Today marks our anniversary...11 years ago today, I met Phillip. We had been chatting online for about a week, and finally I got the guts up to ask him to meet for a beer...nothing more, just to say hello in person (we had been seeing each other around for quite some time, since we lived in the same part of Denver - Park Hill and Mayfair).

I am still grateful for every day that we have been together, and the fact that he stuck around for me. I was a piece of work at that time, due to a bad break up previously. At that time he was not letting anyone get close to his heart, I remember telling myself that I could make him see that everyone is not out to screw him over...and I wanted more than the material things. After abit, he did open his heart, and I know in mine that he does not regret it at all. I have challenged him over the years, yet he still sticks with me...surprising.

Thank you Phillip for 11 wonderful years, it seems to have flown by, yet I will be with you forever....

Ok, we took the plunge. Decided to change our lives, spend the money and hope for the best. It took quite abit of time and coordination, and resolve of an existing plan. And it will mean years of commitment at somewhat of a cost. It puts us into uncharted terrority and may be scary, but we both have made a pact to see it through.

We bought iPhones.

Now, we are both Apple fans, and are fully in the "cult" of Apple. Frankly, it's just a better and easier to use operating system. I use PC's at work (have to, since the CAD software we use is only for Windows) and it's amazing the crap one goes through. We both have never had major problems with our Mac's and enjoy the ease of use.

Back to the iPhone....what a innovative phone. It really makes you re-think how you use a phone and what a "mobile" device should do. We are both enjoying it and discovering all it has. And in true Pupdad tradition, one of the ring tones is "Bark"...just like a dog....so now my phone "barks"...

I also decided to sign up for a paid account here, since I do like *this thing* and wanted a few more features without the advertising crap....more users pics, etc....and I have been going back and forth about the theme and color and style of the journal...so, I will be fooling around with this occasionally, like already three times this weekend....

no not the song...right after my treatments, friends and family members are most concerned about how I am feeling. I like that, but internally, I don't like to be the center of attention. Phillip is still away, and he will be back tomorrow, which I can't wait for!

I did quite a bit today considering. Grocery shopping, cleaned the house, and washed my car. But I am most proud of getting my new bike odometer/computer working right on my bike. I bought a new one, since I broke my last one. It takes some fiddling around to get it working right. Now on to using it...which hopefully will be next weekend when I have a week off from treatments.

Just a Sunday update!

I tend to live my life by a few of the "Simpsons" beliefs because, well, they just nail it most of the time...so I got a new hat. Now, I hardly wear hats, simply because I look lousy in most...even baseball hats. Trust me, I have made Phillip laugh many a times with my hat choices...and he is always right about that.

A few weeks ago at Pridefest, there was a vendor selling the New Zealand style lightweight hats, which is perfect for sun blockage...and it looks good too. All I can think of is the Malibu Stacey episode where Lisa tries to get the girls to buy a more feminist version of a doll instead of the cliched, out of touch talking Stacey doll...but the big toy company combats the new doll with a "new version" of Malibu Stacey, but when introduced, Lisa points out it's the same out of touch doll, but Smithers yells: "But she's got a new hat!" And, in true Simpson fashion all the girls rush to the "new" Malibu Stacey doll...



That's your Simpson Moment for today

The treatment went according to its delayed schedule. Glad to get it so there won't be any more delays. Next treatment will be on August 1....before that I have a scan on the 29th, I'm sure I'll post about that. I like to keep this journal as a history of my medical stuff, just so I can remember most of it...and I do go back and re-read my posts from time to time.

There is another couple battling also at the cancer center and we've become friends with them. Well, they were both in today, and one mentioned "The Dark Knight"...and it was on my list of things to do tonight, so he and I went to the movie...GO SEE THIS MOVIE...it's as good as all the write ups have said...and yes, Heath Ledger deserves all the praise he's getting. I can not recommend it enough.

After the movie, his partner came by (he didn't want to see it..) and we had dinner together. It was nice, since Phillip is gone and it keeps me from just sitting around. Tomorrow I have a list of chores I hope to get done, pending how I feel.

time for bed...

Wow, it's been abit since I have updated....lots going on:

Vancouver: Fun...we (work people) rented bikes and did 11km around
Stanley Park which was within walking distance from our hotel..then took a sea plane ride around the city at 4000 feet.

Then Monday, I went into the cancer center to have the last of my fourth round of toxic goodness, only to have my white blood cells not show up with me....too low for treatment. So, I will go tomorrow. I feel good, there is really no one way to tell if some cell counts are going to be low until you have your blood checked. Oh well...

