Make no bones about it.....this chemo must be working. This is how I feel right now, but since my mother has a gun to my head to finish a new post, I will do it. Anything for Pam...she DID buy me new shoes last night after all...

This will be the most random posting of pictures to date. If my recent state is any indication of whether or not this chemo is working, it should be good news, because I feel like shit. ALL. THE. TIME. Working full time seems to be about as much as I can handle, because I come home and hit the hay around 7:30 or 8. I actually slept through the VP debates! Crazy.

I cant put my finger on how this feels. Sometimes it just feels like a really bad hangover. Sometimes it feels like the flu, you know, when every solitary part of your body is just sore and tired. Even your fingers are tired. And my stomach just cant get right on this stuff. I can eat ok, but food just doesnt excite me like it used to. Dr. "X" did hook me up with a pain killer that I do use from time to time. I can only take two though. Three makes me hella sick. Twice in the last few weeks, I had been in a lot of pain at the end of the day at work, and I made the mistake of taking it before I left, not having any food in my stomach, and twice, Ive almost had to get off the bus to throw up. Ive never had issues with nausea, but adding the component of the painkiller has contributed to that considerably. But the happy numbness it gives me for a few hours makes me understand how people can easily get addicted.

I looked my drug up online and found some forums where people said this drug made them very sick and many people were getting hooked on it. Im quite careful with my usage, and anything more than two still makes me sick, and these people were taking like TWENTY a day, but still. I need to be careful.

I week ago Friday I had treatment #4 of six, and I really didnt think I was even going to be well enough to even get it. The weekend before I had committed myself to WAYYYY too much:

Sat - 6am - Up with John moving furniture out front for a garage sale.....noon, move all furniture back into garage.....Sat - 1pm, Hounds rugby game......7p, UC Football game

Sunday - 6am - up again for the garage sale, 2p - head downtown to the Oktoberfest with mom and dad who came down.

I actually foresaw the busy weekend and took it upon myself to get bloodwork done again, and as expected, had a SECOND blood transfusion up at Kettering hospital. I wanted to have plenty of energy for the weekend.

It was just WAAAY too much and I really had no business lifting furniture two days in a row on a weekend. Got no good rest, and was literally in pain, sore all week long. I should never be struggling that much the week before a treatment. That should really be when Im bouncing back up, getting ready for another KO. But my counts were surprisingly ok, and I got treatment.
Ok - Ill get to the pictures and toss anything relevant if I think of it. Keep in mind, these pics are all way out order. You'll just have to deal with it!

Here are some of the pics from Drew's last photo sitting at Penneys. I think they turned out great!

Ok, heres a pic from the UC football game vs. Miami two weekends ago. I was in so much pain that night, and they have a no re-entry policy so I couldnt even go to my office to get my Ibupropen...dang it! Turns out a co-worker sitting in front of me had it all along. The game was torture. I just felt awful. We left at the beginning of the fourth. Poor John. What he puts up with! UC beat Miami pretty handedly, so that was good.....
Awwww......Drew gets a sink bath! This was last weekend.
Dad & John watched football.....actually john was upstairs watching OSU, Dad was ds watching Michigan State, and my sorry ass was up in mom and dads bedroom watching shameless reality TV.
Mom, Dad, Nick & Mere went to a wedding of one of nick's HS classmates. Never loan your camera to nick:

Nick and all the girls he dated in HS. Now that I look at it, he actually did date about half of them. One of those quarterback perks, I guess.
Nick and his best friend, (and my old MedCost coworker) Michael.
We had a not so suprising Suprise birthday party for Angie during the Bengals/Browns game. Bengals Suck. Happy Birthday Ang! Thanks JC for hosting!!
This weekend, my family from down south (Florida/NC) were in town for my cousin Cody's football game against UD. Campbell University has a football team for the first time in FIFTY YEARS!!! Of course most of the team is freshman so their record isnt great, but you can bet in four years, they'll have a senior class with some serious experience. Final Score UD 41, CU 0. Awww....Mom and Drew at his first Collegiate tailgate.

Clockwise from left - April, Leanne, Aunt Beck, Mary, Cathy, Aunt Sharon, Me & Mom.
Les is a retired Dayton cop and has worked UD security for as long as Ive been alive. I grew up at UD arena when mom worked in the concession stands at basketball games part time. Les has known Nick and I since we were little brats runnign all over the arena. His girls went to Dunbar and he always used to give me a hard time since Fairmont always ended up playing (and losing to) Dunbar in the District finals for girls basketball....
Some shots of Cody. (Thanks Les for letting me on the field!!)

Uncle Dick, Cody, Aunt Becky & April.
The whole gang!
Grandpa attended his 60th HIGH SCHOOL REUNION!!!
Ok....way backtracking here....Me and Stacy's newest one, Luke at the Wolfhounds rugby game.

Oktoberfest, Cincinnati:
Mom and I with the NAKED COWBOY!!!! We are shameless.


Going back even FURTHER to the windstorm/blackout......John prepared RABBIT out on the back firepit on one of the 5 nights we were without power. Tastes like chicken. Was a little creeped out eating rabbit as it hopped by. One weird thing about eating chicken is that the bone structure is just different. Smaller bones. I can rip into any kind of chicken bone like a wild animal, but this was just out of my comfort zone.

