Schuyler's Colon Cancer Blog

Thursday

2012-03-08T07:14:00.001-05:00

Another day. There is a birthday party coming up this weekend. That should be fun. The sun is out it's a balmy 42 degrees outside and for now it's quite nice.

Didn't sleep as well as I would have liked. Went to sleep at 9:30 woke up at 12:30 and sort of semi conscioused my way thru from very early morning to get up time. But I've had coffee and cereal. and there is yogurt for a midmorning snack if I so desire.

Well that's it for now.

blue art volcano
eruption against a sky
is that a stoma?

later wednesday, blind faith, the kindness of others, and a tasty curry

2012-03-07T18:47:00.001-05:00

So I am just stunned by the out pouring of support I got today. Thank you all so much for your kind words and donations. Still a ways to go but I think the first month may be taken care of.

TheBeliever commented on the importance of Faith. I'm with there, Brother.

looking around the kitchen found some peanut butter, honey, milk and a jar of curry power with just enough left. table spoon of peanut butter, tea spoon +/- of honey, quarter cup of milk, some curry powder. mm mm good

Thank you all, you help
your support helps me a lot
thank you very much.

wednesday

2012-03-07T07:19:00.002-05:00

I slept in a little. That felt good. Waiting for the blood tests to come back. I prolly won't hear til tomorrow as the oncologist's assistant doesn't work on Wednesday, which BTW I find really odd. Maybe she has things to do on Wednesday.

It's quiet here and my mouse has stopped working. I'm not really a big fan of a track pad but if that's the worse thing that happens to me this week, I'm OK.

Lately I've been saying thank you as I lie down for the night. It really is nice to snuggle into bed and know that rest is coming soon.

Thank you also to all you people who are thinking good thoughts for me as I head to my surgery. It turns out though that I'm going to need money for ostomy bags and such. That amount has not been established but I'm thinking around 500 which may not be covered by insurance. I'm filling out a bunch of forms but I'm not sure that it's gonna help much. So if y'all could see your way clear to throwing me a couple of bucks I'd really appreciate it. All I need is 100 people to donate $5.

So far I've received some very generous donations. I thought the Google ads were going to help as well but they shut me down I think because to many people were clicking the ads just to click em. So anyway I'd appreciate some cash $1 dollar or more at my donate page but good thoughts are important, too. So for all y'all are doing thanks for the support.

sun is out today
snow has been melting road side
I think more will come

tuesday evening

2012-03-06T18:40:00.001-05:00

not much to say just wanted to put this piece up.
blood was drawn. Had some tea at the Dempsey center. Talked to the surgeon will prolly get another draw next week to make sure the white count is adequate.

little white blood cells
attack the nasty bad bits
I hope they come back

Tuesday another blood draw

2012-03-06T07:10:00.001-05:00

My white counts is slowly climbing. I'm wondering if that will make a difference to my surgery. Should my count not reach 5 by the 16th will they delay it? I suspect it will reach lo normal but I'm not sure.

I continue to carry on. Not much to say really. so...

backyard dogs barking
at what I'm not really sure
glad each other there

Monday another day closer to surgery

2012-03-05T07:20:00.000-05:00

So yeah I'm kinda dwelling on the surgery. I got meditation/hypnosis disk from the Dempsey Center in Lewiston. It's supposed to help prepare me mentally for the surgery. I gave it an initial listen and it didn't do much more than alert me to what could go wrong. Course if I listen to it again I'm sure I'll feel better.

snow in the darkness
morning shows the white blanket
it's good to be warm

sunday filling out forms

2012-03-04T08:52:00.003-05:00

not really a big fan of filling out forms, esp when I have to hand write them. see earlier note re writers cramp. one question asked if I had difficulty dealing with people, I said the form was starting to annoy me.

