Wednesday, September 29, 2010
Good Health News
I saw the Doctor yesterday. Not only is the red cell count up, but the WHITE CELL count is up for the first time!!! He's taking me off the steroids (slowly) and keeping me on the same chemo drug. I'm up to 158 lbs. I'd had one shot to boost the red cell count about a month ago (they were going to be weekly), but I haven't needed anymore and no more shots are scheduled. I don't have another appointment to see the Doctor until November so things are going right.
Friday, September 24, 2010
Music, Sweet Music, There'll Be Music Everywhere...
One thing good about being on steroids, is that my energy level is back up. I can actually lift the P-Bass, something I couldn't do a few months ago. For the last few months, I've kept a guitar in the living room next to the couch so I could pick it up and play it whenever I could. Slowly it's coming back. I bought a couple of instruction videos for playing Chicago style blues guitar and I'm working with them.
The other night I went to Tuatha practice. We have some gigs coming up, but the substitute bass player will be taking care of the low notes. We played the songs that I don't play bass on and then got out my slide and kind of noodled in the background. It was fun! Maybe I can do that at some of the upcoming shows.
For the last couple of Mondays Paul, Tom & the Green Band have gotten together. The band consists of Tom Surace on fretless bass, Deb Braynt on drums and myself playing acoustic guitar. Everyone sings. It's a groovy little combo playing a lot of "Reefer Music" from the '20's to the present as well as some country-blues, folk-rock and original material. Think early Hot Tuna as a rough analog.
We thought of adding a fourth member, but it sounds good as is. We're going to carry on as a trio until the right person comes along. Ideally that would be someone who sings and plays a solid rhythm acoustic guitar but also plays fiddle, accordion, Dobro or ???
I think we'll be gigging soon. A My Space and/or Facebook page will be forthcoming.
It feels good to be making music again.
The other night I went to Tuatha practice. We have some gigs coming up, but the substitute bass player will be taking care of the low notes. We played the songs that I don't play bass on and then got out my slide and kind of noodled in the background. It was fun! Maybe I can do that at some of the upcoming shows.
For the last couple of Mondays Paul, Tom & the Green Band have gotten together. The band consists of Tom Surace on fretless bass, Deb Braynt on drums and myself playing acoustic guitar. Everyone sings. It's a groovy little combo playing a lot of "Reefer Music" from the '20's to the present as well as some country-blues, folk-rock and original material. Think early Hot Tuna as a rough analog.
We thought of adding a fourth member, but it sounds good as is. We're going to carry on as a trio until the right person comes along. Ideally that would be someone who sings and plays a solid rhythm acoustic guitar but also plays fiddle, accordion, Dobro or ???
I think we'll be gigging soon. A My Space and/or Facebook page will be forthcoming.
It feels good to be making music again.
Back to the Blog
Finally I figured out how to get back in here to post on the blog. Yee Haw!
So, here's the latest update.
In March, after being sick in February, I found out that I had Large Granular Lympocyte Leukemia. What that means is that my white cells are not dying off, they aren't fighting off infections and they aren't letting young healthy white cells get in and do the job. I started a pill form of chemotheropy and went through a lot of different stages of illness. I had fevers, fatigue and slept a lot.
In late April I went to Jackson Hole and ended up in the hospital with secondary infections. They filled with antibiotics and kept me in ICU. I transfered to Poudre Valley Hospital here in Fort Collins and stayed a few more days before going home. The following ten days I had home care and recieved IV antibiotics twice a day. That's when my stomach freaked out. I couldn't eat much of anything without feeling like a war was going on in my belly. I could eat rice, and a few other things. That was mid May. Slowly over the months I figured out ways to eat more and settle my stomach (ginger ale, MMJ, Noosa Yogurt, Kay Williams' chicken soup...), but in the meantime I lost weight and was at one point down to 134 lbs. I also went through a period of severe dehydration around the fourth of July and was going in for IV's. I looked like a survivor of a POW camp.
At the beginning of September, they put me on a daily steriod. Something clicked. My stomach got better, I can eat about anything now, my weight is up to over 150 lbs and I have energy again. I hope it lasts when they take me off of them.
I'm still doing chemo, but while my red cell counts are up, the white cells are the same. It looks like they're going to change my chemo drug. We'll see what happens next!
So, here's the latest update.
In March, after being sick in February, I found out that I had Large Granular Lympocyte Leukemia. What that means is that my white cells are not dying off, they aren't fighting off infections and they aren't letting young healthy white cells get in and do the job. I started a pill form of chemotheropy and went through a lot of different stages of illness. I had fevers, fatigue and slept a lot.
In late April I went to Jackson Hole and ended up in the hospital with secondary infections. They filled with antibiotics and kept me in ICU. I transfered to Poudre Valley Hospital here in Fort Collins and stayed a few more days before going home. The following ten days I had home care and recieved IV antibiotics twice a day. That's when my stomach freaked out. I couldn't eat much of anything without feeling like a war was going on in my belly. I could eat rice, and a few other things. That was mid May. Slowly over the months I figured out ways to eat more and settle my stomach (ginger ale, MMJ, Noosa Yogurt, Kay Williams' chicken soup...), but in the meantime I lost weight and was at one point down to 134 lbs. I also went through a period of severe dehydration around the fourth of July and was going in for IV's. I looked like a survivor of a POW camp.
At the beginning of September, they put me on a daily steriod. Something clicked. My stomach got better, I can eat about anything now, my weight is up to over 150 lbs and I have energy again. I hope it lasts when they take me off of them.
I'm still doing chemo, but while my red cell counts are up, the white cells are the same. It looks like they're going to change my chemo drug. We'll see what happens next!
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