Dose Dense-Day 1… Dinner with the 25th Wedding Anniversary Couple and the Man with Multiple First Names (Wednesday August 29, 2012)

I was awake early Wednesday-maybe trepidation on facing that long dose dense day or excitement to be heading into the final round. When we finally headed into Boston, traffic was heavy once again, a clear signal that school was back in session and summer vacations were over. Lee took the blood samples and they came back encouraging, including the HMT red blood cells moving even further up from Monday. So it was full steam ahead on the chemo. This is the day where I get both Gemzar and Cisplatin along with lots of saline IV, some anti nausea IV and some steroid type drug. I lose track of it all. We finally got out around 5:15PM after another exhausting day. A picture of my normal pose during these chemo days is attached. Don’t I look like I’m having fun. But it was my last long day.

We decided to shorten our Thursday commute and stay in Wayland at our friends, Chris and Marylynn. The former was down at the US Open and the latter was in the Adirondacks where they are hosting us this weekend. Our old Dartmouth friend and his family, The Ittners were up from Atlanta checking their daughter Becky into BU. In contrast to the Lapres 4 hour drop off, they are up for 5 days getting their Becky settled. And she has a lot to settle into. Being an honors student and selected into the elite Theatre program, she got the top floor of a high rise dorm with one other roommate in a fairly expansive room and great views of Boston in several directions. We didn’t have the heart to tell this story to Kate. Anyway I decided to do something any normal “dose dense’ cancer patient would suggest after an 8 hour chemo day, go out to a nice Italian dinner. So we went to a great restaurant in Waltham, La Campinia. And we got the double benefit of another Dartmouth friend, Pete Leone and his wife Denise joining us. It was their 25^th wedding anniversary and since they previously had a special celebration, they gladly joined us. And we had a wonderful time and great discussion throughout the long night. And we figured out that between the three couples we had over 80 years of marriage amongst us-so we toasted Pete and Denise and then all of us. Picture below. Oh and the food included sliced duck breast, gnocchi in a basil garlic sauce, roasted salted branzino and some great pasta dishes.

Now let me elaborate a bit further on Mr. Ittner, the man with multiple first names and two t’s in his last name (don’t forget). As I understand his birth certificate says Frank Talbot Ittner. His parents called him Tal from early on to distinguish from Frank his father. Though teachers through early grade school called him Frank. Then in Middle School, someone changed it to Tal which carried through high school. He hoped to get back to Frank at college but Tal somehow persisted even though it was mis-pronounced and mis-spelled often. And then he joined the fraternity and we have that sophomoric tradition of labeling nicknames to people and this mild mannered person got Mad Dog as his name, which lasted the rest of his Dartmouth days and beyond for any of us addressing him. At some point we realized this wasn’t appropriate for post college and we shortened it to MD. So you can call him Frank, or you can call him Tal or Mad Dog or MD, just put two t’s in his last name. He has a wonderful wife of 30 years and accomplished banker, Maura, who I learned is also a faithful blog reader and it was great catching up with her. And I promised the man with multiple names lots of space in the blog since he complained early on of not getting mentioned in the litany of friends featured in the prior 69 postings. So there you have it- I introduce you to a great guy and a great friend. And on a serious note, Frank did just go through a bout of prostrate cancer and came through with flying colors. He has been a great resource to talk things through and he checked in with me regularly. I am most grateful and he gives me a success story to emulate. He also told me I am not a curmudgeon. Andy Rooney, in his opinion was the only real curmudgeon but if I begin to start blog rants with “Did you ever wonder why…?, then I might be on the path).