paper and a pen
I ask for a bit more help
not always pleasant

later Saturday after some fruit and yogurt

2012-03-03T10:51:00.000-05:00

Couple of things

the name of the piece is the Phoenix

I've decided that moderation means different things to different people. It just means cut back on the extremes a little bit. Thing is some people are more extreme than others. For instance I have supstituted fruit, yougurt, peanut butter, and honey for... well... bacon fat. I really like bacon. But I'm not giving it up. I'm just eating less of it. And more yogurt, fruit, honey and peanut butter.

tasty lunch good stuff
eat better food to get well
I don't feel sick now

That last line reminds me of the bring out your dead scene in Holy Grail. I don't feel sick now, no surgery needed thank you. Ah well.

chillaxing on a Saturday morning

2012-03-03T08:42:00.004-05:00

resting got up late tasty breakfast random punctuation oh yeah I'm chillaxin.

been eating a lot of fruit and yogurt lately. It's yummy.

there is a fair amount of snow on the ground. but I'm inside. oh yeah warm and comfy I can dig it.

not much to report. picked up a meditation cd at the dempsey center yesterday. it's supposed to help me prepare for surgery and afterwards.

snow melts roof dripping
plow piling it up road side
Maine winter changes

Friday, Oh yeah

2012-03-02T07:21:00.002-05:00

Well the snow has stopped. The plows have cleared the roads. More snow this weekend but for now it's quite pleasant if a little cold. The surgery is still a couple of weeks off and for now at least I've filled out all the forms I need to fill out. I'm beginning to see why writer's cramp is on the list of approved conditions in Cali.

I've been getting sleep lately. I tend to get to bed around 8 go to sleep around 9 wake up at midnight and then go back to sleep until 5:30ish. It's not perfect but it's better than waking up every couple of hours.

winter hangs onto Maine
spring still a few weeks away
it's a healing time

Thursday, March 1 a snow storm

2012-03-01T07:47:00.000-05:00

It's snowing outside. It's fairly quiet inside. Not really a whole lot happening.

white as snow outside
quiet as a mouse inside
carpe diem

sieze the day become productive. not sure that's gonna happen today but we'll see what happens.

Wednesday

2012-02-29T08:17:00.001-05:00

So my white blood cell count is going back up slowly. It's up over three. Low normal is 5. The surgeon said she was going to give me lot's of antibiotics.

I got word yesterday that I was once again approved for state benefits which is a very good thing. I filled out the forms for state disability yesterday. I'm not sure how that will go. I need to be approved for disability if my ostomy supplies are going to be covered so I hope that goes well.

If you'd like to help go to my donate page at http://coloncancerfund.schuylermeyers.com and donate a couple of bucks. Or just think good thoughts for me.

thanks

funds for my healing
mostly but not quite all there
the kindness of my friends

Tuesday

2012-02-28T07:06:00.001-05:00

well, it seems I've been wound a bit tight lately. I watched "Strictly Sexual" on Hulu last night and just cried at the end. I mean I usually tear up a little at a lot of things but I just opened up last night. Actually felt pretty good afterwards.

I was at the Dempsey Center at CMMC yesterday while I was waiting for a ride. Among the things I found in their library was a book called Finding the Money. Among other things it said that I was going to have to fill out a series of long and tedious forms. Boy ain't that the truth. I'm not a big fan of forms.

but there it is.

Doctors doing well
They do their best to help me
mostly up to me

update

2012-02-27T07:44:00.001-05:00

so another thing causing me some concern is wearing an ileostomy bag. I searched the net yesterday looking for someone that said don't worry it's a piece of cake. I found someone but it seems that there are a fair amount of people who had some probs with theirs. Course I stopped looking after I found the positive one.

feel free to leave any thoughts on ostomy bags.

monday

2012-02-27T07:40:00.000-05:00

The week starts again and I am closer to my surgery. I have a bunch of forms to fill out for disability today. I hate filling out forms. I'm not sure why. I just do.

winter is still here
its white cold grip is on me
my feet are chilly

sunday late morning

2012-02-26T11:06:00.002-05:00

Saw my son at the lake yesterday. It was really great to see him. That just doesn't happen enough. I am reminded of the song cat's cradle and I fear what may happen but I do what I can and hope for the best. Turns out a lot of Harry Chapin's songs touch me. I don't think I'm really alone in that.

