I had my sixth round of chemo today. I can’t stand the Benadryl they give me — it makes me so sleepy & groggy! But it wore off in time for me to make it to a nice pre-graduation event at Westridge tonight. I imagine the achy-ness will set in tomorrow or Saturday. But whatever,…

As I was hoping, the Taxol proved to be somewhat easier to manage than my previous combination of chemo drugs, at least for now! I experienced a variety of side effects, but none of them kept me down for too long. The worst of it was the achy-ness and suddenly feeling very tired at a…

The treatment that was originally scheduled for last Thursday was postponed because my blood counts weren’t high enough. The doctor was not concerned and said I could have a shot to boost things if I wanted to. Since he wasn’t concerned, I decided to just wait and see if things go up naturally in time…

Tomorrow I start the second half of chemotherapy — four rounds of a drug called Taxol. A handful of people have told me that the nausea won’t be as intense as the previous medicines I was taking. But, this medication could make me pretty achy. Also, Taxol takes longer to administer, so my sessions in…

Mom and her cuties, originally uploaded by applesandcheeses. (Djuna, left; Dinah, right) We went to a beach in Ventura today so Dinah and Djuna could dig in the sand — it’s too cold to swim just yet. Then we went to the main part of the town and had lunch. We had a great time!…

I just felt compelled to post something or other, though I can’t say that there is anything specific to report. Last weekend it was great to have Sandy in town, and my sister Jane is coming out next week. We are all really looking forward to having her here. I don’t have any idea of…

This is a picture that Djuna made for me the last time I had chemotherapy. They are sunflowers. And Dinah likes to use her play food and dishes to make me soup. Dwayne, besides keeping the entire household running in addition to managing his ever-growing workload, keeps me well-hydrated with Orangina and root beer when…

Thanks to everybody for phoning and messaging to see how we’re doing in the fire. In case you don’t know, there is a wildfire here in Sierra Madre, up in our foothills. I am on the city’s media list and receive all their official updates, so I’ve been posting them on my site inSierraMadre.com. I’ve…

I just spoke with the doctor, and he said that my white blood cell count has gone back up to normal. He also gave me a little break and said that if I want to, it’s OK to wait one more week to have the Adriamycin that I missed last week. Dwayne and I are…

Yesterday’s chemo treatment was a bit of a disappointment, sort of. I only received one of my two medications because my white blood cell count dropped a little. But, I have done really well up to now, and it’s expected that your white blood cell count will drop at some point during chemotherapy. I was…