Wednesday, August 31, 2011

Chemo 9

chemo 10
chemo 8
29 Aug, Mon - We had a lovely kuier yesterday with Kevin and Vanessa, and the food channel really made a good kook out of Kevin.. Today passed without much excitement, but the blood test was good and I will get round 3 of chemo tomorrow.
30,31 Aug, Tue, Wed - Did a quick tour in the office and by 08:00 I was on my way to Wilgers Oncology. At Wilgers it was the normal drill and by 22:00 on Wednesday I was home.
1 Sep 2011, Thu - Woke up with the usual groggy feeling. I had some herbal tea last night and this morning that is supposed to help against the constipation, and it seem to have worked for now. Actually, later in the day it seems to be working too good. I started feeling very groggy and by 11:00 I was lying flat in front of the Travel Channel. Then the diarrhea came. But by 19:00 I started feeling a little better and actually was hungry before I went to bed and had some stir fry and a cheese sandwich.
2 Sep, Fri - Woke up this morning feeling a LOT better than yesterday. I will see what my digestive system thinks of today, but the rest feels decent. We are driving down to Empangeni to visit my Sister and My dad and Tannie Minnie will be going along. Looking forward to the weekend...
5 Sep 2011, Fri-Mon - We had a good uneventful drive to Empangeni and arrived 18:30. Shortly after arriving Tannie Minnie's nose started bleeding uncontrollably and a quick visit to the emergency ward sorted that out. On Saturday morning me and Swarrie fiddled with bits of steel and started building a new security gate, as the old one is busy disintegrating with rust. Saturday afternoon we made a potjie (lamb stew) and over indulged good and well. Sunday morning me and Swarry went for a nice 25km ride and my lack of fitness as well as my low red blood cell count made for a slow meander amongst the sugar canes of Monzi, near St Lucia. But I enjoyed the ride and the shoulder was fine, so I guess I will have to give regular riding another try. We had a late afternoon braai and Joyce and Sachrys came to visit and we had a thorough chortle. We left Empangeni this morning at 06:08 and had an easy drive back to Pretoria. After Thursday's quick bout of diarrhea nothing happened on Friday, Saturday or Sunday, and eventually this afternoon (Monday) I gave birth. Or at least, that is how it felt. So now I should be OK for the next 2 weeks. The shoulder is OK as well, so tomorrow I will give the training program a go and see.

Wednesday, August 24, 2011

Chemo 8

chemo 9
Chemo 7
23 Aug 2011, Tue - I had a half night's sleep, as 2 of the 3 alarms triggered in short succession at 01h00. The security vehicle arrived eventually but could see nothing wrong. That was that as far as sleep was concerned, so tonight I might have a good rest... It is my mother's birthday today, 70something and going strong. Arriving at Wilgers Oncology this morning it turned out that my white blood cell count is very low and my chemo is postponed for a week. The Oncologist can not shed any light on my sore shoulder, so I am just going to ignore it from now on. Today is a really windy day, as the days should traditionally be around here in August.
24 Aug 2011, Wed - The alarm blues continued and ignoring my shoulder seem to work. I spent the day breaking into my daughter's car (keys locked inside), expanding the alarm system and rigging up a camera borrowed from a game farmer friend so that I can see what is triggering the alarm system.
25 Aug 2011, Thu - Turned out that the alarm system is a bit sensitive. At 01:30 a rabbit triggered it and at 03:17 a big black dog was the culprit. Now I must hunt for a way to eliminate dogs and rabbits, but include anything bigger... I also woke with my shoulder much worse than it's been for a while. Might be all the activity from yesterday, climbing up and down precariously balanced ladders and such stuff.
26-28 Aug 2011, Fri-Sun - I went to see Dr Frantzen on Friday and the basic diagnose about my shoulder is the same. He did however gave me an injection in the shoulder so if the pain does not subside by Monday/Tuesday we know it is referred, else it might just be some inflammation or something? A big part of my energy over the weekend went into making sure the security system works 100%, but I am sure it will always be possible to breach it. If criminals would spend half the effort they spend on criminal acts on hard work they would all be much better off. Everything they stole last weekend does add up to about R15000 to replace, but I doubt the guy doing the actual stealing gets more that R1000 or even R500.

Tuesday, August 23, 2011

Chemo 7

Chemo 6
15 Aug, Mon - We had a very lekker kuier yesterday with Johan and Anlie, friends from school days (How long ago is that...). I feel good apart from the shoulder... I will see the heart & lung specialist tomorrow and maybe he can shed some light on the strange pain. Right now it seem as if a very early summer storm with thunder & all is going to hit us.

16 Aug, Tue - Same old, same old... The Doc that operated on the tumor on my aorta cannot shed any light on the shoulder and referred me back to the Orthopedic Surgeon who fixed my collar bone in May 2008. I had a nasty fall and broke my collar bone 6 weeks before departing on my 2008 Freedom Challenge.

