Cycling On

I am reaching the end of cycle 2 and am feeling quite good today.  I woke up craving a hamburger which Paul suggested was not a good idea.  Sometimes when I feel good I think I want to eat certain things that turn out to make me feel sick in the long run.  And it is pretty clear that how I experience tastes has changed.  I tried eating a small ice cream bar last night and it did not taste like it normally does.  I do not have the metallic taste in my mouth that some get but something has changed.

We are trying to follow Paul's urologist's suggestion to get away for a short trip at the end of each of my cycles.  So this time we are heading off to San Diego on Monday to Paradise Point for two days before cycle 3 starts again on Thursday.  Unfortunately rain is forecast for Monday.  But it was also forecast for today and it is quite sunny out so maybe we will get lucky.  I am curious to see how I do in the car.  I seem to have more susceptibility to motion sickness these days which of course is exacerbated by the long trips to the hospital on infusion days.  I wonder if it is a form of anticipatory nausea in that I have associated being nauseated with driving in the car.

I have been ranting a bit this week, since my life has so little activity, about NBC's coverage of the Olympics.  In 1984 we went to England during the summer Olympics which were held in LA.  We thought the city would be a mess so we planned to get out before we got entangled in one massive sig-alert.  As it turned out, the city functioned fine.  We on the other hand were treated to BBC's coverage of the Olympics which was more comprehensive and live than any American television coverage.  Since we had jet lag we were able to watch events live and uneditorialized, without constant focus on American athletes.

This time, the winter Olympics are in Vancouver which is the same time zone as LA.  However, NBC is delaying its broadcasts here for prime time.  So on a number of occasions I have seen the winners of events posted on the internet or in news alerts to my emails hours before it is shown here on TV.  Most frustrating was the Men's final in figure skating.  Evan Lysacek trains nearby in El Segundo at the rink where my daughter once skated as a child and worked a few years ago before moving to SF.  We like Evan-- for his skill, his work ethic, his looks (let's face it) and his poise.  I found out he had won 3 hours before NBC showed us the event.  BAH!  And since I knew he had won, I left on my DVR to record the program but discovered later that the DVR cut off in the middle of Plushenko's program. Therefore not only did I miss Plushenko's performance on the ice,  I did not get to see his apparently abrupt departure from the kiss and cry after he learned he had not won the gold.  I have been able to see some of Lysacek's interviews where the commentators tried to bait him into badmouthing Plushenko.  He really did take the high road showing how well he is advised and how smart he is to follow that advice.  Hopefully he does not turn out to be like Tiger Woods and Kobe,  brilliant athletes who looked like nice guys but turned out to be something so very different.  We need athlete heroes who are genuinely good hard working people without any huge hidden character flaws.  Is that too much to ask?