Vince's Journey

This week I had a double header at the chemo parlor. Yesterday I got a double dose of Rituxan and Bendamustine and today, just for good measures, I got single dose of the second drug. When I showed up today the electric was out in the entire building so I had to take the steps up to Dr. Leming's 4th floor office. I imagine there were some patients who showed up and decided not to trek up the steps - the chemo room was basically empty. From what I understand, they also couldn't treat anyone who had to have a CBC test because it would be too dangerous if their blood counts were too low. Fortunately they checked my blood counts yesterday so I was good to go. Nothing is worse than having a set back so I hope the people who couldn't get treated today will be able to get back in for their scheduled treatment in the near future. I should note that the electric came back on about 5 minutes after I arrived so maybe I was good luck today. So now I'm off the chemo plan until May 6th, it will be nice to have a break. I will have CT scans taken on April 30 - let's hope the 'shrinkage' is at least the extra 20% needed so I can get this stent taken out shortly after receiving the news. As I said last week, I've decided to quit being a wimp and get back to being more active. I was able to spin or ride my bike for close to 100 miles and for the most part, I've felt pretty good - far better than I did several weeks ago. At any rate, I think I'm through the worst part of this round of treatments and hope I can get through this with maybe 2 or 3 more sessions. So what else is going on? Well I was quite pleased to see Michigan lose in the National Championship game last night. Once Ohio State lost my favorite team became anyone but the Wolverines and thankfully Louisville was up to the task last night. I've said before, I'm not like those SEC fans who get all heeled up celebrating when their bitter rivals win a national football championship...if my team can't win I don't want to see Michigan or Indiana or Wisconsin or Michigan State get the championship. I guess I'd be happy for Northwestern since they never win but that's about it. I hardly even watched the game last night, it would have been painful to spend 2 hours watching the game only to see TSUN win it all. So I decided to turn it on at the end and was able to see all I needed to see....UM walking off the court with their heads down while Louisville celebrated....very satisfying, indeed. We're looking forward to heading down to Paul Brown Stadium this Saturday to watch Ohio State's spring game. It will be nice to get a football/tailgate fix before we head into the next 4 months of solid baseball. And speaking of baseball, the Reds are off to a solid start after 7 games. They've taken 2 of 3 against the Angels and Nationals and are off to a good start in their first road series in St. Louis. The pitching has been pretty solid and the offense has been coming around. Shin Soo Choo (or whatever his name is) has been a great addition in the leadoff position ( I saw that Drew Stubbs is 2 for 24 out of the shoot in Cleveland - I guess he still hasn't learned how to bunt!) I guess I'll end here. I'll keep you posted over next few weeks....I'm looking forward to getting some more energy and Hoping to get in some good miles on the bike. Thanks for checking in!