Sid Bacon

I feel pretty good today.  I was in a fair bit of pain yesterday, with most of the pain in my back (as usual).  We have started replacing my pain patches every 2 days, rather than every 2.5 days.  Indeed, that was how the prescription was written when I left the Mayo Hospital.  It seems to help, as I have only minimal back pain today after replacing the patches last night.  I do have some pain in my left hip (from sleeping only on my left side) and right rib (from breathing …), but neither is very bad, so no complaining …
 

I am going to have to buy Cathy some scrubs she can wear during all her nursing duties.  Today she cleaned the area of my incision and put on a new bandage.  Everything looked good.  She also has to flush my catheter every day with 10 cc of saline.  She is getting very good at all of this.  Once again I must say … I don’t know what I’d do without her.
 

Cathy went on a run this morning.  I had coffee ready for when she returned. We drank some coffee and read a bit of the paper in the sunshine, and then went on a 2-mile walk.  It was a glorious morning to walk.  The temperature was perfect and the beautiful blue sky was stunning.  Fortunately, we didn’t see any smashed pumpkins on the streets, but there were plenty of candy wrappers scattered about.  We crossed paths with an older woman (probably my age …) who was picking up the litter and putting it in a plastic bag to throw away.  What a nice thing to do. 
 

By last night, our pumpkins had seen better days.  In fact, the one that Cathy and I carved had to be thrown away before last night’s big event.  The other three were placed on our front porch, where Cathy and I sat to greet the trick-or-treaters, but were then thrown away after the trick-or-treating was done (we didn’t want them to be smashed in the street).  We had quite a few trick-or-treaters, but a little bit of the candy remains (much to Cathy’s delight).  In fact, we had one family that included the mom and grandmother, both of whom were trick-or-treating without a costume but with a plastic bag for some candy.  I had never seen that before!
 

With all the comings and goings lately, I forgot to register for this Sunday’s walk/run for pancreatic cancer. I will register both of us as soon as I submit this blog.  We both plan to do the 5k walk, even though I am convinced that Cathy could win the 5-k run.  I will be registering as a Survivor … for now, that is certainly what I am.
 

I know some of our friends have registered to participate.  We look forward to seeing them there!
 

Thanks to all of you for your support.  I have been discouraged lately, with all the setbacks I’ve experienced.  I need to stay tough, though, as things are going to get better. I just know they will.

It is always nice to come to the end of the week, and this one is no exception.  It has been an eventful week, and next week promises to be even more so.  We are scheduled to start radiation therapy on Monday, just after having blood work drawn at Piper to determine my bilirubin count.  The radiation therapy will be every day of the week. We also are scheduled to have a follow-up percutaneous procedure on Wednesday to install an internal stent (I sincerely hope the procedure is successful!).  We also are supposed to go to Mayo for a follow-up meeting regarding pain management with someone from palliative care. We’ll be busy.
 

I still have pain from my first percutaneous procedure. My side is painful and it sometimes hurts to breathe. I hope this is a side effect that dissipates over time. And I certainly hope that the follow-up procedure doesn’t make it worse.  This is something I’ll talk with the surgeon about before we start the procedure on Wednesday.
 

Cathy and I went on a relatively long walk this morning.  I’ll be ready for the 5-k walk on Sunday.  I’m looking forward to the event and to helping raise money for pancreatic cancer research.  We need more research, to improve each patient’s odds of beating this awful disease.
 

Cathy came home from class yesterday with a poster-board-sized card from her undergraduate class. The card was full of kind words of appreciation for the job she is doing, despite her huge distraction at home.  The class understands (to some extent anyway) the fact that Cathy is being torn in a number of directions simultaneously, thanks to me. The class also gave her a gift certificate to a spa. This kind gesture from her class really speaks volumes to how good of a job Cathy is doing, despite all the things going on at home.  I don’t know how she does it all, but I am sure proud of her.
 

The forecast is for beautiful weather in Phoenix this weekend.  I plan to take advantage of it, at least for a little bit of time.  I hope that wherever you live, you also have nice weather and a wonderful weekend.  
 

Thank you for all your support!  It means so much.

