Vince's Journey

Well, the trip to New York City is over and I'm back home. Jules went from NYC to Orlando for a business conference - she'll head home tomorrow. As luck would have it, we'll cross each other in the sky as I'm heading to Orlando tomorrow for a Leukemia and Lymphoma Society volunteer meeting. Why couldn't the conferences been held at the same time - that would have been fun! At any rate, I'll head home Saturday afternoon and then we'll head up the highway to see the Dayton Dragons play later that night...it's the annual Xavier Alumni Night at the Dragons game. We had a great time in New York...we made our way around Manhattan several times on the double-decker tour buses visiting Soho, Chinatown, Battery Park, Little Italy, Hells Kitchen, Central Park and of course; Times Square. On Saturday we went to see a play on Broadway staring Matthew Broderick called 'It's Nice Work if You Can Get It'. The show was set during the prohibition era of the 1920's and featured the songs of George and Ira Gershwin...it was very, funny and Matthew Broderick was great. The featured actor and actress were also great - they actually won the Tony award last year for best featured actress and actor in a musical. Of course, as I mentioned in my previous post, we decided to go to NYC to celebrate our 28th wedding anniversary...hard to believe it's been that long...seems like only yesterday we were in the basement of St. Antoninus Church exchanging our vows! 28 years later I'm showing some wear and tear but Jules is looking as great as ever...she's been on an excercise kick lately and has gotten herself into great shape! (I have to say Jules has never really been in bad shape but she's been working hard to 'tone-up' and she's done an awesome job!) She asked me recently if she's getting too skinny to which I replied, "You don't hear me complaining, do you?" I'm biased but she really does look great! I know once I get through my treatments I'm going to need to step up my training game because I'm looking a bit flabby...nothing a couple hundred miles per week on the bike can't take care of! I'm really looking forward to putting some miles in as we train for our Scotland ride in September and feeling my pants get looser and looser in the process! As I also previously mentioned, I've been in a lull with my treatments. My next day at the chemo parlor will be May 6 and it's been a couple weeks since my last treatment. I'm feeling a lot better and have been able to do some light work on the bike. I typically like to mix in some running with the biking but due to the stent, it's difficult to stand for an extended period of time without needing to go to the bathroom. The urge is pretty much constant but standing only intensifies the feeling. This is day 54 of my life being held hostage by this stent and I'm afraid it may get close to 70 days before I actually get relief. I'll get CT scans on April 30 and if things are where they need to be, Dr. Leming will let Dr. Bennett (the urologist) know he can take it out. That is a date I can't wait for. Things have gotten a little better but it is still a very uncomfortable situation to have to deal with. Thankfully, our neighbor - Ron Vogler - has been kind enough to mow our grass for us this spring. This time of year it needs mowed twice a week and Ron has one of those riding mowers that makes the lawn look like a baseball field - it really looks great. So thanks to Ron for all his help - I look forward to being able to mow myself but his generosity has been most appreciated! I guess I'll end for now. I hope all is well with everyone reading this. I appreciate you checking in. One final thing, we are going to be manning 3 beer booths at the Taste of Cincinnati over Memorial Day weekend as part of our LLS fundraising efforts. If you have some free time and would be interested in helping, just let us know. It really is a lot of fun and the Taste provides a great avenue for people watching. Best of all, it's a great way to raise money to support LLS! Shoot me an email at hopkinsv@xavier.edu if you'd like to help. I'll be posting again soon....