Happy Thanksgiving!

First off- some good news about Erbitux. It seems that it is proving to be more effective than first expected: Read this


What more can I tell you now?

I dont know. This is the middle of treatments and things are either going to stay the same or they will get worse. When I say worse, I mean, I could be a little more tired as things go on, and have some more side effects to deal with, etc..

One good piece of news I can tell you is that my CEA score, which is a blood test that is used to measure cancer activity, is improved. Although this is debatable as I will explain. A normal CEA level can be between 0 and 5. For smokers, that number can be between 0 and 10. And things are still considered normal. My Original CEA score pre-surgery, was 2. Now midway thru chemo, it is 0.8. So it is an improvement, however, these scores are already considered within the normal range.

The truth is that the CEA can be used as an indicator, and some people show scores of 50 or 100 or even higher, but not all people produce a lot of CEA and therefore, you cant really tell when that is the case. Having a tumor, yet having a score of 2, means it isnt a reliable marker for me, yet having it drop to 0.8 is an improvement of sorts. So lets celebrate.

Other news?

Well it looks like my last day of chemo will be February 1st. That is basically 2 months from now. Sounds like a long time but it will be here before ya know it.

In the meantime I am still doing pretty good. Still working, still working out, still doing Yoga, and also working on music too. I must admit though, a few nights a week I enjoy crashing early-- err.. I mean "resting."

Interesting, I never realized this new word that has crept into conversations moreso these days.. the word "rest" or "Im resting"

Q: "What are you doing?"
A: "I'm resting..."

I never used to hear that word or use it even.. Now it seems funny to say that "on Friday night, I stayed in and rested." Resting. what a concept... Its a verb? I can't believe it..

For the moment, Im just "Slouching and Couching" -- There, you like that?

...come February.. no more resting..