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The Third Quarter

How fitting that the Doctor used a football analogy today during our appointment.  He basically said that during the first half of a game, the players are fresh and enthusiastic. Every bit of forward progress feeds that enthusiasm and motivates them to keep going. But by second half, the hits hurt, the players are tired, and fatigue sets in.

Well folks, I am in the third quarter. The chemo has successfully shrunk my lymph nodes (the doctor could not feel any of them today).  But the chemo is building up in my body and the side effects of chemo will be staying with me longer. I am fatigued. I am nauseated. Food no longer taste like food. (I tried to eat a Twizzler today and had to have Jacob come taste it because it had no taste to me. He declared it just fine.)
The scoreboard is in my favor but the next two quarters are going to be the hardest to get through.

Other good news from today's appointment, my blood counts are really high. Of course my white count is high, but my hemoglobin was high as well. So, I asked if we could do less Neupogen. The Doctor was not willing to decrease it by much but he did change it from 10 days straight to 8 days. Is it sad that I was excited about the two days??

To change gears just a bit... We all traveled north yesterday to attend the Herring Family Bon Fire/Weiner Roast at Aunt Fern's farm.  It was nice to see 60 some members of the extended family come out for some family bonding time. Unfortunately for me, because of the side effects listed below, I did not get to fully enjoy the wonderful food that was brought.  However, side effects aside, I still made the stroll to the rock and carved Olivia's name next to Jacob's and Mine.

Just a fun story to share for all those Herrings who read the blog and could not make it. The pinatas are a yearly tradition at the Bon Fire. One is for the kids and one is for the adults. Olivia was the first person to take a whack at the kid pinata, of course Grandma helped her. I think on her third attempt the entire pinata fell to the ground prematurely spilling candy everywhere (it actually came apart at the hook). Aunt Deloris was sitting next to me asking Braydon to pick her up a few pieces of candy cause she had no desire to run down and pilfer for herself.

The adults want the adult pinata, but no one wants the embarrassment of whacking at it. So the older younger kids get the pleasure. And since the first one was a bit of a dud, the adults made this one hard!  After many whacks on the pinata, chocolate candies came pouring down. And who should be one of the first adults running out of her seat to get candy.....my dear Aunt Deloris! What fun! Oh and if I am honest with you, I totally benefited too because Aunt Deloris and Cheryl both made sure I had a few pieces of chocolate!

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