Sid Bacon

It was a painful game to watch at the end.  My Jayhawks were ahead essentially the entire game, but it just wasn’t enough.  They lost in overtime to Michigan.  My hat (and I have several) is off to the Michigan team … they never gave up; they battled the entire time and ultimately prevailed.  Of course, this doesn’t mean that there isn’t a Kansas team in the Final Four: Wichita State shocked the basketball gods – and everyone else, for that matter – and made it to the Final Four for the first time since 1965.  Good for them.  This has been a bracket-busting tournament. March Madness is fun … especially if your team is winning …
 

Cathy and I had a nice weekend, though unfortunately we didn’t get around to decorating the hard-boiled eggs.  I suppose it is not too late …
 

I take a steroid twice a day for two days after chemotherapy.  Among other things, it really helps with my energy level.  It means that I have pretty good energy on Thursday and Friday, but considerably less on Saturday and Sunday.  I vacuumed the house and mopped the tile floors on Saturday … it wore me out!  I napped quite a bit afterwards.  In fact, I napped enough that we decided I was sufficiently rested to attend the symphony concert Saturday night.  It was a “side-by-side” concert, with players from the Youth Symphony of the Southwest sitting beside players from the Symphony of the Southwest.  It was an outstanding concert; I am so glad we were able to attend.  The piece that was performed after intermission was “Pictures at an Exhibition”.  It was complete with a visual display of local high school students’ art work.  It was all very well done.  We enjoyed it very much.
 

Unfortunately, my back pain returned over the weekend. Fortunately, it is not as severe as it has been. I don’t feel the need to supplement my pain patches with oxycodone. I have a consultation appointment Tuesday afternoon with a physician who is a pain specialist.  It would be great if he can do something that will permanently reduce my pain. We are anxious to hear what he says.
 

Dan is coming home on Tuesday!  He will be here until Saturday.  We are certainly looking forward to his visit.  We hope that Laura will be able to spend some time at our house while he is here, although she is very busy with her construction work, so she may not be able to.  We’ll see.
 

It is a beautiful day today in Phoenix.  Cathy and I went on a nice walk immediately after her run. It is just such a pleasure for me to walk with her. It is a great way to start the day.  I especially enjoy the walks when we have an interesting topic of conversation.  Today we talked about one of the classes that she is teaching, and the struggles to get the students to learn the material.  It was an enjoyable conversation. She is such a good and dedicated teacher.
 

Cathy and I are so thankful for your love and support.  We benefit immensely from it. It helps us in our fight against this terrible disease.  And, of course, we are not fighting alone.  We are fighting this as Team Bacon … one strong team.   

I still have back pain, but it is a terrific day because Dan is coming to town this morning for an extended stay (he goes back to San Diego on Saturday).  Cathy and I are sure looking forward to his visit.
 

I have an appointment this afternoon with a pain specialist.  I am looking forward to hearing about various options to control my pain.  I am not interested in a pain pump, at least not yet, as I am optimistic that my chemotherapy treatments will help mitigate the pain, and I’ll be able to control it with smaller doses of my pain patch.
 

I am looking forward to having chemotherapy tomorrow.  I am hoping for a robust platelet count.  It is great that they were at 252,000 last week … that should give me quite a buffer for tomorrow, but I’d like to have a buffer for the following Wednesday as well, so I can get in 3 doses.  So, here is hoping for a platelet count tomorrow in the high 100s … And here is hoping that the treatment will help my back pain.
 

The weather for our walk this morning was absolutely gorgeous.  It is such a treat to have such lovely weather. It was brisk, but not too cool, and the sun was shining brightly in the clear blue sky.  It is supposed to warm up for the rest of the week, but the mornings and evenings will be cool.
 

We just got home from picking up Dan at the airport. I think I’ll stop my blog here so that I can enjoy his company.
 

I do want to take this opportunity to thank you for your support. I feel so very fortunate to have so many people supporting me in this fight. I don’t know what I’d do without your love and support. Thank you for all you do for Cathy and me.
 

Go Team Bacon!

Dan and I are at Piper; Cathy has three school visits to perform this morning, so she dropped us off and went on her way.  She’ll be back later for lunch.  It sure is great to have Dan here. It is just so much fun to hang out with him.

