That Hurts!- 5/31/07

I left the house around 9:15 a.m. yesterday morning for a Doctor's appointment. I had a prescription that I needed a refill for. I probably could just order it on-line myself without a prescription but being a law abider I chose the the driving method. Turns out my blood pressure has crept up a little more even though I'm on medication for that already. Can't imagine why that would happen. :-) I explained to the Doctor that when the nurses pump the cuff up on my arm they always pump to too high a pressure which causes excruciating pain in the arm muscles (diseased muscle tissue) which drives up my blood pressure. He agreed with me that that would certainly aggravate the situation. He took it again before I left and it had gone back down...but damn it still hurt!

After that was done, I had 3 hours to kill before my acupuncture appointment but didn't want to drive 23 miles home so that I could drive another 20 miles back out again, so I did what any red-blooded American woman would do...I went shopping.

At my acupuncture appointment I got some new points hit on the ears this time. Specifically points for the sympathetic nervous system and boy did they hurt like "hell"! I had pain go all the way through my head. "We" were working on bringing my blood pressure back to a normal state too. It did respond nicely but she was not sure its going to hold so I'm going to have to go back next week. She also put some ear dots in my ears (see picture above). If I push on them I give myself a little acupressure treatment. I'm supposed to do this when I feel like my blood pressure is up.

For the past 3 days I've been dealing with a lot of pain. It feels like I'm in the middle of some sort of inflammatory episode; joints hurt, muscles hurt. I've had this before, it will pass eventually, but its not fun to go through.

On a lighter note, I notice that I've passed the 10,000 total hits mark on my blog. Woohoo! Shouldn't there be a cake with candles? Anyway thanks to all who stop by to read my posts. You are a valued customer!!

Ear Acupuncture: The ears contain a hundred acupressure acupuncture points. Meridian endings for every organ of the body are located in the outer flesh of the ears. By pressing them you are opening up the energy blocks and stimulating the corresponding organ. You might find them slightly sensitive to the touch.

Day - 5/30/07

I'm starting to feel like all days of the week are running together. Its just day, night, night, day with very little to differentiate them one from the other. The very ordinariness of my life has kept me from writing for the last few days. What do I say to you that I haven't said a hundred times already? What do you want to know that I haven't already told you?

Yesterday we went to NIH for the weekly clinic and then I went shopping for groceries in the afternoon. Today I'm going to the doctor's for a prescription refill and then this afternoon I have an appointment for an acupuncture treatment. I'm hoping that will jolt me out of my current ennui.

Ask me questions. I reserve the right not to answer some, but ask anyway.

Enjoy your day.

The Dream Time - 5/28/07

Its been a quiet Memorial Day weekend here so far. We did get a brief rain shower yesterday and might get another today so I'm keeping my fingers crossed for that.

I had a series of dreams Friday night that I want to record here. Its unusual for me to remember so many from one night.

In the first dream I was back in the workplace and a friend of mine who suffers from infertility took me aside and confided that she was two months pregnant and it had happened naturally and not with fertility treatment. I was so happy for her and proceeded to relay to her another dream I'd had about her a few months ago where someone else had told me she was pregnant (I really did have the dream I told her about in the dream).

In the second dream Warren and I were talking and he told me he was "running out of energy". I noticed that he had a large bag that he was trying to bury in a snow drift and inside the bag was a dead white tiger. The sense was he had killed the tiger when it attacked him. I told him we should tell someone about the tiger, that the authorities liked to know about these things, but he didn't want to.

The next dream I was in a hospital room. A young woman I know was ill and lying on the bed wrapped up in a green blanket. Someone showed me a CD that had the words "Cat Diabetes" on it as if that was her diagnosis. I remember tucking the blanket in around her feet and she thanked me.

I then found myself with a large group of people I used to work with attending a meeting. I was telling someone "I have no idea why I'm here" because I knew in the dream that I was retired.