Then on Wednesday, I took Phillip to the airport for him to visit his family down in Louisiana. It's good for him to see his mom and brother, but I miss him...and the pups do too. He will be back Monday, thank goodness for free long distance cell phones!

I did come across this too...VERY funny and original..It's twisted but, ya know, it's Doogie!

It's been awhile, and lots happening. I had chemo on this past Monday, since my regular day (Friday) was a holiday. So, rather than wait another week, I just pushed it three days to Monday. Feeling OK, but for some reason for the two or three days after the meds, I get severe leg pains in my left leg....I have no idea why. It scares me, since I don't know what it is. I am afraid it is indicative of something...bigger...or worse. Yea I am thinking too far ahead. We will see. After this chemo, I'll only have two more rounds. I hope to get a break after that.

With the new schedule, I was able to fly up to Vancouver, which is where I am now. I am a guest of a Lighting Rep in Denver that we do quite a bit of work with. We are going to tour a light fixture manufacturer's factory tomorrow, along with a full day's activities and design topics. Vancouver is beautiful, of what I can and did see today.

Off to bed, it's late here and I got a full day tomorrow.

The house is back to normal with *just* two dogs now. Our guest dog had a great time, pampered and such, but was extremely happy to see his owner and go home with him....no hard feelings.

I took the light rail in today again. I am really trying to make it work at least once a week, as I enjoy saving the miles on the Xterra and stretching my gas out. It is nice. The light rail system is all on the honor system here, no gates or turnstiles. So, it's nice that they have security guards who "ride the rails" checking to make sure everyone has a ticket to ride. They threw one guy off today for not having a ticket (they just make you get off and buy a ticket, and wait for the next train...).

Overall a quiet day here, since the holiday weekend is upon us. As I said before, it's nice to feel almost normal for the nice long holiday weekend.

We had a good week, and my blood counts came back...OK...abit low for some numbers, but nothing to worry about or do anything about, just take it easy. So, now I have all next week off, and no treatment until after the long holiday weekend...I am really looking forward to that.

This week (until Tuesday) we are dog sitting a friends dog....



He is a darker Weimaraner, commonly called a "Blue" Weimaraner, so therefore his name is...Blue. He's seven, and knows the boys. He gets really attached to me, and not Phillip for some reason. He is very expressive...



And he does hang with the boys just fine:



He's been a good dog, listens well, but three of them are a handful....we wouldn't have it any other way!

Well it's turned into a lazy week...the heat is getting up there...it's supposed to be in the 90's all week, which is usual and not for Denver. Work is busy, which doesn't help when one is on chemo....

On that front, I have off until after the 4th of July holiday due to the calendar. By the time the three day weekend gets here, I should be feeling pretty good. And I am looking forward to that nice weekend hopefully feeling OK...

Right after that is a trip to Vancouver, for a light fixture manufacturer tour, which should be fun. We (me, the lighting rep and three other designers here in Denver) leave on Thursday and get back to town on Sunday. I have never spent time in the Northwest, except for a layover in Seattle on way to Alaska, so it should be fun to spend some time along the water!

So, there is an exciting couple of weeks coming up...despite all the chemo stuff!

Today was Denver's Pridefest, one of the bigger ones in the country. About 150,000 people for a parade and festival downtown. I was feeling pretty good and kept up the whole day...the parade started at 9:30, lasted till about 11, then we had lunch, hung out and mugged for the camera. We went with our friend Brian from Colorado Springs, it was his first Denver Pride Event, I think he had a good time....





and it was fun to let loose for the day and have no worries, something that is rare these days....again, thanks to my partner, Phillip....

I took Denver's great light rail system twice to work this week. I drive about 5 miles to the spacious Park and Ride garage at the end of the Southeast Light Rail line. There are two trains that I can take to my stop, the Colorado Station. It's Zone pricing, and my trip takes me through three zones. The cost is $3.00 one way. Once at the Colorado Station, there is bus service that takes me right to my office building door, about 4 miles from the trains. It's very easy to use, clean and takes about an extra 15 minutes than if I drove my Xterra. I love my car, but it is nice to keep the miles off the truck (about 80 this week due to the rails) and the gas savings. I get about 20 mpg, and my office is about 20 miles one way...you can do the math.

