In response to some brutal feedback (mentioning no names) about my lack of blogging, I'm back. Sincerest apologies to you all. My top three excuses for not writing are:
As we don't expect much to change in the next few months, I probably won't write as often - so don't give me a hard time (Mary-Jo!!). I've added an email subscription tool to the blog, so it can let you know if I update, without you having to check back.
In the meantime, take care and have fun!
- Returning to work
- Writer's block
- Oprah Winfrey has a whole new channel
On January 10th I started the new regime of chemotherapy which is a higher dose (300mg vs 140mg before Christmas) and lasts for five days in every 28. Depending on my tolerance of this dose, it'll go up to 400mg next month and remain at that until the end of the six months.
The first round, while no picnic, wasn't as bad as I was expecting. The anti-nausea pills work well and, for the most part, prevented me from vomiting. The main side-effect was fatigue. I was sleeping until 11am most days and then had absolutely no energy to do anything during the rest of the day. My appetite wasn't very good either, although some great comfort food (Cottage Pie especially), lovingly cooked by Anna, helped on that front.
The oncologist told me that I should start to feel better around 5-7 days after the course of medication and that was pretty much how it worked out. I felt a little better last Wednesday and then worked from home on Thursday and Friday.
This weekend I felt absolutely great and helped give Anna's brother, Phil, a true Minnesota experience. We started on Saturday with a drive on the frozen lake (see below), we all went cross-country skiing on Sunday, and then watched Patrick play outdoor hockey last night. Coming up we have snowmobiling and snow-tubing...I can't wait (but this is all for Phil, you understand!!).
Another proud dad moment this week as Patrick passed his yellow belt Tae Kwon Do test. It was driving him mad sitting on the sidelines watching Richard, so he just had to give it a go himself. He's only been going to classes for three weeks, so he did well getting up to speed so quickly (and passing the exam with style and finesse...he doesn't know any other way!)
As we don't expect much to change in the next few months, I probably won't write as often - so don't give me a hard time (Mary-Jo!!). I've added an email subscription tool to the blog, so it can let you know if I update, without you having to check back.
In the meantime, take care and have fun!
