AT&T’s NEW ORLEANS KISS



Blockparty Site in early am awaiting  party goers



A fabulous time was had by all at the AT&T sponsored block party staring KISS.  The setting was perfect and the late rains did not seem to dampen the spirits of the party goers. 

The setting was a river front park where the French Quarter meets the Mississippi River.  For the VIPs and friends a special side stage provided a close and personal spot to see KISS perform.  Most VIPs however, choose to watch from the Natchez, a paddle wheeler moored in the river not far from the stage.  The Natchez offered plenty of food, a mixologist making New Orleans’ inspired drinks, more booze from a regular bartender, cigars, and a digital KISS photo op.

Mr. FOG got both the digital KISS photo and the special meet and greet photo with KISS. 

 KISS also signed a poster for Mr. FOG.  Pictured below.  This signed poster is offered to a Blog reader.  Please no re-sales or EBAY ers.  You have to be a KISS fan. Just send a comment to the Blog expressing your interest.  If multiple readers reply we will have a drawing.

The Laird is doing very well, as the pictures show.  With his work for the week nearly at an end, his Lordship is now able to relax a bit and enjoy the event. 



Team Epic Un-named Lady, Enrique, Jay, Gretchen, Mario, Sherry, Jerry



Mario, Jerry, and Jay with the coveted KISS poster





.

After the KISS concert, Mr. FOG decided to continue with his social research on

Bourbon Street

.  The Laird and friends went on to an after party with Kid Rock at the House of Blues.  Both Lord and Butler met back at the hotel, getting in at about the same time.  With booze, food, lots of things to do, consecutive parties, and his social research; this is all taking its toll.  Mr. FOG is trying to pace himself for the big games and the days still left.

TRADEMARKS, DIVAS, DEAD PEOPLE

With the Laird working during the day and having business meals in the evening, the Butler was free to do his own things, strange as they may seem.  

NCAA Trademark Police Rookie   Mr. FOG now has a somewhat more complete perspective  about the use of the NCAA logo, but he still has not decided what if anything he will do about Rick’s Sports Saloon.  You may recall that Rick's was the tittie bar which inappropriately used a fake NCAA Final Four logo. 

As it is getting  closer to game time, throughout Bourbon Street, merchants are advertising the NCAA Final Four to hopefully lure sports fans.  Unlike Rick's, these are genuine NCAA approved logos.  Coca Cola, an official NCAA Corporate Champion, is authorized to provide banners promoting Coke products along with the NCAA Final Four logo to establishments that sell Coca Cola products.  AT&T and Capitol One are also official NCAA Corporate Champions and likely have specific things they can do to promote their products or services by using the NCAA Final Four logo/trademark in their advertising. 

Possibly Rick’s Sports Saloon may not sell Coca Cola products and has not  received an official banner.  Or perhaps Rick’s sells Coca Cola products, but since it is also offers titties, is not allowed to use the official banner.  Such a use would "cheapen" the image of collegiate basketball.  Apparently Rick's decided that by incorporating "titties, beer, sports and fun" with the fake logo; this would better communicate what they offer  NCAA basketball sports fans.  In any event, Rick’s did its own thing, which is probably illegal.  The attached pictures show genuine approved advertising by Bourbon street bars.  These bars offer booze, beverages, and food, but no titties.  They may offer, as Rick's does,  sports and fun.

Hard Rock Pin  On a related note, the New Orleans Hard Rock has put out a Final Four pin.  The pin cleverly uses the head of the guitar to show a "4", the fretboard promotes Hard Rock and a basketball is the body of the guitar.  The design seems generic enough that there is  no NCAA trademark infringements.

 Mr. Fog bought one for friend.  Faithful readers may place an  order with Fog, but do it quickly.  300 were made and they are selling, according to Hard rock staff.

Dixie Divas   False advertising is apparently common place in the French Quarter.  On our first night here, Lord and Butler were beckoned to enter an establishment called the Dixie Divas.  These were “over the hill” ladies in a dingy bar in a side street far from Bourbon Street .  It is a rough way to make a living.
 
