Sid Bacon

I slept well last night, but my bed keeps calling me back for a nap … I succumbed to a brief rest this morning already and will dive fully into nap mode later this afternoon.  Love the weekends.
 

Cathy and I had a nice walk this morning.  She opted to walk the entire walk with me and then go on a run from our house afterwards, rather than break off part-way through our walk to go on her run.  That was nice for me, and as a consequence we took a different route for our walk.  It is nice to mix it up a bit.  We likely are going to start adding an evening walk to our repertoire. We occasionally have been going on a short evening walk, in large part to wake me up after dinner, but we enjoy that walk so much as well that we have decided that we should do it regularly.  Fortunately, even when the daytime temperatures are fairly high this time of the year, the mornings and evenings are still nice (that won’t be the case in the middle of summer … July and August). 
 

A good friend of mine, who has posted several times in this guestbook, wrote an article for my hometown online newspaper.  His article was based, in part, on last Thursday’s blog.  I thought I would share the link with all of you here:http://salinapost.com/2012/04/28/the-moments-lead-to-a-lifetime/.  I think you’ll enjoy his insights.
 

I have a blood draw tomorrow morning, not at Piper but at a local clinic that will fax the results to Piper.  The main issue is to check my platelet count to make sure it hasn’t dipped dangerously low.  I’m very confident it has not. And I am confident that my count will be > 50,000 when we go to Piper on Thursday of this week for chemo.  We are going to be good to go.  I just know it.
 

Dan is busy this weekend writing a comprehensive exam paper for his graduate program at San Diego Sate University.  Somehow he is able to manage a full-time job (as a preschool teacher) and take four graduate courses.  I don’t know how he does it; I couldn’t do it.  He usually calls me during the week while he is driving to campus from his preschool (it is hands-free calling, using his Bluetooth).  He is very efficient with his time.  He also has been calling me this weekend, despite the pressure of getting this exam paper written by tonight!  He is certainly fighting with me each and every step of this ordeal.
 

Laura came out last night for dinner.  It was great to have her here.  She spent the night.  She slept in and just finished a run in the desert.  Like mother, like daughter.  It is so nice to have the support of my family.  I don’t know what I would do without it.  Both of our children are so busy, but they stop to spend time with me.  What a gift.
 

Well, I hear my bed calling, although I think I hear food in the kitchen calling a little bit louder.  We’ll do the food first.  I sleep better on a full stomach anyway …
 

I hope your day is as relaxing as mine.

Sigh … the end of the weekend and the beginning of the week.  I had a great weekend, which I think makes it more difficult to face the beginning of the week.  Still, I am grateful that I feel well and have energy to face the week and the work that lies ahead.  I still have some so-called breakthrough back pain, but it hasn’t gotten severe enough to warrant taking a pain pill. I had less pain yesterday than today, which may be related to how long it has been since we put on the current fentanyl patch.  I’ll be monitoring that relationship to see if I can make sense of it all.  I’m scheduled for a new patch tonight.
 

A friend of mine (Cheryl) stopped by yesterday afternoon to deliver a freshly baked pie.  Cheryl likes to bake and Cathy and I really benefit from the pies she bakes.  Yesterday she brought us a banana cream pie.  It made for a tasty dessert last night, and Cathy confirmed this morning that it also makes a great breakfast!  I am certain that Cheryl’s pies are helping me gain the weight I am working hard to gain.  In addition to the pie, I really enjoyed talking with Cheryl and catching up on her life at ASU.  I am lucky to have such good friends.
 

I had my blood drawn at a local clinic this morning.  I’ll be anxious to hear what my platelet count is today, but it is most important that the count is >50,000 on Thursday.  It could go up or down from today’s value, but I’m confident that we’ll hit our target value on Thursday and thus be set for chemo.
 

Cathy and I are planning to attend a yoga class at Piper tomorrow afternoon/evening.  Cathy has practiced a lot of yoga and is quite good at it; I’ve practiced a little and, well, I’m not so good.  This particular class is for beginners and focuses on meditation.  It should fit my energy and strength level.  For those of you who know yoga positions, you’ll appreciate that I’m hoping to spend a good deal of time in child’s pose ...  The drive from our house to Piper is about 45 minutes; a long way to go for a yoga class, but we want to try some of the classes they offer for patients, so drive we must. 
 

I am planning to attend the commencement ceremony for graduate students at ASU Wednesday morning.  I was honored by being asked to hood one of our graduating AuD (doctor of audiology) students.  I am so grateful that I am feeling well enough to attend.  I’m looking forward to the event and to being on campus.  In addition to the commencement ceremony, the first-year PhD students in our department are scheduled to present the results of their first-year research projects Wednesday afternoon; I hope to attend that event as well.
 

It is hard to believe that today is the last day of April.  Time flies … we need to keep focused on the day and the precious moments in those days, before they all get away from us.