Pulled from the Starting Rotation…By the Musician…And a Tribute to A Nephew (Monday/Tuesday, August 27/28, 2012)

Monday was a quieter day in day 1 of our empty nesthood status. Con and I got a morning walk in early along the river in Harry Rich Forest before I headed into to get some updated blood work (which showed my HMT red blood cells move back up) and then in for a lunch with Gordon and a couple of our former board members that had served with Gordon for a long time. It was a pleasant walk down Nypro memory lane. I got home mid afternoon and the lawn needed mowing. Readers of the blog will recall that I got the nod three straight times to do this task after being discouraged against it for a couple years. So I like to think of a baseball analogy that I was handed the ball to do the starting pitching assignment for three starts. Seemingly the starts were productive and the lawn looked great. But the manager of the team decided not to give me that fourth start. She felt the fastball had lost too many miles and the slider wasn’t sharp enough. So she took the assignment herself and as the picture below shows, she seemed most happy mowing and listening to her book on tape. I was relegated to cooking another roast chicken on beer can. After completing, Con decided to come in and entertain me playing some songs on the piano- hence the reference to being pulled from the rotation…by the musician as I handled cooking assignments and R&R duties. Maybe I’ll get another start in future days.

Tuesday was mostly a Nypro day for me as my best physical days are the ones just before the new dose dense round, given I am furthest removed from the prior cycle. When I got home, dinner was a big steak as I now need to religiously follow doctor’s orders and bone up on protein laden steaks. Great corn on the cob and a Connie salsa of pluot (combination of plum and apricot), with tomatoes, shallots and herbs rounded out the dinner. Sorry no pictures. Lastly on a more serious note, we also had a toast as we did for Michy. We lost our nephew, Geoffrey Kyle Lapres, oldest son of Geoff and Donna suddenly back in June 2006. Today would have been his 29th birthday and even though 6 years have passed, all of us continue to feel the loss of  a wonderful kid, devoted son, caring brother, nephew, grandchild and friend to so many. So a toast to Geoffrey, a wonderful person who died way too young.

Off to Fordham (Sunday, August 26, 2012)

Con and I were up early to get a run (Con)/walk (Ted) in before embarking on our long day to New York. You could tell in the cool, clear morning air that it was going to be a beautiful day. We roused Kate on our return and were on the road at 8:05 AM (only 15-20 minutes later than when I wanted to leave). Our ride down had lots of laughs. Kate is a bit like that girl in the car commercial (Hyundai?) who frets from college that her parents must be so lonely and miss her dearly. Meanwhile the parents are out having a blast. She wondered in the car how we would hold up without her around the house-surely she said “you won’t have nearly the fun” (I’ll leave it to the blog readers to determine if she has a legitimate point). We also had lots of laughs with stories. Con read a book review where the reviewer said of himself that he has “extravagant literary pretensions”. We liked that term and decided it fit Nell the best as she keeps shoving in our face how many of the top 100 books of all times list that she has read. Kate and I said we would prefer to be known as having “high literary aspirations”. The two of us also enjoyed razzing Con and her habit of reading the start of a book, then reading the conclusion and deciding whether to keep reading. Nell does this too.  It drives Kate and me crazy. How can anyone take that approach to reading a book? Con didn’t appreciate the grief we gave her.

Anyway the ride down to Fordham was a breeze- we made it in a record 3 hours, 5 minutes. We’ve checked 3 kids into college and far and away, Fordham was the most welcoming. A priest, Father Quinn, greeted us as we drove in the parking lot, chatted for several minutes, then directed us to the dorm. Balloons were hung everywhere; music was playing, the campus was hopping. And then at the dorm, over 15 students greeted Kate and best of all, they carried every piece of luggage up to the room for us. That was a first. And then Kate saw her “cozy” room- a forced triple. Fortunately she was the first roommate to check in so she got to get all arranged before others came. And she realized that half of what she packed would come back with us due to lack of space (see picture). Afterwards we took a walk down Arthur Ave- the famous street for Italian restaurants- and found a pleasant lunch spot with an outdoor table to people watch and eat some great Italian sandwiches. Following a lunch and a bit more walking around, we bid adieu to Kate around 4 and made the trip back up to Groton. We’ve been accused of being hard hearted in our college drop-offs. We did stay with Kate a full four hours (or more than the time we spent with Duncan and Nell combined in their drop-offs). We thought that was most generous of our time. Nell still complains how we spent 45 minutes with her at drop off and then headed off to play the Colgate golf course.

