Soccer photos

Our Comets got man handled by the Fire, but Lucy had some good moments.
There are only three girls on the team and here they are: Paige, Hannah and Lucy!




Lucy played some good defense - even though she gave up her first goal as a goalie and the Fire scored at least five times (we don't keep score).








Lucy even had some offensive moments (besides pulling down her shorts because she though "it would be funny").

An event filled Saturday

Woke Saturday morning with a stain on my t-shirt. The port continues to weep from a small hole on the suture site.
I see the oncologist on Monday and will have him take a look at it. I am afraid that will lead to another visit to the surgeon's office, which will make four medical visits in one day.
The positive note for the weekend is that I feel better than I have felt for a long time.
Still a little fatigued, but I have none of the pain or discomfort that led me to the doctor in the first place.
Which in my small mind means I am experiencing at least some shrinkage of the lesion in my rectum.
This doesn't mean it's gone.
When I first met with the oncologist, I was a little worried about the lack of urgency.
He wanted more tests and had no problem with me waiting two weeks for a second opinion appointment in Columbus.
I told him that the symptoms seemed to appear rapidly. Wasn't that a sign that things were moving fast?
He explained that what was probably happening was that things were moving slowly and that I wouldn't notice anything until the lesion met a certain threshold. So what seemed sudden to me, was really something gradual.
Made sense to me and it makes sense that it is receding in the same way.
Still the change gives me great hope for simple surgery.

Sporting Events


Lucy and I started out the day at the soccer field.
The coach had told us to show up at 8:30 a.m. for a short practice before our 9 a.m. game.
In my disciplined Gannett fashion, we showed up at 8:25. We were the first car in the parking lot and the only other people on the fields were the Rec Department guys hanging the nets on the goals.
Lucy and I kicked the ball around for a while waiting for people to show up.
The coach got there about 20 of and other players started to show up at 10 of.
The last player got there at 5 past 9.
I don't want to sound like a fuddy duddy, but I thought the idea was to teach the kids respect for team work.
To me, that means showing up on time.
The great philosopher Woody Allen said "Eighty percent of success is showing up."
I say, eighty percent of success is showing up on time.
Anyway, our best player didn't show and our second best player, after scoring the opening goal of the game was ejected for fighting.
Yes, fighting in a 5-6-year-olds'league.
He is a very passionate young man.
Without him, we were toast.
The only other highlight of the game for us occurred when Lucy pulled down her shorts at midfield.
She told me later that she thought it would be funny.
She did get a big laugh.
Then the daddy-daughter team headed for the library for some color-by-number and book reading.
Then we headed for the grocery store, because Lucy thought a watermelon would be fun to eat.
It was.
I spent much of the afternoon resting because we were headed for the Marion Mayhem football game in the evening.
It was incredible. About 3,000 people at the Veteran's Memorial Coliseum on the Marion County Fairgrounds for the Great Lakes Indoor Football League game.
Marion beat the New York/New Jersey Revolution, 81-32, setting a GLIFL scoring record.
Lucy liked the dance team and after the game insisted that we go on the field and get all their autographs.
So after the game we headed onto the field to approach all the bare-midriffed, glitter-haired, fake-baked cheerleader/dancers for autographs on the back of a beer label that Lucy picked up off the floor.
The things a dad's got to do.
I hope to post some photos later today.

Blast from the past

Which drunken hooligan is your beloved chronicler of this here blog?

Fatigue

I fell asleep on the table at my radiation treatment yesterday.
The good part about that is that it means that the port isn't as painful as it used to be.
I have to put some pressure on it while I lie on my stomach and they beam me full of radiation. In the past it (the port site) hurt for several hours after radiation.
But, if I can fall asleep while lying on it, either I am really tired or the pain has eased or both.
I woke up early this morning, although, because of the port.
It is most comfortable when I sleep on my back, but I just can't do that for long.
Lying on either side is uncomfortable, so I just got up. I was going to watch TV, but I had to walk past the computer to get to the TV and I got drawn in.
I have already posted three stories on Marionstar.com It is the end of the month and I am anxious to get my page views up.
I have also harassed my brother on North Country Pineapple King and my buddy Matt on the Omega Channel. I left Ashvegas alone today.

Just wondering

Did you ever get the feeling that some people are having more fun than you?

Feeling OK

Yesterday was the best I have felt in a long while. The port seems to be settling in and only hurts occasionally.
I had no bathroom problems and even though I took a 2 hour lunch, which included a 30 minute nap, I worked until 6:30 - so about a 10.5 hour total day at work.
I did sort of crash when I got home.
I slept straight through the night and feel, right now, like I am going to do well today.
I have a new friend who went through this same treatment protocol about 11 years ago.
She said she felt great until day 14 - then all the side effects hit her like a ton of bricks.
On day 13 she said she was starting to think that maybe there was something special about her and that she would sail through the treatment - It didn't work out that way.
She seemed to be most concerned about the sore throat aspect.
"It doesn't feel like razor blades," she said. "It feels like brand new razor blades."
I am hoping that there is something special about me and I will sail through the treatment.
It is day 8.
Monday I need to talk to the oncologist and see about scheduling my next appointment with the surgeon. I am supposed to do that about 2 weeks after I complete my treatment.
I get pictures taken at radiation today, I am hoping they will be able to determine if there has been any shrinkage - but I am not exactly sure what they can see.
Lucy's baseball camp starts tonight. It should be a good time. It runs for 6 weeks, so it should sync right up with my treatment.

