First Shots

I had the first shots of Stimuvax on Friday. Again, we drove to New Port Richie, thinking we would be in and out fairly quickly. Fact was that I did not even get the shots until noon, and then we had to wait one hour to see if I would have any adverse reaction. (I did not.) After we left the clinic, Yoko and I had lunch at Crispers (a salad place) and left for home around 2 PM, arriving at 4 PM. Again the trip to New Port Richie turns out to be an all day affair.

I did not feel good after getting chemo on Monday, which makes me think that I got the real deal and not the placebo. I was dragging all week. I went to bed at 7:30 PM on Friday so I could get up for golf at 5 AM Saturday morning. I made it out of bed, but shot a round of 96 at Rosemont CC yesterday. When I came home, I took a three hour nap. Last night I went to bed at my usual time (11 PM) and was up this morning at 6:30 for a 7:30 AM tee time. I was feeling pretty good and shot 81 at Bobcat Trail. The fact that I am here blogging instead of napping again is a good sign.

Ever since getting treatments I have not felt 100%. It is hard to describe. I have felt run down and lethargic. It is a kind of tiredness that you just don't shake. It is not incapacitating, but it does shut you down from doing much. I have not felt like doing anything until recently. Yoko keeps pushing me to exercise, but she does not seem to understand how tired I really am. I am glad to get out of bed and go to work everyday. Golf takes a lot out of me, although I must say last Sunday I played 36 holes without much trouble and I could have played 36 holes today. So I guess I am feeling better.

I was sorry to learn that Mary Grace Lorah's sister passed away. She was the same age and me and was diagnosed with Stage IIIA lung cancer last year. She did not do well with chemo and gave up the fight. It did not take long for her to succumb, which scares me. Matt Defilips' Dad is also fighting lung cancer. He was stable Stage IIIA, but they found the cancer has spread to the right lung and is in the pleura. They are looking at doing the talc treatment. It is heartbreaking to know so many people are having to fight this disease and so many are loosing the fight.

I thank my lucky stars that I have had such good fortune so far. I pray that my good luck will continue. Yoko thinks that having a goal helps continue a run of luck. My first goal was to attend Paula's wedding. (Mission accomplished!) My goal now is to be able to travel to Italy this fall. After that I want to plan a Christmas trip somewhere. Beyond that I would like to make it to my next bonus next summer so that I can pay for all this extravagant travel!