The trip home was a bit longer as traffic picked up but we did make it back around 7:30 and got to spend a night with Duncan before he headed off to Hartford for the week. And we got ready to head into “empty nesthood”. 

Kate’s Final Days…And Her Send off to Fordham (Friday/Saturday-August 24/25,2012)

With all my procrastination in keeping the blog current, I’ve missed mentioning some great walks over the past week. As the weather turned crisper in the morning, the solitude and quiet was magnified by a pleasant coolness and the wisps of clouds hanging over the surface of the ground around Groton. We took a great hike up to the top of Gibbett Hill one morning and could see the various church steeples rising above the clouds and the mountains in the distance magnified in the clear morning air. Saturday we took a hike off Raddin Road that took us into some of the more remote bog and forested areas of the town. The serenity was all pervasive. Those were the two most memorable ones among several we took in the week.

I had some Nypro business to take care of Friday morning and early afternoon and then needed some bloodwork done at our local hospital. I need to do this 5-7 days after each chemo round to make sure no worrying signs are developing from the massive chemo attack. Within an hour, I did hear from Lee, our lead nurse at St. E’s as well as Dr. Magdalene (Dr. Olga’s assistant) that my HMT levels (red blood cells) had dropped from 28 to 23- the first real drop since the chemo started. They wanted me to come in for a blood transfusion early in the week before the next round of chemo but we agreed I would try to focus on taking iron pills, other protein laden foods and see how the body progresses over the weekend. I also started juicing greens (Kale, parsley, swiss chard) and mixing with lemon and other things for a tasty protein cocktail (If you believe that). I am glad there is only one round of chemo left.

On Friday evening, we had Kris Geils and Bill Knuff, good friends from town stop over for drinks, appetizers and a light dinner. This enabled Kate to have her last crack at the mixology department and taking advantage of the wonderful peaches we have, made peach bellinis (fresh peaches pureed with peach liquor and agave nectar) mixed in a champagne glass with prosecco. Excellent! And we tag teamed the food. Kris brought a great summer gazpacho using all the fresh tomatoes while Connie made a great bruschetta (also using fresh tomatoes) as well as a beet Tzattiki dip (shredded beets & cucumbers, Greek yogurt, lemon juice and fresh mint) and Lebanese style monk’s salad (tomatoes, eggplant, olive oil, lemon juice, peppers, parsley, mint and more)- mixing Mediterranean and local recipes in a wonderful combination. And the conversation with Bill and Kris was delightful as it always is when we see them. Pictures of our visitors and the food and drink attached.

The gourmet syndrome carried over to Saturday morning as Kate made us quinoa (remember pronounced “keen wah””) and I poached eggs to throw over these potato latke like creations, sitting on parmesan cheese and garlicky sautéed spinach (picture attached). We earned this after our four mile walk in the morning. In the afternoon Kate joined Connie and I for golf at the International which sadly, Duncan couldn’t join as he was seeing the reconstituted Red Sox play. It was most discouraging for Con and me to see Kate (with only a few mulligans thrown in) shoot better than us including parring three holes. She is quickly turning from novice hood to solid player. Dinner at the International followed (with Kate’s appendage Jocey Hickox joining us). Con and I then called it a night but judging by the sink in the morning, Kate had to try out her bartending skills one last time for Jocey and herself on Saturday night with a bourbon peach smash (I have no pictures to document this). All in all it was a delightful couple days with Kate as geared in the morning to send the last one off to college.

