Monday Morning News

Well today we're going USA Today-style...short bullet points with little editorial....

- Things are going well on the illness front. Big difference without the bad meds... feet still numb though.
- Connie and the boys went and visited my cousin in Boston this past week end... I was able to wash a couple of windows and rest... thanks hun!
- Turned 43 last week... I was actually pretty good with that... is 43 the new 33?
- Kids start school on Wednesday!
- Connie is off this week...
- Pic is from the famous "I quit" ride..


That's all I got... might try a couple rides this week and we should do some much needed "fall cleaning" of the house...
See ya!

Just got out of #11

Well I'm home with the pump now. As most of you know I have this pumping Fluorouracil (or 5-FU) for 46 hours. Basically 5-FU halts and/or hinders the cancer cell's ability to divide. No division means no growth...yahoo!

When I sat down with Dr. Davis and we chatted, I mentioned my problem with numbness and tingling in my feet. This set off an alarm in his head to take me off one of the other drugs called Oxaliplatin. This is another cell killing drug, but this is the one with the nasty side effects so for this session and the last, things should be a bit easier on me compared to others. He figures at this late in the game, two weeks without the Oxaliplatin won't hurt.... I'm down with that!

Next Friday I go in for a PetScan to see what's in there and what the course of action will be when the chemo is over... 7a.m. with 8 hours of no food and a really gross drink right before.... I know you're all jealous.

Talk to you all later....

The New Face of ScopeThatColon!

Well McDonald's has Ronald... Geico has their lizard, so I thought it was time that ScopeThatColon! got a new mascot, too..
Ladies and gentleman, I present the new face of colon cancer awareness....

Ben Buttason !!!!!!

This is what happens when you have boys......

BTW, Noah came up with the name himself and proudly has this picture hanging by his bed

Bad ride

Well that about summed it up... for the first time since all this started, I wasn't able to complete a ride. I conciously bailed out on a great ride with my friend Mark on Saturday. I just didn't have the strength or energy.

Ok, I know the pic is a bit over the top, and all things considered, I have been doing ok in the ride department, but on the drive home, that's exactly how I felt. By the time I got home, I was alright with it and totally accepted the fact that I was still able to do a solid hour of fun riding.

Later in the day I started feeling nauseous again. It really sucks having the side effects last this long especially so late in the treatments.. but what can you do? Two more left and I'm done!

What Cancer is to Me

Well only two more sessions left and there's alot we've been through. Good times and bad, but we're lucky because we've had tremendous help and have become friends with many great people along the way.
But in the end, what does it all mean to me? It's more than a physical ailment. It's mental and emotional too. Right before my last session I was able to get out for my mountainbike ride/push and I actually started tearing up thinking back to what we've been through and the fact that (so far), I've beaten it. But is that what it is? Just beating it?
Well my oldest son Noah (who's 7) defined it for me a few months back. Alot of you know this story, but it's worth repeating and and living....

Noah, Luke (5) and I were sitting one morning eating breakfast and Noah turned to me to ask if he or Lukie will get cancer. Well I was taken aback, but we always try to be open and honest with the kids (within reason, of course).
I told him the truth and said that because it's "in the family" there's a chance that one of them may end up with colon cancer.
But I wanted them to know two things..
One, they are way too young to worry about it. If it does happen, it won't be until they are much much older and there is no need for them to worry about it right now.
Second, if they do get it, by that time there will be a cure and better treatments than what they are watching me go thru so it won't be as bad.
Noah looked at me and accepted the answers... after pondering a few seconds on what I said his reply was
"Well if we do get it, I hope I get it so Lukie doesn't have to go through it...."

If we can all just remember things like this and not be selfish, the world would be even better than it is now....I think in the end, this defines cancer for me...


Full disclosure...... about 10 minutes later, Noah hit his brother in the head with a light saber ...

Things are still rough around the edges...

Well no cute pictures or anything like that today....
Just the basics. I can't believe that I feel as crappy as I am after all this time. The nurses said the last few can be tough, but this tough?
Fatigue and nausea are reaking havoc with my daily goings on here at "Scope That Colon!" Headquarters but luckily I have great family and friends to help out.
I've also added a pair of old man compression socks to my wardrobe... I've been fighting foot neuropathy the last few sessions and the socks seem to be helping. I think the size I have are a size too big, but damn, they aren't cheap...

