And we're off...

Where to begin?
I'm Steve Ewen. I'm 40, a sports reporter for the Vancouver Province, and I was diagnosed with cancer, a Solitary Plasmacytoma, on Oct. 27. For a longer version of the story, check out this Province blog (http://tinyurl.com/2bk875o).


Yes, that's a completely shameless plug for my employer, but I'm going to need a job to come back to when I get healthy. And I will get healthy. We're doing well so far, everything considered, and have gotten the OK to start some physical rehab. And part of the reason that we're moving forward right now is that we are belly-laughing as much as sobbing, if not more.


Today is Day 8 of radiation. We're at the B.C. Cancer Agency in downtown Vancouver. My editor from my first newspaper gig, Pat Cooper, is my ride today. I worked for her at the Coquitlam NOW from ages 19-24, real formative years, and she's been an important role model for me, both as a person and reporter. 


The tumour is on my T-2, and I'm a little sore this morning, but I haven't had to take any extra pain killers. My Ladner-based GP, Dr. Jennifer Rogerson, calls them breakthroughs...I'm way down on them overall, which is the goal. And we're on a steroid cut-down right now, which I' excited about, because it seems to keep me awake. (I'll get into drug names in a bit...I'm too lazy to get up and find my pills.)


I didn't sleep real well last night, for the second night in a row. I had had a good run of about four or five days. 


That said, I haven't had any of the fatigue that people tend to associate with treatment. I have had some tickles in my throat the past couple of days, and they warned that could be coming. 


That is all for now. I may put something up later. I may not. I have cancer. I can be that way. (If you can't play the CARD, what's the point?)