life continues

Well, I haven't been at all faithful here, have I? First time I've let about a month go without writing and at least one of you has noticed, called, and said, what up? I've been assuming, perhaps incorrectly that no news is good news. Maybe there are more of you that don't show up in the readership counts who have felt the same way. So, a little catchup is in order.

In any case, things are apace. My back/leg situation is about the same, perhaps a little better. I am working on strengthening my trunk and stretching. In league with the epidural steroids this has provided some relief of sciatica. We just returned from a trip to New Mexico (God bless green chili) in which we were in the car for most of the day on a couple driving days. Pausing is in the cards. Out of the car for a few minutes at Rest Areas, for lunch and so on and I can get through most of the day without additional discomfort. I just have to actively manage it. Unfortunately, I am substituting the stretching routine for any aerobic work. But the back pain, leg pain thing is still improved.

It is hard to judge but I also think my peripheral neuropathy has receded a titch. Still with the pins and needles in the feet, but perhaps a smaller area of involvement, particularly in the right foot. (The right leg went into all of this without any prior neuropathy; the left leg not so because of the injury to my back that was surgically repaired 30+ yrs ago.) There may even be some repair going on in the left leg, too. Still also with a tingle in the hands, but regular (?) arthritis pain is more the norm there.

My cancer is in the rear view mirror still, insofar as I can tell. I complain to my regular doc about  requiring several naps a week, and he says it is a result of the chemo. Chemo, takes a lot of the blame for damn near everything. Speaking of chemo, I get my port flushed this Thursday, snce it has been 6 weeks.

The schedule is like this: get flushed mid-Dec. Play the Kicks Concert. Get out of Dodge for Scottsdale for about 6 weeks. Come back in time to shovel snow in Feb and get my second maintenance month of chemo.

You want to see optimism in action? We just bought a couple TemPurPedic mattresses guaranteed to make us sleep well that will last for 20 years! That's where my head is.

continuing...

The L5-S1 epidural shots seem to be working still. I have found that long hours sitting in boat, in car, etc. are not good. More focused pain. Had a good Lake Powell trip with some striped bass in the box and distributed to friends.  Visited with my Rehab doc yesterday. Went over my MRIs. Wow, talk about clear pix! Upshot is that we will wait at least a month to test the hypothesis that I might get even more relief from an injection in the L4-L5 space. He thinks that nerve responses from there are what are tricking my knees into collapse.  We'll wait to schedule to see that my earlier outcomes are stable and that I may still see progress from further exercise and strengthening.

Kicks Band rehearsals start for me tonight. We are doing a concert of Thelonius Monk's music.