I usually manage to meet someone new every week that I go to the treatment clinic. Sometimes, we end up becoming regular visitors every Thursday, sometimes it's a one time meeting and we never meet again. I always hope that the one time meetings are just because we end up on different schedules. On Thursday, an older gentleman was seated in the next station to me and the nurse was explaining to him how his infusion pump operated. He asked a lot of questions and it was clear that this was a new experience for him. I started a conversation with him, offering him some learnings that I've had with my pump (good old "Silent Bob") over the past year - I think that part of the dues of the cancer club is to "pay it forward" by helping new patients. When you are a tumor newbie, you have nothing but questions, doubts, and fears and the experiences of others help give you hope. Wally is 76 years old with white hair tied neatly into a pony-tail, and I might have guessed that he was ten to fifteen years younger. This is his first bout with colorectal cancer, with a Stage III diagnosis. What struck me most me most about him was his attitude - very upbeat and positive, even after what was his third round of treatment. That positive attitude is very infectious and goes a long way - I hope that I can help pass it on to my other cancer friends who are having a tough time right now. Thank you , Wally.In my visit to the treatment center two weeks ago, I was still pretty upbeat after getting the radiologist's report that my scans were starting to look a little better. I guess I was so distracted by this, that I forgot to find out what my last set of marker numbers were. I waited until Monday to call - Alice was good enough to pull up my file and let me know that the last measurement came in at 11 - up from the 5.8 that I had before my vacation. Before I could comment, I could hear Dr. Gold yell out from his office "TELL HIM NOT TO WORRY ABOUT IT...!". Sorry Phil - we patients can be a little obsessive about these things, since we have a slightly vested interest in the outcome. But he's right - I did skip three weeks of treatment and my tumors were still pretty alive when I started my vacation, and they enjoyed my vacation too. But vacation is over, and by the looks of my Erbitux rash right now, it's over for the tumors as well. We'll see with a new set of numbers this coming Thursday.
Today's picture is a seed head from a Western Pasque Flower, taken on a visit to Mt. Rainier.