In the last dream, I was a contestant in some sort of game show where the people playing the game had to guess who was either the Mother of or next victim of a serial killer. I remember I had a page from a power point presentation in my hand that I was showing someone before I went on stage.

I'm sure all of the psychoanalysts out there are going to be scratching their heads over these.

Missing Rain - 5/25/07

My paternal Grandfather's Baby Picture (circa 1893) taken by my Great-Grandfather who owned a studio at the time.

I'm missing having a house right now. I don't miss the house we sold to move here. I'm missing the house before that one. That house had a wrap around deck with a roof over part of it. The house backed into a stand of woods. You could sit on the deck in the rain. The siding was a light gray, the shutters were black, and the front door was red. I would plant red geraniums in big pots to sit on the deck and there was a white wooden bench on the narrow side of the deck. We weren't crazy about the layout of that house (it was a split foyer), but the outside I liked once we put on new siding, shutters, windows, and deck. We put a lot of money into that before we decided to move on. I think my husband was afraid I'd want to add an addition onto the house and that's why we moved. Oops I almost forgot we also did a complete kitchen renovation on that place too. Maybe its not the house I'm missing, maybe its the outside space. Actually maybe I'm missing rain.

On the Road Again - 5/24/07

A look back at February

I took my Mother for her MRI yesterday but they were only able to do the films without the contrast as they were unable to find a vein that would accept the dye. Hopefully the pictures they took will be enough to determine if the tumors have grown any in the last year.

When we were done at the lab we drove on to Gettysburg, PA, and the cemetery. We had placed the pot of zinnias on my Father's grave and had just gotten back to the car when another car pulled up behind mine. I thought "that car looks familiar". It turns out it was my Aunt and Cousin who had come to put flowers on my Uncle's grave who is buried right next to my Dad. That was a nice surprise and we got to visit a little bit. I wonder if Dad and Uncle Bill had anything to do with that little synchronicity?

After we left the cemetery we stopped at the Outlet Mall to return some shoes for my Mom. By this time (4:30) I was getting hungry since I hadn't had lunch. I noticed that a new TGI Friday's had gone up at the Outlets so we went there for dinner before coming back home.

My Mother was exhausted (she'll be 83 in a few weeks) after that more than full day for her.

Today I have an appointment with someone who does energy work on me so I'm looking forward to that. Looks like another beautiful day here. "Here comes my day."

Everything is Energy - 5/20/07

Today I must admit that while not being exactly lazy, I am taking things easier. For example, I'm still in my nightgown and its 3:30 in the afternoon. Accumulated domestic duties are calling, so I decided to do some laundry and to dress the beds in the two guest rooms in their summer finery. That involves taking off the down comforters and heavy blankets and putting on the flowery quilt and hobnail chenille bedspread (dear male readers, I understand that most of you will be unable to understand the last few sentences so while I ramble on about the joys of domesticity please feel free to go build stuff or blow stuff up.) I'm aware that those types of bedding sound old fashioned, but I like that. I like antiques and country cottage type furnishings and decor. I like things that have a family history or are hand-made.

I'm also in one of my clean out the refrigerator moods getting ready for this weeks shopping. So I've been cleaning, cooking and chopping vegetables. I made Warren a cheese pizza for lunch to use up the rest of the grated cheese. Tonight I'm making Turkey Marsala with real mashed potatoes and cooked carrots. Dessert will be fresh strawberries over pound cake with whipped cream.

Hmm, I just re-read the first two paragraphs and I'm trying to figure out why I said I was taking things easier. I've been busy, not dressed, but busy.

If there are any inventors out there, I would like someone to invent walls that can change color by programming in a different color code. Would that not be cool? Change the colors to suit your mood with no messy paint or messy, expensive painters!

I often wonder what I would do with my days if I never had to go back to NIH again. Would I get bored once everything was decorated and painted to my liking? What form would my life take?

