Ending week 1.....

Yikes.... as I wrote that title, it took me back many weeks to the end of the first week of my treatment. I would like to say I barely recall what that was like.....would "like" to say.......but I remember it vividly. I was going to be this tough guy and skate through week 1, pretty sure would get through week 2 without much challenge, and then gear up for the ensuing weeks when I fully expected to hold my own. Yeah, right. By day 2 I was getting my ample arse kicked, and by the end of the week I knew this was going to be much more than I ever anticipated.

So, while recalling those days still requires no effort, fortunately now we can start dealing with the weeks following treatment. Working with the knowledge that the first two weeks will result in little improvement, the actual progress has been a little better than none at all. The nausea seems to be relatively under control now, but I do find the vicoden to still provide more relief than I would like it to. Only one week into recovery, and no, I don't mean from vicoden addiction (I am very careful about that), I am hopeful that week two will continue to provide at lease some positive progress...... and then I hope to really get ready for Thanksgiving. No real food for a couple of months can't erase 50 years of practice. Although it did erase most of that ample arse I mentioned earlier.......let's see how long that lasts. :)

I do catch myself though when I think about getting back to "normal"..... just how different my normal is from many others. I am surrounded by cupboards filled with food that I can't eat now, but will be able to at some point. I have a roof over my head and money to pay my bills....and insurance to pay the ones I would struggle to cover. Not a day goes by that I don't see someone on some street corner, with their cardboard sign, asking for food, or money or help of some sort. I think about all the others that don't know where their next meal will come from or even how they will get through the day. And how many can't name a single friend they have or can count on..... Yeah, this has been a very trying ordeal battling this cancer thing...but it will be over soon. For many others, their battle never ends. Thanksgiving is coming soon, but we should all make every day a Thanksgiving day....and then help someone when we can. And its probably more often than we do or even think we can. We are so blessed. I am more than I ever knew.

Ok, vicoden time. And bring on week #2!!!!

God bless y'all.