Back to misleading aadvertising, clearly these ladies were not “divas”.  A genuine French Quarter Dixie Diva, if such exists, would surely be on Bourbon Street or perhaps a classier street such as Royal Street.  No true diva would be caught dead in a side alley dive.  Also from their accents, these ladies were  probably not from Dixie.  Caveat Emptor comes to mind.
 
 

NCAA Final Four Happenings  The photo shows the line up of Final Four activities.  In addition to the games on Saturday and Monday, there are:

·     free concerts featuring Kiss, the Black Keys, and Jimmy Buffett

·     Bracket Town—a chance for interactive games, meet sports figures, autograph signing, and more.

·      http://www.ncaa.com/championships/basketball-men/d1 has the official line up of the activities.

Dead People    Mr. Fog has seen most of the French Quarter, but had not been to the New Orleans St. Louis cemetery.  He went to the St. Louis Cemetery built just outside the French Quarter.  It was built outside the old city, keeping the dead, usually dying of epidemics or contagious diseases  apart from the living.  Segregated by religious belief, the Catholic French and Spanish, begrudgingly gave a back section of the cemetery to the newly arrived Protestant Americans.

Compared to those of Havana, Buenos Aires, and Paris; this cemetery was a disappointment.  The New Orleans cemetery has fallen into disrepair, losing an important historical piece of the city’s past.  Perhaps it was Katrina damage, or that families have moved away and there is no longer anyone to tend the burial sites.  The cemetery is owned by the archdiocese.

As in the Havana cemetery, family crypts house many generations in above ground burial vaults.  Typically, the French and Spanish custom is to bury the dead in the crypt which is above ground and important in low laying New Orleans.  A body is placed in the vault, allowed to decompose, which takes a year or two.  When decomposed, the remaining bones are moved to smaller niches in the burial vault, allowing room for another cadaver.  The Havana vaults could hold two or three bodies at one time, and many, many more family members, once decomposed. 

You can see from Mr. FOG's pictures of the disrepair.  The marble tiles are falling way and some vaults have fallen apart.   The pyramid vault may have been a Freemason, Mr. FOG thought.



The following links provide links to more photographs and information about the St. Louis cemetery. 

https://www.google.com/search?q=new+orleans+st.+louis+cemetery&hl=en&prmd=imvns&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ei=zm90T7C6LaKs2gXm7KTQDg&ved=0CJUBELAE&biw=1365&bih=859

http://cml.upenn.edu/nola/index.html

FINAL FOUR – SETTLING IN

Day Two of the "New Orleans or Bust Tour" was a day that started out slow, and went late into the night.

Both Lord and Butler stayed in bed until late morning.  FOG enjoys seeing the barges move up and down the Mississippi in the early morning fog, but missed this on Day Two.  He saw the barges later in the day and it was not the same. 

He remembers his first time to New Orleans.  Every morning before heading off to work, he would enjoy a cup of coffee sitting in his room watching the river traffic. 

Awake, but not wishing to disturb the Laird he stayed in bed half asleep and missed the morning mist barge traffic.  Finally Lord and Butler got up and started their day.  Both had in-room coffee, but the Butler got the left over welcome fruit and went exploring a bit while the Laird worked in the room.

Still not  having their Po-Boy addiction satisfied, they went again searching for the perfect New Orleans Po Boy for lunch.  Another limo driver recommendation, they went to a hole in wall restaurant near the Inter Continental Hotel and found a better Po Boy than the one at Acme’s. 

A short walk back to the hotel, the Laird went back to work, and the Butler went to the hotel’s roof top pool to take pictures and catch some rays.

Mario stayed at the hotel during the afternoon, telephone conferencing and meeting with colleagues at the meeting/work conference room.  After a reasonable wait and the Laird was still at work, the Butler took this as sign that he was free to take off.  He rode the free ferry to Algiers across the Mississippi River.  He wanted to take the ferry to Gretna, a longer trip under a huge bridge, but ferry service there was not available.  He settled for the shorter trip to Algiers, just across the river from French Quarter.

