes crash and burn the last two weeks has been painful, matter of fact the chemo is less painful. Hopefully they can get on track and beat San Diego State. GO UTES!!!! The treatments are going well, no bad sickness other than diarrhea and a little abdominal cramping on the Sunday and Monday after-wards. The tingling in the fingers and toes, and the pain of coldness gets a little worse and lasts longer into the resting time. This will be half way to when they scan me again to see if the treatment is working. I hope it is working, I am not ready to leave Cheryl and Paige yet.

As my new cancer buddy would say, get an attitude and -- Fuck Cancer!!

Talk to you all later,

Jeff

Thursdays Weigh In

This week went by so fast. My mom and dad were still in town and left on Monday. It was great to have them out to see me. The third round of chemo went in Friday and that went well. The results/symptoms went like the second round and I was just tired Sunday and had to take my nap. I had to spend a bit more time around the bathroom as diarhea set in a bit. Life is back to normal though and just the sensitivity to cold is there. It's really kicking in with the weather the last few days. Tuesday and Wednesday I actually went to bed around 9 so I could be at jobs early, thats why I missed the weigh in earlier and didn't blog.

The good news is that I weighed 159 on the scale, but that means 12 lbs in 3 weeks. I hit the weights with Cheryl Monday and I am still sore from that (weakly guy). I went to do the same last night, but throw in a few jumping jacks, and that was a mistake. I had so much blood rushing through me I almost got sick. My head was throbbing so bad I thought it was going to pop (weakly guy again, I know).

Well, I am going to get working, talk to you all later,

Jeff

Tuesdays weigh in

It's been a bit since I posted last. These last few days have been nice spending time with mom and dad. Despite the rain and wind Saturday I lasted as long as Paige wanted to trick or treat. That was my hope and I was glad to be with her the entire time. I had my dad on board to take her on our normal route just in case I wore out. That was good considering my dad and I changed all of the hinges on the upstairs doors, mowed Cyndi's lawn and fertilized, and mowed my own yard. Quite the day and I still made it to 10pm (looking old when 10 is the goal, I know). Sunday was a day of rest. Clint Bowyer won NASCAR and the Cowboys suck eggs so it was a hi/lo day. The best part was nothing was sore from walking and I wasn't dragging ass. Maybe all of those calories and vitamins are working. I am trying to enjoy these days before this coming chemo Friday, you know, gotta stay active.

Well the new weight is-----------155lbs., up another 4 lbs. Now I am comfortable to start exercising. I can eat enough to keep up with the increased activity. Looks like I will have to do it on my own. Cheryl likes to exercise before she goes to bed, but I am way to tired to do that. She stays up past 10pm and I am not really that advanced yet. I still need my beauty rest, although I might just have to call it rest. I am still losing hair, but I don't notice it anywhere yet. I don't think I will look good with the Kojak style in place.

Well anyways, I hadn't posted in a while, but I wanted to catch everybody up. I feel good and most people tell me that they can tell the difference in just looking at me. I don't look like I am going to die anymore. That's good to hear.

Good night all,

Jeff