My blood panel this week did show a slightly higher CA19-9 blood tumor marker of 248. But my cancer doctor wasn't too alarmed. Last month it was 192. He pointed out that the number has been going up and down but not successively up. (see the chart in my last post). So he asked me to stay on my current oral chemo regimen of two weeks swallowing pills and one week of "rest". My current rest week ends today and tomorrow I'll start another 14 days. This will be my sixth round on the oral "chemo coaster".
I will have another CT scan May 20 to see if the mass has changed in any way. And the obligatory blood test as well. The doctor told me that if things start changing he wants me to go back on a new, stronger chemo cocktail of Gemzar and Abraxane. I think of the Xeloda pills I'm taking now as "Chemo Lite". The Gemzar, you may recall, really went after my bone marrow and destroyed/lowered the important platelet and white cell blood counts. Dr. Yee told me about a Partial Splenic Embolization procedure he would like to do to keep those counts up during "Chemo Heavy". I won't go into any detail about that procedure because we're not doing that and hopefully never will. Google it if you like.
IN OTHER NEWS: Highbrow and Lowbrow.
Highbrow: Barb and I enjoyed our trip to hear the Freeman Academy choir and other Mennonite school choirs at the annual MSC choir festival in Souderton, Pa on Sunday, April 14. The Singing Bobcats did us proud. Nice work. We heard them sing in their host Church - Indian Valley Faith Fellowship - Sunday morning. The guys sang one song. The girls sang another. And together they sang a couple more songs. Very nice acoustic so it was a pleasure to listen.
We had dinner with our good friends Bonnie and Dave Moyer of Souderton. In the afternoon we went to Souderton High School for the festival program. Host school Christopher Dock does not have a theatre big enough to accommodate the 500-voice mass choir. It was a very diverse program with the choir from each of the 15 schools singing one number. The concert culminated with the mass choir which sounded better than any mass choir I have ever heard.
We had nice visits with director Amy Vetch Hofer and chaperone Cindy Graber. Unfortunately we missed Pam Tieszen who was with a choir member that needed hospitalization after a soccer goal fell on the side of his face. During intermission I was totally surprised when Mory Ortman came up to greet me in the hall. He was visiting in Philly over the weekend and stopped in to hear the choirs as well. That was fun. It was a great day.
Lowbrow: I have added a new destination to my list of places I'd like to visit this summer. Last year, my friend, H.A. Penner, (who faced cancer of the prostate and is now "in the clear") and I took an enjoyable trip to Boston and watched the Red Sox play in Fenway Park. Well ... after reading about a new activity introduced this year at Coca-Cola Baseball Park in Allentown, PA (60 miles from Akron), we agreed we would both like to go see a Lehigh Valley IronPigs ball game. The new fan activity — a Urinal Gaming System — was featured in an article in the local Lancaster Intelligencer daily newspaper. It was also selected to be included in the "Sign of the Apocalypse" feature in Sport Illustrated magazine.
I have to admit that while learning that I have pancreatic cancer and thinking more about my mortality, I have occasionally thought .... "well, the world is going to hell anyway ... maybe this is a good time to 'get out of here' ". Yeah, I tend to interpret many things as signs of an upcoming apocalypse. Sometimes I get negative. Ask Barb. It's a bad trait and I do try to stay positive. I really do. I am confident the human race is resilient and will "pull through" this "medieval" high information/low knowledge, barbaric Dark Age we are now experiencing.
This new gaming technology certainly qualifies as a sign of the end times. Of all the inane minor league marketing gimmicks (including "Condom Night") this has to be one of the best "worst" ideas ever. Or, maybe, the worst "best" idea ever. Not sure. Regardless, it is very important that I experience this new entertainment attraction which Coca-Cola Park touts as being the first ball park to feature a Urinal Gaming System. Like this could actually catch on and become commonplace!!! God help us all!!!
The linked article says it's "hands free". How's THAT going to work??? Seriously. Why say hands free? I have to find out. I may want to bring a splash guard. I never was any good at video games and if stream pressure/power is important here, I will need a handicap. This also may give new meaning to the video game term "joystick controller". I hope there is no "touch screen". I don't know. Inquiring minds want to know. The more Coke you drink, the more you play. Insidious, greedy corporate America will go to any length to sell more product.
So, sometime this summer H.A. and I hope to test our "ability and knowledge" at CCP in Allentown.
That's all for now. Thank you everyone for your encouraging emails, phone calls, cards and other shared comments. I am quite surprised and very happy to be where I am, considering the prognosis of the disease. Your support helps.
I'm quite anxious to hear "how it comes out". Post as soon as you have washed your hands - oh I forgot - it's hands free. Well, good luck! Hope you find time in your busy schedule to come to Minnesota. Did you hear that it's strong possibility that we will be coming your way in Nov. for a Tools for Writing training at the College of Southern Maryland? Yep, so see you soon - hopefully even sooner here in still snowy MN.
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