Round Two Day 21 FINAL DAY
Gotta tell ya, the last couple weeks on the psyche has been a tough ride. Not feeling good doesn't help, it is just the darn unknown that opens the door to the dreaded four letter "F" word.....that word being FEAR.
I don't tend to operate out of that manner.....we all have urgencies, but the fear can take you off course. We managed it, but understandably, it was the trepidation of the Monday meeting and the extent of the success of the chemo that had me on edge.
Even though my neck tumor is virtually undetectable to the touch, what about the throat?.....although, refer back to my last post, I have no idea what can survive the GI Tract onslaught......
Well, it turns out, not too much. The results of Friday's PET Scan were learned in this AM's meeting. Kiki and I went in positive and were excited to be informed that the throat tumor, originally about 1", is not detectable on a molecular level (the Scan). That means it is VERY small, and OUR attack has done a GREAT job. The actual two tumors in my neck are down 80% plus. Can't touch or see em, but they are there.
Net, net, "the treatment is doing exactly what we want it to do," says my Oncologist. We have elected to do Round 3, though THIS time, we are not going to let the enemy outflank us and attack from unprotected sides. We will begin the Magic Mouthwash earlier, we have upped the pain meds where applicable, and the frickin' 5-FU that comes home with me for 5 days is going to be scaled down 20% in volume....like one less day. You know how I like percents. On top of that, I can swing by the center and load up on saline if I am having trouble with liquids, as well as manage things better with more of a dialogue with my lead nurse.
True, the effects are cumulative, meaning the 3rd Round is sitting on top of the other two, but with a more aggressive and proactive stance from our side. we may be able to do this one better. Lordy Jesus, make it true!
Alas, it feels soooo much better to know that the work we are all putting in to fight this bitch is working......I/we were just hanging on the news today......
This will allow for a break from mid-May to June 4th when I begin radiation for 7 weeks, 5x/week. But I like the 2 week break, that is welcome, and the light I am chasing right now!!
Thanks and kudos to my SI '75 classmates and Championship teammates Danny B. and Tone-Cat for coming over Sunday, along with ex-roomie Tommy McManus to kick it with me and watch Kiki sing in the Lafayette Earth Day celebration. All of you sending the cards, soups and vibes, it's amazing. The Lafayette Community Festival www.townhalltheatre.com is steaming straight ahead, please come if you can, I will literally be in the middle/hard part of the round, so I plan to work my hardest to be there and say hey to everyone, as well as do my duties on the mic!!! Good to have goals! With our new approach, I am so fired up for the opportunity.
And, finally, I was honored to be at my nephew's 1st Communion celebration last Saturday. I am so proud of little William. I am now his godfather as well, so a wonderful Saturday I had, seeing all of PA's family and best friends.
That's what it is all about, and that is who you are all to me.....keep it coming, don't let up, I am now approaching my LAST ROUND, not the 1st or 2nd....the LAST......then the break......LAST is such a better word right now.
I love youfor the wind you are putting under my wings......my gas in the tank....some of you, with a mere one line, have said something that resonates daily, just great wisdom.
Across the Rio Grand-ee-oo,
XO
TS
Monday, April 23, 2012
Monday, April 16, 2012
Round Two---Day 14
History was made last night, April 15th, 2012. Tom Stack missed his 1st ever concert on a voluntary basis....for any of you who have seen my two binders, 3" thick, 18 ticket stubs to a page going back to a 1971 Tom Jones Concert at Circle Star Theatre I attended with my folks (at least my Mom didn't throw HER bra at the stage!) moving through my Winterland days, national and international GD touring.....yep, saved every stub. Regrettably, I won't be putting the Jimmy Cliff stub in there, as I just couldn't answer the bell. I think I had the energy, could've had a Diet Coke for a bounce, but the mouth was and is still so inflamed that the discomfort would just not have been worth it. That pisses me off, btw, because this was going to be an "acoustic-storytelling evening" something completely different and right up my alley. I love the history, the inspiration, the genesis behind what made the music. It would have been all there, 6th row center. Damn. You know I had to have been dragging, right?
