Day 21, start of the first no chemo week

We got back from the Lair yesterday. It was a blast while we were up there. A group of us went out on a pontoon boat on Friday on Pinecrest Lake. I had a chance to take my oldest son and younger cousin kayaking on the lake. It was glorious.

 

My brother in law, G, previously demonstrated the monstrous talent of creating a chalupa using Lair taco paraphernalia.

I cannot post pictures of him eating it. The image would likely scar and traumatize those with weaker constitutions. I was sitting next to him and it was almost too much for the human mind to bear. It was as if the kinetics of the construction exhibited geometry that wasn't meant for this plane of existence. At any moment, I expected chants in the name of Yog-Sothoth to break out, and mindless horrors to break forth from the alpine treeline and into the family friendly dining hall. OK, here's a picture of him eating it.

Today I went on a bike ride with my other two BILs, R and Z, on some choice back roads, which ambiance must've been used as inspiration and incorporated into Bethesda's Fallout 3, as part of the post-apocalyptic wasteland. Make sure you view the expanded view of this picture in order to do it justice.

Later on the return route we saw inspirational messages like this one.

It was quite an adventure.

After getting home and washing up, a couple of other buddies came by and hung out for a while. The fabulous duo also presented me with a copy of Skyrim.

I almost cried tears of joy. Bless you gentlemen. I was able to squeeze in a little gaming before another friend, this one from college, dropped off my two boys. She and her husband had graciously taken them over for a play date. Shortly after, my wife arrived home from running errands and we went over to my SIL/BIL's home for dinner.

At the end of the day I was exhausted. It was such a wonderful way to close out the week, and store up some positive vibes for the coming week. I'm getting a port installed on Tuesday morning. Unfortunately, it's nothing so cool as some real life wetware, and I will not be able to download some martial arts conditioning and be able to tell you that I know Kung Fu.

This thing will make getting blood draws and injections much easier, which will be nice because the following week I'm starting the new regiment consisting of four chemo drugs. It should be quite an adventure.

Today's epiphany arrived as I realized that although I might not be the most religious person, I would like to think that I am fairly conscious of what's right and wrong or good and evil: I believe in the power of people, and the fact that we have a choice to do what's right. We don't always do it, myself included, and when we do it's an act that I would make akin to God-hood. I feel amazingly blessed to have who I have around me right now. I am in complete amazement and feel such humility in the face of the kindness that people are sharing with me. It's an utter game-changer to have this support in my corner. I just wanted to take a moment to openly acknowledge it. Thank you all.