Often on these travel trips, doing things such as  everyday people do, tell you more about a city than the tourist stuff.  New Orleans is a city where the people are not afraid to be themselves.  All too often we conform to what society tells us we should be like.  The price of doing this is that we lose ourselves in an artificial identity.  In the Big Easy, people are not afraid to be themselves.  Consequently , and perhaps assisted by alcohol, the people images from New Orleans may be more un-conventional.  The ferry had the higher rollers in cars, and more bohemian passengers on foot or bicycle. 

Over-dressed, Mr. Fog did not fit in.  He looked like a tourist.  Better to blend in next time, he thought. 

The clouds had started to roll in and sun in wrong position so the city pictures were not good, but it was an interesting ride.  After a quick stroll along the Riverwalk and a pciture, he headed back to the Westin Hotel.

Back at the hotel, the Laird wanted dinner, but FOG was still full and his stomach was rumbling from too much Crystal Tabasco Sauce in his Po Boy. 

Serendipitously, a solution developed, Mario’s boss called the room to see if Mario wanted to go an Emeril’s restaurant for dinner.  After a brief pow-wow, FOG begged off on dinner and Mario went with colleagues for dinner.

Mr. FOG decided to take a nocturnal stroll down the Sodom and Gomorrah called

Bourbon Street.  Again overdressed, he ventured out.  Still early, he was spared the worst that Bourbon Street offered.  Mr. FOG would have to remember to go later in the evening next time. 

Bourbon Street  was back to what Mr. FOG remembered.  Even on a Tuesday night it was busy, although some bars were nearly empty, the street was semi-full with party goers, performers, and vendors.  .

Mr. Fog has been trying to understand what Mario does for a living.  Apparently part of his job is to manage contractual agreements between his company and sporting organizations. 

 To maintain the value of sponsorship of sporting events, organizations limit who and how their logos can be used.  For example Coca Cola is a sponsor of the Final Four, and its use of the NCAA logo is authorized.  This is good for the both Coca Cola and the NCAA.  Collegiate basketball fan will presumably look more favorably on Coca Cola products and choose Coke over other beverages.  Except perhaps beer. 

Likewise the NCAA benefits, probably mostly monetarily in allowing the use of its logo to an approved sponsor who uses the logo in an appropriate manner reflecting well on the NCAA, participating schools, and collegiate basketball.

Understandably, Mr. FOG was shocked when he saw the NCAA logo being used by a

Bourbon Street

Tittie Bar.  Mr. FOG is not a prude, but wondered how Rick's Saloon could be a Final Four, NCAA sponsor.  The obvious answer is that they were not a sponsor.  Much a pirating occurs in the recording industry, the bar used a very similar but counterfeit NCAA Final Four logo.  This is done to hopefully attract basketball fans to their establishment. 

A strong argument could be made that titties, beer, or both, and not the NCAA logo  would attract Bourbon Street patrons to Rick's Saloon, which also promises sports and fun.  Nonetheless, although only covered titties were shown on the sign, this seemed to be an inappropriate use of the NCAA logo and Mr. Fog took a picture. 

Mr. FOG is  considering what to do with this information.  The bar's purloined NCAA logo of the Final Four is similar, but not the same, as the official NCAA Final Four logo.  FOG's options seem to be

•  reporting the bar to the NCAA,
• bringing this matter to the attention of the bar in the hope of making the situtation right,
• blackmailing the bar and receiving free beer as a price for his silence, or
•  doing nothing and enjoing Rick's Saloon for what it is.

 Fog may go back again tonight to Bourbon Street as he ponders his options, looking for more violations. 

After a beer , at another bar, and listening to some music, Mr. FOG made it back to hotel and his Lordship arriving soon after.  A good time was had by both Lord and Butler.  Possibly though, if Rick's Saloon's promises are to believed, its patron's had the most fun!

