May 4/11

Soooooooooooo....I had my Cancer Clinic appointment yesterday.It wass screwed from the start! They didn't have me booked in so I think I got bumped down the list in order of being seen. When they gaveme my blood req. forms, they ended up belonging to some lady and not me. So my 1:30pm appt didn't actually take place until around 3:45pm.

So the gist of it is that they started me on yet another round of chemo. Another 28 days straight. Possibly another 28 days after that. My MRI is still scheduled for June 20, which I don't agree with, but according to my Oncologist, that is considered "normal" protocal. I guess this far into the game, they don't consider it feasible to do another MRI earlier. So I shall play the waiting game until June....wondering minute by minute, whether or not the chemo is even working, or if the tumours are still growing in my head. Doc MacDonald told me that it would take a minimum of a month of chemo to see any effects on the tumours. He also told me just to be very weary of any physical changes to my body, such as vision, left side weakness etc. (telltale signs of tumour growth I suppose.)

Coming out of there, I felt a little dejected and was having one of those "throw your hands up in the air" moments and just wanted to say to hell with it all. Then I guess the stubborn Ed kicked back into gear and told myself to quit whining and get on with the game. I have an amazing daughter to live for, as well as a wonderful circle of family and friends who are pulling for me. Game on bastard cancer.....game on!

Medically, I am still only managing 3-4 hrs sleep a night. I thought I'd have more "crash" nights, but in the first 28 days, I only crashed and burned once. I seem to have a higher energy level while on chemo. I'm sure that is a side effect of both the chemo and the steroid medication. Speaking of steroids, although I did refill my prescription, for this chemo round, I am going to avoid them as much as possible. I also am not going to take the anti-nauseant and see how things go. I'm tired of living on all these pills. The steroids, I may not be able to avoid for too long. Last night and this morning, I felt/feel a further weakness in my left arm. Feels like a wet noodle. If it gets unbearable, I will return to the steroids I guess. Headaches have been a constant the past few days too, so I will monitor all of this and adjust meds accordingly for now. Sad but true, I feel I am my own best Doctor right now.

Still keeping very busy with Angela and her son. We are waiting for a bed to open up in Continuing Care at the hospital so Angela can get to work with rehab and such. In my opinion, I don't see her leaving the hospital in the near future due to both lack of physical strength and some memory issues. Hopefully both will improve with time.

On a lighter note, Faith and I spent our first weekend at Happy Hills this past weekend. She brought along a friend and had a hoot. My bestest bud Al and his girlfriend Kar came out to hlp me with opening the trailer for the season. Thanks guys :) I am going to try spend a lot more time there this summer (God willing) to enjoy the serenity and time away from the world of cancer. Last year I was not in a good place (with myself) to enjoy it.

Tomorrow is Steve Phillips birthday.Sadly we lost him to cancer last September, but not without a fight....Get that margarita ready for you and Kathy bud ;) I also heard through the grapevine that Scream for a Cure 2 is in the works!! Can't wait to be a small part of that again.

My next scheduled Cancer Clinic appt is May 31 at 1:30pm.

Thanks for all your support during this "stuff". You are all very special people to me :)