A Leaf on The Tree

My friend Roger passed away. His wife Sue and I go all the way back to First Grade and Laurel Elementary School in Junction City, Oregon. Her parents had a neat old house with a front porch on 6th Street, and I lived just outside of the city limits on the same street. Roger began attending the same school as Sue and I sometime around the middle school years. They became sweethearts in High School and married soon after graduation, paralleling my courtship with Juli and married around the same time. Thirteen or so years ago Roger was diagnosed with cancer. We reconnected via FaceBook as so many of us have, and along with that reconnection came the knowledge of his battle and I watched the slow trek toward a physical battle lost. When I was first diagnosed in December, my own news seemed to get worse and worse with each subsequent appointment. There were lots of tears and fears all wrapped up in the latest test result. As time went on and treatments began, the news improved and the p...

It's Saturday, nearly one full day after infusion number 6, the last of 6 rounds of chemotherapy. I am exhausted to the point of not being able to stand easily, or walk up the stairs without panting like a dog. The chemo is certainly a part of that, but I'm also on the last full day of a 5 day water-only fast and I simply do not have any energy stores from food. I'm living off my own fat while a very toxic platinum-based drug is circulating round and round through my bloodstream looking for cancer cells to body slam and kill. Yesterday was a very good day. I had enough energy in the morning to walk three miles - very carefully - with Sophie and Stella, our Golden Retriever and Brett's Golden Retriever respectively. Sophie is seven years old and likes to walk herself, her leash proudly carried in her mouth, walking right next to me without chasing cats. Stella is one year old and quite active to say the least. I had her in a harness and she pulled me pretty hard, givi...

It is way too soon to celebrate, but this coming Friday I am scheduled for the 6th and final chemo infusion. My fingertips and toes are certainly feeling the effects of neuropathy and my fingernails in particular may not survive this last one as they have turned from a glossy red glittery color - I mean a healthy masculine pink with dirt under the nails - to an ugly brown with blood splotches visible underneath. Maybe I should consider a glossy red glitter finish? I did get some very positive news recently as well regarding my DNA. You may recall that my sister Darlene was tested for genetic mutations after her cancer diagnosis last year. Her DNA contained a genetic mutation called Chek2 and the rest of our family was to be tested since it might indicate we were also prone to cancer. The results of my tests were revealed to me by the geneticist and my DNA is clean. That is excellent news because it indicates that I am not predisposed to cancer and the treatments have a ...