Awesome. Glad to hear it...

Do you smoke pot? You might want to consider it during these chemo cycles.

I do not, actually. However, if they take a blood test a day or two after February 17th, it may look like I do. I will be at the Black Sabbath concert and when they play Sweet Leaf, it's going to get very hazy in the Sprint Center!

I did ask my doc about hemp oil with no THC and she said I would be at great risk of microbal infection.

It is now 11 days since I started the new treatment. I still have my hair, and it usually falls out on day 10, I was told. I only had the pukes on day 1 after treatment, followed by 2 days of hiccups after eating or drinking anything. Once again, hiccups are not on the list of side effects. I used to get them back in my earlier treatments if I ate anything with nuts, but was okay after the fifth day. I was given anti-runs meds before the treatment started since some poor souls have gotten the runs almost immediately upon receiving the treatment. I got the opposite and didn't go for four days. The dreaded rash I was warned about, however, has hit me hard. It looks something like chicken pox and small whitehead zits all over my face, nose, scalp, an eyelid, neck, and chest.

I would love to go for a walk in the gorgeous autumn weather here, but I have to avoid exposure to sunlight now. I do get out at sunset when I can walk and not be in the sunlight directly, but I'd prefer a walk before breakfast to build up my appetite for a big hearty meal.

We're all very proud of you Lone. Keep fighting and let us know if you need anything. Fight like hell man...

Hang in there Ed. We are all in your corner.

This.

Thanks, guys! I am focusing on something good coming up, that being my birthday dinner. I make it myself. I do that because no one else can make what I want. If I just wanted some burgers and brats, I'd let someone else take care of it. I am going to make a big Danish dinner and have a few friends over. Since I have my next treatment on Tuesday, I will prepare the red cabbage on Monday to be safe. How does one make red cabbage aside from chopping it up? I make a cranberry sauce out of boiled cranberries mixed with butter, vinegar, sugar, and salt and put the chopped cabbage in that and cook it until it turns a rich purple and then when it cools, it goes into jars.

Friday morning, I will start with the rest: Danish meatballs called frikadeller (ground pork, salt, pepper, onion, milk, flour, and an egg), mashed potatoes with Danish persillesavs, which is a white gravy with chopped parsley, mixed salad with some bell peppers from my garden, heat up some red cabbage, and for dessert, Apples Charlotte, a Danish apple-crumb cake. I sautee bread crumbs in sugar, butter, and cinnamon. It goes into the serving dish first, followed by apple sauce with bits of Braeburn apple added, then with a layer of whipped cream that I will actually whip myself, then crumbs, apple sauce, and whipped cream again, and finally topped off with shaved chocolate. It is supposed to have a splash or two of dry sherry, but since I have to avoid the alcohol, no one gets any! :D

My birthday is not on Friday, but Monday the 12th. I won't have the dinner on Sunday because the Walking Dead season premiere is at 8, and I don't want to be away from the TV then. Saturday was not good for one of my guests, so Friday it is.

Damn, that sounds awesome, Ed.

Sounds awesome. Eat up!

Hey, Ed.
How frequent are your infusions? Do you have a port, or are they sticking you every time.

Mine are every 2 weeks. I decided against a port.

Every two weeks, and I do have a port. I had one on my right side that got infected last November and almost killed me. The one on my left side was placed Dec. 1st and it has been great. The doc in charge of putting it in did a lot better job. The previous one, I could always tell there was something under my skin that was not me. With the new one, I have to reach up and touch it before I notice it.

With my veins blowing every time they put an I.V. in me, a port has been great, except for the whole nearly dying part with the first one.

The walking dead is the best show ever. I'm with you on not missing that. Looking forward to sunday the 11th 8:00 pm

I am actually glad to be going in tomorrow for treatment. The rash from the new treatment has gotten much worse. I don't think I should post the selfie I took since I know many of you check this site over lunch break. It hurts, burns, and itches, despite the use of two different creams that I had to get by prescription. I am hoping that it is beyond the expected rash so that something can be adjusted or done about it. If this is what I have to look forward to for the duration of this new line of treatment, I may have to insist on an alternative treatment. It's worse on my face, by far, but it is all over my scalp, in my ears, on my neck, shoulders, and chest, too. I have to be very careful washing my hair and toweling off. Pretty much any contact with the skin on my face breaks the little blisters and they bleed then. I am running the washing machine with my pillow case in it as I type. For you environmentally conscious types, I am running other things besides one pillow case.