Tuesday, March 1st — It’s been 9 weeks to the day since my last chemo treatment!
During that time, we’ve learned that while the results of my PET scan and biopsy did not show any cancer, they did not prove that I was cancer free. So we’ve taken a wait and see approach, and the current plan to see if the cancer is in remission is to do another PET scan on Tuesday, March 15, to see what the next step is in battling the cancer.
In the meantime, during the last 2 months, Jacqui and I have been trying to enjoy life as much as possible. We have been backpacking at Savage Gulf Natural Area in Beersheba Springs, TN on the weekend of Jan 22.
We also went backpacking to CS21 near Elkmont in the Smokies, backpacking 26+ miles on the Cucumber Gap, Little River, Huskey Gap, Sugarland Mountain, and Rough Creek trails on the weekend of Jan 29 (in 4-6 inches of snow!).
We also went backpacking to CS36 at Big Creek the weekend of Feb 12.
It was a wonderful time backpacking with the Highlanders on all these trips.
In addition to going backpacking, Jacqui and I have been helping out with Habitat for Humanity here in Knoxville. We learned how to shingle a roof and led two groups in putting the roof on Habitat houses on Saturday, Feb 19, and Saturday, Feb 26. It’s been really enjoyable to help build houses for Habitat. We are looking forward to Habitat Multi-House Blitz the 2nd week in April. We are going to build 7 houses in 1 week!
In addition to having fun backpacking and building houses for Habitat, I have also found work as a Tax Pro with H&R Block. Besides giving me an outlet for boredom while getting chemo (I got to take classes Oct-Dec to learn how to prepare taxes), I have been able to work at H&R Block preparing lots of people’s taxes. It is giving me a great opportunity to work, earn money, learn more about taxes, and help people make the best sense of their taxes.
Since all work and no play makes Jack a dull boy, we even managed to find time to go dancing at the Streamliners show at the Capitol Theatre in January.
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See the pictures from ‘Valentine’s Day 2011’
Valentine’s Day deserves its own post, but I’m going to briefly mention it here. Jacqui and I officially celebrated Valentine’s Day 2 days late, on Wednesday, Feb 16. We went to dinner at Rouxbarb’s and had a lovely time. We had some tasty wine, dined all night at the pleasure of Chef Bruce, and had delightful company at the table next to us of a group of 6 people celebrating Maestro Lucas Richman’s Grammy award. Truly delectable food, and even more delightful company. We enjoyed being VERY HAPPY that night! Special thanks to Pat M. for helping to make this evening wonderful!
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The next 2 weeks until my PET scan have some interesting events on the schedule. The first happens on Tuesday, March 1. I’m having surgery to repair some damage to my GI tract cause by the chemo. It is supposed to be a 10 minute procedure, which means I should only be at the hospital for 5+ hrs. I should recover in less than 24 hrs, hopefully with a much better GI tract.
After Tuesday, the plan is to get ready for vacation! Jacqui and I are leaving on Saturday for Costa Rica! Jacqui has a work conference Sun-Wed, and she is going to pack me is her suitcase to take me with her, and we are going to spend a few extra days just living life in Central America. We are going to fly into San Jose, spend a few days south of Quepos, and then spend a few more days in Monteverde and the cloud forest. We are really looking forward to going to Costa Rica, and we plan on taking lots of pictures, so that we can share our adventures with you when we return!
That takes us pretty much up to 2 Tuesdays from now, on March 15, when I will have my next PET scan. We will find out the results of the PET scan on Thursday, March 17. St. Patrick’s Day. We’re hoping to be able to drink green beer (or something) to celebrate good news. In light of a previous post, there has been a runoff the last time we voted, and it’s time to vote again. There are 2 options, and, like last time, Option 1 is DEFINITELY the preferred option.
Option 1 is lower activity or no activity from the hotspot that showed up on the last PET. That means we don’t have to worry about the cancer for the moment. This is the best option.
Option 2 is that the hotspot has the same amount of activity or greater activity than the last PET. This is something we don’t even want to think about unless we have to.
We appreciate everyone who voted last time, and everyone who will vote again this time.
Remember, Vote Early and Vote Often! Please and thank you.
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