Half-way!

Yesterday I had radiation treatment 18 out of 35 - half way through and feeling better than I expected (i.e. still no other side-effects other than tiredness). So I'm happy about that.

Following on from last week's comment about hair loss, it finally arrived in earnest this week. I guess I lasted well for the first three weeks of treatment, but this week it started coming out in clumps and I had to finally submit to the hair clippers. Here's a picture from a couple of days ago, although even more has fallen out since then. Oh well...

I had another great insult from my radiation oncologist this week. We were talking through current drug doses and he suggested that I could lower the steroid dose a little more. Great! When I said that I hoped that might help to get rid of the 'lemon on sticks' look (remember...skinny legs and fat belly), he said "yes, and the buffalo hump" (an additional layer of fat that accumulates at the back of your neck due to the steroids). These doctors are just great at boosting self-esteem! I have a very fragile ego y'know!

Nurse Anna has turned her attention to our dog, Maxi, this week. About a year ago he tore the cruciate ligament in one of his back legs, and although we've tried to manage it with drugs and less exercise, it's been clear in the last couple of months that we had to take the plunge and have the surgery. So, he had the op yesterday and joined me in the titanium parts club (bionic dog?). He's recovering well and we should have him back to full strength in 8-10 weeks.

At least it will mean less time out in the snow this winter - for him and us! The snow arrived last weekend, with an initial downpour of 6-8 inches and, although it's mostly melted now, it's clear that we're in for a looong winter this year.

Flying

Just a short post on an amazing experience this last weekend. I have a friend who has a small, single-prop airplane, and we've been talking about taking a flight together for the last couple of years and just haven't got around to it. So, on Sunday we made the effort and Daniel took another friend and me on a great flight over the lake, the house, and then down to Red Wing, a small town about 60 miles from here. We were able to take a courtesy car from the airport, nip into town for coffee and cake, and then jump back into the plane to head home. It was a crisp, clear autumn day and Minnesota looked beautiful from above.

We flew back closer to the twin cities and it was fascinating listening in to the air traffic control conversations with the other planes, especially as we flew closer to the international airport.

Big thanks to Daniel for a great experience and to Andrew for hanging out with us and buying the coffees!

No new treatment news, although the radiation therapy is starting to affect my hair. It's not falling out as such, so no need to go for the fully-shaved look yet, but there is a big gap around the radiation target spot. I think I'll get by for a little while longer on a combination of comb-over and baseball caps!

One of the (steroid-induced) benefits of waking up at stupid o'clock in the morning is that I get to see the beautiful sunrises over the lake...

TED talk

As many of you know, I'm a huge fan of TED.com (a free online database of video talks, normally 5-15 minutes each, on a wide variety of subjects). I was mooching around on there last night and, after watching a couple of fascinating talks, I stumbled across this one...

Stacey Kramer Talk - (it's worth looking at before reading on and only takes three minutes to watch).

While I don't necessarily share 100% of her feelings, I was struck by much of what she said as she went through her talk - phrases like "bring your family together"; "reconnect with friends & acquaintances"; "re-calibrate what's most important in your life"; "challenged, inspired, motivated, humbled". I felt like she was taking the words out of my mouth, and still had no idea exactly what she was talking about.

You can imagine how stunned I was when she revealed what she was talking about. I thought it was a courageous and moving talk and just thought I'd share it.

Treatment this week (8/35 radiation 'zaps' and 10 days of chemo) has continued to go well. I've felt no additional side effects other than tiredness, and my blood tests are coming back with good results (liver & kidneys coping well), so I'm happy about that.

Anna and I just enjoyed home-made pizzas and movie night with the boys - the perfect way to end the week.
Until next time.

(If you're interested, my favourite talk so far on TED is by Benjamin Zander, on music and passion - here.)