Status quo

Hello. This will be short and to the point since at the moment things are status quo and, therefore, there's not a whole lot to say.

On Friday I had my 10-day post-treatment checkup and my blood counts are just fine. My visit was with Dr. Desai and we spoke generally about how many treatments I'll be having. As I've been saying here it seems clear that we'll be doing at least 6 treatments. From there the plan going forward will be dictated by scan results and whether I develop any neuropathy from the taxol and/or allergic reaction to the carboplatin.

This weekend being the end of week #2 it was my chance to get out on my bike. I rode solo yesterday and enjoyed a nice early morning 34-miler. It was a nice quiet and sunny Saturday morning at 7am so it was nice being back on the bike.

And the usual week #3 schedule will prevail for me this week where I'll be going into the office. I don't enjoy the earlier wake-up time but it's a nice change to be back around people at work. Although the long commute takes it's toll toward the end of the week and invariably I'm ready for bed by 8:30pm.

We're now entering the final month of preparations for the Philly LiveSTRONG weekend. The Mintz's Mentschen team has a number of walkers this year as well as riders that will be participating in a variety of the available route distances. Now that the timeline is getting short I can see that I will be having a treatment the week of the bike ride. Not great timing but at worst I'll fight through the 10-mile distance and I know that I'll have a bit of a posse with me so all will be fine. Our collective team fundraising total is at $10,900 and I expect in the coming weeks that the total will jump up significantly. Our 2010 custom Mentschen cycling jerseys and t-shirts have been ordered so we'll be sporting a whole new look this year. The vendor for the jerseys will be at the LiveSTRONG event this year and there's been talk of a team picture by them. More to follow on all things LiveSTRONG as the event gets closer and as the excitement continues to build.