I have an idea about where I think my life is going. I've talked about it before. For the past 5 years or so I've felt like I was being called into some sort of healing work. I took the first level training in Reiki energy healing and plan to take additional training there. However, that is not entirely what I do. When I am giving someone energy healing or sending it to them, I enter into their energy field. Sometimes I am shown things like seeing an x-ray like picture of the body, or seeing symbolic representations of where people are with their illness emotionally or physically. I also feel things in my own body which might mirror their problems. I can usually feel the energy flowing and know where it is flowing into the other person's body. I also can tell when it is time to stop. I've stopped doubting that something is happening when I offer this to someone. I have given my life over to spirit to be in service in this area. I believe that if I am drawn to offer help to someone, then there is a reason for it and I don't have to know what the reason is or how the energy will be used. I have to detach from the outcome because in reality I am just acting as a conduit. Everyone could do this for themselves, but often times they need someone else to hold the space for them where they are seen as already well and whole. I believe that I am still in the development phase and that over time I will be more involved in this work than I am now.

Its time to finish some of the tasks I've started for the day so feel free to talk amongst yourselves or move about the country. Enjoy your day.

Last Chemo Today for Two Weeks - 5/19/07

I didn't post yesterday because I just ran out of energy. I tried but no words would come that didn't immediately get deleted by me via the back space key.

Today is the last chemo treatment for two weeks. We'll be glad when we're home again this evening. Warren is really tired and finding it difficult to get through his days and I must admit that I'm dragging as well. I'm hoping that we'll both rebound as the next two weeks unfold.

It turns out that I don't have to pick my Mother up again this weekend as my Brother and his wife are not going out of town. That trip is being postponed for a few weeks. On Monday I have to call and make an appointment to get my Mom an MRI to see if the tumors in in brain are growing. She needs that before she sees the neurologist again and I told my brother I would take her. He took her a few weeks ago but it was in the morning and she had a lot of drainage in her throat and didn't think she could lie still for long enough in the "tube". She wants an afternoon appointment and my Brother goes to work at 11:00. So I'll get that set up and then after that appointment she wants to drive up to Gettysburg to put some plants on my Father's grave and her parents grave for the summer. Gettysburg is just an hour from where she lives and from the place where we get the MRI probably only 30 minutes. I also should start setting up some appointments for myself. I haven't been to the MD clinic for two years. Now granted they don't have any treatments to offer, but they like to track how the disease process is working in my body and I'm interested to hear how study turned out that they were running last year. They had called me to participate, but at the time Warren was going into treatment again and the threat of surgery was hanging over us. I just couldn't see that there would be time for me to run him to Bethesda everyday and get to Baltimore a few times a week. Also the study they were running was a double-blind which meant that not everyone would get the drug; some would get placebo. I asked my guides for a dream to show me whether I should participate or not and I dreamed that I was arguing with a nurse about something she wanted to do to me in the study that did not make sense. She ended up holding my head down to a table and sticking a very large needle in it which really made me mad. I figured after that I didn't need the extra aggravation that study would add to my life.

Sometimes it feels to me like everyone in the world has some sort of health issue. There are so many young people that I see at NIH getting chemotherapy; children, people in their twenties and thirties. And because they are there it usually means that they've already exhausted treatment options available on the outside.

Its time to get ready to go to the hospital so I need to get off here now. Perhaps I'll post again later.

Enjoy your day.

Another Glimpse at the Far Side - 5/17/07

World Chemo - 5/16/07

Last night we went to bed early because we were just exhausted. I was in pain so I gave myself an energy healing before going to sleep. I had a deep sense that someone in spirit had joined me providing their energy as well. During the night I dreamed that I was getting a "World Chemo" treatment. It must have worked because I had no pain this morning. Now I wonder what "World Chemo" means in my subconscious symbol dictionary.

Tonight is the season finale of "Medium" so you know I'll have to stay up to watch that.

I've been trying different routes to and from the hospital to avoid traffic. Its made the driving more interesting. Three more days this week. I've heard that that which doesn't kill you makes you stronger....I'm going to be one strong broad!