I give this freaking throat tumor ZERO chance of making it out alive, because the number this chemo has done to my throat is serious business. There is no discernible feel of anything on my neck, on the side.....haven't felt anything there for a few weeks now. I'm talking about the source of this thing, and how intense the chemo has been to the area, it just HAS to be eating it up.
That and y'all's great energy vibration nation.....we're puree-ing all the soups for now, but the pizza and BLT avocado sandwich commercials on TV between innings or quarters get me fired up. I still WANT to eat, just no chance of chewing.....should be a day or two.
The big day is NEXT Monday the 23rd when I do another PET Scan. This will show the "State of the Progress", on a molecular level. It will determine the need for a 3rd round of what I have been doing. If need be, let's do it, at least I know the devil well enough by now. After this, yay or nay, we move onto to 35 days of Radiation, weekends off. That is where they go after the remains of the bastards directly, like they did in The Matrix, from multiple angles cross-firing on it in an exact manner. So heavy.
So, in honor of the great, inspriational, spiritual, philisophical leader Jimmy Cliff, go play The Harder They Come, Many Rivers to Cross, Bongo Man, Sitting in Limbo, or You Can Get It If You Really Want It real loud for me. His voice echoes the yearning of moving on, moving up and getting through. His voice is the tonic for the Struggling Man.
TS
History was made last night, April 15th, 2012. Tom Stack missed his 1st ever concert on a voluntary basis....for any of you who have seen my two binders, 3" thick, 18 ticket stubs to a page going back to a 1971 Tom Jones Concert at Circle Star Theatre I attended with my folks (at least my Mom didn't throw HER bra at the stage!) moving through my Winterland days, national and international GD touring.....yep, saved every stub. Regrettably, I won't be putting the Jimmy Cliff stub in there, as I just couldn't answer the bell. I think I had the energy, could've had a Diet Coke for a bounce, but the mouth was and is still so inflamed that the discomfort would just not have been worth it. That pisses me off, btw, because this was going to be an "acoustic-storytelling evening" something completely different and right up my alley. I love the history, the inspiration, the genesis behind what made the music. It would have been all there, 6th row center. Damn. You know I had to have been dragging, right?
I give this freaking throat tumor ZERO chance of making it out alive, because the number this chemo has done to my throat is serious business. There is no discernible feel of anything on my neck, on the side.....haven't felt anything there for a few weeks now. I'm talking about the source of this thing, and how intense the chemo has been to the area, it just HAS to be eating it up.
That and y'all's great energy vibration nation.....we're puree-ing all the soups for now, but the pizza and BLT avocado sandwich commercials on TV between innings or quarters get me fired up. I still WANT to eat, just no chance of chewing.....should be a day or two.
The big day is NEXT Monday the 23rd when I do another PET Scan. This will show the "State of the Progress", on a molecular level. It will determine the need for a 3rd round of what I have been doing. If need be, let's do it, at least I know the devil well enough by now. After this, yay or nay, we move onto to 35 days of Radiation, weekends off. That is where they go after the remains of the bastards directly, like they did in The Matrix, from multiple angles cross-firing on it in an exact manner. So heavy.
So, in honor of the great, inspriational, spiritual, philisophical leader Jimmy Cliff, go play The Harder They Come, Many Rivers to Cross, Bongo Man, Sitting in Limbo, or You Can Get It If You Really Want It real loud for me. His voice echoes the yearning of moving on, moving up and getting through. His voice is the tonic for the Struggling Man.
TS
Thursday, April 12, 2012
Round 2 Day 10-----Brutal today kids, I type because I can't really talk. My tongue is toasted, to which Kiki says, "GOOD!" That is where we need to toast, so let's go. After all, the original tumor is on the back of the tongue, so it is the key area.
It's pouring, cold outside, perfect. The Giants are on at Noon and I am going to nap until then.
Still gearing up for Jimmy Cliff Sunday night, let's hope that is in the cards!
