Brew day

Monday was Labor Day - hurray. Coincidentally, Monday was also brew day - even better! I haven't had a chance to brew since about two weeks before I was diagnosed with lymphoma. At that point, I wasn't really into it, and I think the brew suffered a bit (it was unbalanced - a bit too bitter for the body).  But this time I had help. Mom and dad are visiting for round 4 - so I was able to leave the kids to mom (thanks Mom!) and get dad to help with all of the dirty details of brew day - cleaning, stirring, lifting things -(thanks Dad!). 

This recipe was one of my own design - an Oatmeal Stout. The grain bill follows, for any of my homebrewing friends. 

12 gallon Oatmeal Stout

20.00 lbs. Pale Malt(2-row)            

3.00 lbs. Flaked Oats                  

2.00 lbs. CarAmber           

1.00 lbs. Crystal 55L        

1.00 lbs. Crystal 150L       

2.00 lbs. Chocolate Malt     

1.00 lbs. Roasted Barley     

1.00 lbs. Turbinado Sugar

Challenger Hops (2 additions for 26 IBU)

At any rate, the brew went well with only a few exceptions, and the beer is happily fermenting away in the basement now. The attached picture is one of me pre-cooking the oatmeal before the mash. I'll let y'all know how it turns out in a couple of weeks.

My soda water experiment is coming along well. I've managed to fix some of the issues with my kegerator setup which were holding me back. I now have 10 gallons of seltzer on tap for my return from the hospital.

Speaking of which...

Jane and I went to see Dr. Cirenza today (my oncologist). He seemed reservedly positive about my results and the results of the CT scan a few weeks ago - I hadn't seen him since round 2. On the positive side - he reinterpreted the test results to take into account the width as well as the length of the mass. The upshot of which is that the  primary tumor has actually decreased by more than half - in fact, the numbers indicate a shrinkage of around 75 percent.  Woo hoo. I hope the other growths are the same.

On the less positive side, I'm due for another round of chemo on Friday. This time the doses will be increased by another 20 percent, and last an extra day (until Wed). Apparently this is an aggressive regimen and it calls for increasing the dosages of all of the chemotherapy agents until such time as I yell "Uncle", or beg for mercy. 

Seriously though, we will continue to increase the chemo doses as long as my blood counts don't get too bad, and I don't have any other serious adverse events (in the industry we call them 'SAEs') -:-). I'm expecting this round to really kick my butt. 

Also, I'm scheduled to have the prophylactic intrathecal chemo (spinal tap) again on Friday. As I told one of my coworkers today - I'm really excited about that. Sarcasm, however, translates poorly in a blog. I am hoping that things will be a little less unpleasant this time around.

Not much else to say, except that Jane and I will go out on our traditional pre-chemo date on Thursday. I think we'll see 'The Mummy' and have a nice dinner out.  I can't wait. Spending time with her is one of the best medicines available to me these days.

Thanks again for all of your prayers and kind thoughts. They seem to be working - I'm feeling pretty good today!