Well, Campers, it’s been a while and I hope you’re enjoying
a happy new year. We had a wonderful holiday
season with visits from our son Joey down from Atlanta and our daughter Liz
down from Brooklyn. Once again, we
celebrated tradition with our traditional non-traditional Christmas Eve dinner
at Bangkok Thai Restaurant. All is right
with the world.
As for my health, I’m back on track for weekly chemo
infusions with occasional weeks off. I
was treated yesterday and all my vitals and blood counts were improved since
last time. Once more, I’m in great
health except for that incurable cancer thing.
Oh, well, can’t have everything, I suppose. . . ;-)
For the most part, I feel pretty good except for the nagging
excess mucous in my throat and the fact that I’m tired a lot. But these things are manageable and far
better than most alternatives. I am a
little melancholy, but that always comes with the time of year. January 20 will mark the 11th year
of my son David’s passing from melanoma at the age of 22. Around this time of year, I think and dream
about him a lot. Fortunately, as time
passes, I’m more prone to remember the good times.
One more time, I had all sorts of things that I wanted to
say queued up but seem to have lost them in the chemo fog. I guess I’ll just have to start posting
things as I think of them, regardless of the time of day.
But, on lieu of what I had planned on typing, I’ll just sort
of free-lance a little. I’ll have to say
that 2015 certainly did not turn out as I has expected. It began with me being free of disease and
returning to work part-time in March. I
felt great and the world was spinning on greased grooves. Then came August/September and the return of
cancer. I admit that I was disappointed
to say the least, but stoically accepted it and began treatment again. And, so far, the treatment has been
successful. The mass in my left lung has
shrunk by about a third as of the last CT scan. Hopefully, the next scan will likewise
show positive results.
Ah, that reminded me of one of my talking points. Many of my friends have suggested that I seek
alternative treatments for my disease, and perhaps someday I will, and I thank
you all for your concern and well-wishes – they keep me going. But for now, I have to say that the
mainstream treatment plan is working well.
If the progress stops and the disease becomes more aggressive, then I will
entertain the possibility of clinical trials and/or alternative
treatments. Again,
thank you for the love you all send my way.
OK, this time I am out of things to say and will spare you
further ramblings. I promise I will keep
things more current than I have been!!
Peace and Love to All!!
Joe
You're are truly one of my heroes. Upbeat and brave. When people refer to "sports heroes," they don't know what they're talking about, especially ones that are making millions.
ReplyDeleteHave the best year possible Joe.
Thanks for the kind words!! Only doing my job!!
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