No One Has Ever Confused Me With John Travolta

Except for my fantastic dancing abilities. But enough about that.

Some folks have asked me if I will be allowed visitors during the hospital stay portion of my treatment this week and during the second one three weeks from now. They had concern that since my blood counts will be low, that I would be kept in isolation.

I will be allowed visitors and the only reason I would be kept in isolation would be to prevent me from annoying other patients. I will be in a room to myself due to my low counts, but that does not prohibit visits. However, if you are fighting a cold or virus of any kind at any level, I ask that you not visit and I will consider it your way of supporting me. Even if you think you have an allergy and are not sure, it would be best that you not stop by.

You can call the the hospital patient information number (804-330-2119) to verify if for some reason the doctors and nurses decide I can't have visitors. Currently, the plan is that I will be admitted on Thursday (April 9). I'm not sure what time I will be "checking in." I'll know that tomorrow. I am scheduled to be released by Friday evening, Saturday morning at the latest. I do not know what room number I will be in. I'll find that out when I get there. In addition, once you find out what time I am scheduled to check in, you may want to wait a couple hours after that before you try to contact me. I will have my cell phone with me if you can't get through on the hospital line. If I don't answer the cell phone, that means I am talking to someone else in my room or that I am being treated by the hospital folks. Leave a message and I will get back to you.

As far as the visitation policies when I am at MCV for the 3 week stay later on in this process, I do not know that yet. I will once I meet with them in a week or so.

"Though my eyes could see I still was a blind man
Though my mind could think I still was a mad man
I hear the voices when I'm dreamin',
I can hear them say
Carry on my wayward son,
For there'll be peace when you are done" - Kansas (for those of you who dislike 1970's rock music....tough)

I'm A Big Boy Now...

....even though my Nurse Practitioner is threatening to "bust my chops" a little bit when I see her on Wednesday to get my hospital admission papers. I'll fill you in on the details later, but I'll play her game. After all, she's a Hokie fan. It's not like I need to be scared of her or anything.

Yesterday, I did complete some "adult" forms (i.e. Advanced Directive and stuff like that). Every time I go to the hospital, they ask if I have one. Was feeling like a slacker because I didn't. Once I completed it, I was glad I had. Not that there are any dire circumstances facing me, it's something that is wise for anyone to have on hand.

Oh, just to have fun, one of the two teams playing tonight for the Men's NCAA Basketball Championship will lose to the other one. However, Maryland beat both of them in the regular season.

Bo has some scans coming up tomorrow to see how he is progressing. There is anxiety while they wait. I'm sending the following words to them that I found on the website of Virginia Cancer Institute (where I am being treated). Pass it on to anyone you know who may benefit.

What Cancer Cannot Do
Cancer is so limited…
It cannot cripple love,
It cannot shatter hope,
It cannot corrode faith,
It cannot eat away peace,
It cannot destroy confidence,
It cannot kill friendship,
It cannot shut out memories,
It cannot silence courage,
It cannot invade the soul,
It cannot reduce eternal life,
It cannot quench the spirit,
It cannot lessen the power of God.

Being Taunted By My Peeps

Some more Peeps brethern showed up at my house yesterday (Thank you Easter Bunny).

They are taunting me knowing that I can't consume them until next Sunday (since I gave up sugar snacks for Lent and all). Trust me, if I wake up at 1:30AM on Easter Sunday, there will be a snack.

The Nurse Practitioner said that I may not be allowed to attend church on Easter Sunday pending the status of my blood counts. If not, there may be a special Easter service at my house involving the playing of "Jesus Christ Superstar" and the "Hallejujah Chourus" from Handel's "Messiah." Then, a communion service with the Peeps.

What....What...What?

P'scuse me again...there are revisions to some previous information. Don't be worried that I'm not getting correct information. There is a lot of information to process in all of this and sometimes it gets confusing.

I learned yesterday that the new chemo recipe isn't a more intense infusion of drugs. It's simply a different recipe with the focus of........"CURING ME!" That's right. You read that right.

I also learned what happens to "chemo fried" cancer cells. The body disposes of them.

The cancer that was on my spleen and liver........GONE!

All that is left is a small, intense activity of cancerous cells that the new chemo recipe and stem cell treatment have the significant potential to wipe out (there are never any guarantees with cancer treatment).

The nurse practitioner said the likelihood of side effects is the same as what I was facing with the previous recipe. She shared a story that the worse side effect she had witnessed was with a patient who would have hallucinations (She said it was a rare side effect). Now...you should worry! Greg Frazee having hallucinations. If you aren't a praying person, I bet you are now!

My next book report will be on David Plotz's, ""Good Book: The Bizarre, Hilarious, Disturbing, Marvelous, and Inspiring Things I Learned When I Read Every Single Word of the Bible." I look forward to reading it.