THE REALLY BIG NEWS

Lucy's wiggly tooth is wiggly no more.
It popped out yesterday while eating strawberries. She wasn't sure what it was at first.
She was very excited.
The digital camera has gone south on us again so I have no shots of her gaping maw.
After we realized what it was I took her in the bathroom and had her rinse with saltwater to staunch the blood.
Later, when she was in the bath, she started hollering for her mother.
I went into the bathroom.
"I was calling for Mom," she said.
"Mom's in the basement, what is it."
"I was going to tell her that you gave me saltwater to rinse my mouth with."
"She knows."
"It's mom's salt," she said.
So this was about tattling on Dad. Like it was not enough that she has been telling everybody that I litter in my own yard.
Yes, I do. Or did. Once!
I was mowing the lawn last summer. I usually drink a beer or two while performing this chore.
I had finished a can at one end of the yard so, I tossed it towards the end that is closer to the door and the refrigerator - and recycle bin.
Lucy was on the deck and witnessed the act.
"YOU'RE LITTERING!!! THAT'S LITTERING!!" she screamed.
I couldn't hear her because I had headphones on and was likely listening to the Tragically Hip.
For some reason, this singular act has stuck in her head and lately she has been telling anybody that looks at her that her father litters in his own back yard, and that she has a wiggly tooth.
And she does have another wiggly tooth.

Urologist schmurologist

Went to OSU yesterday to visit with the urologist. Didn't learn much.
Yes, I have a tumor on my kidney.
Doc is eager to discover where it came from. It is very rare for rectal cancer to metastasize to the kidney but it can happen. If it did, it's important - sort of.
Bottom line is that it is better off in a pickle jar than in my gut - no matter what its origin.
We could most likely excise the tumor from the kidney, save much of the kidney and discover something about the tumor.
Or we could do the laproscopic radio ablation deal and get rid of it that way - but that leaves the mystery of what the hell it is and where it came from.
Co-ordinating the kidney operation with the rectal operation is unlikely. The rectum is located in the lower middle and usually accessed through abdominal surgery. The kidney is on the backside tucked in just below your lungs. They usually go at it from the rear.
So the urologist will confer with the rectal surgeon and come up with a few plans from which I will choose.
Obviously, there is more to come.

I wonder when I will get sick of this

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Screw the Dandelions

I wrote last year about how crappy my lawn looks in comparison with either of my neighbors' lawns.
I was going to work hard on mine this year and give us a good little run of excellent lawns.
Well, I didn't get a chance to do all the work I planned.
I ended up missing a few days when I really should have mowed and my lawn became choked with dandelions

Saturday I saw one of the neighbors out spraying dandelions on his lawn that I am sure were spawned from the evil weed on my lawn.
"I gotta mow my lawn," I said and picked up my chemo therapy pump and headed for the yard.
"Sorry about the dandelions," I said. "I put some stuff down but I don't think it worked too well."
He was nice about it and even gave me some advice on the best time to apply more weed and feed.
That was Saturday.
On Sunday my column appeared in the newspaper telling everyone about my cancer.
Tonight I saw him at a function at a restaurant.
He walked across the room and smiled at me.
"I read your column yesterday," he said.
"Great, thank you," I said. I really am grateful when somebody reads it.
"Listen," he said. "Screw the dandelions."
I am still laughing about it.
We live in a good neighborhood.



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The real cancer battle

The real battle with cancer isn't physical.
It isn't mental.
It isn't spiritual.
The real battle is scheduling.

Cancer and Lowes

Being treated for cancer is a lot like doing home improvement projects.
every time I try to do anything - even something as simple as installing a doorbell. I need to make at least two trips to Lowes. One to buy all the stuff I think I need and one to take back all that stuff and buy the stuff I really need.
With cancer, every one trip to the doctor yields at least one more trip.
Today I had the pump removed from my port and was then sent to the general surgeon's office to have some sutures removed that were supposed to dissolve, but did not.
The port, by the way, still hurts like a sunnovabitch.
I also earned a visit to a nutritionist.
I think I am doing pretty well in that department. Besides a little fatigue I have yet to feel an side effects from the chemo drugs.
I just have to keep eating and keep drinking and I should be OK.
OK, of course, is a relative measure.
I still have to get my radiation treatment for the day. Hurray!

Pump off day

The pump comes off this morning.
It sounded its alarm for the first time early today - turned out to be low power. I replaced the batteries.
I have 2.4 ml of 5FU to go! (out of 60 ml total)
Life will seem sweet without this hose attached to a needle in my chest.
For the record, I think I am still in denial about this whole deal. I feel like anyday now, someone is going to say it was all a horrible mistake.
It could happen. Couldn't it?


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column

My regular Sunday column today is on cancer.
You can check it out on The Marion Star Web site.
I also have it posted on An Interesting Life.

Comets vs Hurricanes

We are not supposed to keep score (but we do).
Lucy's team, the Comets, had the one corner kick of the game and blew it.
The Hurricanes pulled a rather sophisticated and risky offside trap on the kick and caught Lucy off guard. She is going without dessert for a week for this bonehead move.

There are a couple of standout Comets

James manages to get open quite a bit.


And Evin (sp?) got off a few good shots (he missed with this one).


Not sure if we were trying to score here or seeing how many players we could fit in the goal.

This is fairly typical play


This is my favorite photo from the day.

Guys! You're all on the same team!