Thanks for everything, everyone. Keep the energy coming!
TS
It's pouring, cold outside, perfect. The Giants are on at Noon and I am going to nap until then.
Still gearing up for Jimmy Cliff Sunday night, let's hope that is in the cards!
Thanks for everything, everyone. Keep the energy coming!
TS
Tuesday, April 10, 2012
Hey Now,
Day 7 (of 21), Round 2......I'm in the soup now, kids. Literally ad figuratively. The GI (Gastro-Intestinal) tract is burned, from start to finish, so to speak. This makes it hard to talk, swallow even chew, and the innards of my cheeks are burnt. Lost a few pounds, not by design, and will work hard to regain them. And to think, just 3 or 4 days ago I was knoshing on a sour dough roll with turkey, avocado and muenster.....dang.....what was it that Warren Zevon titled his last album?..."Enjoy Every Sandwich."
Well, he was right!
Experience tells me this will be a 3 or 4 day run, maybe 5 if I add in the cumulative aspects oif chemo on chemo.
This means that I will most likely be missing Giant's Opening Day, only the 4th time in the past 48 years. That sucks, huh? Make it up for me and have a toast to me, everyone!!! I do have my sights set on a Jimmy Cliff--Acoustic and Storytelling Show---with Kiki at the Uptown Theatre in Napa on Sunday the 15th.
Jimmy Cliff is an inspirational musician to me, defining my time in St. Thomas 27 years ago. 8th row center, that beautiful voice, cross your fingers, I really am looking forward to it.
Back to the soup.....during this period, I am all over the various soups that have found their way to my front porch. Gotta load 'em with salt.....sodium is like a Red Bull to me, gives me energy. It is like watering a dry plant, perks right up.
Anyways, I'll be back soon. Get your tickets to Town Hall Theatre's 2nd Annual Lafayette Community Music Festival.
I am working on a block of rooms, and have Kelleher and Kennedy slotted if I can pull it off. Any others? Could be $99.00 at the Lafayette Park, which is a $250/night location. Talk to me.
www.townhalltheatre.com
Keep the energy coming.......as Bill Graham used to say, "More, More, More!"
Day 7 (of 21), Round 2......I'm in the soup now, kids. Literally ad figuratively. The GI (Gastro-Intestinal) tract is burned, from start to finish, so to speak. This makes it hard to talk, swallow even chew, and the innards of my cheeks are burnt. Lost a few pounds, not by design, and will work hard to regain them. And to think, just 3 or 4 days ago I was knoshing on a sour dough roll with turkey, avocado and muenster.....dang.....what was it that Warren Zevon titled his last album?..."Enjoy Every Sandwich."
Well, he was right!
Experience tells me this will be a 3 or 4 day run, maybe 5 if I add in the cumulative aspects oif chemo on chemo.
This means that I will most likely be missing Giant's Opening Day, only the 4th time in the past 48 years. That sucks, huh? Make it up for me and have a toast to me, everyone!!! I do have my sights set on a Jimmy Cliff--Acoustic and Storytelling Show---with Kiki at the Uptown Theatre in Napa on Sunday the 15th.
Jimmy Cliff is an inspirational musician to me, defining my time in St. Thomas 27 years ago. 8th row center, that beautiful voice, cross your fingers, I really am looking forward to it.
Back to the soup.....during this period, I am all over the various soups that have found their way to my front porch. Gotta load 'em with salt.....sodium is like a Red Bull to me, gives me energy. It is like watering a dry plant, perks right up.
Anyways, I'll be back soon. Get your tickets to Town Hall Theatre's 2nd Annual Lafayette Community Music Festival.
I am working on a block of rooms, and have Kelleher and Kennedy slotted if I can pull it off. Any others? Could be $99.00 at the Lafayette Park, which is a $250/night location. Talk to me.
www.townhalltheatre.com
Keep the energy coming.......as Bill Graham used to say, "More, More, More!"
