Sid Bacon

This has been a good day!  Or perhaps a great day!!  I am certainly a bit tired the day after chemo, but I was able to go on a nice walk with Cathy this morning without getting tired.  I don’t have any nausea.  I am not light-headed, which suggests that my blood pressure is increasing, possibly due to the reduced pain medication.   And of course my spirits are especially good after getting news yesterday of the recent scan results.  All is well! 
 

One of the things we found out yesterday is that I am anemic.  This is a common side effect of the chemotherapy (which attacks cancer cells as well as normal blood cells), and is why I have been so fatigued lately.  I just haven’t had any energy, which has been very frustrating and has negatively affected the quality of my life.  To address this, I will be going to Piper next Tuesday morning for blood work and most likely a blood transfusion, either later that day or on Wednesday.  This would be fantastic, because it will give me lots of energy … just in time for the wedding!  I am really excited about the likelihood of feeling strong for the wedding ... a real dream come true!  I feel as though my team at Piper is giving me the best shot to realize that dream: delaying my next chemo until just after the wedding and having a blood transfusion just before the wedding.  I am so lucky!
 

I’ll keep today’s entry short, and conclude by thanking you for your recent words of encouragement.  They mean a lot to Cathy and me.  And they mean a lot to the rest of my family as well.  We fight together, and now we rejoice together.  I am confident that we have lots of fighting left to do; we are deservedly on an emotional high right now, but there will be plenty of tough times ahead.  I am confident that Team Bacon will meet those challenges head on and that the fruits of our efforts will be lots more rejoicing.   Happy Easter!

Although my anemia is slowing me down more than I’d like, I can’t really complain.  I’m not nauseas, I’m not light-headed, and this just happens to be a consequence of the chemotherapy – as is the shrinking of the tumors!!  I’ll take some anemia and subsequent lethargy if it means the chemo is doing its thing to the tumors.  And we know it is!  Moreover, the blood transfusion, which I hope to get on Tuesday or Wednesday, will take care of the anemia. Then all will be good!

I was able to go on a short walk with Cathy this morning, which is always pleasant. I think we are still doing a great job of living in the moment, although it remains something that I need to think about and work on.  Life isn’t always conducive to living in the moment, but we all deserve to live that way as much as possible.  Slow down and appreciate what we have.  I am certainly very grateful for all I have.  Obviously I am not thankful to have cancer per se, but I am grateful for some of the consequences of this dreadful disease.  I am now even closer to my family, which I didn’t realize was possible, and I have been so incredibly touched by the outpouring of love and support from friends and colleagues.   I have learned a lot in the last two months on how to live my life.  You all have been my teacher.

I plan to take Cathy out for dinner tonight at a local pizza place.  I know I don’t have a lot of energy to do that, but all I have to do is sit and be waited on.  I can do that there or at home, but Cathy can only enjoy that service if we go out … I think I can muster the energy to do this!  Let’s hope so, as I think it would be a gift to Cathy and me to have a normal evening out.  She, in particular, deserves that!

Enjoy the rest of your Saturday.  It is a beautiful one here in Phoenix.

Cathy and I have had a nice, relaxing Easter Sunday.  Cathy went on a run and then we went on a nice walk together.  It was a beautiful morning. Although I’m still anemic, I had enough energy for a leisurely walk followed by some yard work.  For breakfast, Cathy fixed waffles topped with vanilla ice cream and strawberries!  Yum.  Love my new diet.  We then did a few things in our back yard in preparation for next weekend’s festivities.  Even though I am tired, it felt good to be able to get those things done without over-doing it.  (Of course, it helps to have Cathy doing most of the work!)  We then had lunch, which for me was a piece of leftover pizza from last night’s night out. For Cathy, it was a piece of cinnamon cheesecake (thanks Cheryl! … we love the cheesecake). 

We are looking forward to talking with several of our family members on the phone later today.  Sundays are good days to visit and get caught up (and Laura and Dan are really good about calling me essentially every day). 

