Days Three and Four - Cycle Four
(or One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest)

Another two for one special - just for you special readers out there!

Day Three - Another long day, so it seemed - but I guess the end of the cycle weeks always are... this one was at least filled with some conversation... While I was hooked up to the IV, getting my liquid refreshments... I started up a nice conversation with the woman and her mother across from me... very pleasant - they were both originally from Queens, NY... Tricia got a phone call from an old college friend and disappeared for a while... so as we were talking, it ends up that she owns a TRAVEL AGENCY.... hmm... the gears started spinning... so I told her all about TP's background, etc.. she was interested in speaking with her... which they both did when Trish came back, and traded cards, so we'll see where it goes from there... but a small world after all... you never know..

AND - as mathematics would eventually have it, the planets align - John Quinn, the Executive Producer from Sin City Diaries (that I co-created and produced with him) is also a cancer survivor and visits the Nevada Cancer Institute (less frequently now than in the beginning) - and lo and behold - there he was! Unfortunately for him, he was passing out at the time - low blood pressure I believe... but he quickly came back from that - the team is really good there... and we hung out and chatted a bit about SCD and other things... it was good to see him, and it helped me pass the time... and believe me, when you're hooked up for that long, ANYTHING helps pass the time!

So, that was day three - long, but passed the time away chatting, so not a bad thing - only two to go from here...

DAY FOUR - Hey, I promised a two-fer, so here's part TWO....

Thursday - OK, if you thought that I thought Wednesday went slow... TODAY went slower! And not so much to pass the time besides passing out (well sleeping I mean...)... I am usually pretty run down by the back-half of a treatment week, and this one is NO exception.... the only fun part about Thursdays during a treatment week (if you've been reading back that far) is that I get to be re-accessed for my IV port on Monday's and Thursday's (they can only keep it in 72 hours)... SO, cycle three kicked my AS*... they had to try my left arm FOUR times, then ended up using my right arm... this time on Monday it worked fine... TODAY of course had other things in mind... we ended up (I say WE - me, I just sit there and get prodded) having to access TWICE... ouch.. but second time is the charm (?)

Then the pumpin' began again - I can't say I'll miss any of it really, it's what I have to do to get better - so I am there with bells on, but the sound of the IV pump, the alarms that go off when your bag(s) empty, seeing other sick (mostly SICKER, unfortunately) people around... and the same view 5 times a week (while it's a great view of the Strip and all, I am kind of over it)...PLUS not bring active or feeling well enough to be active, well that's just not the Jeff I know - or most of you know... I know I am on the upswing to recovery, and I am blessed to have such great family, friends and support around me - and I never forget that, believe me!

I am looking forward to moving forward and getting back into some sort of normalcy, or at least some small shred of what I imagined normalcy was before this all began... it's been a short time really, at least from what I've heard from most of the cancer patients I speak to at the center - mine was diagnosed the beginning of July... some of these people have been coming back to this place or one like it for YEARS, and some have no chance of true recovery at all, unlike me - so that I am thankful for - but they have HOPE... and that's what keeps them coming back for the trials, and the experimental treatments and the POSSIBILITY that is always right around the corner... that's what amazes me, and let's me know again just how lucky I really am. MY cancer has between a 95%-98% recovery rate - last cycle we overheard a man speaking who had less than a 1% rate of SURVIVAL - that puts life in perspective - that man was THERE, doing anything he could, KNOWING that there was little chance of success, but a great chance of POSSIBILITY, and that's what he was living for - to TRY, with the time he had left, to DO SOMETHING with his LIFE. What would you do? It makes you think about how much time we really WASTE on menial, time-wasting things, doesn't it?

SO this was a long day for me - slept a lot, since last night I didn't - The Steroids again... speaking of steroids - what the HECK happened with Marion Jones in the news today? She admitted to doping during the Olympics??? She said she questioned it when her trainer told her not to tell anyone? Hmmm.. suspicious... and a shame, since she was such a bright and shining star in the US Olympic team... oh well, back to me - I sleep when I get home from the Institute mostly, then stay up during the night, passing out to dose once in a while... but LAST NIGHT Sam-O got into bed around 3-4 and began kicking me in the head, etc... so added insult to injury (GRIN) - what are you gonna do...? Tonight should be different I hope... but you never know...

So I slept some at the Institute, then got home, ate a little, and headed off to bed again... TP was awesome, picking up Sammy from school, taking him to Karate (Tae Kwan Do) where he did great, from what I understand, then out to dinner and then they went to go pick up some baking supplies (she's baking the nurses a cake to celebrate my last day tomorrow - sweet, isn't she?) - she also made special yellow chocolate roses for the nurses who were on my crew for taking care of me - including special little 'angel' pins for each of them... really nice.. She's quite the thoughtful one, no?...

Then they got home, just after I had gotten up to use the bathroom a thousandth time... and I came down to eat some food, and spend some time... now I'm doing this around 8:15 my time, and JUST getting ready to wind it down again to rest for a few more hours (I HOPE!) Hard for me to lay around so much, but my body won't let me do much else - at least I know I'll sleep hard Sat. and Sun. as I always do at the end of a cycle... Doctor's visit and blood work on Monday, Endocrinologist on Thursday, then maybe I can wait to get prodded and poked again for a while - at least until the 30th, when I do my CAT SCAN with and without contrast (IV injection of contrast dyes).

I guess that's it for now - thanks for checking up - we're almost there! Tomorrow's day FIVE of CYCLE FOUR- definitely a day I've been looking forward to, and one to celebrate - Thanks to everyone for the support - and talk to you soon!

Pittle - OUT!