End of Week 2

Well, week number 2 is history. I'm feeling pretty good, certainly a little better than last weekend. Earlier this week I met with Dr. Beusse ("Big Hands") to go over my blood test results. Overall he was extremely happy with them. Of the 15 measures that were tested, 11 of them were in the "Good" range. Some of the others that missed were very close. For instance, the Carbohydrates measure was a little high so he suggested that I eat less carbs and focus on whole grain when I do. He was very surprised at my cholesterol readings. My "good " cholesterol, which should be at least 40, was 51, and my "bad" cholesterol, which should be less than 200 but which Dr. Beusse wants below 185, was 155. He said not many "get it right" on both the first time. Normally he has to suggest something to get at least one of the two back in range. So he was very happy with that. And one measure which should be between 0 and 9 and for which I was at 20 was still somewhat of a surprise because he said normally a cancer patient has a reading of about 100 for that measure. So my health really falls in the "So other than that, how did you like the play, Mrs. Lincoln?" category. That is, my overall health is very good -- except I have cancer (or as Cyndy prefers to say, 'I am dealing with cancer').

The other day on the radio I heard a person say that recently they were talking with Bobby Hull, the former Chicago Blackhawk great who just turned 70, and Bobby said, regarding health, "If you can make it OK through your 50's, you're home free." Certainly from my perspective, maybe he's got something there. I told that to Dr. Beusse and he laughed and nodded in agreement.

I am trying to be positive about dealing with the prospect of having a colostomy bag the rest of my life. The Count says that not only should my bowel movements be more normal after my surgery (though the exit will be different), they may even change by the time the radiation treatment is over.

(WARNING! If you are offended by TMI, as my son Scott is, you may wish to skip the next several sentences. But on the other hand, if anyone out there is in their 50's and experiencing similar symptoms, it's no laughing matter. Get it checked out!). If I could have more "normal" bowel activity in the future, that would certainly be a good trade-off to what I have been experiencing the last several months. It was that irregularity, followed ultimately by occasional bleeding, that led me to go to my doctor in March in the first place which led to all of this. Because of my dozen or more daily bathroom visits, the initial ease but subsequent pain of them, and the change to more liquid and small pieces of discharge, before I went to the doctor, I had thought to myself, "I can't put up with this for the next 20 years of my life." Well, at this point, in exchange for having 20 more years of my life and having more bowel normalcy, if the bag is what I have to put up with and that is the ONLY alternative I have, then so be it. Because of the location of the tumor and the need to get the lymph nodes out, the Count says there is no option, as there is not enough "margin" space between the tumor and my rectum to save the latter. So I will look for stories online of people who have successfully and positively dealt with this. I have already been told by one person of a relative of theirs who has a bag and still does everything he wants, even swimming. Those are the stories I'm looking for. The complainers and negativists? I'll avoid them.