Good vibes to you and #24, Ed. Talk about strength beyond strength...

Crap... I am seeing hairs falling off my head. I hope it's just a few.

I still have strands of hair falling out, but I am not looking like Telly Savalas yet. I get the pump unhooked in 4 hours and can take a shower again for the next 12 days. So I am happy about that!

I remember saying that my senior year of college...

I have lots left, and it's too soon to tell if I will look like Ming the Merciless. Just got to wait and see. But, I am FREE of the pump now! 12 of days of being able to shower instead of just washing my hair in the sink! I can even take a bath with some Epsom salt if I want now.

I got a test result notification email and it showed that my last CEA level was 4.7, which is lower than it has been since I saw a reading of 4.0 back in March, I think it was. 3.0 or lower is what people without cancer have in their bloodstream. I was thinking about how strange it is that aside from cancer, most would envy my health. My good friend is currently having his gall bladder removed and I am waiting on a call to come pick him up and take him home. Another friend just 2 weeks after my surgery had his appendix go BOOM.

Life is tough enough without health complications, but what can we do but try?

hey Ed my name is Bill. do you have a recipe for cabbage and potatoes i can make with pork.

I don't generally get too fancy with potatoes except when I make German potato salad with a warm beer dressing. What sort of cabbage, red or white? I have a nice northern European recipe for red cabbage.

is it a vinegar/ sour potato salad?

it's a green cabbage. with potatoes. i think i know your German potato salad its got taters cured in vinegar.


if you don't mind, what iis the root vegetable Danes eat?

Danes love their potatoes. It is the main thing served with most any meal, be it fish, pork, chicken, beef, or wild game. German potato salad does have vinegar in the mix, yes.

German potato salad is pretty good. I don't care for regular potato salad.

Okay, NOW I am getting back on track. A couple of nights ago, this particular treatment I am on hit me with a highly annoying all night bout with the toilet. At least it was not the runs this time, like I had a couple of weeks ago. So far, once per treatment, I get a colon clearing attack over the course of one night. I do not know where it comes from, since it would seem I'd have had to eat a small hippo by myself to go so much. I got 4 hours of sleep the night before last, from 6:30 am to 10:30 am, and I was unable to stay up to watch the end of the game last night.

I slept very well, about 10 hours last night, and I am hungry and ready to get outside and walk around the pasture again. I did that yesterday in the drizzle and loved it. Since I have to avoid sunlight due to my treatment and two of the meds I am on, a gray drizzly day was just the thing I needed to get out and do a little work, get some fresh air in me, and enjoy my favorite season. Yes, I got wet, but I was loving it.

I'll whip up a big pot of chicken soup today with organic carrots, celery, onion, garlic, and parsley to enjoy for dinner while watching the second game of the Series. Today is going to be a good day! Let's get another victory, Royals! But this time, please just win it by the 9th, okay?

I got mixed results today from my blood test. My white cell count has taken a huge hit so I didn't get any treatment today. Even my red cells are a bit low. Glucose was very high, but it was less than 90 minutes after breakfast when I had the blood draw done. My CEA, however, was great! It's the colon cancer marker in my bloodstream and it was 3.2 today. 3.0 or lower is what people without colon cancer have. The treatment is killing the gunk in my blood that the tumor released. My hair is still falling out, but I am not bald yet. I do have a very visible part along the center of my scalp, but I have lots of hair left yet.

Doc told me not to go to the parade since my white cells are so low. I can't have the masses hacking and sneezing and snotting in my general direction now.

Great news about your low CEA. Wish you the best man.