Sid Bacon

Well, I’m feeling better today than yesterday: very low-grade nausea, at most, and only mild back pain.  These minor symptoms definitely will not get in the way of a wonderful vacation in Pinetop!  I can’t wait.

We spent the morning at home getting packed and ready to go to Pinetop immediately after we finish at Piper.  We are now sitting in a restaurant, across from Piper, having lunch and waiting for our appointment at 1:00. They drew blood at 11:00, so we should have all the results in time for our 1:00 appointment.  If I get chemo today, it will start sometime around 1:30. I’ll then have plenty of time to finish this entry.  If my platelet count is too low for chemo, however, I’ll simply indicate as much and cut the blog short so we can hit the road.  My preference is to have chemo, but as I said yesterday, it will be okay if we have to delay the start of the 6th and final cycle of this particular regimen.  All will be well.

My mountain bike was not ready to take on this trip, so we left our bikes at home.  There are bikes at the house where we are staying, so we’ll be able to ride around the streets.  We’ll get our exercise doing that, hiking, and running (Cathy).  It will be so nice to be outside in such wonderful weather! There is forecast for rain while we are there, so that will give us plenty of good reading and napping weather.  And I’m sure they need rain up there as desperately as we need it in Phoenix.  I hope we get some rain at home while we are gone … we got a little last night, but mostly the little bit of precipitation is felt today as humidity. 

We just got the test results back from my blood work: My platelet count was 137,000, so we are good to go with chemo today.  Hooray!  And the CA19-9 was 18.8 … it dropped again, from 24 to its current level.  The tumor marker has dropped after each cycle.  It was in the normal range after the 4th cycle, and it is even further in the normal range after the 5th. I am particularly happy with these results: the tumor is still inactive.  This is truly great news.  I feel blessed and very fortunate.

Over the past few days, I have been taking Aleve to see if my back pain might reflect an inflammation.   It has helped.  The pain, when present, is a little less severe.  They’ve asked me to stick with this for another week to see how it progresses. As for my nausea: they are going to refer me to a GI physician to see if there might be something else going on with my stomach, such as an ulcer.  There is no reason – in terms of my cancer – for me to have these symptoms of pain and nausea.  That is the good news.  Now, we just need to determine their causes, treat them, and I’ll be feeling as good as my objective data say I should!

I am going to finish this now as the chemo is dripping.  Cathy and I should be able to reach Pinetop by early evening … in time for dinner.

I will write more tomorrow, assuming the wi-fi is working … If it isn’t, I may not be able to post another entry until Thursday of next week.  In any event, thanks for your continued support.  I really appreciate it.

We arrived in Pinetop around 6:15 last night.  Everything is great here!  The house is beautiful and the weather is perfect.  The deck in the back extends the entire width of the house, with about half covered and the other half uncovered.  We’ve spent plenty of time on the deck already, both last night and this morning.  The view of the woods from the deck, with its plethora of pine trees, is stunning and oh so peaceful.  There is a wind chime that sings in the gentle breeze, in harmony with the sound of the wind in the trees, and a couple of humming bird feeders that are getting good use.  We’ve seen at least four different birds this morning enjoying their energy drinks.  What a treat, for them and us.  

I feel great today … no nausea or back pain.  I find it truly amazing that I can feel so good right after chemo.  I am so thankful to be feeling this good, especially in the face of days lately when I haven’t.  I am really going to enjoy this day.

Cathy and I both went on a 45-minute jaunt along a nearby dirt road this morning.  Cathy ran and I walked.  We went out and back on the road, so I got to finish my walk hand-in-hand with Cathy … just the way I like it. Afterwards, we had a filling breakfast on the deck, got cleaned up, and are now looking at a peaceful day ahead of us.  We’ll probably squeeze in a bike ride around the neighborhood and some quality reading and napping.  We may even drive into town to pick up a few more groceries.  Oh, to be on vacation!  I told Cathy at breakfast that it will be interesting to see how we do with this completely lazy vacation, as we are both type A, and tend to like to stay busy.  I think we’ll be fine, though, as we’ll be busy walking, riding, reading, and napping …

I am still on a high from yesterday’s blood results.  I am so fortunate, and so thankful.  As always, I appreciate your support and all your help in fighting this dreadful disease.  Team Bacon is certainly a team to reckon with!  

Wow, Cathy and I have been having a great vacation in Pinetop!  It has been incredibly relaxing and rejuvenating.  I have felt great the entire time … no nausea or back pain, at all.  What a treat and blessing. I no longer take feeling well for granted, so when I do feel well, I am very grateful.  One day at a time.

