First Chemo-Holiday Scan

Last week I had my first scan since coming off the drugs and then had a check up with Dr. S to go over the results. My CEA is up a bit and I had about the same amount of growth as I had last time, which was my last 2 months on treatment. So, it looks like the growth rate is the same with or without the meds. My total tumor volume is now just under it's original starting point. So we decided to stay on holiday for another two months and then do another scan in mid-August.

As for side effects, everything has cleared up except for the exhaustion. I'm still wiped out most of the time. Dr. S said that this is not unusual since I was in treatment for a long time. I will go in again in a month to see him and if I am still having fatigue issues, he could prescribe something (an energy pill?). In the meantime, good diet and regular exercise...

On a side note, in the subway coming home, there was a guy playing the stand-up bass. Curiously, the tune he seemed to be playing was "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas". So, he's either six months early, six months late or has a very limited repertoire! Or my hearing is off....

Happy Father's Day! BB

Baseball Trip

So after my turn on the soapbox, I went down to Baltimore to catch some baseball with my brother. We saw the Yanks beat the Orioles 4 -2 on Wednesday night at Camden Yards. Still a very nice stadium - and no wonder it set the standard for most stadiums built today. Thursday we went into DC to see the Nationals beat the Pirates, also 4 -2. The Nats have a brand new stadium and it's also very nice. It was great to spend some time with Kevin and to feed my baseball addiction!

Soapbox

Everyone should get an opportunity once in their life to stand on the soapbox in town square and make a political speech. I had mine last weekend. Last March, I heard about a group called “Coffee Party”. The name is a take-off on Tea Party but the agenda was about civil public discourse and moderation rather than a particular point of view. I looked to see if there was a meeting in my area and when I found none, I posted an invitation online. The location was a local coffee shop. Sixty people came. We decided to meet again the following month and 100 people came. The group identified five issues they were concerned about. They also wanted to set up regular monthly meetings. So, a committee of volunteers was formed.

At the next meeting, in May, the group wanted to go “public” with a rally on the Morristown Green. For the rally, three topics were selected – Wall Street Reform, Campaign Finance Reform and Bipartisanship. We held the rally last Saturday. We had a speaker on Wall Street Reform who did an excellent job of summarizing the roots of the financial crisis of 2008 and reviewing what the proposed “reform” bills say. This was a bit depressing since the proposed reform bills don’t really seem to address the issues. Next, we had a former congressional candidate from our district discuss issues related to fundraising when running for Congress and ways to improve transparency and honesty. And last, one of our local mayors spoke about working together – he is a Democratic mayor in a Republican town.

I did a short introductory speech on the role of government as laid out in the Preamble of the Constitution (as evidence of our Founders’ original intent). I was also interviewed on NJ cable news – a three minute interview that became a sound bite on that night’s news.

So now I’ve had my 15 minutes in politics. It was enough for me! But there is something purely American about speaking in your town’s square. Here’s my campaign photo…BB