Here are some photos mom took of the trees that came down in Dayton during the windstorm. Amazing. This one was over by Bob Evans by Delco Park.
This tree came down just across the street from mom and dads....Dad cleaned it ALL UP with that tiny little saw! He's amazing, isnt he?


Well, Im heading back down to Cincy with mom and dad tonight for the Kelts Breast Cancer fundraiser. Ill try and get a link posted to the pictures from the event. Should be fun, although In the midst of writing this blog, I just ran into the bathroom and got sick, (I think it was the sight of that raw rabbit) so who knows how much Ill be up for this weekend.

Two more treatments to go. Cant wait to get off this and get healthy again!

Sorry for the delayed post, things are getting busy at work and our home computer is back down, perhaps indefinitely, so we'll see how the posts shake out. I should be able to get back on the Sunday postings though.

Everyone have a great weekend...and a wonderful week!

Tammy & Philly's Excellent Adventure.....

Remember Tammy & Philly who we took the Foster Parenting Classes with? Check out what the wind storm did to their house. Crazy!

Everyone is ok. We finally got our power back on a few days ago....but Mom & Dad, Nick and Meredith are still without. It SUCKS!! Got a busy weekend ahead...hopefully I can make it to Ryans Football game tonight, we're having a garage sale Sat & Sun morning, Rugby game on Sat afternoon, tickets to the UC football game on Sat night, garage sale on Sunday, and hopefully make it down to the Oktoberfest on Sun afternoon.

Oh yeah, and I had another bloodtransfusion Wednesday night. Good times.

Reunited and it feels soooo good!!!!
Four members of the 2001 Ohio Womens Rugby U-23 select side reunited at the Cincy vs Dayton womens rugby match this weekend - Grubb, Sam, Me & KJ. In 2001 we traveled to Rockford Ill and, heck, I cant even remember how we did. If KJ still doesnt hate me for my liberal outburst last week, Im sure she'll post our accomplishments. Dang, we're old! SMITTY, eat your heart out! A bunch of thirty year olds!!! (ok, KJ's not there yet...)

Oh and PS - My first instinct is always to apologize for every daggone thing that comes out of my mouth (KJ hit her head getting into Grubbs car Sat....and I apologized) ???? I am NOT, I repeat NOT apologizing for my last post. I hope that some of you on the fence will see the light!!

Congrats Cincy Ladies on a big win over Dayton....
Always a supportive high-five tunnel after the mens match....

Ok, this was weird. Oscar shows up with this hat that looks just like the ones the American atheletes were wearing at the Olympic opening ceremonies.....Pauly was wearing it during the game:
We go home after the game en route to Haps and we've got a envelope in the mail with a catalog from the company John bought the Chili Cook off trophies from last year, and guess whats in it? A sample FAKE GOLD MEDAL!!! Im like, "YOU HAVE GOT TO TAKE THAT FOR OSCAR!"

We presented it to him at Haps and he proudly wore it, and even told people about his "event"...

I wasnt paying too much attention during the game but I keep hearing people calling this guy from Lexington "Chachi".....

It wasnt till the party that I realized this guy is a dead-ringer for Scott Baio!!!! (and no, he did not know I was taking his pic...stalker!!)
We all left Haps to head over to Mazor's reception - Congrats to Mazor and Beth!!
Dane is so perfect.

We were all loving the fall theme on the tables....especially J-mac who gorged on a caramel apple!
The hairless contingency of the Kelts.....The Scott, Brandon, Me, John....
The ladies! Me, Jess, Kyra, Patty & Amy
The fake fall leaves added to the table flavor, and it wasnt long before Hula started quietly placing leaves all over an unknowing Funhater. Poor Funhater.

Look at the hotties!

And Mazor with all his ladies!
Sunday I met mom in Middletown for lunch and to take Drew to get his picture taken. Needless to say he was a photographers dream....smiled on cue, looked all adorable....wait till these pictures come in. Ill post them. You know I will.


If you're not in the Midwest....Louiville up to Columbus (including Cincy and Dayton) got SLAMMED by 76 mile an hour winds in some parts after Ike visited us yesterday. Nobody was expecting what we got. The weather man said that we were going to get some Ike related rains around 3p....but apparently what happened was that we didnt have the cloud coverage or rain, so the heat from the ground pulled the winds down from the upper air (I dont know what the hell Im talking about) down and caused a TON of damage.

They say 74 MH winds are a category 1 hurricane, although those are sustained winds and ours were just gusts, but STILL!! Hurricaine winds in the midwest! Unbelieveable! Mom took a lot of pictures but their power (and ours) has been out since yesterday afternoon and they're saying some parts will be out for a WEEK!! (Duke Energy is short staffed because they sent crews down to Texas dangit!) Ill post her pics when I get them.

As soon as I got onto 75 south after having lunch with mom, traffic stopped....big pieces of plywood had blown onto the highway and I showed up just as state troopers were cleaning it up.

This was Winton Road just north of Winton Woods as I was heading home.

Our neighbors backyard:
Then, when the winds finally died down, I sat in my car and listened to the radio for updates in the rain (although all that was on was sports talk, and people crying and depressed about the Bengals more than they were about not having power)
More pics as they come! Hope everyone is safe and your power comes back on SOON!!