The light rail is run on an honor system for tickets, no gates, all automated ticket kiosks. It may be something that is foreign to my East Coast upbringing, and I don't remember another system that didn't have a gate to go through. They do have security guards at each station that ride the rails all day and ask for tickets on board....so while one is tempted to ride free, it is nice that you get validated that you are doing the right thing, and the bad guys do get what they deserve.

that's his name...the new car. It may or may not stick depending on Phillip. But, he did let me drive it into work and boy, what a drive! It really is fun to drive and a different feel from my Xterra. I did enjoy it, and all it's bells and whistles.

Everyone at work saw it, got close, even got to touch it, but I had to draw the line on test drives!

The new car got it's first wash this weekend...we are known by everyone on the block as the "guys who wash their cars every week"...so, we washed Phillip's new car for the first time at home:



We washed mine too, and it still looks good...here's a fun shot in the garage:



Good weekend overall, feeling OK, somewhat tired, but keeping up!

I had a scan on Tuesday to see how I am doing (or should I say how the cancer is doing!) after two rounds of chemo..and while not bad news, it's fairly good news. Nothing is spreading, and the nodules that showed up in April (last scan) are smaller (= good thing). There is "less activity" which also is a good thing. Not everything is gone though, but somewhat encouraging after two rounds.

What surprised me is what my doctor had planned for...which was SIX rounds (one round = 23 days), not three. I was under the impression that we would do three rounds to keep it in check. That's what we talked about in April. I can do it, it just changes the summer plans, since this will put me into August with treatments. So that aspect of today's appointment was, while not shocking, more unexpected.

Today was typical of an appointment...I go in at about 9, get blood check and my port under the skin accessed with a needle, see the doctor, then go to the infusion center to get hook up to the drugs. It takes about three hours out of my day. While work is just fine with this, I still have to plan my day and week around this. Today I had a meeting at 1:30 in the south part of Denver, so I just went and took care of that after my medical commitment then came home. I did not bother to rush around to get into the office, but did do work from home connecting to the my computer at work.

Phillip came to the appointment today, which he makes sure he does when we talk about the scans and future plans. That means a lot to me...and I think he knows that...

For quite a while now, Phillip (my partner) has kept a list of things he would like to accomplish in his life...not too long, and some very achievable. He used to keep this list on the wall next to his desk when I met him. On this list was "to own a Mercedes Benz". He has been toying with the idea for the past year or so, and came really close back in April. Then, all of a sudden I was back in chemo, and the price of gas started it's meteoric rise. So, fate kinda told him to hold off. Last week, he decided to check into it again, and run some numbers. Of course, the dealer, Westminster Mercedes, had the model in the color and options he was looking for.....so, Saturday, we went to the dealer, had a very pleasant experience, and drove away with this:





It's VERRRRYYY nice...we traded in his four year old Toyota Tacoma (red) and got some money back on it too! It was a good deal all around, and a very nice investment. He'll drive it mostly, but I will be get behind the wheel as soon as the my security deposit and driving record is approved by Phillip (hee hee...)

With my infusion this past Monday (instead of last Friday) my timing has been off this week. I usually feel OK by the weekend after my blast, but I'm not quite there yet. I go to get my blood counts tomorrow, hopefully some OK numbers. I know they won't be the best, but not the lowest either.

I get yet another scan on Tuesday, to determine if this is working. I think it is, and hope to finish up within the next two weeks. If anything, I hope to get a few months off to enjoy the summer...

Just a short update.

After three days of shots (once daily Friday, Saturday, and Sunday), my white blood cells went from .4 (that's "point four") to 25.5 (not a typo). They needed to be at 1.0 or above for my chemo treatment. Needless to say, I got my chemo treatment today. I'll have a few days to recover (mild side effects), then a scan a week from today...which is already giving me anxiety. Work is busy, so that keeps my mind busy...

Since I did not have chemo on Friday (delayed until Monday), we had a good weekend. On Saturday, we gave both cars a good bath including a full vacuum inside. They look new, and I love that. Funny how I don't like a dirty car, I have never been that way until I met Phillip. He keeps his cars top-notch.

Saturday late afternoon we took in a 4pm showing of "Sex and the City" with our friend Melissa, followed by dinner. The movie was great as expected, if you are a fan of the series. It might be tough for someone who never paid much attention to the series to enjoy the movie...but we had a great time.

Today was a test day on the bikes..since I had not had treatment since a week ago Friday, I was feeling OK. So we took the bikes down to the Parker Rec Center and hopped on the Cherry Creek Trail there. We rode for a total of 7 miles, which was great. It felt good to be back on the bike again.

Overall a GREAT weekend, thanks to my partner Phillip....