Does This Post Make My Blog Look Fat?: Happy Tuesday...this is a check-in entry, mostly. Nothing major to tell right now. There are some small things to catch you up to date on, so I'll get to them.

Current side effects: The skin on my face looks a little blotchy (the chemo drugs are meant to attack the faster-growing cells in your body; unfortunately, this includes the hair and the skin) and I'm a trifle sleepy this morning. I was up for a couple of hours in the middle of the night, so I took a lorazepam at around 4:00 AM, the closest thing I have to a sleeping pill (it's a nausea med). That's the extent of the side effects right now. Occasionally, I do get a feeling in my lower GI tract of "two ships passing in the night" (sometimes, it's the S.S. Minnow hitting a bit of flotsam, other times, it's the Titanic colliding with the Lusitania) but I've had this since my colon resection (the tract is less able to stretch) so I don't attribute this to the chemo drugs. It's fleeting, in any event.  Appetite, body temperature, etc., have all been in the normal range for me, so I feel like I'm handling the treatment well.

Support group: Made it to the support group in Eugene last night. It's been three weeks, so the director of the group was happy to see me. Hard to talk about without getting too schmaltzy, but it's nice to get supportive and positive feedback. It's far from a mope session; think of it as a discussion with useful advice and encouragement from folks who have been through chemotherapy and recovery. Those who know me best know that I can be Eeyore's twin, personality-wise, but it hasn't been much of an effort to keep positive and trust that the treatment will go exceptionally well. I invite you to join me in my positive thoughts about my "journey".

Alternative remedies: Alas, I've been strongly encouraged by the folks at WVCI to cease and desist from all herbal supplements during my chemotherapy on the small chance that they may interfere with the chemo "cycle". Hope this doesn't leave anyone crestfallen, but I am placing my trust in the people at the center to take my best interests to heart.

Pictures: Thanks for the feedback on the photos from those of you who've written to me. They are a little larger than I'd hoped to make them, but that's a function of the image editing software I'm currently using. I can sympathize with those of you on dial-up, because that's what I'm using, too (we hillbillies don't get many choices). I'll look into downloading a better image editor this week (thinking of GIMP; it's free and worked fine on my last box, but if anyone has a better suggestion, send me an e-mail at twh3lan "at" gmail "dot" com).

Audio and Video: On a bandwidth related note, would anyone be interested in posts including short audio and/or video files? Sometimes I take short videos (in HD!) using the PowerShot; if there's any interest, I'll look into including some in selected future posts.

Exercise: Still walking, even though the weather has been crappy of late. Thankfully, the treadmill comes in handy during these times. Was on it yesterday, but today's going to be an off day; tomorrow's another day. The feeling of fatigue is supposed to increase with the number of treatments, so I'm trying to counter this with walking and some light weights.

Dad: A few people have asked about him lately; think he's doing really well. Certainly, he's in physically great shape for his age. Still has memory issues, yes, but they seemed to have slightly lessened lately. Chalking up at least some of it to him stressing about my condition. (Seriously, "Don't worry, be happy". Stressing out doesn't help any of us.) Bought him a decent bed a couple of weeks ago and he must thank me for it every day. He says that it's so comfortable that it "calls" to him during the afternoon. Bit of Pa Whelan humor, that.

To-do List: I'm looking into getting a cheap cell phone so that Dad's always able to contact me (we had an "issue" last week when he couldn't remember that I went to the center). Also, trying to find a scarf, both to keep my neck and face warm after office visits and to help avoid some sicko sneezing or coughing directly on me (this happened last year during a trip to WinCo, the Happiest Place on Earth Market in Oregon). Hope I can find one that's Tom "Doctor Who" Baker length (i.e., one that touches the ground when I walk), just to be obnoxious and eccentric.

My mind, it has been emptied. Well, that's about all I can think of to type for now. Thanks for reading and feel free to contact me at my usual e-mail address or the one mentioned above. Events have settled down so I'm able to return messages in a timely manner once again. Feelin' groovy...