Headed for Houston on Sat. Sept. 8 for Cat scan. Mark depressed for two days thinking about possible neg. results, slept around the clock and was getting depressed and dehydrated, but he snapped out of it today and is eating and drinking normally and up watching TV.Mark's new glasses came in the mail and he is using the computer and reading again.
Mark is using his glasses mostly to see far away.. He is also having problems with his hearing which he blames on chemotherapy and radiation. He describes a tinnitus or ringing in the ears along with a super sensitivity to sound. Sound is greatly intensified for him. Have you or anyone you know with cancer experienced similar symptoms? (addendum: see the comment left by Ann who says she has the same symptoms which she believes are from taking Neurontin. She describes having a sound like crickets in her ears and some other interesting effects. Check the comments section)
We got a rental car ,a small Ford, because some thieves tried to steal our 97 Honda in the night in front of our house. They damaged the paint around the keyhole, popped the window out a ways on the driver's side and somehow managed to get into the locked car. They tried to hot wire it but were unsuccessful. Next they tore up the ignition then the steering column and finally left the car inoperable. It would not start so it had to be towed to the fix it shop. Mark took the rental car for a short errand and reported to James that its top end speed was 114 and he had spun it around and stopped on a dime and James believed him. I think Mark was trying to get a rise out of James. We live in a nice neighborhood but this is our third auto break-in right in front of our house. We may have to take to sleeping in the car to catch these varmints.
Mark has alternative transportation. In this picture he is going downhill at a pretty good speed.
Our work helping produce a movie and Mark playing a role is about over...Funny about someone trying to steal the car in light of Mark's sister, mom, and step-dads role in the film. We are filmed walking into the Taco Cabana restaurant while the hit man steals our 97 Honda from the parking lot. We had already filmed our car being stolen and only days later someone does try to steal it in real life. (addendum: James somehow got the rental car keys locked in the rental car with it running on Labor Day - had to have an emergency locksmith come.)
Mark has me up again tonight. He could not sleep and was waxing philosophical about his limited days and how he wanted to spend them, needing to do more volunteer work, and concerned his brain is not working well: he said he was not sure whether to blame it entirely on chemotherapy and radiation or the devil getting a hold of his mind and needing to go to church more. Mark has learned how to meditate better, so he meditated and went back to bed and guess who is still up.
Keep checking the blog and asking others to check it. We have a new flag lit up.
A visitor from Romania signed on. To date over 7200 people from 65 countries have visited the blog. We are shooting for 10,000 visitors.
check blogs in the archives on the right hand column to read about Mark's work in Saipan and his treatment in Bangkok.
1 comment:
Hi y'all, It's Ann from Sugar Land.
Mark, I know exactly what you're going through with the reduced hearing, tinnitus, hearing sensitivity and what I call brain farts. But in my case it's from a drug called Neurontin for peripheral neuropathy. The drug is an anti-seizure drug. It has also given me word-retrieval problems and the ability to forget what I'm talking about in the middle of a sentence. It's real impressive. Not! But unfortunately, I am not surprised that chemotherapy can give it to a person since afterall, it is poison. Research still hasn't gotten beyond being able to give anything but wide-spectrum poison. It's getting narrower, but not narrow enough to be perfectly effective and side-effects free.
My tinnitis is like cicadas. So I sort of think I carry summer around with me all year round. When I was a kid I used to go out at night and pick up cicada pupae from around the bottom of trees and then put them on the screen on my window over my bed and watch them come out as adults overnight. I love cicadas.
Not much is new here. Just got back from a cruise out of Galveston to the western Caribbean between hurricanes. Went to the Yucatan and got to spend some time in the interior to see the sink holes and underground rivers and Mayan ruins. Very impressive. Now I can't get enough to read about them.
Am currently working on creating a conceptual chemistry and physics course and a physics course on DVD's (lecture, demonstrations, math examples, tests, worksheets for teachers, etc) for students in Kenya who normally don't go to school past 6th grade. We can get 10 DVD players for the cost of one computer and the students can do this on their own time or adults can do it. They will be placed in schools and in libraries. By the time we get through, there will be an entire middle and senior school curriculum. There are very few teachers for this level. So if the students work at it and pass the tests. They can get the certificates that they passed the courses and can qualify for college if they can find the money or scholarships. This is such a cheaper alternative all the way around for those who are really motivated (and have access to electricity). But it is a big project.
Take care. Love Ann
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