Today is the day I plan to try on my suit for the wedding.  Because of my recent weight gain, I am confident that it will fit well and not need any altering.  This, of course, will be the test. 

I hope you all have had a wonderful day and, for those of you who celebrate Easter, I hope it has been a joyous Easter Sunday filled with much love and joy.

This has been a good day.  I hadn’t slept well the night before, but I slept especially well last night (beginning on the couch in front of the TV …).  Cathy and I went on a long walk this morning, at a pretty good pace. It is the strongest I have felt in over a week.  Although I’m still anemic, I think for the first time I am systematically getting better and better as we move further and further away from my last chemo treatment.  I am so thankful that my medical team at Piper pushed my next treatment until after the wedding!  I am lucky.
 

I am feeling particularly grateful for my family today.  When I stop and think about what they are going through, I am truly amazed at the strength and courage they show each and every day.  At the risk of embarrassing her, I have to say that Cathy is absolutely amazing. I love her so much.  She takes incredibly good care of me at home; she takes me to all sorts of medical appointments and is with me for each and every one of them; she has taken on many of the duties around the house and in the yard that I used to do; she somehow gets all her university work done; and she never complains!  I do not know how she does it, but it is an incredible blessing to have her as my life partner.  We have always been partners in the truest sense, but I’ve let her down lately in that I just can’t do as much as I used to.  To see her pick up the slack makes me wonder if I was doing much in the first place! … Hmmm.
 

Laura and Dan are there for me daily as well.  I am so glad that they are able to live their lives as normally as possible; I know that is not easy, but it is what I want for them.  If they aren’t at our house helping to take care of me and doing some projects that I normally would do, they are calling and touching base with me daily.  Their attitudes are truly amazing; they give me such strength.  I love them immensely.
 

I get strength from the rest of my family as well, from my parents, sister, brothers- and sisters-in-law, to Cathy’s mother and our nephews.  I knew how important family was, but I now have a much deeper appreciation for how truly important they are.  I love them and am grateful for them. And I am thankful that this process has brought me this deeper understanding of how truly important my family is to me.
 

Finally, I appreciate all of you.  Your love and support give me strength daily and help me with my fight.  I’m glad we fight together; I could not do it without you!  

We’ve had a productive and good day today.  We began with an 8:00 AM appointment at Piper, where they drew blood and had it typed and cross-matched.  While they were doing that, Cathy and I went out for breakfast (I had most of two huge pancakes, two eggs, and some bacon).  After that, I had a chest x-ray to check my lungs (there had been some questionable signs on a previous scan … not especially alarming or surprising, but something they wanted to check).  My lungs are clear, so that was very good news.  Moreover, they were able to schedule me for the blood transfusion today at a hospital’s infusion suite about 5 miles from Piper.  This was great news, because we (especially Cathy) had set aside the entire day in hopes of getting this done today rather than having to go back tomorrow for the transfusion. 

When we showed up at the infusion site (about 11:20 AM), they were not quite ready for us, so we went out for lunch at a very scenic restaurant in Scottsdale that was within walking distance of the hospital.  It was a beautiful setting.  We enjoyed sitting outside and having a very tasty hamburger, potato fries, fruit, and vegetables.   And the iced-tea was really good, too.  It was a real treat!  Not only in terms of the food, but the setting and the company.

Shortly after we returned from lunch, they were ready for us.  So, as I write, I am sitting in a recliner and getting the first of two bags of blood.  All said, it should take close to 5-6 hours to receive all the blood they plan to give me. This will be a long day, but very welcomed, as I fully expect to have lots of energy for the wedding!  I am excited!

I don’t know how soon I’ll feel the effects of the transfusion, but I think it should be within 24 hours; and it should last a couple weeks.  Given that the anemia is a consequence of the chemotherapy, it would not surprise me if I have more than one transfusion over the course of my treatment.  It is quite possible that I’ll become addicted to it!

I’ll keep you posted on how well this new blood works …