The Nerd-pire Strikes Back

Continuing the damage I've already done, Kyle and I watched Star Wars V - The Empire Strikes Back tonight.

Not too many questions. That is, until Darth Vader told Luke that he was Luke's father. Then there were lots of questions: "was Vader really Luke's father (they don't have the same last name)?", "why was Luke running away from his father?", "how did Luke's mommy die?", etc.

Kyle was really struggling with the whole "Vader is Luke's dad thing", and I can't blame him. Way, way back when I first saw the movie, I had many of the same questions and concerns. (Yes, I'm a Star Wars nerd too.) I guess this just proves what Mother used to say, "the fruit doesn't fall far from the tree."

Especially if it's the "Star Wars nerd tree".

Hurricane Kyle

Yeap, it's official: Kyle is now a hurricane. My son Kyle is totally stoked and is hoping the hurricane makes it to Category 5.

Round #3 of Chemo

I started round #3 of chemotherapy today.

Round #2 went way better than Round #1 (one "lost" day vs. four), so I hoping this one will go good too.

Life goes on: Nerd Synchronicity

I believe I have just condemned my son to a life of nerdiness. (Granted he was already genetically predisposed to nerdiness, but I had hoped for better.)

It started innocently enough; last month Kyle's pre-K buddy Nik invited Kyle to a birthday party. I called Nik's Mom about what sort of present to bring and she said Nik loved Legos.

So a few days later, Kyle and I headed off to Toys "R" Us. We picked out three small Lego sets: a medieval looking troll crushing thing, a Mars Explorer set, and a Star Wars Rebel Cruiser. I told Kyle he could keep one and we would give the other two to Nik. Kyle decided to keep the Star Wars thing. (No big deal.)

As we built the cruiser, Kyle asked me all kinds of questions about Star Wars: "who were the good guys?", "what's a rebel?", "what's a clone trooper?", etc. Again, no big deal. I answered his questions as best I could, finished building the cruiser, and then watched Kyle disassemble it and make his own creations (which I was very happy about - your own Lego creations are way better).

A week or so later, Kyle got a Star Wars Clone Wars card with Yoda on it in his Lunchables box. Again with the questions: "who's Yoda?", "what's a Jedi?", "is that a clone trooper?", etc. Again, I answered them and it was no big deal.

This morning, Kyle folded-up a piece of paper so that it looked like a capital "I" and asked what Clone Wars spaceship it looked like. This is where I really screwed-up; I told him it looked like a TIE fighter and TIE fighters came after the Clone Wars. "What's a TIE fighter?", "what happened after the Clone Wars?", "why were there clones?", etc. Again, I answered and Marjorie even pitched-in and found an image of a TIE fighter on the web.

Then I made huge mistake #2: I said, "we could watch the first Star Wars movie if you want" (and by that I meant "Star Wars IV: A New Hope"). Kyle quickly agreed and started watching: "who's that?", "is that the real Obi-Wan Kenobi?", "what's a storm trooper?", "what happened to the clone troopers?", and on and on and on.

Then, about the time Luke et al get to the Death Star, a strange thing happened: the questions stopped. He watched the rest of the movie with the laser-like focus that only a five-year-old boy can muster and when it was all over asked, "can we watch the next one?"

Yes, I have now hooked my son on Star Wars and condemned him to a like of nerdiness. Very Sad, but life goes on.

Round #2 of chemo

I started my second round of chemotherapy yesterday, 9 September 2008.

So far, so good. I'm trying to be a little more proactive this time - I started taking my nausea and diarrhea medication as soon as I got home from treatment. Also, the nurse said drinking lots of water would help.

We shall see.

One way to re-gain weight

My pharmacists had this poster in their work area:

Eat your heart out Jenny Craig ...

... and then throw it back up.

Way back in September of 1991, I weighed 145 pounds. I had just finished working the Summer at Callaway Gardens with the FSU Circus where I performed eight shows a week, chased 7 to 15 year old kids around eight hours a day (as part of the recreation program), worked-out three days a week, and ate reasonably nutritious food.

Over the next 16 years my weight climbed up to 190 pounds.

Now I'm "happy" to announce that I'm almost back to old weight by using the amazing Colon Cancer Weight Loss Program. Through a combination of extreme nausea, diarrhea, and just flat out not eating, I've lost 40 pounds in five months.

A couple more rounds of chemotherapy and I should be lookin' like a supermodel.

Bad news, good news

Bad news: my white blood cell count is a bit low today.

Good news: that and the fact that I got an infection in the lower half of my incision last week means that chemo has been postponed for a week.

I wasn't really looking forward to chemo this week and although my infection is healing nicely, it's still oozing and disgusting. So I'm happy to wait a week.