Enjoy your evening.

Start of Week 2 FdCYD - 5/15/07

Long, long day today. We left the house at 8:00 a.m. this morning and got back just before 8:00 p.m. The clinic appointment prior to treatment was a 10:00 a.m. We got to the hospital at 9:00 so Warren could get his blood drawn and the results would be available for clinic. All the results weren't back on time so after our clinic appointment we had to wait upstairs to be released to go down to the day hospital for treatment. We got down there about 12:30 and his drug wasn't ready to start the infusion until 2:00 p.m. Warren was given an anti-nausea medication prior to the chemo which promptly put him to sleep for the entire time. Three hours later plus an extra 20 minutes for a saline flush of his mediport and we were on our way home through rush hour traffic. Warren was still half asleep and said he wasn't hungry for dinner. So I said how about ice cream and that seemed to perk him up. So I took the back roads home and stopped for ice cream at the Coldstone Creamery. That's what we had for dinner.

He fell asleep again once we got home. I guess I'll be hauling Mr. Sleepy Head back and forth to the hospital all week long. I read half a book today, so that won't last the rest of the week.

I'm very soon off to bed, because we get to turn around and do this all again tomorrow without the clinic visit and the ice cream.

Be well.

A Little Humor - 5/14/07

How much Viagra and Cialis could I possibly need? Ever since we were on vacation in Florida I've been getting ten to fifteen spam ads a day for those two products. I don't know whether its just a feature of everyone's Florida vacation now like some adult Disney World, or if I should blame Earthlink for allowing the spammers to find my email address. I'm pretty sure that I don't have a need for this product. It won't make me thinner, prettier or funnier. Heck, it won't even make me perkier. I'm also not going to go around recommending the product to all the men I know by forwarding them these emails. I can hardly keep up with deleting them as they show up in the email in-box (the ads not the men).

You'll be glad to know that "because I am a returning customer (huh?) I don't even need a prescription from my doctor to refill doseage." Thank goodness, I was beginning to wonder how I would find a doctor who would write me a prescription for it anyway. I think I know what the benefit to women is for this drug, but I'm not sure that I am the one this marketing should be aimed at. After all at the ripe old age of 60 I don't really see myself as being a big fan of priapism (look it up boys and girls, this is a family blog here).

I just received another 4 of these fantastic refill offers while I was writing this post

So whoever you are out there in Nigeria, New Jersey or Brisbane, please stop sending me these emails. I am not buying. Thank you.

Closeup of Clock

Here's a closeup of the clock face. Its hand painted and signed and dated on the back by the artist. Its been awhile since the face has been off to see that but I think that the date was 1873 or 1878. The artists name......does anyone here know how to hypnotize me to retrieve that information?

A Day of Rest - 5/14/07

picture of my 130 year old grandfather clock.

Warren did get home from the hospital yesterday but not until about 3:00 p.m. It required some nagging on my part. I called and woke him up at 1:00 p.m. and made him buzz the nurse to get things going. They wouldn't have done anything while he was napping. Which could have gone on all afternoon. The day turned out well all things considered. I stayed up late on Saturday to prepare as much of the food as I could beforehand.

He is looking and feeling a lot better since he got home again. I think you always feel better when you can sleep in your own bed and not have to get woken up to have your vital signs taken.

Today I'm just resting from my labors for the most part. Tomorrow its back to the hospital again for more chemo. I won't even have to cook because there are lots of leftovers.

Enjoy your day while I rest and recuperate.

Happy Mother's Day - 5/13/07

My Momma and my Daughter (who is now a Momma too). Happy Mother's Day.

Her Majesty - 5/8/07

Warren and I were taking bets yesterday on what color the new chemo would be. The last one (17-demag) was the color of a fine grape kool-aid. I bet that it would be acid-green, he bet orange but we were both wrong. This one (FdCyd) is clear. For unknown reasons he did not start at 9:00 this morning. It was 11:35 before they began. The infusion was just finishing when I arrived at the hospital at 2:30 this afternoon. Warren said he felt fine, no problems, except the peripheral IV that was put in yesterday had quit working already and they had to have a regular IV put in his other arm for the research blood draws. I thought that he looked worn out by the time I left at 7:00, but he said he felt fine. The doctor he saw this afternoon who is leading the study said he could come home on Saturday after chemo.