Thursday, April 5, 2012
Hey Now Everybody,
Sorry for going dark the past few days...no reason, actually. the last 7 days of the first 21 day round went splendidly. I felt great, had energy, though I burned out at the end of the day. Still on a 2 hour sleep regimen, but able to fall back into a sleep each time, thankfully.
Sold that listing I put together last time around, so we have an escrow!!! Phew.
I began Round 2 on Tuesday, which consists of sitting for 7 hours while they drip two different fairly heavy duty drugs, Taxotere and Cisplatin along with a saline mix into me. Kiki sat with me all day, I had a good lunch, the weight is still up where it needs to be, etc. The bag is now attached to my port, and it is dripping the aptly named 5-FU into me. This is a nasty drug, fighting fire with fire as my nurse says.....the combo of these 3 will essentially burn the insides again, like last time, so I take steps to protect my GI tract with all kinds of things...Aloe Juice, Biotene.....
As percentages go, I am on Day 23, which puts me at 19% along the treatment highway. Good number. I am hopeful that a planned scan to be done the last week of this round will allow me to avoid a Round 3, and thereby slash 21 days off this thing....kind of a "Chutes and Ladders" approach, though in reverse. Chute up, in this case. That would be great, though I have my head around the 3 rounds and am mentally prepped for it.
To reiterate, the tumor is basically gone from the side of my neck, I no longer can touch/feel it. Don't know what it looks like from a scan perspective, but progress is progress......this is all in preparation for the 35 radiation treatments planned to burn the beejesus out of the two tumors......the smaller the better.
Easier targets.
Many of you have already bought tickets to the Lafayette Community Music Festival on May 5th here in town. If not, I attach a link.
www.townhalltheatre.com
Thanks to all of you for sending the great, uplifting notes via the blog, and for the technically challenged, your emails direct to me. It's tough being in touch with everyone directly, but I read EVERYTHING, and it gives me strength. There have been over 2,100 hits on this blog, and I am so deeply touched. I promise to update you all again soon.
Giants Opening Day tomorrow April 6th in AZ. Let's Go!!
Sorry for going dark the past few days...no reason, actually. the last 7 days of the first 21 day round went splendidly. I felt great, had energy, though I burned out at the end of the day. Still on a 2 hour sleep regimen, but able to fall back into a sleep each time, thankfully.
Sold that listing I put together last time around, so we have an escrow!!! Phew.
I began Round 2 on Tuesday, which consists of sitting for 7 hours while they drip two different fairly heavy duty drugs, Taxotere and Cisplatin along with a saline mix into me. Kiki sat with me all day, I had a good lunch, the weight is still up where it needs to be, etc. The bag is now attached to my port, and it is dripping the aptly named 5-FU into me. This is a nasty drug, fighting fire with fire as my nurse says.....the combo of these 3 will essentially burn the insides again, like last time, so I take steps to protect my GI tract with all kinds of things...Aloe Juice, Biotene.....
As percentages go, I am on Day 23, which puts me at 19% along the treatment highway. Good number. I am hopeful that a planned scan to be done the last week of this round will allow me to avoid a Round 3, and thereby slash 21 days off this thing....kind of a "Chutes and Ladders" approach, though in reverse. Chute up, in this case. That would be great, though I have my head around the 3 rounds and am mentally prepped for it.
To reiterate, the tumor is basically gone from the side of my neck, I no longer can touch/feel it. Don't know what it looks like from a scan perspective, but progress is progress......this is all in preparation for the 35 radiation treatments planned to burn the beejesus out of the two tumors......the smaller the better.
Easier targets.
Many of you have already bought tickets to the Lafayette Community Music Festival on May 5th here in town. If not, I attach a link.
www.townhalltheatre.com
Thanks to all of you for sending the great, uplifting notes via the blog, and for the technically challenged, your emails direct to me. It's tough being in touch with everyone directly, but I read EVERYTHING, and it gives me strength. There have been over 2,100 hits on this blog, and I am so deeply touched. I promise to update you all again soon.
Giants Opening Day tomorrow April 6th in AZ. Let's Go!!
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