Yesterday's chemo, the final infusion of cycle six, has left me feeling pretty ragged today, so I'll be fairly brief. The past two weeks have been fairly good ones. There have been no significant changes in my health, my CA19-9 levels remain low (26 for blood drawn on May 14), and other than the side effects of the chemo drugs, I've felt good physically; good enough, in fact to do a practice walk/run over the Dipsea this past Monday with George Frazier keeping me company (and on the safer portions of the trail -- no shortcuts this year). Emotionally, there were a couple of days, interestingly coinciding with our grey and wet weather, when a bit of melancholia seemed to settle in, but that is to be expected. Not a day passes without thinking to one degree or another about my cancer, and sometimes it just makes me sad. It's as if that character from the Lil Abner comic, Joe Btfsplk, the guy with the cloud over his head, shows up now and then and brings with him the sense that the "other shoe is about to drop." But it passes, more quickly sometimes than others. It helps knowing how much support I have as this journey proceeds, so thank-you to family and friends for your prayers, company on walks and runs, shared laughter and occasional tears. My special thanks to Jenna Zusi-Cobb, the ten-year old Alaskan who has been making me 1,000 origami cranes, each a symbol of healing. She's been doing this since December and is 75% of the way to her goal -- and this for someone she had never met until just recently. Living with cancer has been a humbling experience.
Next week is a rest week; cycle seven begins on June 11. It's good timing. I'll be recovered enough to participate in the graduation ceremonies, a nice way to put closure on my career at Marin Catholic, and to survive my 10th Dipsea Race unscathed. On the 11th I'll also meet with my doctor and get the results of the previous day's CT scan. I'll write again after that with hopefully continued good news. If you need more to read today, the Marin IJ did an article on my "retirement." you can find it at the following link:
http://www.marinij.com/marinnews/ci_9406365
As always, my deep appreciation for your continued love and support.
Peace,
Don
