The Good Week

What a relief to not have had 36 hours of fever during this chemo round! Too bad the fatigue level had to increase.

Fatigue is an interesting thing actually. Am I tired because I am doing too much, doing too little, not getting enough sleep at night, or from the chemo? I am not sure that answering this question is actually possible. There is no way to strip the variables from the equation.

Today I need to pack for my 6-day excursion to a casino in Conneticutt. Anyone who knows me knows that a casino is probably the LAST place on Earth that I would want to go, but this is work. I have been playing for an aging rock n'roll star for years. In the early days, we all packed into a van and played summer theatres with rotating stages, crashing at Motel 6's, and eating in nasty diners along the way. Now that Mr. Roll is in the Rock N'Roll Hall of Fame, our venues have gotten much nicer. And so we each get a luxury hotel room at the casino, a per diem for the restaurants, and an employee sledge card so we can eat as much as we want in the 24/7 employee cafeteria. Here is the kicker.... we only have to perform for 1.25 hours each day! Plus they pay us relatively well.

The band is comprised of the most wonderful group. We have been together for years, so it a social time with much laughing and, well, drinking. Of course, I will not be one of the drinkers or gamblers, but I always enjoy hanging out with this group of folks.

On Thursday, I am requiring that everyone go to dinner after the show with me to celebrate my birthday. Who would have thought that I would spend my 47th birthday at a casino, with an abbreviated breast, no hair, and a diet that consists of 1.5 ounces of food every two hours? Not me! But, celebrate I will.

I found this tumor before it moved into my system, I am managing the treatments well enough, my friends have stuck beside me, and somehow, my family has withstood the assaults of this disease. There are things to celebrate; just not the things I expected.