Sid Bacon

It is another beautiful day in the desert.  Cathy and I had a nice walk prior to her run.  We crossed paths with someone who commented on our “romantic stroll”; it must have been the fact that we were holding hands. I feel very lucky to be taking these walks with my best friend. 
 

I have taken to having a piece of toast before our walks and a bigger breakfast afterwards; today it was fried potatoes and bacon.  I am doing what I can to add some weight. I need to gain about 18 pounds in order to get back to my pre-diagnosis weight.  You’d think that the desserts I’ve been eating (ice cream; apple pie ala mode; chocolate pie; tofu/peanut butter/chocolate pie; cheese cake; etc.) would be doing the trick, but so far I’ve just been holding steady.  I’ll have to work harder.
 

I filled out my NCAA bracket … let the madness begin.  I picked Kansas to win it all.  They have about as good of a chance as anyone, and better than most, although it is a difficult task to even get to the final four.  We’ll see.
 

I am feeling pretty good today.  I haven’t been nauseous for some time now. It is a real treat not to be nauseous and to have an appetite.  I certainly don’t take that for granted.  I do have some back pain, but it isn’t bad enough that I take any oxycodone for it.  The pain fluctuates throughout the day, ranging from a 1 to a 3 or 4 (on a 10-point scale, where 10 is the highest amount of pain). I am glad that it isn’t so bad that I feel the need for additional pain medication, on top of the pain patch that I wear.  I, of course, wish I did not feel any pain, but I’m thankful that the pain I have isn’t too bad.
 

We are all set for the CT scan on Thursday and the CA19-9 tumor marker to be measured next Wednesday (we’ll review both measures that Wednesday, the 27th). I’m trying not to be nervous about these tests.  I sure hope the chemo drugs are at least holding things steady, as I’d like to continue with them. I’d like to give them enough time to be as successful as they were last spring.  I don’t want to give up on them quite yet.  Then again, we want a treatment that is successful right away, so maybe they have another treatment approach that will be even more successful than the current regimen. We can hope.
 

Today, like every day, is a day to be thankful.  I have so much to be thankful for.  I am certainly thankful for your continued love and support.  You play an important role in my journey, and for that I am grateful.

I am struggling a bit to come up with something to say in today’s blog.  I will just start writing, but I’m not sure anything meaningful will result.  Perhaps that is not new …
 

It is another beautiful day in the desert. It helped make for a very pleasant walk with Cathy.  The route we walk takes 30 minutes and includes three reasonably steep climbs.  I am pleased that I can do those climbs without getting winded at all.  Although the route is not quite as long as the routes I used to take in the streets (the desert loop is 1.6 miles), I think the difficulty of the walk (especially the climbs) more than makes up for the slightly shorter distance.  At least I’d like to think so.
 

I spent a little bit of time in my lab yesterday morning. As always, it was nice to be at the university. I hope to be in my lab more often in the future.  My PhD student is just about ready to embark on her dissertation, and I’d like to be around to help her as much as possible.  We also have other experiments running, and it would be good for me to be around to provide feedback on the results we are getting.  I can do most of that from home, and I will continue doing so, but sometimes it is more efficient to meet face-to-face to discuss these things.
 

We bought an apple pie at Costco yesterday.  It was Costco-size big.  Cathy and I both had apple pie ala mode last night.  Unfortunately, the pie was especially sweet (sugary).  It didn’t taste nearly as good as the apple pies that Cathy has been making.  I’d prefer not to have so much sugar in my diet.  Cathy took the pie into work today to leave in the graduate student lounge … they won’t mind the sugar!
 

Cathy and I are planning to meet Laura for lunch tomorrow after my CT scan. The scan is scheduled for 12:30.  We can’t have lunch before that, because I have to fast for two hours prior to the scan.  It will be fun to see Laura and have lunch with her.  It will also help keep my mind off of the scan.  A big task indeed …
 

I have been getting regular phone calls from Dan and Laura.  Those calls mean a great deal to me, even if they are short. It is an important way for us to stay connected.  I am truly blessed with loving and thoughtful children.  I am looking forward to having Dan back in Phoenix in early April.  I hope we get to see Laura during that time, although unfortunately she’ll be busy working during most of the time that Dan is here.  I’ll be content with – and thankful for – whatever time we all have together. The time with my family has greater and greater significance the longer we travel this journey.
 

As always, I thank you for your love and support.  This is a difficult journey, to be sure, but it is eased by having so many family and friends support me. We are definitely a formidable team.  Go Team Bacon!

I sound like a broken record when I say that the weather is beautiful, but so it is.  The morning and evenings are cool, and the middle of the day is warm.  I would be greedy if I wanted this weather during the entire year, which I do.  A better way to look at it is that I am very grateful that we have times of the year during which I feel the weather is perfect.  Cathy and I certainly enjoyed today’s weather on our morning walk.  The walks are such a great way to start the day! (After a cup of coffee …)
 

My CT scan is scheduled for 12:30 this afternoon; we are supposed to be there by noon to check in and deal with paper work. I have to fast for two hours prior to the scan, so I’m getting in as much eating as I can prior to 10:30.  It is a good thing that I am used to eating even when I’m not especially hungry.
 