Well really that's all I got for now. Still trying to drum up more followers. We're up to 25 which is awesome, but I hope to get closer 50 by the end of all of this. Tell your friends and family!

Friday Follower Fest

I need to make a push for more followers. I think the more I have, the more I can present to potential sponsors for future projects (one's everyone will enjoy!)

It's easy to do, just scroll down the right side of the screen to the Google follower button and click that...easy as pie!

Do it before I hunt you all down and kick your asses!

Rough #10

Well as I sat there yesterday getting my wonderful poison cocktail, I kept thinking to myself "What the hell is up with all the nausea?!?".

I haven't really had any nausea to speak of since week two and this time it's right up there with that level. Well the nurses said they find alot of patients end up re-living their early side effects toward the end of their treatments....oh great! Just what I wanted to hear....

I feel a bit better this morning. Got up early for a quick walk and get the paper. Still a bit of acid reflux and nausea feeling, but I made it this far and I'm not ready to throw in the towel yet!

I've also been thinking about a some ink to celebrate my fight...we'll see where that leads us...

Got some great ideas for the new website's name...keep them coming (see previous post if you're wondering what the hell I'm talking about)

If you haven't yet...PLEASE become a follower of my blog. The numbers will help with some future projects I have in mind!

Talk to you all later.....

Monday Musings...on Tuesday

...oh, and no pics, either. I did get out for a couple of rides this week, but decided to leave the camera (and my nifty new video camera that Airborne got me) at home. The first ride I just plain forgot, which is a good..there was nothing see there.
Second ride I decided to leave the technology at home and just enjoy the fact that I'm lucky enough to be out there riding a bike knowing I only have three chemo sessions left. There were a few times where my eyes where actually swelling up knowing that I beat this round! It's a really good feeling seeing the light at the end of the tunnel. Now if I can just get my energy and strength back...I can usually do my "standard" loop in about 50 minutes or so, well now we're talking over and hour and 45 minutes...yikes!

Other news and notes:
- (Post-post edit here) I have a nifty new side effect that I'm dealing with now. My feel keep falling asleep and are always numb...yipee!
- Not that big of a response to the t-shirt give away (except for a certain some one who can't seem to figure out how to leave a comment). What gives? No one likes free t-shirts?
- Recieved a great present the other day... a bootleg copy of P90X. Looking to start that in October. Welcome to the gun show!
- I need some help with a website name. This fall I have a goal to start a website that average Joe athletes like us can use to solicite donations to give to charities. I'll get into more details later, but I need a name and I can't come up with one. I need something in the line of "ChallengeYourself4Others.com" butt (I typed butt...ha ha ha) shorter and catchier...anyone out there have any suggestions?
- Expect to see a couple of posting regarding some fundraisers I want to organize this winter. Nothing in stone yet, but I have some ideas.
- Anyone have any quick and easy (and yummy) casserol recipes they want to share (and I mean quick and easy and yummy). A family I know is going through some rough times and I want to be able to get them some meals to put in the freezer... thanks...

Well #10 of 12 is tomorrow and after all these months I still get a bit weary but I know I need to stay strong and finish hard!
I'll check in with you folks later!

Who wants a t-shirt?

OK, let's try something new today..
The first 8 people who leave a comment on my blog answering the following question, get's a free Airborne Bicycles t-shirt (sorry, I only have Mediums and Larges left).
If I need to send it to you and I don't have your address, I'll get in contact with you.

The t-shirt question is...
Who is your biggest inspiration, and why?

Tell me what size you need, too...
Good luck!

Monday Madness...

OK, well not much in the way of madness, or anything else for that matter.
Made it thru the week end with the usual amounts of fatigue, a bit of nausea and the fun cold sensitivity...
I guess no news is good news ... I don't think I could handle another set back at this point.
I'm hoping to be able to sneak out for a ride or two this week, which would be sooner after a session than usual. I'm felling like it might be the best thing. I'm ready to move on from this. Now I just need to get a handle on my damn diet. Too much comfort foods....
Took the kids to Six Flags last week and managed to tweak my back... great timing. Getting old really sucks.

Talk to you all soon!