Sid Bacon

We had quite the winter’s storm yesterday.  Although we only had rain at our house, parts of the Phoenix area had hail and snow.  It didn’t stick around for long, but it was there long enough for people (kids primarily) to play a bit in the snow. One man was quoted as saying that he’d lived here for 55 years and never seen anything like it. It was definitely a great day to have a fire in the fireplace. The log we used lasted the entire afternoon, and even went a bit into the evening. It was cozy and a lot of fun.  Thank goodness for laptops and iPads … it is possible to sit in front of the fire and work.
 

Today the sun is out in its glory, although the high temperature is only supposed to reach the upper 50s … still pretty cool for Phoenix.
 

Cathy and I went on a wonderful walk in the desert this morning.  It was so fresh from the rain … it was a beautiful morning for a walk. I enjoyed the walk immensely, as I always do.  Whether we are talking or just holding hands, it is great to spend that time together.
 

Cathy is running a 24-hour relay race this weekend (Friday afternoon to Saturday afternoon).  She did this Ragnar Relay Race a couple years ago, and apparently didn’t learn her lesson. There are 12 people to a team (these are other faculty and some students from work), divided into two vans.  Each person runs three times; the distances vary.  Cathy has to run about 7 miles each time.  The biggest challenge – at least for some – is staying awake to run in the middle of the night.  I’ll be glad to have her home on Saturday, and I think she’ll be glad to be home.  I don’t expect to be up late Saturday evening …
 

Yesterday we dropped the dosage of my pain patch from 75 mcg/h to 50 mcg/h, in hopes that I could get by with less pain medication. It didn’t work.  I developed back pain, so we increased the dosage back to 75. The back pain has subsided some, but it is still there.  Pain is tricky.  It takes a while for the medication to do its thing in its entirety … it will be a little while, I suppose, until I am pain-free again. Fortunately, the pain is not too bad.  And at least we now know that I need 75 mcg/h to deal effectively with my pain.
 

For the past several days I have been struggling with nausea, which hits me about once per day, usually late morning or early afternoon.  It is hard to know the cause, as there are so many things going on with me, but on the bright side I have medication to help deal with it.  Fortunately, it doesn’t seem to curb my appetite for desserts at night … Cathy made an apple pie the other day, and I’ve really enjoyed eating apple pie ala mode.  Unfortunately, I ate the last piece last night. 
 

Cathy and I are overwhelmed by the support and kindness directed to us. In addition to the guestbook posts and emails, we receive cards and occasional gifts. “Thank you” doesn’t quite seem enough, but it is about all we can do. Please know that we are deeply appreciative, that you are making a positive difference in our journey, and that we can’t really thank you enough. 

I had a 7:30 dentist appointment this morning, for my six-month check-up, so we did not go on a walk.  (Fortunately I don’t require any further dental work for now.) I’ll be taking Cathy to ASU pretty soon, where she will meet the half of her teammates that are riding together in one of the two vans.  Cathy’s van starts running around noon; the other van started at 6:00 AM.  I’ll go on a walk in the desert when I get back home.  It won’t be as much fun, but it is important for me to keep up the exercise.
 

I felt good all day yesterday, and am hoping for the same today.  I still have some minor back pain, which I’m hoping will go away soon.  I am really grateful that the nausea I’ve been dealing with lately was not an issue yesterday. It is hard to eat much when I’m not feeling all that well.  And we all know I need to eat lots in order to gain the weight I want to gain.
 

Late yesterday afternoon we went to the movie “Silver Linings Playbook”. We enjoyed it, though it was nerve-wracking throughout a good portion of the movie. The movie has at least four academy award nominations associated with it (Best Actress, Best Actor, Best Supporting Actor, Best Picture) … we’ll see on Sunday how well it fares.  I think the best shot is Jennifer Lawrence as Best Actress.
 

I am really going to miss having Cathy around over the next 30 hours. She is my best friend and I really treasure the time we spend together. I am glad she is doing this, however, as I know she’ll have fun (a strange kind of fun, perhaps, but fun nevertheless).  She runs at about 6:00 this evening; 3:30 AM tomorrow; and then finally around 1:00 tomorrow afternoon.  The lengths of her runs vary, but they average six miles. They estimate that the team will be done around 3:00 tomorrow afternoon. I think we’ll call it an early evening …
 

I hope you have a great weekend.  Thanks for all your support!

