3 of 4 of 3 of 4

The title of this post comes from the fact that today marked the third of my four infusions of this cycle which is the third of the four maintenance cycles themselves. Tricky, huh?

All went well, in fact they must have opened up the pipes a bit because I was finished by a little after noon. A couple things this afternoon kept me from a nap.

We think perhaps we were prowled this morning between when Jan left at 10:20 and I returned close to 1 p.m. A door to the deck was open--one we never use. Some cupboards were slightly ajar. In our closet, someone moved an old wallet (empty!) that I no longer use and upset an alarm clock. When you are as anal as Jan and I are you know when your stuff has been moved. She is missing a couple strands of pearls, and a pearl bracelet, but we don't know when they went missing. Anyhow, we reported the intrusion. This had to have been someone knowledgeable of how to enter our house through the garage. (Quite a few people over the years I assume.) Well, that entry has now been closed and I will have the locks rekeyed Monday. After 20 yrs there is no telling how many keys we have out. But it should be noted that there was no evidence of a key being used in the present case. Nevertheless it seems prudent to change the locks after 20 yrs anyway. Let's see what happens going forward because it almost seems as though maybe we were getting a once over.

Off to the first Kicks rehearsal tonight of the fall season. Playing Stan Kenton's music. Should be--dare I say it--kicks.

Session 2 of Maintenance 3

Pretty routine. Monday night we were in SLC for a jazz concert, so I was a tad short on sleep when I arrived at the CVCC Tuesday a.m. The bag of Benadryl put me out for most of a couple hours. Then I read for the remainder of the 31/2 hours the infusion took. Surprisingly, I still had a nap after lunch, so maybe I exerted more than I thought during the time leading up to the infusion, or it had some effect on me. No problem sleeping last night, either.

I popped onto the treadmill to get some steps in on Sunday and by Monday my shins were talking to me. Shin splints essentially happen to me every time I take time off from walking and then go back to it. They take nearly a week to go thoroughly away. Any attempt to shortcut the healing process just brings them back. So I will give it a few more days before climbing aboard again.

Another week and I will have lived through 75 years and begin my 76th year. Amazing. Who would have thunk it all those years ago. A woman next to me in the infusion room could not believe that I was 74. I definitely want to hear that some more...

old home week...

Going back to the CVCC is like going home. The nurses are all smiles and flirty-friendly. Old men are welcomed and comforted. Next to an ex-smoker who has lung cancer. At first he didn't want to talk but the nurses fixed that. The Center called and wanted to switch my series to 4 consecutive Tuesdays since their Wednesdays were getting out of control. Nice move, since I didn't wait 10 min to get flushed and en-tubed. Surprisingly, the initial Benadryl didn't put me out, though we joked about "Grayson going bye-bye". The infusion room eventually filled. I was out of there in the usual 3.5 hrs and eating Italian thereafter.

I think these maintenance infusions exacerbate my neuropathy, which my onc-doc says, "We gave you". But that may be a figment of my imagination. The weather has changed dramatically to fall: monsoonal pattern with southerly winds, thunderstorms, rain, cooler. All concurrent with my infusion, so my increased neuropathy, leg weakness, and arthritis are conflated with the weather, a correlate known to bug me in the past. Nothing to do about it but ride it out.

Also, correlative with the cooler weather and the maintenance sessions is new found energy. I have not needed much napping this week. I feel up, but not uptight.

Finally, the decision to cancel fishing in the south appears to be a good one as there are road closures all over, and flash flood warnings in abundance.  Might have been quite nasty and I'm too old for that kind of test now...

hangin' in...

Getting continued, mostly pain-free time from the recent epidurals. Tonight is the last night of the Celebrate America show and I seem to be maintaining. Sitting in a sort-of deck chair for 3-4 hours on stage is a bit pressing, but an occasional pre-med dose of Aleve gets me through. Sleep is shortened now because I come home at 11 pm or so pretty jacked up from having played. Chemo maintenance is scheduled for Tues. next and I leave for Lake Powell and several days of fishing a day later--weather permitting. Thunderstorms are predicted for all of next week down there and the wind and lightning can be quite dangerous. I'll try to get back here again after my infusion and before I head south..