We plan to meet Laura for lunch after my scan, as her work site is not far from where I am being scanned.  It is nice of her to postpone her lunch break.  She was planning to take some snacks to keep her going during the morning (she usually eats an early lunch, because she starts the day on the early side).
 

My back pain has escalated a bit.  I am now taking oxycodone to help keep the pain manageable, and we have reduced the frequency of patch replacement from 60 to 48 hours.  The combination seems to help, as the pain – though still noticeable – is a bit less than it was during the night.  I am not overly concerned that the increased pain is associated with increased tumor growth, as any number of factors can affect the pain. 
 

Students in the Department of Speech and Hearing Science are participating in the Relay for Life again this year. They had a very successful year last year.  They are registered as Team Bacon, and their goal is to raise $1000 to fight cancer.  I am humbled by this, and am very proud of the students. The link to their site, where you can donate should you wish to do so, is: http://main.acsevents.org/goto/ASUTeamBacon

Today is my sister’s Gotcha Day.  Happy Gotcha Day, Su!
 

I am grateful for today.  It is a beautiful day, I feel pretty good, and I’m surrounded by loving and caring people.  Team Bacon is awesome.  

It is – as always – great to get to the end of the week.  This week is no exception. 
 

Cathy is on a run, and when she returns we will go on our desert walk/hike.  I am, as always, looking forward to walking with my best friend.
 

We had a very pleasant lunch with Laura yesterday.  As soon as I was called for my scan, Cathy went to a nearby Chipotle and got three burritos.  She came back to pick me up and then we met Laura on the nature trail on the fringe of the Mayo campus in Scottsdale (near where Laura works).  There was a ramada for shade, and the beautiful desert for tranquility.  After lunch we walked the trail’s short loop. What a way to spend your lunch break!
 

March Madness is in full swing, with several upsets already playing havoc with my bracket.  Several of us in the family are competing with our brackets ($5 to enter, winner takes all – but Dan stipulated that you can only win if you picked Kansas to win it all … no problem here).  There are basketball games on four or five channels, starting early in the morning.  One could watch the day away.  I probably won’t start watching today until early evening.  I certainly will watch Kansas this evening.
 

I am going to try very hard not to think about my CT scan.  There isn’t anything I can do about it … fretting over it just won’t help.  The basketball games will help keep my mind occupied, and off thinking about the possible results of the scan.  March Madness is good for lots of things …
 

I am looking forward to the weekend.  I get to have more time with Cathy, which is always a treat.  The weather will be great … we’ll need to be outside to enjoy our beautiful surrounds.  I suppose I could pull a few weeds in the back yard; the few weeds in the front yard are masked by our wild flowers (we have beautiful yellow poppies densely scattered throughout our front yard), so I’ll wait on the weeds in the front.  Our yard is full of blooming penstemon (primarily pink in the back, red in the front).  Indeed, we have lots of color in our yard right now.  You just can’t beat the desert in the spring.  It is so beautiful.  
 

I am going to have a great weekend.  I hope you all do, too.  Thanks so much for your continued love and support.  It means a great deal to Cathy and me.
 

I’ll write more on Monday … Go Team Bacon!

My Jayhawks have advanced to the so-called “Sweet 16”, which means they are one of 16 teams remaining in the NCAA tournament.  For my friends and colleagues in Chapel Hill, I regret that the Kansas advancement was at the expense of the North Carolina Tar Heels and their coach, Roy Williams. Kansas hasn’t played all that well (except perhaps during the second half of yesterday’s game), so I am hoping that they have gotten the bad play out of their system and they are ready to play well from here on out. March Madness is fun, particularly when your team wins …
 

Cathy and I had a nice weekend.  I hope you did, too.  The weather was perfect, which made for nice walks in the desert.  We also enjoyed eating lunch outside.  When I wasn’t enjoying the outside, I spent a fair bit of time inside watching college basketball.  It was fun.
 

Cathy didn’t have time for a walk and a run today, because she had to leave for work on the early side.  Much to my delight, she picked going on a walk as her form of exercise.  She is so good to me.  It was a wonderful walk and, surprisingly, we didn’t see anyone else on the trails.  We usually see walkers, runners, and mountain bikers on any given walk.  But today we were alone.
 

My back pain escalated over the weekend, to the point of interrupting my sleep.  The oxycodone just didn’t eliminate the pain.  Today we increased the dosage of my pain patch, from 100 mcg/h to 150 mcg/h.  (It is fortunate that I have plenty of 50 mcg/h patches to add to my 100 mcg/h patches.)  I am optimistic that this will take care of the pain.  It may take a day or so to tell. I also have lots of 25 mcg/h patches, so we can back off the dosage to 125 mcg/h and – I hope – ultimately get back to 100 mcg/h or less.
 

Cathy baked an apple pie over the weekend.  We enjoyed apple pie ala mode twice … I’ll keep working on the pie, in hopes that it will help add a pound or two to my frame.  In general, I’ve been eating a lot lately. I hope the weigh-in on Wednesday reveals that I’ve gained a couple pounds.
 

It is just two more days until we hear the results of the scan and tumor biomarker.  I think I’ve done a good job of not thinking about it, though clearly it is at least on the back of my mind.  
 

I appreciate all the love and support that I receive from all of you. It really does mean a great deal to Cathy and me. We are fighting this fight as a team, and a formidable one at that.  Thanks for everything!