Saturday, 11/27 -- Honk Shooooo

I'm going to bed. My see-hole lids are very heavy. Can't stay awake much longer.

Sweet sleep, for chance to dream.

Naptime is when I'm a pirate.

nighty night.

Friday, 11/26 -- Still Full.

Spent the day on the couch, mostly. Tired out from yesterday's eating. Actually, it was a long day and my back is still not what it used to be. Takin' it slow and easy.

I had to go and complicate things by trying to lift heavy objects. Laundry is deceptively heavy.

In honor of Black Friday I went shopping in my own closet. I found a bunch of pants that I bought when I worked at Today's Man over ten years ago. They are size 36, I had been a size 38 for the past ten years. I held onto them because I knew that one day I'd be a size 36 again.

I thought that diet and exercise would have brought me down to 36. Boy was I mistaken.

I now have a bunch of like-new pants that fit me. And I didn't have to leave the house on Black Friday.

Most people say that they can't believe that I weighed 230 last year, or even 210 in July. I carried my weight very evenly. Think about this. I have lost over 50 pounds, from 230 down to 180. All that weight and I only went down one pants size.

[Editor's Note: I just wanted to let you know that I used my better judgement and deleted my own joke that I felt was in very poor taste. It was something to the effect that my cancerous testicle couldn't have weighed 50 pounds when they removed it last year. The actual joke was extremely witty and clever, but in poor taste. I'll continue to try and protect you from my vulgar and inappropriate sense of humor, no matter how funny the jokes are. -- Eric]

[Editor's Note: I also deleted my joke that said, "Cancer has been the most effective diet I've ever been on. Just look at me!" Again, highly inappropriate. –Eric]

Thursday, 11/25 -- Hava

Have a great Thanksgiving everyone!

By the way, it's not Turkey Day. Calling it that is not original, amusing or cute anymore. It's time we retired that phrase from our vernacular.

When I run for office, that will be one of my platform issues.

Wheeeeeeee

Wednesday, 11/24 -- Gearing up for the feeding frenzy.

The results from Saturday’s MRI are back. There is NOTHING abnormal or unusual in my head. There are no signs of any kind of disease or other ailment affecting my brain.

OK, it’s wide open for jokes about “nothing in my head” and “Abby Normal.” Go for it.

There is nothing conclusive to explain what may be casing the headaches I’ve been having, but the doctors seem to think that it’s a side effect of the steroids and the chemo. I tend to agree with that theory.

My blood counts are higher than in previous weeks. Still not at “normal” levels, but definitely stronger than they have been in a long while. I attribute it to all the beer and hard liquor I’ve been drinking. I’m kidding.

So I’m in good shape for tomorrow. I plan on having a full-on, traditional Thanksgiving dinner. Turkey and all the fixings. Don’t try and stop me.

I hold the theory that if a person eats McDonald’s everyday for a month and then has a salad on the 30th day; they’re not going to be suddenly healthy. The same holds true for the opposite. I’ve been eating very well on my natural foods/whole foods diet. One day of decadence isn’t going to ruin all the work we’ve done up until now.

I’m also looking forward to the leftovers. Turkey nachos are surprisingly delicious. Hold the cranberries and stuffing.

Tuesday, 11/23 -- Have you hugged your tree today?

We easily have enough Christmas tree ornaments to decorate four, maybe five trees. We have only two trees. I say “only” because we used to have three.

Some of you may remember in the spring I sent out an e-mail offering a tree “free to a good home.” That tree did eventually find a good home. It left behind all its ornaments.

In the past I bought many large boxes full of Christmas decorations at the area auctions. In these boxes were some beautiful antique glass ornaments. Most dated to the 1950s and 60s, but some are much older than that. Some are hand painted. Some are so delicate that they disintegrate if you blow on them. They look great on the tree.

Lyn has a beautiful collection of high quality, glass ornaments and other collectible ornaments. Everything from hand-made, blown glass works of art to Star Wars talking figurines. Each one is an object that you can hold and admire before you place it on the tree. Good stuff.

Of the two trees we have, one is an aluminum tree from the 50s. The only ornaments you put on them are a few simple glass balls.

We’ll soon be getting rid of about a half a ton of ornaments that hold no sentimental value to us. If anyone out there needs some, they are free for the taking. You can’t have any of the good ones. Sorry.

Setting up the tree.
Last year we didn’t decorate for the holidays. Last year we were not “feeling it.” We were both unemployed, our savings was dwindling and our eBay sales were stagnant. To top it all off, fate had given me The Big C.

Happiness and warm holiday cheer was far from our hearts. We didn’t receive any visits from whimsical, magical elves late in the night to show us “the true meaning of Christmas.” If one did stop by, we might have stomped him into the carpet with our boot heels. Bah, with extra humbug.

This year... this year.... this year things are different. Despite all the trials we have faced recently, despite all the hardships we continue to endure, despite the fear and anxiety about the future... this year things are different.

This year we have our tree. The tree glows warmly with white lights, soft and sweet, filling the room with ambient light. Dozens of ornaments, each one placed after careful consideration in just the right spot. On the tree skirt is Charcoal, our large gray cat; she’s curled herself into a ball and is sound asleep. Everything comes together in one glorious presentation. There are few things more stunningly beautiful than our tree.

Monday, 11/22 -- I'm back at the keyboard.

Over the weekend we set up our Christmas tree. It's beautiful. I'll talk more about it tomorrow, possibly with a picture, but no promises are being made.

I've been neglecting the blog recently. Not out of laziness. Nor have I become so very busy lately. I'm not sick from the side effects, although they haven't gone away.

I've been avoiding the blog recently because, frankly, I'm intimidated.

I've known from the start that there are scads of people reading this thing. I'm flattered, really I am. I never thought that I would be THAT interesting of a subject. But anyway, I have been continually amazed at the reach of this blog. From as far away as Australia I have been getting supportive e-mail from strangers that have found my Web site.

Korea, Australia, England, Warren Center... Utah, California, Hawaii, Florida....
And that's just a few of the places I know about.

It all just freaked me out last week. So it has taken me a few days to step up to the keyboard and speak again.

The funniest part of it all is that I still don't have anything interesting to say.

Update on health matters:
I went for an MRI of my head on Saturday morning. It went smoothly, more radioactive crap was shot into my veins. The oncologist is concerned about these headaches I've been having.

In July my headache was caused by the increased calcium level in my blood thanks to the tumor that was eating my pelvic bone. But my calcium level today is "normal" meaning no tumors eating bones. He's thinking the headaches are now caused by the steroids and or the chemo.

The MRI was to rule out the possibility of tumors growing in my gray matter. Under the bone dome. In my bubble. In the ten pounds of ugly fat and gristle. In the command center of the body. In the cranial toolbox. In the rusty rat trap.

I am confident that they will NOT find any tumors growing on my brain. At this point, I don't think it's possible. The chemo has been doing too good of a job to have new tumors pop up anywhere.

Speaking of chemo:
I am off from chemo this week. Nice coincidence that it's Thanksgiving week. I still feel the effects from the past three weeks, but I'm sure that will diminish as the week progresses.