17 Aug, Wed - A normal day with normal pain in the shoulder. The Orthopedic surgeon (AnrĂ© Peach) said he wished  his neck and bones were in as good a condition as mine, so it is definitely not my neck or shoulder... So we are back at my diaphragm or maybe my lung... Lets throw this curve ball at oncology and see what they come up with this time? I think I must make as if nothing is wrong and just carry on as normal. Ride my bike and work a bit...

18 Aug - 22 Aug - Apart from the "normal"things that happen every day we had a very strange robbery on Friday night. Without going into all the gory, boring detail I can just report that we were not harmed, in fact, we were quite unaware, but that it was an "inside" job by one of the workers is obvious. The power tools that disappeared was only the working ones that was neatly picked out off the shelve in between the broken ones! There were a number of other tel tale signs as well. On Saturday we had a glorious kuier and a great potjie with Annelie and Christo, and a very relaxed Sunday. I went for the scan on Monday and the news neither good nor bad... The tumor is not bigger, but also not any smaller. So tomorrow I will hear what my Oncologist says.

Monday, August 8, 2011

Chemo 6

Chemo 7
Chemo 5
6 Aug, Sat - We slept late and then had a leisurely morning before we went to Joburg to my Boet's place for an afternoon of over-indulgence. Ate way too much, and that on top of the constipation problem... But for the rest my shoulder is still bothering me but fortunately there is no nausea

7 Aug, Sun - Another late morning with The Pretty One and then a glorious kuier with Bennie and Hester.

8 Aug, Mon - Finally... I had a normal sit-down in the "small" room. Now it is just my shoulder that bothers me. I will give it another couple of days and then make a decision. I will have to get back on to the bike pretty soon. I am really feeling very unfit and heavy, and need to do some exercise. My blood's hemoglobin levels will be lower, so training will get my heart rate up quickly, so I will have to be careful with my heart.

9 Aug, Tue - I had a bad night as my shoulder was hurting and uncomfortable. But today is a new day and a public holiday for some reason. So I changed a leaking ball valve in our toilet and did some chores in the office. I expect a few old squash friends over later for a few beers and a "braai".

10 Aug, Wed - We had a real lekker chortle yesterday and life was good... We went to bed about 21h30 and by 23h30 I woke with a really sore shoulder. By 0h30 I was sitting upright in a Comfortable chair in front of the TV and took some tramacet for the pain.That started knocking me out by about 01h30 and I eventually got some sleep after that. I woke this morning feeling very groggy but now (10h50) I am starting to feel like a human with a sore shoulder again. I am stopping the cerebrex anti inflammatory for a few days to see if it makes any difference. I think the recent heartburn attacks might come from that.

11 Aug, Thur - Apart from a sore shoulder I feel quite normal. I stopped the Cerebrex and will monitor if the shoulder is worse.

12 Aug, Fri - I started the cerebrex again last night as the shoulder started getting unbearable. Had a fairly decent sleep from about 23h30 but woke with a sore shoulder. Another cerebrex early with some musely and the shoulder is back to just a vague pain that flares up when I do not sit. Standing and lying down seem to work against my comfort level. I am scared to get on the bike, but it is something I would want to do pretty soon...

13 Aug, Sat - I had a bad night as far as sleep goes. If it wasn't for the sore shoulder it would have been a perfect day for cycling, but I spent the day very easy on my bum in front of the TV. We did buy some groceries for the week and tomorrow I expect friends over.

14 Aug, Sun - Another night of little sleep, but my friends arrived and I will throw an eisbein and a chicken on the Weber...

Friday, August 5, 2011

Chemo 5

Chemo 6
Chemo 4
1 Aug, Monday - The shoulder is still hurting, my hair is falling out in droves and tomorrow I go back to hospital for round no 2.

2 Aug, Tuesday - I did some early chores and went to Wilgers. Got there just after 08h30. They drew some blood for tests and the results were very slow to come back, so the chemo started late, which means I will finish late and might have to sleep over another night. I saw the doc a little later and she gave me Cerebrex for the pain. It might be a lung problem/inflammation that causes my shoulder to hurt? I did not sleep well and the usual hospital drill to wake you at 02h00 to take your blood pressure did not help much.

3 Aug, Wed - The hours passed slowly but I had a number of visitors. Willie, Davida, Alta and her mother Roeline, Anlie and of course The Pretty One. By 23h00 the last poison was in my body and we were home by 00h00.

4 Aug, Thur - Got up and had a haircut, as there was not much left and it looked really bad, Went to the office bravely but felt very groggy soon and that did not ease up until I eventually went to bed. I tried to "kuier" a bit with the family, but I was not good company. The shoulder is not much better, but it is liveable, so let's hope for the best.

5 Aug, Fri - I feel better than yesterday and are actually hungry. I feel quite bloated and it seem that an immediate reaction to the chemo is this constipation afterwards. I will get some dried fruit and see if that helps the system along a bit.
No beard for the first time in 30 years!