A Famous Visitor (Wednesday/Thursday, August 22/23, 2012)

We had a famous visitor come to Clinton on Wednesday morning, renowned New York Times columnist and prolific book author Tom Friedman. The visit originated because Tom is good friends with a venture capitalist who has invested in a start up robotic company, with a somewhat revolutionary concept for a new worker type robot. We have been a beta site and worked closely with the company, Re-Think Robot to help them enhance and debug the product. During his 90 minute visit, he met with Gordon, myself, our head of Technology and a couple other folks, along with the Re-Think team. Tom became fascinated with our company story and took copious notes with lots of interesting discussion along the way. He was amazed that a company in Clinton, Ma. (housed in an old mill building making Bigelow Carpets in the 1860s) is  global player in the plastics manufacturing world and wanted to know how we compete. He then visited the site of the robot and concluded the visit with a short tour. It led to an Op-Ed piece he wrote in the Sunday New York times (August 26) though the bulk of the article was devoted to Re-Think with some mention of us. It would have been nice to get more air time but we appreciated the publicity nonetheless. And we appreciated his pearls of wisdom.

Some of my key takeaways from his nuggets included:

–       The concept of outsourcing or insourcing is a 1990s concept- now it all about global sourcing. There are good, better and best companies anywhere in the world and only the best will survive

–       Countries that will thrive in the future need to HIE (High Imagination (and Innovation) Enterprise countries; Low Imagination Enterprises and countries will fail. He still believes US is near the top of the HIE list while China has a way to go.

–       He said that he took over James Reston’s office (the famous columnist of the 60s and 70s) and Reston would come to work everyday wondering what his seven competitors are going to write (ie his competition at the Washington Post, LA Times etc). Tom comes to work everyday wondering what his 70,000 competitors on line are going to write. It is global competition we all face

–       His advice to High school students

• Think like an immigrant- they don’t believe they have any legacy entitlements- they have to earn everything they get
• Think like an artisan- in the Middle Ages an artisan made every product individually and carved his initials on it to show he was proud of his work. We all need to think as if our initials are carved in our work
• Change is inevitable- accept it and learn how to make yourself as valuable as possible in a rapidly changing global environment

There was much more but and I found the conversation stimulating and enjoyable. He asked what we would tell Romney and Obama if they came to visit us. Our main answers- support education (particularly engineering and sciences), eliminate immigration barriers that persuade talented overseas folks to stay in US and get states to stop competing to pull jobs away from each other and instead focus on how we can compete against rest of world. An interesting 2 hours.

Prayer Shawls…And Other Reach Outs from Colleagues (Monday/Tuesday, August 20/21, 2012)

n an early June blog, I talked about the power of faith and how heartwarming it was to hear of all the people who were lighting candles, visiting shrines, sending holy water, organizing rosary groups on my behalf. It clearly has been working. Last month I talked about the wonderful quilt I received from a former Nypro colleague. I had the great joy of seeing both those attributes come together again last week. On the same day, I received prayer shawls from two different sources, both Nypro connections. A good friend and former colleague that I have always admired greatly, Jim Goodman asked his sister (Linda Heilig) who started a prayer shawl group at her local North Carolina church, to knit one for me. And what she sent us was absolutely beautiful. And then I went into Nypro and another prayer shawl had been dropped off by a 30 year Nypro employee, Hector Rodriguez, having been knitted by his wife, Ada, who had previously worked at Nypro for 20 years. I was extremely touched and gratified by both shawls and also to learn more about the prayer shawl network that exists across our country. What a powerful and caring network this provides. (Pictures of both shawls being worn by Connie and Nell are shown below).

Then I came into work yesterday and Bill Muldoon, our joint venture partner in our toolmaking operation, dropped off a huge banner that had been prepared by the Nypro Cape Cod retirees. This is a group of former Nypro people that have a reunion every summer on the Cape and I was staggered to see such an impressive banner, signed by everyone and delivered. Nypro has always been an extended family and all these gestures only serve to reinforce that. Lastly we had an invite from Jim and Paula Buonomo for dinner on Tuesday. Jim has been another long term colleague and friend. And he has a wonderful wife in Paula. They both are faithful blog readers and besides wanting to spend some time together (Picture of both of them attached) Paula was ready to throw her hat in the ring on the food blog sweepstakes. We had a wonderful dinner and evening, enjoying the setting of their backyard (with pool) on a beautiful summer night, great conversation and excellent food. Dinner ranged from grilled rib eye steaks with herb butter, to a tomato and cheese tart (that was to die for), grilled marinated shrimp, corn salad and an excellent blueberry and peach pie (See picture) We had a wonderful time and it capped off a series of reminders of how great the whole Nypro family is.

