I guess it's time to post again though I have little to say. It's day 4 of the cycle and I'm completely drained. No pain or discomfort, though, so it's not too bad. No real plans for anything in the next few days... I'd like to do a new comic strip, but I don't seem to have any ideas or much energy. I guess I'll just lie around and remind myself I only have one more round of chemo. See - very little to say today. Thanks for reading it anyway.

I finally emerged from chemofog on Wednesday, and have had really good days since. This weekend I had an extraordinary trip to Blacksburg...

Friday I was able to get together with many of my high school friends in Christiansburg, including two of my best pals, Gary Reed, who was in town from Sacramento, and Jim Earp:

Friday night I attended a bonfire party where I saw many more high school friends. Great seeing you, Connie, Terry, Monty, and many more!

Saturday morning my brother Mike took me on a motorcycle ride on the mountain roads. As he says, "living here and not having a bike would be like living on a lake and not having a boat", the countryside is so beautiful and the roads are made for motorcycles. Thanks, Mike!

Saturday my college roommate Charlie Phlegar gave Alex and me the full VIP treatment at the Tech game. We met President Sands, AD Babcock, three state senators, Bruce Smith, and the ambassador to Switzerland. We were on the field for Enter Sandman, and sat in the President's box for the game. We stuffed ourselves with good food, and watched a stunning game. But best of all we spent time with Charlie, his wife Karen, and many other Deke brothers. Really an unforgettable experience!

Last but far from least, I got to ride there and back with my friend and coach Linda Scimeca, who made the 4 hours seem like 20 minutes. And I got to see my parents and brother David and sister-in-law Jane.

I am so uplifted and energized that I almost forgot I have chemo again tomorrow. Yeah, right. Well, 2 is a small number, I can do this. 

Hope to see/hear/email/text/tweet with you soon!

  

 Well, it's day six after chemo last week and there's not much to report except that I feel lousy. I sure can't wait to get through this, though even two more sessions seems like forever.  Just been doing lots of lying around watching sports and playing scrabble on the iPad.

 I am greatly looking forward to going to Blacksburg this weekend and visiting with old friends. Sure hope I feel better by Thursday.

My best to all of you readers, especially those of you still hanging in there after all these weeks and the monotony.

Round 10, day two, Stardate 101315.  Continuing with the recent pattern, I'm feeling pretty good today and expect to again tomorrow. Days four through seven have been the toughest recently. That said, I don't feel like going out dancing anytime soon.

I was happy to publish comic strip four, and I have some ideas for starting today on strip number five. If someone wanted to give me a real favor, you could look into what it would take to get it published somewhere. I'm sure I could figure it out if I had the energy.  I do really enjoy it and receiving good feedback from my readers!

I'm grateful for all the good sports on TV this week, and I'm very excited about going to Tech the following week to see them play Duke. Bragging rights at stake, Kathy, Kathryn, and Kevin. Hmmmm... KKK... Just a coincidence?

Send me good karma, it's  like little cancer bullets,

Had my pre-chemo check-up today; good news and bad news. The good news is I am in good shape to do chemo again Monday. The bad news is I can do chemo again Monday.

Anyway, the real news is I just put comic strip 4 up on the other blog! Thanks to both of my loyal fans for tolerating the long delay. You can read it here: http://rickstrailnotes.blogspot.com/

Please let me know what you think. It's a lot more fun if they make you laugh!

Still recovering from round 9; the weekend was pretty tough. Most football I have ever watched, including pathetic Va Tech and the resurgent (?) Washington Football Team. If they can win, I should be able to handle just about anything.

Feeling a little better today. I think tomorrow may be the first post-chemo good day. I'd like to feel well enough to do comic strip 4 this week; we'll see.

I'm scheduled to get my radiation target implants the first week of November. Last chemo is Nov. 9-11. Radiation is the week of Nov. 30th, once each day for 5 days at Hopkins. Having these dates set has certainly altered the landscape for me. Can't wait to finish chemo.

Drop me a note if you're bored!

I'm in day four of chemo round nine, and clobbered by all the usual symptoms:  very tired, upset stomach, and strong metallic taste. But I can handle it, and the thought of three more is not that daunting. Don't know if I'll accomplish much the next few days other than watching the hurricane roll in. Thanks to everyone for love and support!