I raise my head up. There. That's done.

The first half of my day--

10:00 am Wake up. Feel this annoying itch. Sometimes I have a headache. My nose is running. I have a bad cough, which doesn't make much sense since I never sick and have both a runny nose and a cough at the same time. Usually one has followed the other. The itch is really the one, though. First, an electric shock shoots at random spot on my body. Right away the spot itches. I itch the spot. Another spot gets electric shock. It goes on non-stop. Decided to go back to bed for a while. Until the itch goes away.

10:30 am The itch doesn't go away. Why do I have these sharp pains? Why itch? What's up with my nose? Oh yeah, I have cancer. The tumors in my neck make it sore. I'm sore in all kids of other places too. Getting up at this late a time in the morning is embarrassing. So I figure I need to make a mad dash for the kitchen to get some breakfast.

10:40 am Lean up, ready for the mad dash.

10:45 am Still ready for that mad dash.

11:15 am Get out of bed.

11:18 am Get down stairs. Hope to God that Sherri doesn't send a text asking to pick up Maddie from the babysitter early. I see no texts.

11:22 am Throw in two waffles. Go out to the garage for a Coke Zero. Put the same waffles down again. They're much better crunchier. While waiting, send a text to Sher lying to her, telling her that I've been up for a while, feel great and have been waiting for Maddie for like an hour. What's up?

11:30 Sherri writes back that I should rest and Maddie's going to nap at the baby-sitter's house. Basically, she didn't believe anything I wrote. Smart woman. I love them smart.

11:45 Finish waffles. Prepare my daily cocktail: 2 pills to help with the itch even though it doesn't work, two pills to help with the shooting pain and these will kick in at about four o'clock but will suffice beforehand, two oxycodone that used to do wonders for all the pain now only helps marginally, one pill to keep me from getting an infection even though I probably got one, DayQuil. I down the pills first.

11:47 Back at the breakfast table. I lower my head. Too tired. Too tired for everything. Can't do this another day.

12:15 Head still down.

12:20 Pills kick in. Clean up.

12:35 Check the internet.

1:15 check my To Do list. Pick one thing. Put a new phone in the kitchen. Plan on doing that.

1:30 Going to lay down instead. Tired..

1:31 I itch.

2:00 Get ready for the babysitter and Maddie.

2:05 Babysitter arrives with a cranky Maddie.

2:10 Feed Maddie a cookie and grapes. She loves cookies. See the dog itching.

2:35 McKenna comes home. She talks to Maddie. We talk about her day. It was boring. The dog is still itching.

2:50 Sherri arrives. She immediately takes over and thanks me for watching Maddie and how I should lay down because I did a lot. This time I tell her the truth and say I didn't do anything because I had a hard time getting going. She says to lay down. She knows what I did and thankfully, somehow and someway it was enough for her.

3:00 Play with Maddie. She likes to dance. A lot. To the same song.

3:30 Tired. Go up to bed for a nap. Itching still a lot today. Try to hide itching from the dog.

3:45 Fall asleep.

4:15 The sharp pains are back. This itch, man, where did this come from? And my body is sore like I went boxing in the sun. What is wrong with me? Oh, I have cancer.

4:16 The plan is to race downstairs to get my pills. So I sit up in bed. Then I itch.

4:30 Still sitting up. Can't lift my head. I itch.

4:35 Make it to the pills. I'm out of breath.

4:45 Play with Maddie. Tell my wife how I have this huge To Do list and how I'm going to redo everything that needs to be done around the house. Think of the phone. Don't even bring it up. It's not getting done today.

5:15 Think of all the people out there ready to go home. Think about how after five was my second favorite time at the agency since I get to do work without interruptions. I'd come up for air a couple of hours later. Only one or two people are left. I'd walk around not because I wanted to see someone. I didn't want to see anyone because I just loved the sound of an empty ad agency. It's still has energy but it's so quiet.

5:16 Is dinner ready?

5:30 Dinner is ready. After dinner I lay down. Oh, and I itch. Wonder how long.