Every day should be a day for thanks, but I’m especially focusing on being thankful today. I have had such a blessed life that I have so much to be thankful for.  Among other things … I am thankful that I was adopted into such a loving family, with parents and a big sister built-in, and that I was given all sorts of opportunities while growing up, opportunities that many in this world do not have. I am grateful for the friends I had while growing up, many of whom remain friends to this day, even contributing to the guestbook. I am thankful that I was given the opportunity to pursue the educational dreams that I had, not someone else’s dreams for me.  I was able to study what I wanted, where I wanted, and with whom I wanted … for that I am most grateful. I am, of course, immensely grateful to have met Cathy, and to have married my best friend. I am ever so thankful for the 30+ years we have had together. I am thankful for the built-in family I acquired when we married; they mean a great deal to me. And I am incredibly thankful for Laura and Dan; they have brought great joy to me and Cathy.  I feel so lucky to be their dad. I am grateful for the friends I have acquired in adulthood.  I am grateful for the professional opportunities I have had, especially at ASU, but also within the profession. I am very thankful to have my medical care at Piper and Mayo. Most of my time is at Piper, where the care and medical expertise for pancreatic cancer in particular is unmatched. The care and medical expertise at Mayo is also top-notch. I am thankful for all the love and support I receive everyday from all of you.  This journey is a tough one, but it is made much easier with your support.  Thank you!
 

I had a nice weekend.  Laura came out for dinner Friday night; it was fun to spend time with her.  Cathy finished her relay race about 4:00 Saturday afternoon. The runners all had a good time, although they were tired. (We called it an early night at our house.) All twelve of their team were wearing t-shirts that they had had made. On the front was a silhouette of a woman running, with “Speech Devils” written above (a play off of ASU Sun Devils, with a nod to the fact that the runners are speech pathologists or are studying to become speech pathologists); on the back was “Team Bacon”.  I have so much support!
 

Cathy took a day off from running on Sunday, but she ran 3 miles this morning. On both Sunday and today we went on a walk together in the desert.  They certainly were more fun than my solo walks on Friday and Saturday.
 

I battled nausea on Saturday and Sunday, but so far today I have been ok. My back pain is a little worse today than it has been the past four or five days, when it started hurting. I’m not sure why, although I suppose it could be the disease.  I need to get more chemo in me to fight those tumors.  I am hopeful that my platelet count will be at least 100,000 so that I can have my chemotherapy treatment on Wednesday.
 

I am getting a new biliary drainage tube tomorrow at Mayo Hospital.  I suspect it will be like my current one, where part of the tube is sticking out my side.  At some point they may internalize the entire tube, but I don’t think tomorrow will be the day.  I could always be pleasantly surprised …
 

There is a good chance that I will not post a blog tomorrow, as I’ll be at Mayo a good part of the day and will have anesthesia as part of the procedure. It may take me a while to recoup.  I definitely will write again on Wednesday, from Piper.
 

As always, I appreciate your support.

The procedure at Mayo yesterday went well.  These drainage tubes must be exchanged every 8-10 weeks; it had been about 8 weeks. I asked when we might internalize the tube completely … the answer was probably not until chemo is completely done. I don’t know if and when that will ever be. So, for now, I live with an external portion sticking out my side. At least I don’t have a bag that I’m draining into it.  That is important to my quality of life.

My back pain has increased significantly, so this morning we have increased the dose of my pain patch from 75 to 100.  I hope that takes care of it. It is too early to tell. I may need to take oxycodone to help deal with the pain.  It is always disappointing to have to deal with pain … no fun.

I was quite surprised to weigh in at a few pounds lighter than I was two weeks ago. It may be due to the fact that I have been nauseous lately and not eating quite as well as I had been, although I thought I’d been eating pretty well and at least holding my own.  Bummer.