 

Nell Returns…Cooking My Own Belated Birthday Dinner…Duncan Departs …And a Toast to Michy (Saturday/Sunday, August 18/19, 2012)

After a summer in Cleveland, we were most happy to greet Nells’ return from her internship. Unfortunately she left Cleveland at 3PM on Friday so didn’t arrive until 3AM Saturday. So while we were concerned about her long drive and looking forward to seeing her, Con and I opted for sleep and saved our big greetings until late the next morning when she arose. Meanwhile, Con and I were up fairly early (a normal occurrence after chemo) and took an enjoyable walk through the Groton School and past the General Field. I enclose a picture of our early morning walk. When everyone arose, Kate took the opportunity to make a Peach Dutch Baby Pancake with Cherry Compote for  breakfast (see picture attached). This can also be served as a desert but we threw caution to the wind and served it as our main course for breakfast. Now our gluttony is expanding to all meals.

 

Saturday was the one day we had everyone home before Duncan departed for Deloitte Consulting training in Texas. We considered eating out but opted to stay home and my family volunteered to make a wonderful belated birthday dinner for me. Kate had done the heavy lifting picking up 2 whole ducks at Savenor’s in Beacon Hill (Julia Child’s meat store) and carrying them around Boston until we got out of chemo. Unfortunately the family plan started falling by the wayside when Con and Duncan decided to play golf Saturday afternoon. Then Kate had to get some much needed shopping in with old friends. And Nell was too tired. So to paraphrase an expression Kate used as a child to show her self –reliance “I had to do the dinner myyelf”. And it was a pleasure as I made Roasted Duck with a fresh peach sauce (picked from our neighbors orchard), roasted potato fries with truffle oil and parmesan and some roasted asparagus and fennel (Picture attached). It was delicious if I may say so myyelf.

 

On Sunday morning, Con got up at 5 to drive Duncan to the airport and since I was awake, I put some work in at Nypro. The Dose dense hangover usually lasts several days so I wasn’t at the top of my game today. But I did get the chance after breakfast to take a long walk with Nell along the river while Con and Kate played tennis. Then after an afternoon nap, I reciprocated with Kate and went out for a walk with her, primarily because she was bored (that girl is ready to head to college). Sunday night was a quiet night of leftovers for Kate, Connie and me as Nell headed into Boston. It was also a night for all of the Lapres family to lift a toast to Michelle, our oldest sister, who passed away from cancer in 2006, as this would have been her 60^th birthday. Michy was special, a stabilizing older sister, a kind person that was loved by anyone who met her and a person who enjoyed life. I will share one wonderful picture. Every year on her birthday, her daughters Danielle and Kara get together for a dinner and celebrate her life. In the picture, Michy’s three grandkids are blowing out the candles on the cake after singing happy birthday for the grandmother they never had a chance to meet. We still miss you dearly Michy.

 

Third Round of Dose Dense Completed…And Dinner (Friday, August 17, 2012)

After enjoying our night at the Commonwealth and managing a little sleep, despite our room crashers, Con and I got up early and took a pleasant 75 minute walk along the Charles River, through the Public Gardens and through Back Bay. We then left for the hospital with Duncan heading off to work at his Back Bay office and Kate languishing in bed. Day 2 is for the second half of the Cisplatin wrapped around two big bags of saline IV to hydrate me well for this tough drug, as well as some anti-nausea solution. Similar to past second days, we wrapped up around 2:00 PM. Though not as long as day 1, this extra dose always feels like the knockout punch so I wasn’t at the top of my game for the rest of the day. We did get good news from Dr. Olga earlier in the day when she reported that my blood marker CA 19-9 continued its downward trend. It had previously gone from 1750 to 1235 to 245 to 45 and dropped yesterday to 28. More importantly, it is now within the normal range- an encouraging sign.