I lost about 2 pounds this past week … I just can’t seem to gain weight, and I’m disappointed that this past week I wasn’t even able to maintain my weight.  Up until this time I have at least been able to maintain my weight. I’m going to have to work that much harder.  I can do it. 

Laura is going to join the three of us for lunch at Piper around 11:45.  Dan is going to get burritos from a nearby Chipotle restaurant and bring them back to my room.  Cathy thinks she’ll be done with her school visits, and back to Piper by 11:30 or so. It will be fun to have a family lunch.

Dan and I went to Einstein Brother’s Bagels before coming to Piper.  He and I are going to split a bagel soon (see, I’m working at it …). 

I’m getting my weekly dose of fluids while I wait for the results of my blood work.  An hour later and still no results … After two hours, we have enough data back to know that I can have chemotherapy today.  The platelets were 134,000, which gives me a decent buffer for next week.  I am hopeful that we’ll be at 50,000 or higher.

I am a little anemic – not so much that I need a blood transfusion, but close – so we’ll pay close attention to that next week, as I will need a transfusion if my hemoglobin goes much lower.  I have been a little more fatigued – this explains why.

I am pleased to be getting chemo today.  It is always good to get those cancer-fighting drugs into my system.  They are arguably the most important part of our arsenal. I love to be fighting with our entire arsenal, and of course we all play an important role in my fight against this disease.  I can’t thank you enough for your efforts in this fight.  Go Team Bacon!

I am so thankful that I was able to receive chemotherapy yesterday.  I know the chemo drugs are really helping my fight against the aggressive tumors that reside in my body.  And I am hopeful that I’ll get another dose next Wednesday.  I’m starting off with more platelets than I have had at this stage in the chemo cycle for the past two months, so there is reason to hope that I’ll get another round next Wednesday.  Here is to hope!
 

I was especially sleepy and a bit nauseous yesterday afternoon when I got home.  I napped for about two hours, which made all the difference.  I felt good last night, so I could enjoy Cathy and Dan’s company.  We had a nice evening, for which I am very thankful.  I think that Laura will be coming out to our house to spend the night tonight and Friday night; it will be fun to have her here. Unfortunately, Dan goes home Saturday morning … We’ll miss having him around.  But fortunately we have two more days to enjoy his company.
 

The past few days I have felt tired and a bit rundown.  We can write that off to the decreased hemoglobin – I am a bit anemic.  Fortunately I did not feel that way today on our walk, though I expect to need a nap sometime today. Indeed, Cathy and I had a very enjoyable walk this morning, and then Cathy and Dan went on a run.  I’m sure it was nice for Cathy to have a running partner. I used to run with her, but not any longer. And even if I were in shape to run, I’d be hesitant to run and burn off too many calories.
 

If I need to have a blood transfusion, I hope I can get it scheduled for next Thursday.  The sooner I get a boost from the transfusion, the better.  It takes about six hours to transfuse … I’ll make sure to have some good reading material along with me.
 

I also need to follow-up with the pain specialist. I may have mentioned that the physician we were supposed to see got called away because his wife was having a baby.  We have some lingering questions that can better be answered by the physician than the physician’s assistant.  It is possible that we’ll opt for another neural block, but we’ll see …
 

A Tibetan Monk is leading a session next Wednesday afternoon at Piper on meditation. Cathy and I plan to attend.  We think that this could be another way for me to control my pain.  As with our fight against cancer in general, the more we have in our arsenal to combat pain the better.
 

I am thankful for Team Bacon and all the love and support we receive from the team members.  There are so many of you – it is really quite overwhelming and very humbling.  I really can’t thank you enough, but I do want you to know that Cathy and I are very thankful.

I am going to keep this extremely short, as I want to spend as much time today with Dan as possible, as he leaves early tomorrow morning.
 

I feel pretty good today.  I am a little fatigued, which I attribute to being anemic or nearly so.  Cathy and I nevertheless enjoyed our desert walk this morning.  The pace wasn’t bad, given my level of fatigue.  I suspect that I’ll be taking a nap later this afternoon.  Too bad I can’t blog in my sleep …
 

We had a fun evening last night, with the entire family together (Laura joined us and spent the night).  We will all be together again tonight.  I certainly look forward to it.
 

I hope you all have a wonderful weekend.  Thank you for all you do for me. Cathy and I sincerely appreciate all the love and support we receive from you.
 

Go Team Bacon!