Today I'm feeling: Fine.

Physically, I'm fine. Otherwise, I'm feeling anxious. As in, I really just want to get moving with this. But I know I have to be patient. Tomorrow I have the scans in the morning, then Friday we'll meet with Dr. R to discuss the results of all the various tests, and determine treatment options.

It helps that classes started up again today, so I'll be good and busy. If I'm not busy, I have too much time to think, and that's not good. A little information is dangerous, so I'd rather just wait and know for sure what we're dealing with, rather than go to WebMD and guess incorrectly, or worry about all 12 possible options. The first few days of the semester are a constant stream of students and teachers with problems. (I wrote this post earlier this morning, now I'm taking a break to edit this and publish it. It' s about 10:30, and so far, we have a broken photocopier -- not good in an English department, especially on the first day; a locked classroom that no office on campus wants to take responsibility for opening (could be custodial, could be facilities, could be campus safety, could by IT); an order from the Provost that the new instructor we hired last week cannot go to her class today or any other day until HR finishes a background check -- in a week; 10 students looking to get into classes that are full, because of their special case (fill in your excuse here). It's all kind of a typical first day of classes.)

So it's good to keep myself occupied while I'm waiting. In the meantime, I'm supposed to increase my water intake today, and then again after the test tomorrow. Apparently, this helps flush the raditiation out of my system more quickly.

(There's a great joke in there somewhere about my dog pooping sprinkles and me urinating radiation, but good taste prevents me from making it.)

*******************************************

Thanks to all who have posted comments. I check the blog once or twice to day to read new ones. Feel free to comment. Don't feel the need to be clever or anything; it's just nice to see who's reading. And don't feel compelled to comment, but go ahead if you feel like it.

This is actually my second blog. I did one last spring, too, when I taught a course in research writing. The students were intimidated by the idea of an 8-10 page paper, so I decided I would write one along with them, and keep a blog of my experiences. The idea is that all writers have the same problems, but experienced writers have developed strategies for overcoming those problems. So, they could read my blog and see how I was handling the problems that they were likely encountering themselves.

I referred to the blog in class every now and then, but mostly it was something they were free to make time for on their own. By the end of the semester, I had received only 1 comment to all of my posts. I surveyed the students on the last day about their technology experiences. They were all very tech savvy -- most had MySpace or Facebook pages -- but all of them admitted that they had never actually read the blog.

So I was pretty thrilled to get some comments on this one.

**********************************

I finally tracked down the blog for Lymphomaniac, the person who stole my idea before I had it. I was hoping I could at least get some insight into his/her experiences with lymphoma.

Turns out he published his blog in 2004. He was then a 34 year old web designer from San Jose. His first post described how he went to dinner with his parents one night, and his father noticed a lump on his neck. He describes how he researched swollen lymph nodes, and was sure he had lymphoma, and so started the Lymphomaniac blog. The second post described, in two paragraphs, his going to the doctor, having a needle biopsy done, and after a five minute die test, hearing from the doctor that it was nothing to worry about.

That was it. The complete Lymphomaniac blog.

Didn't I tell you mine would be better than his?

***********************************

Last thing: Non-Hodgkins Lymphoma is one of the fastest-growing types of cancer in the country. Presidential contender (for now) Fred Thompson has had it. It generally affects males more often than females, and especially affects the devastatingly handsome, which helps explain both me and Fred Thompson. I've heard from a whole bunch of people about family and friends of theirs who have been diagnosed with NHL, and who beat it. I like those stories. Keep them coming.