day 36 of 56...

delayed intensification...

hello to all...I realize now that this has turned into a way to keep track of my journey and also keep those of you who are faithful followers and prayer warriors up to date. So let me start by saying thank you for checking in and remaining on this journey with us.

this cycle of Chemo has brought it's very new challenges. It involves a being in the Out patient clinic 4 or 5 days a week for a minimum of 4 hours. It requires 6 kinds of chemo and steroids. One of the chemos that is called PEG (short name). It is the one that is injected into my thighs and in combination with the steroids has caused my pancreas to not want to do its job and therefore has cause a Blood Sugar issue. So I have been started on Insulin to keep it under control. This is a pain in the butt, I have to check it when I get up, before I eat, which is followed by a self injection via a insulin pen and then at night before bed which is followed by a different insulin injection, that is the long acting kind. This keeps my sugars more stable throughout the night. This is called situational because of the chemo I am on and my body is doing a better job each day at maintaining on its own and my need for the insulin has become less. The docs don't expect this to last, it just becomes a problem on certain chemos. God thing. 

Something else that has happened this round is that there is a lab marker that can be run to see how well my immune system is holding up despite the 3 antibiotics I take twice a day and it has dropped which is requiring me to add another whole day to this week so that I can get IV antibiotics to raise my levels and my bodies ability to fight of viruses.

This round has also affected my blood counts and zapped my energy and my hair. Despite all of this, I still push on and enjoy going to the local pool hall and play pool. It is something that I can do and really enjoy. I have join the Pool Player Association and play in tournaments on Wednesday nights. Being able to do this, makes the long hours at the clinic worth it. (kinda Ü)

So that's about it, here are my current numbers:

WBC:1.5

RBC: 2.69

ANC: 1.0

Hemoglobin: 8.7

Platelets: 47 then 70 after a transfusion (in order to get the chemo they have to be at least 70)

your prayers give us enough strength for each day...

New Phase - Delayed intensification...

day 9 of 56...

I am now in "Delayed Intensification" which will last 50 days. I will be doing this "OUT" patient clinic and I am going to do everything they say to stay OUT of the hospital. The schedule is pretty much going into the clinic at COH several times a week for chemo therapy or lab draws. Yesterday, day 8, we arrived at 10am and left at 4:30pm. Being able to come home and sleep in my own bed keeps me focused after these long days.

This treatment does include steroids which if you remember from my 'Induction" phase, has various side effects which are "I'm Hungry" all the time and it really causes my sugar/glucose to skyrocket. The steroids help boost my immune system and help with the side effects. I have had some pretty heavy chemo so far and it takes about a week to start having an effect on my body, so far I'm good!

So what have I been up to, you ask? On Father's Day weekend I reunited with some of my Camp family members. Yosemite Sierra Christian Camp sent their first batch of kids from Orange County to camp and I was there to see them off and this July 4th weekend, they will return and I will be there to send off the second group and see the various Staff members on Sunday. I am praying that during my small break between treatments in August, I can get up to the camp to spend a few days. Please pray with me! The rest of my days are spent playing pool, working with a guy that builds pool cues and just hanging out with my friends.
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NEW BUTTON!     "We Need Your Votes" (look to your right on this page)

My mom and a friend have created a project that will help Widow's called Kindergarten to College. Pepsi is giving away money for projects that Refresh our communities and their project has been selected for a possible $50,000 grant!

How the Pepsi Project works is just like "American Idol" or "The Voice" or "America's Got Talent", the project that gets the most votes earns the money. 
Please vote every day this month by any or all of these 3 ways:
1. Clicking the button to the right and "Vote for this idea" 
2. If you have unlimited texting: Text* 107533 to Pepsi (73774) to vote from your mobile. *Standard text messaging rates apply. 
3. If you drink Pepsi, look for the words "Power Votes" on the packaging or for a yellow cap on the bottles. There is a code inside the packaging or under the cap that you can give us Power Votes. So look for the "Power Vote" link on the Pepsi Refresh Project website give us your Power Votes from 5 to 100 MORE votes. You can enter up to 10 codes per day or just email us the codes and we can do it. 

The websites is makes it easy. If you have questions, you know the drill...send us an email. So spread the word and THANKS! in advance.

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Here are my numbers...

WBC: 12.9

RBC: 4.34

ANC: 10.3

Hemoglobin: 14.5

Platelets: 191

Happy July 4th and love to all of you...