They took an iron count before chemo today

What with the "anemia scare" from the last office visit. Nurse asked if I wanted to guess the result. I knew it was fine. Turns out well above normal. Not surprised after Wednesday's ride.

That was #6 today. Half way home!

Though I'm starting to feel like Dumbledore on that damn island!

Diet

I've found that I generally don't feel better when I eat anything I want. I was more or less given those instructions by the Dr. to keep the weight up but I've found I feel uncomfortably bloated. Not sure the stomach likes doing all that work. Felt better to back off the calories as this week went on. I'll see if I can keep my weight around 160.

Sometimes I can still fake it

Went out with my Wednesday night crew tonight. Felt good enough that I WANTED to go riding, so I just caught one of my regular rides. At the back going up the early hills but everyone waited and a couple folks hung back with me after the regroup. The group broke in half on the way back and I was just with Kevin and Nat. Kevin called me a "faker" when I let loose on a rise that was just the right length towards the end. Felt good but tiring - definitely against Dr's orders to take it easy, that one.

Anemic too ...

Well my red cell counts have always trended a little low, but the iron counts dropped enough to qulaify my as anemic. I've got some "homework" to do to chase that up.

Meanwhile got on the bike to do a coulpe errands close to the house.

Just because ...

Just an FYI, please don't get too depressed for me when I talk about how crappy I feel after treatment. It's mostly just a clinical observation on my part and if I'm out and about I'm probably happy to be feeling as well as I do at the moment.

I can still outride most of you.

Lethargy

Took the kitchen sink approach to the chemo this round. I think my medical team has been encouraging this, I've just been too thick to get it. Used all the the drugs I had available to get through the rough days. Seemed to work pretty well. Backed it off today but was just flat as a pancake. Didn't feel sick, just felt completely lethargic. Not necessarilly a bad thing considering the alternative of a mild to moderate pervasive sick feeling. I'll have to discuss this at my next appointment. Might actually be the way to go.

Good news

Got preliminary results from the PET scan yesterday. Results "better than expected" according to the preliminary report from the nuclear radiologist. The activity in the main mass has been greatly reduced - currently well below the threshold for abnormal activity.

I'll get a final report next week but the bottom line is the current course of treatment is getting the job done!

Surprise!

Four treatments in and what finally empties my stomach? Third bottle of Barium Sulfate contrast I was trying to choke down for a PET scan today. I had one last night and a second one at 5:30 this morning. Took one swallow and within a minute I was pulling off to the side of 270 to get rid of it. Wasn't a problem in the end to do the scan, but that junk does not make a quality breakfast!

Should get some results from the scan tomorrow. Big progress check. Hoping to see this thing really knocked down.

Normal

Back out on the mountain bike today.
Rode my plan feeling just about normal. Kept the speed up, middle ringed all the regular hills, and actually felt like I was dragging 160 lbs when climbing - which for me is just fine. Heck, better than fine, usually it feels like dragging 170 lbs.
Took my usual break at the abandonded Willys.
Got back to the parking lot and did NOT feel done so I went out and added another 30 minutes.
Felt good enough to pretend like I had some legitimate form!

It's great just riding to enjoy the ride. Sometimes that gets lost when in "training" mode, but I'm certainly appreciating the extended opportunity to just ride for fun. That IS the best reason to be out in any case.

Nothing

Eight days out. I finally went on a ride today. Mostly because it was eight days out. I almost feel like it's four, even though I THOUGHT I turned the corner on Wednesday. I had no real motivation beyond that go get out.

I had NOTHING to give this ride. No strength or power. Everything required an effort. I took a break after some singletrack at Shaeffers.

If this keeps up there are going to be a lot of 15 mile rides this summer.

And I noticed it was a great day out. Perfect for riding I thought after the break. If I had a chance to ride today and didn't that would have been a shame.

Back home to watch some moore of the Tour now for a bit.

Before I ride to lunch at 2.

Loving the diet

I SHOULD spend more time at Giant ...

Hells Bells

Jen gave me a "G" bell from the kids' muical bell collection to call for any help after treatment today. I wanted my brownies so I rang it and asked her to bring up a "B" bell so I could use the appropriate bell to request the brownies. Good system!

Next!

Blood Work - check. WBC/neutrophil were low but liver enzymes back to normal.
More pain meds - check. Some of the sores are back. Upped the anti-virals also.
Bike ride - check. In the rain no less. My Dr. would kill me if she saw the HR numbers!
Packing for treatment now: drugs, lunch, laptop, med list. After this one we'll do the PET scan to check progress. I told my Nurse Practicioner it should be at least a week out. No way I'm keeping 3 bottles of contrast down the week after chemo.
Ned will be up hear at 7:00 to take me down. Yet another volunteer for the "field trips."
Plan on riding Friday. The day after rides seem to work out.