We then headed home for a quiet evening and a light dinner, with Duncan and Kate home. Nell is expected home in the middle of the night as she left Cleveland around 3 in the afternoon and was driving straight through (don’t tell Baba). Anyway the chemo must have affected my brain as the whole dinner hour was very fuzzy in mind (even without cocktails) and I can’t recollect much. But it may have been that Connie made some simple margerhita pizzas on naan bread with tomatoes, basil and mozzarella. And it may have been that they stayed in the oven for a couple minutes too long and came out charred in various parts of the pizza. And it may have been that while eating I may have said something to the effect “that we should take a picture to show that we don’t always cook perfect dinners”. And it may be that Kate burst out with spontaneous laughter with even the stoic Duncan laughing. And it may have been that Connie reacted with mock indignation. But I can’t be certain this all happened as my memory was foggy and I have no picture to show for it. I do remember that we finished everything off with the fruit from a wonderful basket sent to me by Mary Venuti, the best possible right hand person any CEO could hope for. Given the effects of the chemo, it was then up for an early night to bed.

 

57th Birthday (Thursday, August 16, 2012)

For the last decade, our family has taken 2+ week vacations in August to a myriad of places: we had the Pacific Northwest trip, Grand Teton/Yellowstone trip, Michigan trip, Southwest trip (including Grand Canyon hike in and out), Ireland, Italy, Maine, Southeastern US, France, Glacier National/Banff. They all overlapped my birthday and we always found a special restaurant to celebrate dinner. So the last decade has been special. Near the start of this tradition, I started a diary and have kept it faithfully over the years. While it had many entries, the vacation entries were always the fullest, including the August 16^th entries. So I can tell you my birthday dinners included

–       Old Faithful Lodge in Yellowstone (2003)

–       Far View Lodge in a Mesa Verde motel– an amazing gem restaurant in an unlikely place

–       Fitzgeralds in Eagle Ridge Motel in Upper Peninsula (2005)– Another gem- Culinary Institute of America chef on this spot overlooking Lake Superior, after coming from 3 wonderful days on Isle Royale

–        Mulcahy’s in Kenmare-Ring of Kerry, Ireland (2006)- Irish-Asian Fusion

–       Dining Room in Hotel Belvedere in Bellagio- Lake Como(2007)- I won’t bore you with all the remaining years but I can’t resist adding the diary entry from that day

–        Bellagio is a charming town and once again, was bustling with tourists. We then purchased some beer, soda, cheese, salami and peanuts for our cocktail hour on our rooftop verandah. But first we spent an hour or so by the pool till about 6:30PM. Then it was up to our rooftop for cards and cocktails. We completed our three day rounds of rummy 500 with Duncan winning (surprise, surprise) and Dad finishing dead last. It was ridiculous the number of times that Dad got hosed by his family. Following this, we headed downstairs to the dining room (alas the terrace wasn’t open) for another special birthday dinner. I had a great pasta dish with duck meat, followed by lamb chops while Dunc had a good steak, mom had a great fish and the girls had pasta. I chose a nice Italian Lombard (Valterinni Superior) which is a regional Italian wine new to me. We then did our obligatory five deserts being passed around. Dad and mom chose the winners (an ice cream in vanilla sauce and a pistachio tart). We ended it with some time overlooking the lake by the pool and back on our terrace. Another great birthday. (Editor’s note-by 2007 I was getting more descriptive of our birthday meals in the diary.

So it was certainly a far cry from the last decade when Con and I pulled into St. E’s for round 3 of dose dense at 7:45Am on August 16. This is the long day of drugs in this treatment. Fortunately nurse Kathy, who had us the last Thursday (since Lee is off) remembers the irritation of Connie when we got out at 6:30. Everything was waiting and things went off like a charm. But that doesn’t mean it can climb into the list of great birthdays of the past decade. Though it did have some highlights. My Nypro colleague, Boris Levin (a Russian native) had found a Russian song called Dr. Olga and we played it for our Dr. Olga who was touched, alternately laughing and tearing up. She loved the song. And my good friend, Penny Wickey kept her 30 + year streak of calling me on my birthday and singing Happy Birthday. Other calls and cards came in from all over.