I had a nice visit on Saturday from a friend who recently moved from ASU to Wayne State University to become dean of liberal arts and sciences.  I worked closely with Wayne while he was at ASU, and although I wish he were still here, I am happy that he has found a welcoming work environment and seems to enjoy his new job.  ASU’s loss was WSU’s gain.
 

Yesterday was the 7th annual StepNOut run/walk/dash for pancreatic cancer research.  About $100,000 was raised yesterday to go to the research team at Piper.  Let’s hope that these and other infusions of money for research will one day bring a cure to this insidious disease.  Today’s picture shows a group from ASU as well as Dan’s father-in-law, who came out to support the cause.  Cathy and I were overwhelmed by the support. We feel blessed to have so many people supporting us in this difficult time.  It means a great deal to us.
 

Cathy walked the 5k with me, hand-in-hand. We took a short cut, and so we probably walked a 3.5 to 4k.  I was amazed (and disappointed) at how weak I have become.
 

We are going to Piper around 1:00 for blood draw, to check my bilirubin count, and then to start radiation therapy.  While we are there today we’ll schedule the time when I’ll have radiation therapy done every day of the week for 4-5 weeks.  It will be a grueling schedule, at least in terms of driving.  Some friends have offered to help us in that regard, and I’m sure we’ll take them up on it, as Cathy almost certainly cannot be available every day, as much as she might like to be.
 

This is going to be a busy week in terms of appointments. In addition to radiation therapy, I have a follow-up appointment at Mayo on Tuesday regarding pain management and possibly another percutaneous procedure on Wednesday to determine whether an internal stent can be installed to allow for internal drainage.  We’ll benefit from your continued support, as we work our way through this myriad of treatments that we hope will be wildly successful.
 

Thanks for all you do!

After today we may be able to answer our land line instead of screening all our calls.  We’ve taken to giving out our cell phone numbers to people that really need to reach us (e.g., medical personnel). It sure will be nice to not have all of those commercials on TV.
 

I had blood work done yesterday at Piper prior to the radiation therapy.  The bilirubin count had dropped from 8 to 3.3 and some other liver enzymes had dropped to near normal as well. So, the percutaneous bilirubin drainage procedure seems to have worked! I am scheduled to go in tomorrow to see if he can insert a stent so that the bile can drain internally.  That would be a fantastic outcome.
 

I had my first radiation treatment yesterday. I am going to have treatment M-F at 1:45. Each treatment should only last about 10-15 minutes. Currently I do not have any side effects from the radiation, although yesterday before the procedure I started to feel nauseous.  It has been awhile since I’ve felt that way … not sure why it started up yesterday.  I feel the same way today.  What a drag.
 

Cathy is going to take me to my radiation appointment, while Laura is picking me up and taking me to my appointment at Mayo.   This is appointment is to follow-up with regard to pain management. Laura will then bring me home afterwards.  It is so nice of her to do that.
 

I have started taking my chemotherapy (by pill).  Some of the nausea may be due to the chemo, but it started before I started taking it, so it isn’t that. Who knows?
 

Because I’m not feeling well today, I’m going to cut this short.  As always, thanks for your continued support.  I feel that we are finally moving forward with treatments and that we are going to see good signs of those treatments soon.  We just need to keep fighting!

I am sorry I did not write yesterday; it was a busy day and I wasn’t feeling all that well by the end of it.  The procedure to install a stent to allow the bile to drain internally was a success.  I no longer have a drainage bag on my, which is a welcomed outcome.

The radiation treatments are going well. They only take about 10 minutes. Three down and 22 to go … at least that is the current game plan.  It is a challenge for Cathy always to be available to take me to Piper. Fortunately, we have wonderful friends who have volunteered to help.  We are starting to schedule them in over the next few days. Just another way the Team is helping.

I have been pretty nauseous the last few days, and have had difficulty eating and keeping my food down.  I certainly do not have an appetite, and indeed food does not sound appealing at all. We are working with my medical team at Piper to see what we can do to keep me nourished.  In the mean time, I’ll keep trying to eat as much as I can.  We need to fend off the weight loss that I am experiencing.

I am going to Piper in a few minutes to get some fluids.  Those don’t provide nutrition per se, but they make me feel better and are important to offset the fluids I have lost over the past few days.

Cathy and I have not gone on walks this week.  Maybe tomorrow …

Thanks for your continued support.  I plan to feel better soon.