NEW ORLEANS -- THE JOURNEY

Most of Day One of our "New Orleans or Bust" tour was spent getting there.  Mr. FOG was awakened early in the morning by his cat, so he decided to leave Asheville early and met up with his Lordship at the Atlanta Airport.  It was a full and a fairly uneventful flight to New Orleans.  The limo driver, originally from Nicaragua, had some good restaurant suggestions.  As our budget allows, Mr. Fog will check these places out and pass on our favorites.

The host hotel is the Westin, which on the southwest corner of the French Quarter, and has great views of the Mississippi as it makes a turn.  We got a high floor room with panoramic views of the river, Algiers, and the French Quarter.  Mr. FOG loves to look out on the river especially in the early moring hours and see the ship and barge traffic.

FOG has been to New Orleans many times mostly on business.  Decades ago he was here during the King Tut exhibit and stayed at the Hilton also on the river.  It always has been a fun city.  Last being here about three years ago, the city seems to be coming back.

Dinner was at an old standby, the Acme.  Mr. FOG has always liked the Oyster Po Boys there, but it was the charbroiled Oysters that stole the show.  We got a dozen charbroiled oysters and split a shrimp/oyster Po Boy.  Acme's Po Boy was not as good as last time, but the charbroiled oysters were excellent.  Prepared a bit like escargot, they were very tasty.  Served with French bread, using the bread to get the butter sauce is almost as tasty as the oysters.  Here is the recipe from Drago’s, a restaurant recommended by our driver for trying charbroiled oyster.   

http://easteuropeanfood.about.com/od/appetizersbeverages/r/charbroiledoysters.htm

Tired with the time change and travel, the duo settled in early for the night.  Tomorrow the Laird has to work and the Butler has places to go and things to do.  Perhaps beignets and café au lait for breakfast??

NO NEWS, IS VERY GOOD NEWS

Man Bites Dog    The aphorism that is generally true for newspapers is apparently also true for a blog.  "When a dog bites a man, that is not news, because it happens so often. But if a man bites a dog, that is news."  (John B. Bogart, New York Sun Times Editor (1848-1921) ).

Mr. FOG, wanting to cover all the bases, supposes that if a dog bites another dog this likely, is also not newsworthy; unless it is a football superstar’s dog and the dog is involved in illegal dog fighting. Similarly, a man biting another man is likely not news, unless it is a former champion biting the ear of another boxer. So apparently there are exceptions to the axiom. 

 With everything normal or near normal , there is not really much for the Blog to report.   Regardless of how Mr. FOG tried to work the facts, a normal life for the Laird, means we have no real news, only a society page of sorts, a garden section, and a travel page still to come.  All considered this is not bad.  No news is actually very good news.

FOG was able to find a “man bites dog” story. He felt sorry for the dog.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1377773/Man-bites-dog-Burglar-bit-police-dog-arrest-suing-TWO-Arizona-cities-breach-civil-rights.html

BLOG Society Page  Sherry Lane, reporting  from Vinings Mountain Castle, says that all is well.  She and the Laird had a nice St. Patty’s Day weekend with friends and family at the Buckhead Saloon. On the green carpet we saw the latest St. Patty's clothing.  Some  St. Patrick merry makers did not seem to be wearing green (or blue) and may have gotten pinched.

On Sunday, Mario played golf with buddies and Nurse and Laird had a nice dinner together when he got home.  Mario has been working at the office all week full time 9am-5pm. He has been eating and feeling well and his energy level is pretty much back to normal. A longer break from chemo, has given him that "normal life" feeling again.  Suffice to say that the Laird and Nurse Sherry are back to their normal lives, at least for a couple of weeks, before the cancer war resumes.

Maid of the Mist and Tom the Often Wise arrive soon to Vinings Mountain Castle.  Mario plans to join Often Wise, his college buddies, and Tom the Younger at a basketball game at Phillips Arena.  Maid of the Mist and Nurse Sherry I will have a girls’ night out dinner.  The girls’ night out dinner could be news worthy for the Blog's next social page.  . 