And then things really got nice. My sister Anne (and husband Tom) have been great for years in Hoosick Falls to an elderly neighbor (Mrs. Lipris). She has a daughter Amy who is married to the GM (Adam Sperling) of the great boutique hotel in Kenmore Square, Commonwealth Hotel. They were so kind and got us a beautiful room at the hotel (10 minutes from the hospital). After getting settled, the first room crasher Kate showed up (picture attached). And then Duncan arrived from Hartford and needed a room for the night so we had our second room crasher. After walking around the Back  Bay a bit, we ate at the seafood restaurant, Island Creek Oyster and had a delicious meal sharing oysters, lobster roll, clam chowder, crab cakes, roasted lobster on roasted corn, salmon tartare and a salad. I can’t believe but we forgot to take pictures. But thanks to the goodness of Anne’s neighbors, arising from the good deeds of Anne and Tom, we ended my 57^th birthday on a wonderful note, matching many of the great ones of years past.

Hair and Hearing (Monday-Wednesday, August 13-15, 2012)

It’s a bit of a slow news week. I did, in fact, have hassle free flights on the way home on Sunday evening. The flight to Denver was on time and my Denver-Manchester ended up getting in 10 minutes early- a far cry from the ordeal coming out. Nell departed Santa Fe the next day and her flight to Chicago and on to Cleveland also went off without a hitch. And Con and Kate made the Albuquerque-Chicago-Manchester flights seamlessly on Tuesday, arriving at 5PM. Their only problems arose afterward. They stopped at Market Basket and while Con shopped, Kate was in the car with the A/C on and car turned off. So when Con came out, the car wouldn’t start. After they finally solved this problem, Kate suddenly remembered that she left her wallet on the plane. So it was back to Manchester to retrieve it in Lost and Found. Needless to say, child # 3 was not in the good graces of her mother for the balance of the night. Meanwhile I had some above average Nypro related activity keeping me busy these several days. Other than having a business dinner on Tuesday night at Moo (excellent Boston restaurant), I don’t have much to report on the culinary front.

But I did want to mention the topics in the heading. It is finally happening. Right from the start, I was advised my hair would start coming out. But week after week, nothing much was happening. In a small way, this helped leave a veneer of normalcy around the chemo process. I even held off getting a haircut in anticipation of the hair falling out but finally had to break down and get my locks chopped as they were getting too long. Alas, in the last few days, that has begun to change.  The amounts of hair coming out has accelerated. Now there is the physically taxing side of the chemo ordeal. And by and large, I have fortuitously avoided the hardest aspects there, generally feeling good with minimal pain. But I can now better appreciate the emotional, visceral side of the equation, of which losing your hair may top the list. It does affect you. And when it happens right when my weight keeps going up from the eating frenzy I’m on, it’s a double whammy. Since I started with very thick hair, I still have some amount of hair left but it is clearly thinning quickly. And both Kate and Con were razzing me last night, saying they hadn’t signed up to have a fat, bald guy as their dad and husband. Oh well, at least I can start a diet even if I can’t do much on the hair front.

As to the hearing side, my doctor friend Mike Cunningham had suggested I get a baseline hearing test as one of Cisplatin’s side effects is sometimes hearing loss in patients. Though technically it wasn’t baseline since I’m more than halfway through chemo, I did go into Nashoba Medical Center for a hearing test. When the audiologist asked me to describe my hearing symptoms, I told him that my wife and daughters say I don’t hear them very well. I added a couple other impressions and then headed into the lab for the actual tests. As it turned out, unlike my hair situation, my hearing results were pretty normal other than a slight deviation at one higher pitch. I asked if it was possible that Con speaks at that pitch and that’s why I don’t hear so well. But he thought, as did Connie, that maybe a lack of attention is the true root cause. I’ll keep you posted on both the hair and hearing fronts.