The Queen of England visited the Goddard Space Flight Center today. That is the place I worked for over 27 years. She was in my building too. In my next life, I want to be a queen (hmm, perhaps I should be more specific before I send that intention out into the universe...let me rephrase - I wish to be a female monarch of a stable, prosperous country). Apparently its good for the complexion. She looks pretty good for 80 don't you think. The photo was taken by a woman I used to work with.

My other friend, Barbara, is still hanging on. They've had to increase her pain medication. I hope she will soon be out of all that. Its my opinion that death is not the worse thing that can happen to you.

My muscles were very painful today, especially my back. I guess it was stress from yesterday and not giving them any fuel to work with for 12 hours. I'm still working from the old mind set that I know does not work...and that is that I can push through anything just on the strength of my will. I can do that too, just not for long. I have built some resilience back up but I can't even fool myself into thinking that is anything more than a thin layer. Today I slept a little later. I didn't get around to eating breakfast until noon, so I still only had two meals, but at least they were closer together than yesterday.

I should get to bed its after midnight. Sleep well.....oh, and before I forget, did you know that HOH means hard of hearing at the hospital? My poor baby has that sign hanging over his bed. So I asked him if he had not been responding to the nurses, but I don't think he heard me.

(p.s. Sorry Warren, I couldn't resist.)

The Man of the Hour - 5/7/07

Today was a long one. We left the house at 6:30 a.m. so that Warren would have enough time to get his blood drawn, an EKG and a chest x-ray before his 9:00 a.m. appointment for the insertion of a peripheral IV. After that we had an 11:30 in the ENT clinic followed by an Oncology clinic visit, a visit to the admissions office and then on to his hospital room. There was no time for lunch. Once he got settled in his room he ordered a Skandy shake (a fortified milk shake that the nutritionist at NIH pushes). I waited until I got home at 6:00 to get dinner.

They decided that they were not going to start the chemo today. It would have been late afternoon and it takes 3 hours to infuse the drugs. Since this will be the first time he's gotten them they wanted to be around in case there were any problems. So now he's receiving chemo at 9:00 a.m. tomorrow morning. This means of course that chemo will be Tuesday through Saturday. I guess it can't be helped.

We found out that his tumors had grown slightly since the last scans done in March. They'd grown some then too so its good he'll be back in treatment. He told me last week that he'd started getting headaches again. The same type of headache that was the symptom that got him diagnosed to begin with 3.5 years ago. Nothing is showing up in the scans yet in that area, but it will need to be watched. I'm assuming that he'll go through 2 cycles of chemo (2 months) before he is re-scanned.

And so we begin this journey again. We will try to found our balance in the new schedule and fit our lives in around it. How I love this man.

The Virtual Voyeur - 5/6/07

I think in the not too distant past I would have made fun of what I've become. You know one of those people that hangs out on-line all day, blogging, reading other people's posts, commenting on other people's posts, responding to comments other people put on my posts - a 360 addict, a virtual voyeur. Now what to do about it? Is it a bad thing really? First lets consider the pros and cons.

Pros:
1. Meet new people
2. Learn new things
3. Writing practice
4. LOL
5. Crying
6. Capturing the details of my own life before they slip into oblivion

Cons:
1. Loss of productivity from time spent on-line
2. I don't need no stinking productivity, I'm retired
3. Sometimes making a fool of myself
4. Public humiliation

It appears the the pros outnumber the cons and I really have given up caring if I look like a fool to others. The truth is, I am enjoying the richness of this experience. I get to talk to people all over the country/world, from all walks of life. I get to share my experiences with those who have an interest. I get to look into the lives of people who I might never meet under ordinary circumstances. This venue is also a great way for me to journal because when I type out my life, I don't take the time to edit as I go the way I might with pen and paper. The thinking and writing is more fluid.