After morning coffee on the deck, overlooking the woods, Cathy and I have been getting our cardio workouts along the nearby dirt road leading into the pine tree-filled woods.  Our jaunts over the weekend were an hour long. Today’s outing will probably be about the same.  We’ve been surprised that we haven’t been affected by the altitude … we are now at 7200 feet, compared to about 1200 feet in Phoenix.  It has been great for me to go on brisk, longer walks without getting too hot.  And I know Cathy has enjoyed running in this perfect weather.  We also have been on a nice bike ride and leisurely walk around the neighborhood … it is a great area.

We’ve enjoyed reading our books, but we also have enjoyed listening to hours of NPR from our Phoenix radio stations, streamed from my iPad.  We don’t usually get to sit and listen so intently at home, so it has been a real treat to have the time and solitude to focus on some of the programs and music we so enjoy.

We had some thunderstorms late yesterday afternoon, with steady rain into the evening and early morning.  The temperatures dropped a bit as well.  It was great sleeping weather.  It is cloudy this morning, but the sun is occasionally peeking through the clouds.  Regardless of how the weather turns out today, it is going to be a great day!  I look forward to seeing how it unfolds.

Thanks for your continued support.  It is very important to me.

Well, sadly, it is our last full day on vacation in Pinetop.  We will leave sometime around 8:00 tomorrow morning in order to get home for an afternoon appointment to get our car’s windshield replaced. (Cracked windshields are common in Phoenix, given all the small rocks and pebbles that mark our landscape.) We are going to enjoy every minute of this day, as we have every other day that we’ve been here.  This vacation has been a real gift, for which we are most grateful.  Thanks Shelley and Larry!

After our morning coffee, we ventured out for our hour-long cardio workout, where we walk/run in one direction along the dirt road for 30 minutes and then turn around so we both end at the beginning of the trail approximately 60 minutes after we began.  We are getting pretty good at timing our respective workouts so we are able to walk together for a few minutes before returning to the house for breakfast.

The hummingbirds have been busy enjoying themselves at the two feeders that hang at one end of the deck at the back of the house.  I haven’t kept track of the number of different kinds of hummingbirds we’ve seen, but there have been many.  They are distinct not only in color and, to some extent, size, but also in the sounds created by their flapping wings.  Some just hum, whereas others emit a whistle in addition to a hum.  Some of the birds seem to take turns at the feeders, whereas others are somewhat aggressive and often “dive bomb” their fellow birds to keep them away from the goodies.  In all, they keep us quite entertained.

I haven’t read as much as I had planned, but I have listened to a lot more NPR than I had ever imagined.  It has been great.  Nevertheless, I have found sufficient time to finish the book on cancer I’ve mentioned a few times (“The Emperor of all Maladies: A Biography of Cancer”), get more than half-way through the book from Laura (“The Anatomy of Hope”), and get a good start on a book my sister just sent me (“Mud, Sweat, and Gears”), which chronicles (in a very funny way) a family’s bike trip across Canada.  These are all enjoyable books.  I’ll write about them later at various times.  And if anyone has recommendations for good books, I’d love to hear them. 

Cathy and I went on a nice bike ride yesterday afternoon.  We were met by a few sprinkles, but otherwise it was partly sunny throughout the ride.  It was fun to see more of the neighborhood, the various homes and their landscaping (some with wood carvings of bears).  Even a leisurely bike ride gives me a pretty good workout at times… my walks do only so much to get me in shape.  Cathy, on the other hand, is in excellent shape.  She could easily leave me well behind on these rides, but of course she is kind enough to hang back with me.  Although we both know I’m not in great shape, I sometimes blame the chemo … perhaps some of my physical challenges are in fact due to the nasty chemicals in my system.  Who knows?  But I can always use an excuse …

I am so pleased that I have felt well this entire vacation.  I feel so very fortunate.  Maybe Cathy and I need to move up here … :)

We are back home after what Cathy and I agreed was the most relaxing vacation we have ever had.  That is truly saying something.

We left around 8:15 … close to our target.  We enjoyed one last cup of coffee on the deck, surrounded by pine trees and the sounds of hummingbirds enjoying their morning energy drinks.  And then after breakfast and the last bit of packing and cleaning, it was time to hit the road.  As we drove down the mountains, the beautiful warmth of the desert enveloped us and welcomed us back to our home surroundings. Okay, a little sarcasm there … there is nothing particularly beautiful about the warmth of the desert, at least not during the summer.  But, there is plenty of beauty in the desert, beauty that both Cathy and I sincerely enjoy.  And though we already miss the pine trees, it is good to be home. 

I can hardly believe that it is almost time for another round of chemo.  I guess time really does fly when you are having a good time.  We are off to Piper tomorrow for our afternoon appointment.  And, platelets willing, I’ll get the second of three rounds of chemotherapy in what is the sixth and final cycle of the current drug regimen.  I look forward to continuing our fight.

I am feeling a little tired right now, so will keep this entry short.  I’ll write more tomorrow. 

As always, thanks for your support!