Basketball, Vision, and "Powerpuff Girls to the Rescue!"

Being able to spend the last several weeks in Lubbock has been good for me in so many ways. First off, it's basketball season and Aidan has had 2 games so far. Obviously the athletic genes often skip generations. Although Jason and i both like to be active, I think calling either of us "athletic" would be a stretch. However, we both have athletes in our families, so obviously he gets it somewhere. I also suspect that when a baby is born at the University of Kentucky Medical Center, they inject them with blue blood, ensuring that athletics, and specifically basketball, will rule their lives.

Things are going well with this latest chemo. No significant side effects and my blood counts continue to improve each week. My lymphocytes are always low but stable, they don't appear to be falling further. My platelets and neutrophils are high enough to get the job done. Therefore, I shouldn't bleed to death (platelets allow blood to clot) and if I am invaded by a small infection that the lymphocytes can't tackle, it's neutrophils to the rescue. They are like little superheros that wander around in the bloodstream and are the first to attack invaders. Jason's dad always says to use imagery for healing, so I'm imagining the neutrophils wearing green, orange, and blue like little Powerpuff Girls, kicking butt and taking names. 

The further out I get from the chemo dose, the better I feel. I wake up refreshed in the mornings. I'm up to an hour on the elliptical (or an hour walk) each morning. I've found that the exercise is so important. When I exercise in the morning I feel great all day and I can put in several hours at work. I've also been able to stay awake to read past 9:00, which is almost a miracle for anyone over 40, even if you are not ill. You all know I will be monitoring and documenting how I feel after the next dose and I will be reporting back. 

Jason gave me my vision test on Saturday to see if it's any better. He says I haven't improved on his test in the last month. Jason told Aidan to come watch so we could explain to Aidan what's going on with my vision. At first Aidan said I was faking because, "How can you not see that?" Then, after I was able to detect a couple of things on the left randomly, he accused me of cheating by looking over to the left. My own child accuses me of faking and then cheating! Can you believe that?! It's a good thing I love that kid so much! So, anyway, the verdict of those two was that I'm not fit to drive or walk down the street alone or duck hunt or throw darts. I still have an eye appointment the first week of December because, quite honestly, I'm not sure about their homemade powerpoint vision exam. I mean, it's one step removed from duct tape! How can we trust that?

Tomorrow I will see my primary care physician in Lubbock just to update him on my current treatment, the most recent surgery, and all that's been going on with me. We go to Houston this weekend and then I have a scan on Tuesday. I was on a schedule to scan every 8 weeks and now I'm on a 6 week schedule. Hopefully there will be no significant update after the scan. I will try to post something even though I plan for it to be clean and clear.