This week...

Although I have heard some disappointment that my blog entry production has fallen off, please take that as a good sign. I am feeling normal enough that lymphoma takes a back seat to everything else in my life.

Having said that, this week has generated some lymphoma related activity.

On Tuesday, I met with the Onc for my first follow up. The appointment was moved up from early August because I was unsure what aches and pains should be a concern and what I should look for as a warning sign. They performed a blood draw and my veins are still shot; "thin and deep." Despite this fact, the phlebotomist stabbed into my inner arm at an unusually steep angle to reach pay dirt. The bruise is about the size of a 10p nail head. Here's a downer: I have sworn off processed sugar for the last 5 weeks. After the initial cravings, it's surprisingly easy to avoid. Lots of fruit has replaced the sugar that I was convinced was making chemo bearable. I jumped on the scale anticipating a stunning loss only to be mocked by a 2lb drop. TWO pounds! Ridiculous. I've been hitting the free weights again so that might account for some imbalance but good grief, that's discouraging. On the bright side, my BP was a respectable 118/78.

The Onc said the blood work and chemistry look better than normal and that all my little aches and pains are common. Most likely accentuated by a heightened sense of self given the past several months. In order to give me some peace, he thought that a CT scan was in order.

Wednesday evening signaled the first night of my Cancer WellFit course. For 10 weeks, I have access to a health club and a personal trainer who will help me fashion a proper program for my recovering coil. Laurie is also invited as my "Supporter" to help me stay motivated. It will be a symbiotic motivation given Laurie's unpredictable schedule. After riding several horses and teaching all day, the idea of driving to a building to push weight around or walk/climb in place seems irrational but she's game. We performed some basic balance and strength tests to create a baseline and hope to see some improvement in a couple of months. Later that evening, I had to mentally prepare myself for the first of two bottles of Barium Sulfate in preparation for my morning CT scan.

This morning I popped out of bed at 6am to choke down another half bottle of BS and headed off for the scan. After entering the room, I warned the technician that veins were going to be hard to come by so she fingered around my inner left elbow and said, "I think we need to try your hand." Oh boy. See my port removal entry for me thoughts on hand pokes; it stings. She rooted around with the needle under my skin for several minutes muttering and sighing until she finally gave up while apologizing for the unnecessary pain. "The veins kept rolling away from the needle." She moved to the right arm and found a thumper just below my blood draw bruise. I had visions of my arm filling up like a contrast water balloon but that old metallic taste filled my mouth and that crazy heat ran through my body signalling a successful poke.

I should have the results in a week but anticipate no problems.