Walking Pieces

Over the w-e, I had the pleasure of visiting with my friend Billie who was with me Saturday and Sunday. Then just minutes after Billie left, my Mom pulled into town. Isn't it nice to be loved and cared for by friends and family? Both of them came bearing food too. Billie brought some yummy oatmeal raisin cookies her Mom had baked, and she cooked her special veggie pie with cabbage, carrot, onion, potato and cottage cheese. Fortunately, I was able to share the shrimp mole I had made with her, and she liked that. Mom unloaded a carfull with fresh shrimp caught by her husband Brian and Bessinger's bbq (pulled chicken that has been smoked and then cooked in SC bbq sauce which is mustard based. Don't knock it until you've tried it-none of this Lexington vs Eastern NC bbq style for me. It's SC mustard style that I appreciate most).

But I digress... Billie and I took a great hike along a new area for me-the Little River Regional Park which is North along Guess Rd, the Little River, and the Orange Co line. That place is a gem with really nice trails that criss cross and go along the banks of the river. There are also separate mtn biking trails, but we stuck to the hiking trails which are nicely marked with green numerical signs (the biking trails have blue markers). I'd like to take Holly out there and do some trail running. It seems perfect for that.

Sunday we went to the clinic and sure enough I needed platelets again with my count down to 12, 000. My red cell/hemoglobin level was 9.2 (no blood transfusion needed) with a white blood cell count of 0.4 (very low). So my bone marrow is at its low point now, and I have to be careful. Don't do anything wild and dangerous as my Mom says. Funny, with a white cell count of 0.4, wild and dangerous is eating food that could have bacteria or being around people who might make me sick. No worries, I'm careful.

Saturday was my first day of running since well, the last cycle of chemo. It wasn't pretty. I had to walk quite a bit after the first 1 1/2 miles. After I got tired and out of breath, the best I could do was to walk a bit and run a bit. It's pretty hard getting out of shape each cycle and having to start over again. I can see why all those co-workers and patients balk at exercising when I try to get them moving. If you're out of shape, exercise is hard. It doesn't feel exactly good. Of course, I have the advantage of getting back into shape easier and quicker than most people because I've been doing this for more than 30 yrs now. Today I did a "run" again, and it was much the same. Walking pieces and running pieces. Oh well, it will come along, and it will feel good again eventually. At least I can still do 50 push-ups if I do them in batches. Not everyone can say that.

Photo: Billie and me from this w-e at the clinic