Garden and Home Section  With things “normal”, Mr. FOG is also enjoying ten wonderful days back home in Asheville.  The cat with many names is doing well.  She lost a little weight over the winter, but not too much.  With the early season warmer weather, the heater in her porch box was no longer needed.  Now she prefers to sleep on a chair on the back porch, since she still has her winter coat.  Mr. FOG has tried letting her sleep inside the house, but she awakens in the early morning hours, also awakening Mr. FOG.   As Fred Flintstone always did, Mr. FOG puts her out at night.  She has been especially affectionate, during the day, wanting to be near FOG.

  Asheville as much of the nation is having an early spring.  The daffodils and hyacinths are in full bloom in the yard.  One of Mr. FOG’s friends gave him a blue glass ball, reminiscent of the gazing balls of yesteryear.  The ball did not go well with the friend’s new house, but seems at home in the yard of a house built circa 1928.  The grass-like leaves seen are Star of Bethlehem bulbs that cover most of the yard.  They will bloom soon along with the tulips.

Butler duties in Atlanta, will limit FOG’s work on his garden this year.  He decided to just plant sunflowers and visit Vanderbilt’s’ gardens instead.   

For the gardeners, following is a link showing what is in bloom now at the Biltmore House.  The tulips still have a couple of more weeks before they are in full bloom. 
http://www.biltmore.com/visit/house_gardens/gardens/bloomreport.asp

Animal House Frat Men

Travel and Leisure Section    Next week, the blog will likely again not have any cancer news, but it is road trip time.  Lord and Butler are headed to New Orleans for the Final Four.  Mr. FOG hopes to be able to share with the blog’s readers interesting perspectives and images from the Big Easy.  While hopefully the Laird and Butler's road trip will not be not have any incidents similar to those  from Animal House, we can only hope.  Mr. FOG hopes to capture some provocative images of New Orleans and its party goers.  On previous trips to New Orleans Mr. FOG has seen much.  (The actual Animal House road trip was in one of pledge's borrowed car and not the Corvette.)

A NORMAL LIFE

The Laird was not able to dodge the blood transfusion.  We arrived at Mario’s oncologist and found that his white blood cell count had risen considerably, but his red blood cells were still about the same.  The oncologist recommended a blood transfusion.  Mr. FOG kept his mouth shut, but will tell the blog’s readers what he thinks.  Mario seemed OK and the red blood count was rising, albeit slowly.  Also Mario was not going into chemo for three weeks, plenty of time for his body to build up his own cells.  There are risks in receiving blood, and last time Mario had minor reactions to the transfusion lasting several days.   However, if Mr. FOG wanted to practice medicine, he should have become a doctor.  Both Laird and FOG decided it was best to do what the real doctor, who actually also specializes in blood, recommended, and let her do her job.  So the Laird had the transfusion.

Starting the day late, we lost the day at the infusion chair getting two units of packed red blood cells.  It takes about 3 hours to get the two units, so Mario could not make in to the office.  Mario was able to work from the infusion chair.  Fortunately he has not bad reaction so far.  Perhaps we got better (more compatible) blood this time, or his health was better than when he had the last transfusion. He worked again when we got home and was finished around 5:30.

Gone Fishing    It was great day in Atlanta with high temps and blue skies.  Thanks to day light savings, the Laird went fishing at a lake very close to Vinings Mountain Castle.  Mr. FOG knew that they had a lake, but had not seen it.  Vinings Mountain Castle is really on a mountain of sorts and one would not think there could be a lake on the mountain.  While probably man made, it had a good water flow so there must be a spring or other water source.

Mario’s luck held true and he hooked a decent sized bass for the lake.  It was his first fish of 2012.

Back home Mario is making chicken fajitas for Nurse Sherry and Mr. FOG.  His mouth is doing better and his Lordship may be able to partake.

Later in the evening Lord and Nurse snuggled and watched TV.

Almost Normal  Mr. FOG was pleased at the day’s events.  Not counting the blood tranfusion, the newlyweds were having a near normal life, working, fishing, cooking, talking about their jobs, and enjoying time together.  It was nice to hear and see them acting normal.  With a little luck, the Lord should have almost three good weeks of a "normal life" before Chemo #4.  Perhaps there is some truth in the luck of the Irish, or married to the Irish.

