A Pause

December 12th - Just a quick note to catch you up.

I finished my 3rd round of chemo on Saturday, December 6th. The new port made things much easier for me to receive the IV’s on the first day. I’m glad I had that done. Eight pills each day on Friday & Saturday (not counting others to ward off nausea and infection). All went fine … I finally figured out that eating something before taking the pills help control the indigestion & mild nausea. My side effects have been minimal this round; back to work on Monday, December 8th.

I’m really appreciating the hats that folks have sent! They keep the cold breezes off my bare head. In case you’re wondering, so far my hair has not all fallen out. I’ve been using the electric razor Daren got me a while back to buzz my head. I’ve picked up some interesting nick names at work … Kojack (spelling?) is best so far.

The next big milestone comes on December 31st. I have a CT Scan scheduled at Virginia Mason in Seattle. The results will be immediately available to docs there, so I have consultations set with my oncologist and urologist the same day. Hopefully, they will see that the bladder cancer has responded to chemo & shrunk. I’m thinking the best outcome would be that I can move ahead with bladder removal surgery early next year.

Here’s hoping you are all healthy & close to family & friends this holiday season!