So thank all of you who stop by to read and comment. I am enjoying the interaction.

Happy Cinco de Mayo - 5/5/07

I guess I didn't post yesterday did I? I didn't remember that until I got up this morning. Oh well you didn't miss much. All I did was putter around the house and go to the grocery store. Oh, and I made a big mess in the kitchen because I tried a new recipe for dinner. It was a sweet and sour shrimp dish. It turned out ok, but I'm not sure I'd make it again.

I got news yesterday that an old co-worker that I've known for over 25 years is very close to death. Hospice says she probably won't make it through the weekend. She's had a very long battle with breast cancer that has spread to her liver and her bones. Its as sad a story as most of these cancer stories are. So now its time to help hold the space for her transition. Say a prayer for her, or send good thoughts her way please.

Today, being Saturday, we're going to my Mom's to pick up her groceries and spend the afternoon with her. Warren is going with me today, probably because he thinks he won't feel like it once treatment starts on Monday. Mom always enjoys seeing him too.

There was another Women's Retreat scheduled for this weekend and they've been holding a place for me. I had to let them know that I won't be able to make this one. The reason I didn't sign up and pay was because I was pretty sure that Warren would end up in the hospital during this time. I don't want to be pulled in too many directions at once (appears to be happening anyway). There is another one at the end of June which I think I'll be able to do.

It appears that my Brother and his wife are going to Pennsylvania for Mother's Day (her Mom is in the hospital right now) so I'm going to have to figure out how to care for my Mother (I don't want her staying by herself at night) and getting Warren home from the hospital. We found out yesterday that they'll probably keep him until Saturday of next week. I guess that means I'll bring Mom here so I can have all of my "patients" in one place LOL. I guess if Mom is here, I'll be doing Mother's Day by default. I should let my other Brother and Sister-in-law know that. We can plan something simple for dinner. Too bad its not cold outside, I could make 3 gallons of soup again. Its too warm for hot soup, and too cool for cold soup.

Enjoy your day. Don't drink too many margaritas and get into you cars to drive.

Just Another Day in the Life - 5/3/07

Warren had his PET scan and CT scan today. They didn't finish the CT scan until 3:00 p.m. and he hadn't had anything to eat since last night! I brought along 2 chocolate Boost drinks and 2 chocolate chip cookies for him which he promptly scarfed down just to tide him over until we could get him something substantial to eat. I normally stay with him when he's having procedures done but I had a 12:00 appointment in Silver Spring, so this morning I dropped him off at the front door and went down the road to the Silver Diner and had breakfast. I don't know that I've ever gone out to breakfast by myself before. I got coffee, a western omelet and substituted fresh strawberries for the hash browned potatoes and biscuit. I felt like a real grown-up LOL.

We drove into our neighborhood on fumes so I stopped for gas which was $3.039 a gallon now. I'm so glad the price of gas is going up now that I have to drive to NIH 5 days a week. It cost me over $49 to fill the tank and that won't last a week. (I know, I know, I know...... quityourbitchinyou'retheonewhoboughtthejeep).

So who wants to hear about my "Weird Wednesday"? Ah, yes I can hear you all out there cheering me on (and I can hear the few of you saying..oh no, here she goes again). Anyway my son called me last night to tell me about a weird experience he'd had in an Italian restaurant yesterday evening so my brain was already tuned into the "strange" channel. I went to bed and closed my eyes and there was a young man sitting in a chair across from me who waved. So in my head I said "How are you today?" He disappeared but about 5 seconds later I heard (just like a person in a body speaking to me) someone say back to me "How are you today?" Now that was startling! A little later I heard a bird whistle once in the room as well. A little progress on the clairaudience front boys and girls. Aren't you glad you tuned in here tonight? I would love, love, love to write about my son's experience too, but I haven't asked his permission yet and he may want to do that himself. Let's just say, he's a lot like his Momma.