Mr. FOG is heading back to Asheville to tend his garden and continue laying slate tiles for his back patio.  Mr. FOG too is looking forward to getting back to his “normal” life, although some may think it is more weird than normal. 

Happy St. Patrick’s Day   .Given the Irish connection, more St. Patrick’s Day wishes came from Maid of the Mist and Tom the Often Wise.  Jeff, Brandon, and Bobbie also sent a “remembering you” card and Carol and Hal sent a thank you card. 

Not to be ourdone, Mr. FOG’s  bar newspaper, Bar Fly, had some St. Patrick’s Day facts.  Considering the source of the information,  Mr. FOG thinks the information is correct, but has not validated it. 

·         The first St. Patrick’s Day parade was in Boston in 1737 and not Ireland.

·         The actual color associated with St. Patrick is blue and not green.  Green was introduced in the 19^th century.  In Irish legends, green is worn by immortals and fairies and also by people to encourage their crops to grow.

·         34 million Americans have Irish ancestry, almost nine times the population of Ireland.

MOUTHWASH, SHAMROCKS, AND BASKETBALL

Finally it looks like we may have a good week, and just in time for St. Patty’s Day.  For each chemo treatment, at least in Mr. FOG’s mind, we have the hospital week, a recovery week, and a good week.  This is our 21 day cycle.  For Chemo #2 we were short changed and did not have a “good week”, only a “good weekend”.   Let’s keep our fingers crossed for Chemo #3, which perhaps fortuitously also numerically matches St. Patrick’s three sided shamrock used to explain the Trinity. 

There are always new things to battle in this cancer war, often it is not the cancer, but the cancer treatment symptoms.  Once you have one thing under control, something else comes up.  Early on in Chemo #3, we had the bad nausea, and last week the Laird was battling the recurring fever which starts usually on Wednesday and comes under control, if we are lucky, by Saturday.  However, “no rest for the weary” may become our motto.  Mario’s new symptom for Chemo Treatment # 3 is mouth soreness.  It sound simple, but unfortunately it has affected his eating.  We have tried shakes and smoothies with whey protein, and this has helped; but the bottom line is that he has eaten very little in the last two weeks. 

Good Week #3  On Monday morning, Butler and Lord went to see Mario’s oncologist to discuss the latest blood work and the mouth sensitivity.   On the blood work, Mario’s white blood cells were on the low side but on the rebound.  Mario’s oncologist calculated that he had enough lymphocytes (a specific type of white blood cells) to ward off most ailments his co-workers could give him.  The Laird could go into work for a short while.  The red blood cells had dropped some from last time, and this was a possible concern.  Mario got cross matched for a blood transfusion, and may need one; contingent on another blood test to be done on our next visit on Wednesday.

Mr. FOG and Mario both hope that we can avoid the blood transfusion.  A transfusion helps the red blood cell count, but it did not help much last time to improve his energy levels.  Also Mr. FOG believes that the Laird had some reactions to the transfusion itself, leaving him sluggish most of the supposedly “#2 good  week”.  Our #3 good week could turn sour if we have to get a blood transfusion and have the same reaction as last time.  However, thinking positively, we are reasonably happy with the cards we have been dealt so far and the week may be a good one, everything considered, transfussion or not.  

After the doctor’s appointment, Mario went to work and had a good day.  We got a mouth wash that has already begun helping with the mouth sensitivity issues.  He had tried the mouthwash immediately, and it has helped.  On the way home he got a McDouble which is soft and small vanilla shake.  This is perhaps the most he has had to eat at one time for two weeks. 

That evening Lord, Nurse and Butler had mashed potatoes and a bit of meatloaf, a leftover from Mr. FOG’s weekend meal at the West Cobb Diner  http://www.yelp.com/biz/west-cobb-diner-marietta  The homemade mashed potatoes were very  good. 