"Ground Control To Major Tom"

David Bowie...crazy man, but I do like his music! I mean, how cool is it that he did a duet with Bing Crosby? It's one of my favorite songs of Christmas.

Got a call from the doctor yesterday confirming that she had seen the final pathology report and it confirmed her assessment. She also consulted with the doctor at MCV and he was in agreement with her assessment.

Some interesting information from that call:
1) My cancer was pretty advanced when it was diagnosed and some of it had gone into my bone marrow (but it's not in the bone marrow anymore).
2) I have responded well to the chemo treatments and there is but a small "live" portion left. The doctor's words were, "There are some minimal residual cells that are compatible with lymphoma." It has very intense activity. Left untreated, it is very likely it would start acting up and multiply again. How quickly it would start acting up is an unknown. Could be weeks, could be years, could be never.
3) If I was 30 years older, they would probably not treat it and just keep a close eye on it.
4) They are very confident that the new "recipe" of chemo will clean it up.
5) I will start the treatment on Wednesday, April 8 at Johnston Willis Hospital. I will have one day (April 8) of treatment at the clinic I regularly go to and then the next day (April 9), I will be admitted to the hospital for the rest of the first round of the treatment. My length of stay there will be a day or two.
6) I will be meeting with the MCV folks in the next couple of weeks to get the details of what they will be doing.
7) I will be attended to by the doctor on call when I am in the hospital next week. I asked my doctor if she had prepared her colleagues for what they were about to face.
8) I will eat everything on the plate they give me at the hospital (unless it's really nasty fish or a cauliflower type of vegetable).

Tomorrow is a visit with the Nurse Practitioner for further review and the signing of consent forms to begin the new treatment.

How and when did this adulthood responsibility thing sneak into my life?

I Read.....

...that April is National Humor month. Good thing. (Picture note: "Calvin and Hobbes" is my favorite cartoon series of all time. I have all the books.)

I was talking to the one of the friends of mine who was with me the night that I was admitted to the hospital. In our conversation, we came to the conclusion (actually I came to the conclusion - she already knew it) that I deal with stress through invoking humor. Several friends have told me, "I don't think I have laughed so much about cancer as I have with you."

Don't take that comment the wrong way. If you do, lighten up. My view is that since it's my cancer, I can do with it whatever I want. I would NEVER make a humorous comment to someone else dealing with cancer unless I was given permission. Then, I would tell them I have a wealth of material for them. I see the therapeutic value of humor as part of the treatment. It's not ignoring anything. It's knowing there is hope to be cured and that there is hope for a cure. I've read that a good sense of humor is a sign of high intelligence. Some of you may dispute that solely on the basis of using me as your point of reference.

The pastor of the church I attend mentioned in this month's newsletter that some Orthodox churches get together on Easter Monday to tell jokes and share humor. It's a celebration of the Resurrection. Pretty cool.

Here's the irony I see in next week's chemo process. I will be admitted to the hospital on Passover. Friday, I will be lying prostrate in a hospital bead with needles stuck in me. Saturday, I will be waiting to see how I'm dealing with the new drugs in me. Easter Sunday, I intend to rise up and go to Easter Service. "Now that's funny, right there. I don't care who you are."

As I've said to others, if you have any good cancer humor, pass it on. Let's use our intelligence to kick this thing's butt!

Updates: Bo continues to amaze his parents. Hunter just had his first round of the two medicines on Monday. But he was able to go to school for a whole day and even went to after- school care! Jay's spirits are good, but has a tough fight ahead of him and he will do it with humor and grace. His laugh can always make me laugh.

Ain't Got A Barrel Of...

...information about myself today, so "fuh-ged aboud it," here's some humor from Steven Wright.

I intend to live forever - so far, so good.

If Barbie is so popular, why do you have to buy her friends?

Eagles may soar, but weasels don't get sucked into jet engines.

Dancing is a perpendicular expression of a horizontal desire.

When I'm not in my right mind, my left mind gets pretty crowded.

Boycott shampoo! Demand the REAL poo!

Who is General Failure and why is he reading my hard disk?

What happens if you get scared half to death twice?

I used to have an open mind but my brains kept falling out.

I couldn't repair your brakes, so I made your horn louder.

Why do psychics have to ask you for your name?

If at first you don't succeed, destroy all evidence that you tried.

If at first you don't succeed, then skydiving definitely isn't for you.

A conclusion is the place where you got tired of thinking.

Experience is something you don't get until just after you need it.

For every action, there is an equal and opposite criticism.

The colder the X-ray table, the more of your body is required to be on it.

The hardness of the butter is proportional to the softness of the bread.

The severity of the itch is proportional to the reach.