Chondrosarcoma – ah shit, bob's sick

Today was a busy day all around. We interviewed 3 people for tech support, in which one of the lucky 3 will replace me at work while I’m in Boston. I had great lunch and a wonderful chat with my buddy Ray at Louie Louie’s Lebanon, NH. And, passed a new Scifillian customer to my son in Florida. That’s not counting the regular work done at my job.

I have an appointment 3 pm. Friday, with my primary physician to discuss long term use of painkillers, and other possible alternatives in preparation of completing the proton treatments.

This makes 3 days in a row that I’ve been feeling reasonably well. I also feel like I’m getting a little bit of work done, and that’s a great feeling.

I was thinking about all the everyday life situations that are or have been affected by cancer to write about. You know … my diet has somewhat changed, at least most certainly Sher and I are taking turns cooking now. I used to cook dinner most every evening, but that changed and because of that, my diet has changed. I also seem to require much more sleep, almost double to what I have in the past. I also find shaving a challenge. It’s not the actual act of shaving that’s difficult, it’s the angle that I have to lean over the bathroom counter in order to see closely into the mirror that is painful. Even though it’s a very slight bend, it’s enough to set off the pain in back.

The sexual part of our relationship is also something that has changed. Maybe that’d make a good topic! I mean it is something that does change and I don’t know other people may have experienced the changes. I did some research on the topic awhile ago and couldn’t find any “real” comments on it. I think it may make a good topic to write about in the future. It is a topic of interest, and real thing that people with cancer have to deal with and experience.

Even the simple tasks around the house become more and more challenging, and I mean simple things … like walking the dog and taking care of the cats, taking out the trash … you name it, it’s changed.

Sher and I are working all these changes out … but it takes time, to trade off the jobs that are required to run a house and figure out new ways of trying to help each other. New ways of survival, is the key to successfully dealing with this.

Even keeping this blog is time consuming, and uses time that used to go into something else. I’ve all but ignored preparing for winter on the outside of our home, which makes me truly concerned … but at the moment, there isn’t really much I can do about it. I’m worried about who is going to shovel all the snow around the barns, garages and steps. How we’re going to maintain clean driveways and paths. Every winter past I dug paths through the woods so that Sher could bring apples out for the deer. I fear many of these things will change.

This reminds me of that old Simon and Garfunkel song, Hazy Shade Of Winter.

Hang on to your hopes my friend
That’s an easy thing to say
But if your hopes should pass away
Simply pretend
That you can build them again

Look around
Leaves are brown
And the sky
It’s a hazy shade of winter