On Tuesday morning the Laird went off to work by himself.  Mr. FOG decided that Lord Mario was well-enough that he could drive himself.  Mr. FOG would stay home and do his own things.  Independence and getting back to normal life are all part of having having a good week.  All said and done, the week was off to a good start, largely due to the mouthwash.  Funny how a mouthwash could make such a difference. 

Laissez Les Bon Temps Rouler  Some faithful readers may remember, Mario’s goal was be able to follow through on his job duties and go to the Final Four in New Orleans.  http://www.ncaa.com/championships/basketball-men/d1    See January 10 blog "Final Four or Bust" 

The Final Four was an important project he was responsible for. Given his health, it seems that he will be able to go to New Orleans.  Chemo Treatment #4 will be delayed for two weeks and start in early April, just before Easter.  Mario’s doctor thought that the cancer treatment would not be jeopardized by this two-week delay.  A delay will also give him two to three good weeks to regroup and gain strength for the remaining cancer battles ahead.  Both physically and mentally this should be a good break for the Laird.  Mr. FOG will also pack his bags and head to New Orleans with the Laird to make sure he stays healthy.  Perhaps it will the Laird who will take care of Mr. FOG, who after so many weeks of dutiful service, goes wild in the French Quarter.  If college students can go wild, why not a butler??? In any event, what happens in New Orleans will surely make it to the blog.

Shamrock Day Goodies   Mr. FOG hopes to  be at home in Asheville for St. Patrick’s Day, but Nurse Sherry is already planning for the day at Vinings Mountain Castle with green plates and napkins.  Marylou and Jim sent some wonderful cookies and Bobbie, Jeff and Brandon sent their ever faithful get well card.  Mario and Sherry appreciate that so many of their family friends remember them, almost weekly, with a card, a prayer, or a phone call.  They are doing well and making progress in the cancer war. 

CHEMO TREATMENT #3--DAY 10

Three Stooges Golfing

Thanks for all the cards, food, gifts and well-wishes.   Both Mario and Sherry and wanted to share their sincere appreciation  to Mike, Sandy, Lindy, Kristy, Chaney, Ryan, Reagan, Heather, Matt, Jeff, Bobbie, Brandon, Carol, Hal, Ellen, Jim, Parker, Jack, and Louise for your thoughts and prayers. It means a lot to them to know that they have some many family and friends supporting them in this.  Your cards say “I love you, laugh, take care of yourself, get better soon, and let’s play golf ”.    

Chemo Treatment # 3 has been the hardest yet, perhaps due to the increased amount of toxins being accumulated in his body. Also the week after the chemo treatment is when many of the bad chemotherapy symptoms arise, especially the increased risk of infection. As on the previous treatments, around Day 9 of a chemo treatment, he has low grade fever, a warning to be on the lookout for a possible infection. Nausea, a relatively new symptom, also made an unwelcome appearance, but seems to have lessened after one really bad day. A loss of appetite has been a common symptom, resultring in his loss of about 25 pounds .  Of course, he is tired and weak. Even so, thanks to technology, he has been able to work from home . Also the Laird has been in good spirits and is polite and nice to the Butler and Nurse Sherry, even when they bother him with questions and concerns.This says a lot about the type of person he is.Mr. FOG would probably be grouchy, even with the cat.

Today, we had an appointment with Mario’s oncologist. Mario’s low grade fever, apparently intimidated, decided not to show itself at the doctor's office. Mario’s temperature was normal when it was taken, although he had a low grade temperature all day. Red blood cell levels were acceptable, but the white blood cells were at a very, very low level. On Monday the white blood cells were a 5, and today at 0.2 At such low levels, the risk of infection is much higher. The doctor explained that the Laird is on an intense chemotherapy, much stronger than that given to most cancer patients. Hence the symptoms and the very low cell counts he is experiencing. The upside is that we have had very good results with the chemotherapy treatments, but the downside is the aftermath. The doctor has Mario on oral antibiotics to help protect him over this low point in white blood cells and stressed hygiene. If our luck holds, we seem to have avoided a blood transfusion for Chemo #3. Mario will return on Monday, Day #14, for a follow-up blood test to make sure the white blood cell count is going up and the red blood cells are holding their own.