Chemo week 1

It's been quite a few days since our last post so a few updates on how things have been going...

Chemo this week...
Well, this week was the beginning of my first 'cycle' and I had treatments on Mon (4 hrs), Tues (2hrs) & Weds (2hrs); and I'm happy to report I really didn't have any problems or negative symptoms at all. All I did was basically sit in the infusion room reading, listening to my Zune or chatting with my beautiful wonderful wife... Ok, tuesday I actually slept during the treatment ; Like maria said, I can sleep anywhere... he he.

The nurses have said that most likely due to my age, health and fitness (yeah right) I most likely won't have major symptoms like nausea or fatigue until the 3rd cycle or so after the Chem has had a chance to tear down my cells a few times and then my body would have a harder time rebuilding. We expect that to be in late February ( 3rd cycle is planned to start Feb 19th) and any symptoms would be after the treatment that week or after... I'm hopeful that I'll have minimal symptoms even then; we'll see!

General health... and my new compulsion...
So, I'm feeling great; taking a walk almost everyday with Maria; Monday I'm trying to get back into my exercise program daily and hopefully improve my food intake... the steroids that accompany my chemo have made me a pretty compulsive / continuous eater; however the problem is we're still in the post-christmas time frame so we have lots of cookies and candy in the house and that's been a big part of my snacking lately. Good news is I've put back on about 5 lbs but I'd rather be eating a bit healthier overall. Wish me luck on sticking to it :). Also, the Dr's are weaning me off daily steroids and I may see a decrease in appetite once off of them, so I guess this might just be training to eat and keep my weight up.

Family trip...
We mentioned maybe taking a trip with the family; and last weekend we packed everyone up and made a road-trip down to Charleston, SC. It was awesome! The weather Saturday ended up to be 76f and completely clear skies. We took the family to Patriot's point and spent about 4-5 hours checking out the aircraft carrier and other ships there. Our kids were great and had a blast.

After the ships we headed across the water and walked through downtown and the market area... Kids behaved well so we hit one of the ice cream shops and they loved it! We found a good seafood place right near our hotel and had a nice dinner.

Sunday we hit the Charleston Aquarium and it was nice, however last year we took the kids down to the Georgia Aquarium so it was a bit anti-climatic for them. Still saw some cool animals and got some great pictures... Oh yeah, and that whole 'spending time with the kids...' part. I loved every minute and know the kids did too. The day turned to rain after that so we headed back home early.

It was a great easy trip and I'm very glad we made the effort; our family time together was certainly worth it!

Work and socialism...
Ok, not as in soviet socialism... I mean being social :)

So I am back at work and Dr says as much as normal for me; so I was back in the office this week a couple days trying to catchup and let folks know I'm back on the job. Next week I'll be reaching out to customers and let them know I'm around to help again... Vacation is over, let's get back to work! I will be working from home most of the time ( mainly to avoid those crazy people at Microsoft that would come in to work even if they're majorly sick... Love you guys, just don't wanna share )

Being Social... So my family and I would like to let everyone know how wonderful the time and space our friends, family and others have given us to gather my immediate loved ones and huddle, hug, cuddle, etc just us as we understand my situation and step forward as a stronger family. We have thoroughly used the time to really enjoy 'family time'.

What we would like everyone to know now is that we would love to have people reach out to us as you feel comfortable! We'd love it if you wanted to stop by and visit (just call to check if we're here and how I'm feeling, please); give us a call on the phone, however you would want to reach out to us; we'd love to see and talk to ya!

Cards...
It has been an amazingly positive thing for me that so many of you have sent cards, emails and notes on the blog... It feels wonderful that I receive a card in the mail almost every other day; sometimes everyday... Keep those cards and thoughts coming... also, I guess if anything maybe slow the pace a bit and send some down the road in the coming months when I might need more encouragement if I feel down from the later treatments.

Thank you all for thoughts & prayers; you truly lift me up and keep me positive!

-Gavin