I saw you at club, you could spare it!

I start again by sharing some of the inspirational words I receive from all of you on a regular basis. Our title today was in reference to a conversation I had with a sales exec checking up on me. I was telling him how on Wednesday, 15 days after my first treatment, I was down 22 pounds and was unable to eat or drink anything so the feeding tube was going in.  His response was one of the below:
a. Wow, that's tough, are you trying different foods to see what works?
b. Mark, you have to keep your strength up, we'll send you some chicken soup
c. I saw you at club, you could spare it.

And yes, the title gave it away so the suspense is non existent. But you have to love the dig. That was followed by "is your hair falling out yet or can you not tell if it is?" The caring delivery makes you tear up just a little doesn't it. I love it though. Great digs by great people mean a lot to me. For those of you following you know it's been a tough start. For whatever reason my taste buds failed me immediately and I have been unable to hold down water or food. It all tastes like ass. I have no better or more articulate way to describe it. I think those words do it justice. So Wednesday July 10th I went in for the feeding tube. I was actually excited to go. When I told Denise about my experience she wished she had gone and here's why.

So I'm sitting in the pre-op room when my nurse Kelly comes in.   Nothing like a beautiful pre-op nurse to help settle you in to a gas filled feeding tube injection procedure right. Well, normally I would say yes, only Kelly wasn't all that beautiful. In fact, he hadn't shaved today so he was a little on the rough looking side today. I knew right there and then I was in for trouble. So then the two anesthesia guys come in. Fortunately, being confident in my masculinity I can say the following with no trepidation. These guys were McDreamy's of anesthesia. One was a resident about 23, the other in his early 30's. Both right out of GQ magazine.  I told Denise she should have come, she missed out. Apparently I invited the nurses, Dr., and anesteshia guys over for a cookout if I live so you may all get a chance to meet them. In fact, let's hope you do get the chance as it's only a go if I live... So now we move into the operating room. I'm feeling no pain, next thing I know I'm awake and yapping up a storm trying to convince my new nurse to let me go early. I feel great. I keep prodding, tell her I have a work call in an hour so I'd love to be home for it, blah blah blah, eventually I get released. They wheel me to my brother in laws car and let me go over to the car. I needed to pick up my pain killers so I had to walk over to the Yawkey center and up to the pharmacy. I'm standing in line talking to the pharmacist who says he doesn't have my stuff to which I say....nothing. I break out into a cold sweat and dropped to my knees. I crawled to a couch and rolled onto it just about passed out. The good news is the guy got my drugs right away and a dr came out to see me. Once I got my composure back I got back in the car and headed home from Boston during rush hour. But, at least the worst was over right. Um, no, not really. We are driving home in stop and go traffic and as we move along my stomach starts to hurt a little. Now it's hurting a little more. Hey John, stop asking me questions for a minute, I'm in a little pain. Hey JOHN, GET ME HOME I THINK I'M DYING! Holy crap does this hurt. I couldn't breathe any longer. I called the hospital and told the nurse I was in extreme (I used 9.9 repeating as my pain gauge). She said 'someone will call in 20 minutes'. I said, "ok, have them ask for my brother in law, I'll be dead by then" So 2 minutes feels like an hour when they call back. The nurse says "is it time for the cookout". I said "not if I die, you know the deal". It was my operating nurse calling. She was cool. She said 'didn't they tell you how to release the pressure if it gets bad'. I said, "yes, just wanted to see how long I could go before I passed out from the pain!!! NO THEY DIDN't TELL ME THIS". I was just getting into the driveway so I got out, uncorked the top of the tube and undid the clamp and WOOSHHH, Mt Vesuvius came flying out of me. It was like a science experiment. I still felt crappy but the severe pain went away in a hurry. I felt bad for John, he was freaking out because I was white as a sheet, swollen and couldn't talk I was in so much pain. Sorry brother, thanks for the ride :)

I'm typing this sitting here Monday night and I do round two of chemo tomorrow. My weight is down but I've been pumping the shakes into me all weekend. No food being eaten so the shakes are my lifeline right now. The throat is manageable so far but that's supposed to end today. I shaved the goatee off last Thursday and the full mane should be sometime soon. Love all the emails and comments. Remember GOOGLE CHROME is needed to post. Stay tuned and thanks for listening! Mark