Also went to an awesome party last night. Boy that doesn't happen often. Course if it did I guess I wouldn't appreciate it. Good food, neat people, lasted just the right amount of time.

Slept til 9:30 or maybe later. That doesn't happen much. It's a beautiful thing.

But this is a cancer blog so on to that... Right now I am in the period of letting my body recover from radiation/chemo so the surgery can take place. It occurred to me yesterday that just like they gave me the weekends off from rad/chem this is sort of like that. A six week period to let my body and mind recover and get ready for another action.

resting on a couch
late Sunday late winter chill
relax for the day

Saturday, a birthday and ice fishing

2012-02-25T07:54:00.002-05:00

Well it's a friends birthday and their is an ice fishing tourney in New Gloucester in which my son is going to participate. I am in Brunswick prepping for the party. Carole said said she would take me back out to NG so I could say hi to my son. She just rocks.

I am looking forward to the b-day party tho.

Cancer seems to be doing its cancer thing, not much to say except that I am really grateful to be living in a time when this is just a major inconvenience rather than a death sentence.

cars outside window
engines and tires sounding off
make tracks in the slush

finally another frinday

2012-02-24T10:38:00.004-05:00

something a little different. Created at jacksonpollock.org. The cancer is not really at the front of my mind right now, except that the surgery looms and I'm not certain that it all gets paid for. I'm fairly sure that it will all turn out OK tho.

sling some paint around
onto large wall sized pieces
that's what I want done

Thursday

2012-02-23T06:48:00.000-05:00

Well my surgery is March 16. It's good to know that. I'm also really pleased to be living in a time when this is just a major inconvenience and not a death sentence.

winter is warming
days are getting longer now
it's not even March

wednesday

2012-02-22T07:16:00.003-05:00

Seems it snowed last night or at least before I woke up. Not much goes on today. My butt continues to get better. Still nice to have a cushion tho.

white snowy morning

time between not quite enough

and to much coffee

later tuesday

2012-02-21T18:22:00.002-05:00

Well that post may have been a bit over the top. But I needed to put on my brave boy pants today. I feel much better about the surgery after meeting with the surgeon again. She's very good, she didn't want to brag but... she's done the surgery many times before. she is doing it with someone even more experienced than herself. So anyway I feel better about my surgery now. still no date. a bit anxious about that.

Tuesday, meet with the surgeon

2012-02-21T07:37:00.001-05:00

I meet with the surgeon today. I gotta say, this part of the process may be the one giving me the most anxiety. I'm trusting my sex life and my pooping to this person. Two things which I really enjoy. If things go really well during the surgery I walk around with an ileostomy bag for the next two months. If they go horribly wrong it'll be for the next 50 years.

If my surgeon tweaks the wrong muscle or nerve during surgery I get to experience ED for the rest of my life. OH frabjous day. Oh well with my vorpal sword I shall meet the Jaberwocky and defeat it.

carefully cut me
a surgeons blade to aid me
less of me is more

monday again

2012-02-20T07:17:00.000-05:00

the morning is cold

dawn breaks over the tall trees

nothing much to say

Sunday before lent

2012-02-19T10:16:00.000-05:00

and so I spend another weekend in bed. My butt grateful. My entire body and soul grateful for the rest. Do I really do a lot during the week? Depends on what you call a lot but I'm doing nothing today. OK I made my bed, ate some food, showered. But I went back to bed immediately afterwards.

rest well my good friends
take some time to ease your mind
you will be better

Saturday morn

2012-02-18T08:45:00.000-05:00

My butt is feeling better. I got some sleep. Generally a good day. Not sure about this image. It is certainly something different for me. I'll see if I can get my head around it.

morning sun is bright
afternoon looks good today
I'm moving forward