Tomorrow is an off day, but I will have to get groceries and do some housework. Yes even the weird people have housework. I have not found a way to get elves to take care of it while I sleep yet.

I know this post is a little nutty tonight...its just the mood I'm in. Have a great evening.

Schedule Amended - 5/2/07

Nothing is ever written in stone with NIH. They called today and now want Warren to come in to be admitted on Monday so that he'll end his 5 days of chem0 on Friday rather than Saturday. That works better anyway so we're happy with that. They also need him to get a central line IV put in that day too, even though he has a dual-lumin mediport (2 lines). They need a separate line for taking research blood while the chemo is being infused. We already had an appointment Monday with the ENT (ear, nose throat clinic) for follow-up at 11:30. Now we get to add the blood work, the central line IV installation, a chest x-ray, an EKG, a clinic visit in oncology, admittance to the hospital, a 3 hour chemo infusion and a partridge in a pear tree. He gets to have all the fun! We still don't know how long he'll have to be an in-patient next week.

Today I took him to see the dermatologist to have a small skin tag removed from his forehead that was bothering him.

I'm going to have to make some appointments of my own soon as I've been deferring maintenance on me for awhile now. That's probably not a good thing.

Its beautiful here today in the 80's so I've got windows open to let in Spring. So far I'm not sneezing so perhaps the screens are keeping out the pollen.

I took a quiz I found on Maggie's blog that tells you which Norse God or Goddess you are most like. It turns out I'm most like Odin. See below.

Hmm, he speaks to the dead and has raven friends.....there may be something to this quiz after all.

You should try it.

Which Norse God or Goddess are you most like?
created with QuizFarm.com

NIH Update - 5/1/07

Its official, Warren will be starting another study next week. This week we have to go back Thursday for a CAT scan and a PET scan. On Tuesday he'll get a chest x-ray, EKG and blood work prior to a clinic visit and then he'll be admitted to the hospital for several days (not really given a number yet) to start chemo and for research blood work to be done (many drawings of blood at specified times). The new drug is really two drugs given together 5-fluoro-2'-deocycytidine (FdCyd) and tetrahydrouridine (THU). The second drug acts to raise the level of the first drug in the blood stream (or that's my understanding of what was said today). We'll go 5 days a week (looks like Tuesday-Saturday) for 2 weeks and then have 2 weeks off. The drugs will be given by IV infusion lasting 3 hours each day. The 4 weeks equals one drug cycle. He will remain in the study it looks like at least two cycles. They expect that the tumors should have shrunk by half in that time. I hope they're right. This is going to be tiring for both of us.

May Day - 5/1/07

When I was in elementary school in the early 1950's (we've already established I'm old people...move on), we used to celebrate May Day and have a May Pole with ribbons that got laced around the poles. As I recall the ribbons were affixed at the top. Each one held on the end by a child and then we would walk around the circle going to the left of one child and then on the right of the next....or something in that fashion.

Originally this was a spring festival celebrating human fertility and the renewal of nature honoring the Roman goddess Flora; it spread throughout the Roman empire. It was especially popular in medieval England but went out of favor with the Puritans. I'm pretty sure there were no fertility rights going on at the old Glenmont Elementary School.

Yesterday I went for my monthly acupuncture treatment. Interestingly enough Death showed up again while I was there. Now I don't mean someone actually died, but something entered the room with us during treatment and I intuitively knew it was a personification of death, but not dark, it was a very light being. I'm not sure what this means.

Today we're off to NIH (boy that time off sure went fast). Perhaps we'll be given some idea about what happens next in the treatment arena. Back to the last treatment or something new???

Perhaps I'll update later today if I get any additional treatment information.

It looks to be a nice day in the high 70's. Get outside and inhale your share of the pollen.

This is priceless - 5/1/07

You know they had to all be thinking about asking for directions by year 39!