Since my last email sent to you on New Year’s Day things have moved along.
You might remember we were hoping that I had the wild gene..well I had it and so I can receive this drug called “Erbitux” which keeps me alive.
Well I have been to the clinic 6 times and I have received the drug 4 times.
The 2 times I missed out are of interest..the 1st time I went I had such a bad reaction to the drug that I collapsed on to the floor and they had to revive me and give up for that week.
They had to work out what pre med to give me so that I could tolerate the drug. On about the 3rd time I went they decided not to give it to me as I looked so bad..One of the side effects of the drug is that I get really bad acne and I looked that bad with the acne that bad another dose would have really put me over the edge. Since then I have really attacked the acne so now all I look like is an old bugger who has drunk too much whiskey.
My son Pete who follows English Soccer reckons I look like Sir Alex Fergusen, the coach of Manchester United.
I am really looking after the face at the moment as I have a couple of Social functions coming up where I have to see other people..So I am doing the face twice a day every day..when it was at its worst I thought about buying a face mask.
The only other news is that the drug makes me tired but Elissa keeps me organised and going to different things..we have joined the the seniors upper north shore table tennis group..we have just had 3 days down at a beach south of Burrell lakes on the South Coast which was fantastic..the salt water did wonders for my face..we participated in the Sydney festival seeing The Jersey Boys and enjoying a night listening to Paul Kelly ( for overseas readers of this blog..he is one of Australia’s greatest song writers ) She has organised me into 2 day long workshops on the ukulele which I enjoyed .I can now play “You are my Sunshine” and I am working on “ I saw the light” ,a great Hank Williams song of 1948..I think she is planning on us seeing Don’s Party at the Opera House. She is not here at the moment she is out at Cherrybrook earning a dollar..she goes once a week. But as I have said in all of my previous emails..she is my hero..whenever it gets too much she just thinks of alternatives.
I am still a non drinker..I haven’t had a beer since October..I still feel like a drinker though..love to go to Dan Murphy’s and look at the specials look at other people drinking and wish that I was with them. There is another person at the clinic I go to ( the clinic has 16 chairs it’s an amalgamation of 2 clinics and is very crowded) who is on the same drug as me..he has 2 beers every night I had to ask him why..the answer was that his bowel cancer metastasised to his lungs and mine went to the liver and my liver rejects alcohol ( I know that this is in the too much information department but there it is).
Anyway people thanks for reading my email..I hope it will be the last for a while..that means I will be going to the clinic once a week Elissa picking me up, the premed drugs they only give to you if you have someone picking you up..they send you off to cloud cuckoo land..and everything is good..no more news thanks again for your wishes and thoughts..we have had good Catholics.. good Protestants..good Jews..and good Buddhists all wishing Elissa and I good news..it must have done some good because we are still here so once again thanks for reading my story. I hope I have included everybody....all the best
Dave & Elissa
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