Not much new...

And that's good! I continue to gain strength a little at a time, not knowing if it is post-chemo weakness or 73-yr-old weakness. But I got in 30 min on the exercycle this morning with no difficulty and a good hour on my horn, too.  And my chops felt strong! Still with some neuropathy mostly now in the lower legs and feet, but I believe it is slowly receding. The question is still, how far? Still stealing occasional afternoon naps, but the frequency and duration both are down. Night-time sleep is great.

Lake Powell calls. So this Sunday (tomorrow!!) I will steal away there for 3 days of fishing. Afternoon temps look to be in the mid-80s and the bass are spawning and aggressive. Looking forward to a great time, and a check of my stamina. I will have to walk up and down a 400-yd ramp each day to get the towing vehicle down to and up from the water. Should be good.

new developments

As a not unimportant aside, in the The New Yorker magazine this week, there is an article on marshaling one's body's own immune cells to fight specific cancers. This theory--so logical--was disproved erroneously given some unsuccessful experiments of 30 years ago (or so). T cells, killers of invaders of the body, apparently do not recognize cancer cells as invaders. Simply stimulating the T cells at that time was insufficient and the scientific world went away from this approach for quite some time. 


Now, however, what appear to be successes are appearing. I won't attempt the specific biology, but suffice to say bits of the T cells (enzymes? proteins?) have to be inhibited (not stimulated!) and then the T cells will go to work on cancers.  First, the successes were with localized cancers (carcinomas, prostate) but now apparently there are some successes with systemic cancers (e.g., leukemias). Some of these procedures are quite toxic and have been applied as a last resort. Scheduled trials have been stopped in the middle, in one case because after 6 weeks there were no improvements in the experimental group--tumors continued growing. While the drug-company sponsor boogied at that time, the docs kept recording, only to find that sometime later, the cancers stopped growing, then shrank out of existence.


There is no magic bullet, so the drug companies cannot make a million dollar compound (the first one) where they can do so thereafter for a dollar. Therapies of this nature will have to be individually tailored, it is currently thought. So they will be expensive. However, one takes heart that another, promising avenue toward an eventual general (?) cure may be opening up.


In SLC this weekend doing spring cleaning on Midvale II.  Whoopie do.

and so on

Life continues its small improvements. Perhaps a little less neuropathy; perhaps a bit more stamina; perhaps a few less naps, which are all shorter; definitely a lot more hair, which is all longer. My friends say how much better I look. They are relieved. I am relieved for them.  Exercise periods are increasing in length; a few more chores are accomplished; sleep habits are fantastic.

A rainy day today, so the boat's initial run of the season will be postponed a day or so. Ah well, I'll just have to read, have some lunch out with a bud, and kick back for the day. Otherwise, what's retirement for?

getting better

Weight = 230 lbs

Well, I think my strength is improving little by little. I have lost a little weight, probably just due to increased activity levels more than anything else. (At one unreported time a few weeks ago, I was 235!). I have been regular on the exer-cycle and with the weights. Doing about 20 min regularly on the former and a full hour of lifts and stretches on the latter. I think I am less likely to nap now in the afternoon, particularly if there is an activity I am involved in.  (However, when I thought about writing of this yesterday, I soon found myself napping!) I am sleeping a full 8 hours a night with a single interruption, but still may nap. Yesterday I spent about an hour on my hands and knees vacuuming out my boat--yes, it is that time of year--and I think that activity tired me more than I thought it would. But, I am now able to contemplate such activities. That's a gain.

Dare I say it? There is still some neuropathy in hands and legs and ankles and feet. I can especially feel it today in my hands given my physical activity from yesterday. But it may have receded a little. Hope springs eternal.

Wednesday I get my second port flush to keep that device open and usable.  Since the flush happens every six weeks, this means I am about half way to my next chemo. Oh joy.

same old

Not much change in anything to report. Maybe a little less neuropathy, but seemingly plateaued on that score. Continuing to ride the exer-cycle, while the head factors keep screaming that it is so hard, and why do we have to do this, etc., etc., ad nauseum.  I swear it is more a case of getting rid of the head factors than anything else. Maybe a bit less giving out of knees and hips. Still very tired and daily naps occurring. (I must remember that to experience any conditioning effect at all will require six weeks.)

One new bit. In a spate of socializing this week--a very nice spate, mind you--I find that several of my closest friends who are also my age (or more) experience some neuropathy, typically of the feet. They are normally healthy for their ages, working out and generally taking reasonable care of their bodies. So my push into it via the chemo man may not be totally reversible, if, indeed, it is common for old men to develop this condition as a function of "normal" aging. Still, I don't have to like it.