Well, it's Thursday morning. Thanksgiving morning.

As usual, I'm up before the rest of the crew. In fact I've been up for quite a while. Sleep hasn't been very friendly with me of late. It leaves me nodding off in the middle of conversations, TV Shows, or whatever goes on during the day.

The nausea and vomiting that hit me last weekend appears to be fully behind me for this round of treatment. The Radiation effects have been kicking in the last couple of days -- sore mouth, sore tongue, sore throat, thick, mucousy saliva, nose bleeds/sores, etc. My neck, amazingly though, is not nearly as bad as it was earlier in the whole treatment. The skin's tight, sensitive in areas, etc. but nothing like it was when I posted the "Red Neck" picture.

My boss stopped by the house yesterday to say hi and drop off a "care package" from the folks at work. It was good to talk to him and get updates on everything at the office. He told me I looked a lot better than he was expecting me to have looked. I think that was a complement. But when he left Jenny and I had to look at each other and breath a sigh of relief. Sorry, but with the economy the way it is and the things I see happening to friends around me at their jobs, the thought had creeped its way into both of our heads that Dave was stopping by to let me know about something bad -- they were laying me off, they were closing the Research Center, whatever. In fact, it was just a friendly visit -- and a good one at that -- but Mr. Imagination can really mess with your head if you let him.

So this being Thanksgiving, I at first glance feel very little to be Thankful for. But a quick look beyond the obvious negative things that are going on in my life unveil plenty of positive things to genuinely be thankful for. Having a competent Cancer Treatment Center so close, a job with good insurance coverage, a supportive family, supportive friends, etc., etc. The list could get pretty lengthy. So yes, I have cancer and I feel like crap 24-7 lately, but in the grand scheme of things, there's plenty to be thankful for and, I suppose, taking a moment to recognize that is what today's all about.

One more week of treatment remaining. That will get the logistical issue of driving back and forth to KU twice a day out of the way but that ending of treatment will just be the beginning of the getting better process. Like everything, I'm told it varies from person to person but I should expect 2-weeks from the end of treatments before I START feeling better and, from there, it will just be a gradual process. I'm certainly anxious to get the treatments done but I'm even more anxious to begin feeling better again. Just not sure yet how long I have to wait for that.

Enough for today. We're heading over to my Brother's to hang out today for Thanksgiving. I'm a little unsure how the day's going to go. We'll just play it by ear and react as needed. Have a great day today.