Hello all. Well it's Saturday and I just finished up week one of round two of my treatments.

I had my first infusion of chemo on Monday morning, then started daily IMRT radiation later that day. I think I came through the week pretty well considering.

I never got sick from the chemo (ha ha -- one victory at least) but spent Tuesday through Thursday pretty darn queasy and basically turned off by the sights and smells of most foods. I was doing good to get some toast down. I'm sure round two of chemo in a couple of weeks will be tougher since my defenses have been shelled pretty good and probably won't be fully recovered by then. Thank you Zofran!

My chemo nurse (who nicknamed me "Moose" because I travel with an entourage of good-luck stuffed mooses) gave me the best description yet of the impact of chemo on the body. She said it was a lot like a tornado. The drugs only stay in your system for a short time (like a twister is only on the ground a short while) but the trail of destruction it leaves behind is what you have to deal with over the days and weeks ahead. Makes sense.

Of course, the hope is that all the cancer cells that may be in me are buried in the rubble, never to rise again. That's what I kept visualizing.

I actually sailed through the radiation pretty well, considering the length of my treatment. I'm on the table for about 50 minutes total. They let me bring in a radio or CD player every day, and that keeps my mind occupied. One day I listened to sports talk radio and heard all the Arizona sports guys ponder where pitcher Randy Johnson will end up next. Probably nowhere.

My CD player actually had it worse than I did on day one. The CD kept sticking and they had to stop my treatments twice to come in and fix it. Oops.

I even manage to close my eyes for long stretches during the treatments. I never did that during the first round, even though that was only about 12 minutes. For some reason, it spooked me to close my eyes before. I kind of approach my daily treatments like a job -- "time to make the doughnuts" so to speak. Time to put in my hour on the table, ho hum...

The best part of the week, other than having my wonderful wife and parents by my side, was getting some PT appointments for my poor shoulder. I've got a great therapist who is working out a lot of the soreness and kinks in a gentle way. I would recommend it to anyone who has had the radical neck dissection and feels like their affected shoulder and arm is dead weight (like mine has felt like the past few weeks).

Of course, it's been inspiring, too, to watch Lance blow past his competitors in the Tour de France. As a former rec cyclist myself, it makes me want to get back on the bike when all this is over. There is a big ride in NC called the Assault on Mt. Mitchell, which is about 115 miles long and ends on the summit of the state's tallest mountain. I always wanted to do this ride when I was in high school and college but never did. I set a goal this week of training for that ride for either next spring or the spring after, and maybe wearing a jersey to commemorate OCF and all of the inspriational head-and-neck cancer battlers I have met here and other places. That would be cool...

Thanks again to all of you for your support, encouragement and prayers. Thanks for listening to my ramblngs and joining the fight with me! Love and peace to all of you...

Eric

Hi, Eric,

the bike ride sounds like a great idea. When is it? I don't ride a bike, but maybe I could plan to hike up the mountain and meet you on top. I am really out of shape when it comes to mountain climbing, if I don't start training soon, I'll never have that wonderful feeling again.

I am glad you found the treatments bearable. Lots of good wishes, Leena

Hey Eric,
So glad to hear you came thru great this last week. I have been praying for you as that is a long time on the table! God bless your family and your great attitude!
Hang in there!
Debbie

Hi Eric,

I am glad you are roaring through this with all your might! In all your rambling, though, you never mentioned what music you were listening to. I was right there on the table next to you, enjoying the vibe and suddenly it stopped because I wasn't sure what to be humming. It was like when I was in college and would meet a new woman. I would think of her, long to ask her out...too shy to even ask her name. Some nights I would dream about her. Just as she looks I softly whisper...HEY YOU! I guess I should have postponed the dream so I could call out her name, huh?

By the way, I was hearing Howard Cossell lambasting Jerry Jones for dumping Emmitt Smith because he was too old and then waiting a couple of years to pick up Eddie George.

Thanks for letting me travel your journey with you. I appreciate the play by play action!

I am hoping and praying the time flies be incredibly fast for you.

Ed

Eric,

Thanks for posting your update. I've got a bunch of those mooses (although I don't carry them around with me!) and now when I see them I'll think of you fighting your way through this. I hope this round really does the job on the cancer.

Cathy

Eric,
It sounds like you are doing great! As I wrote earlier, I rode down from the mountain/volcano in Hawaii, which was very easy,(the force of gravity being what it is). However once we got down and had to climb a few easy hills, I realized just out of shape I have become...those little hills had me huffing and puffing and barely making it to the top. I saw quite a few would be Lances riding to the top of the 10,000 foot volcano, but I must say that I prefer riding downhill. I hope that you get back on a bike soon! Hang in there dude.

Danny G.

Eric, Glad to hear your treatments are tolerable. Will be praying for them to be as effective! Hang in there and you'll be up on your bike sooner than you think possible.

Eric
Sounds like you are approaching it with the positive mind which will make it easier for you and it will be more successful too. I found it was easier to close my eyes and when doing easier to focus on the most pleasant memories I could think of which reduced my fears and made it go quicker. So you may want to try that to help you focus.

Just a quick update -- week two is now in the books. Things went A LOT better this week in terms of stomach issues, eating, energy levels, etc. I haven't taken a drop of pain medicine or anti-nausea medicine since Sunday night. It feels good, though I still don't have a full appetite yet.

I even went back to work for ahwile midweek. I'm covering a swim meet tomorrow for the newspaper, which should be fun (though I've got to load up on sunscreen and wear my new floppy hat the whole time)...

I should cruise pretty well through next week and then its back to chemo, the second installment...

I've learned a few things this week:
1) radiation techs aren't happy when you're late for appointment by 10-15 minutes...
2) there is nothing you can do or say when THEY are late by 45 minutes...
3) jars of clay's newest CD lasts the exact time my treatment lasts...
4) you can find the big dipper and other constellations on the patterned ceiling if you look real hard...
5) I never want to sneeze when I'm on the table in my mask -- I haven't yet, but I might break something if I ever have to... it's tough enough to stay still when trying to swallow...

Have a great weekend everyone...

Eric

Eric,
You have such a great personality. I'm glad you are hanging in there. I've been praying for you too. You are so strong and corageous. Your the same age as my husband and I can't imagine how he would react if he were in your shoes. I'll be keeping you and your family in my prayers.

Hugs,
Dani