#BootStompCancer Day 15...The Fight is On!

Well, it's Super Bowl Sunday and before I get to my prediction (this was, after all, supposed to be a sports blog), a quick little update.

This weekend has by far been the toughest. On Thursday I received my first dose of Methatrexate, the heaviest of the chemo drugs. This was part of 10 hours of chemotherapy infusions and lasted well into the night. My schedule was then to have a mix of drugs infused multiple times over the next three days with my last infusion coming later tonight. When I woke up Friday feeling pretty good, I had no idea how false that feeling would be just 24 hours later.

Saturday was incredibly difficult. For the first time, I actually felt like I was sick. The nausea, the fatigue, the soreness, all of it at once. I spent more of my day yesterday sleeping, more to avoid the discomfort, than anything else and even started running a slight fever. I tried, multiple times, to get out of bed and try to feel normal, but I couldn't. My appetite did not exist. I don't think I ate anything solid all day. All I could do was lay there and hope the medicine I asked for would take effect.

What helped get me through were the phone calls, texts, and visitors I had yesterday. It was great to able to have my mind focused on talking with friends and loved ones, instead of focusing on trying not to throw up and have a poor reaction to the chemotherapy. I just kept saying "If this is as bad as it gets, I'm going to be fine."

Fortunately, that was. I woke up this morning feeling much better; not great, but better. I've been able to get up and move a little more and actually ate breakfast! The big test will be how I feel to eat some form of Super Bowl foods while watching the game.

Tomorrow, I'm scheduled to have a spinal tap done where the doctors will inject another form of chemo into my spine to help protect the cancer from spreading into my Central Nervous System and beyond. Whats great is that I'm going to be knocked out for it, as anyone who has had an LP done with local anesthesia will tell you. After that, depending on how I feel, and the weather, I can go home for the first time in over two weeks! It's going to be so weird, but so great to be able to back home and taste fresh air again!

Momma Dukes Says "Go Pats!"

Now, as for my prediction. I, unlike most people living in New York, recognize and respect talent and that is what the New England Patriots have. If you truly think "deflategate" had anything to do with them winning the AFC title game, you don't understand football. Tom Brady has been playing at a level I have not seen in years and Bill Belichick is a tremendous coach. Together, the two of them will notch their fourth Championship and cement their spot as arguable the greatest coach/QB tandem ever. Plus, mom's a Pats fan and she's the boss. Patriots win, 37-31.

I'm going to have another update for you all tomorrow, but not about me. It will be about something that I'm helping to put together with a group of folks who have been instrumental in my life since diagnosis. I can't wait to share it all with you and hope as many of you can participate as possible. Until then, as always, please continue to donate your time/thoughts/money to those going through a tougher battle than I am. I love you all, I thank you all, and I'll update you when we have more!