Cathy and I didn’t go on a walk this morning. There just wasn’t time. She dropped me off at Piper and drove on to Mayo Clinic in Scottsdale.  She decided to use a physician at Mayo as her primary care physician (PCP). I’m happy with that choice, as I think the comprehensive care at Mayo is unparalleled.  She’ll get great medical care. I would do the same, if I actually were using a PCP. I don’t see me using a PCP for a long time; at that time, however, I’ll also switch to Mayo.

We are waiting on the blood work in order to determine whether I can have chemotherapy treatment today.  I’m optimistic that the platelets will be sufficiently high, based on blood work done yesterday at Mayo.  Still, each lab wants to make its own measurements. I am hopeful that the bilirubin count will be ok as well. I don’t know what it was yesterday. So … we wait hopefully.

We just got the lab results back. The platelets were 173,000 (they were 190,000 yesterday … the difference is just a difference in lab measurements … both numbers are quite good for me) and everything else looked good. This is excellent news. The question now is whether I have a full dose of chemo or a reduced dose (the reduced dose is what I had for a good portion of the time I was on this chemo regimen before). I am hoping for the reduced dose, as I think it gives me the best shot at having 3 treatments these next 3 weeks (including today). We’ll see. There is, of course, an advantage to getting a full dose.

The verdict is in: we are going with a reduced dose.

I am really pleased to be getting chemo today.

As always, I thank you for all your support.  It is greatly needed and appreciated.

I am so thankful to have chemo in my system. You all have never let me down in this fight, and I try to maintain a positive attitude; indeed, we all play an important role in my healing process, but I feel we really need the chemo in me doing its thing in order for us to be successful.  What is success? Different people could define it different ways.  The medical professionals at Piper have found that the two-year survival rate in pancreatic cancer patients is doubled when they are on the chemo cocktail that I am on (and that I was on earlier).  Of course, that meant an increase to just under 10% (i.e., 10% rather than just 5% live for at least two years).  Not really great or promising, although I certainly plan to be in that 10% group.  But I think success for me can only be defined as living long enough to where we are treating my cancer as a chronic disease. I can beat the odds, and that is what I’ve set my sights on.  With our multi-pronged approach, we can do it!
 

Cathy went on a 12-mile run this morning, as she is gearing up for another race (15k) in just over a week. Her sister and brother-in-law (Mary and Kevin) are coming from California for the race, as is our nephew (Andy) from Colorado.  Dan is coming for the weekend, and I hope Laura will spend the night(s) and join the party as well.  Dan, Laura, and I won’t be running, but we’ll benefit from their company. Indeed, it will be great to have everyone here.
 

After her run, Cathy and I went on our usual hike in the desert.  It was a truly beautiful morning, and great to be out enjoying it. I feel good today.  I’m not even tired, which makes getting work done all that much easier.  I take a steroid for two days after chemo.  It gives me extra energy and helps me through the days immediately after chemo.  I’m also not experiencing nausea so far today, which is great. It sure makes eating that much easier.  My back pain has subsided a bit as well.  It is still there, but not as severe.  I took 3 doses of oxycodone yesterday, but not any today. Perhaps the greater dose on my pain patch is helping knock that pain down a bit, to where I can tolerate it better. I sure hope so. I prefer not to take too much oxycodone, as it has its own effects on me, particularly when I take it every two hours, as recommended.
 

I had two special visitors yesterday at Piper.  Cathy’s cousin, Cathy, came to visit along with her mother, Rose.  Rose lives in Alexandria, MN, but is spending a little time visiting Cathy, who lives in Scottsdale.  When Cathy and I lived in Minneapolis, we frequently traveled to Alexandria to stay with Rose and her husband, Tony.  It was our home away from home (Alexandria was even where we got married), and a fun one at that. It was great for us because it was not as easy to get to Kansas or California to see our own parents. It was wonderful to see Rose yesterday, even if the visit was too short. We love her and enjoy her company immensely.  She was kind enough to bring us lunch yesterday, which was delicious and much appreciated, as we were at Piper past our lunch time.
 

Cathy and I receive love and support from so many people.  It is so gratifying and humbling.  We learn so much from you on how to be loving and supporting friends.  We can’t thank you enough.
 

Let’s keep up the fight.  We can do this. Together we can be successful.