Treatment #7 underway

Hello all,
Treatment #7 is underway and as usual all is well although I am feeling a bit wiped out and sluggish at the moment. Pre-treatment my blood chemistry showed that my hemaglobin was a little low but this fits the profile for past treatments. Hopefully I get another decent day or two before things start to take a turn for the worse.

We had the expected conversation today with Dr. Richards regarding scheduling for a scan. I proposed the idea of a PET scan this time around rather then a CT scan and he liked the idea. I'm thinking that instead of just knowing the size of any tumors that remain that it would be most useful at this point to leverage the information offered by the PET scan where it uniquely focuses on flagging cancerous growths. Dr. Richards also agreed that based on the results of this scan we will be reviewing the treatment plan. Once we get insurance approval for the PET scan we will be able to schedule for sometime after July 9th. The slight delay is to ensure there's a 3-month duration since the last scan so that the insurance company doesn't balk by claiming the scans are being taken to frequently.

So, that's it for now. We'll leave treatment #8 on the schedule pending results from the PET scan. To be continued....

Sunday, June 22nd.... simple pleasures

Wow, how time flies when you’re having fun. I didn’t realize that it’s been two full weeks since my last blog post. Although not too much of note has happened in those two weeks I can report to you that I feel dramatically better at this point. Remember that this particular treatment cycle has afforded me an extra week of recovery due to scheduling conflicts with end of school year events for Amy. As of right now it’s been exactly one full week that my eating ability has returned nearly to normal. I have been satisfying food craving after food craving and putting back on some of those pounds that I had lost. I know it sounds funny but some of these meals have nearly moved me to tears they were so good. How easy it is for us to take simple acts like eating for granted. Believe me, the value of simple pleasures such as the joy of a good meal with family and/or good friends becomes very clear when it is suddenly an impossibility. A special meal for me, one that takes me back to my childhood and special Sunday breakfasts with family, is something that I was able to partake in this morning. Many of you will not be able to relate at all to this but the picture below of lox/bagels, whitefish, and cheese blintz was heavenly for me. Ummmm good! LOL!



This weekend and the glorious weather we had on Saturday brought another opportunity to catch up on simple pleasures. I was able to dust off our tandem bicycle so that Bailey could join me on a ride with some of my Mintz’s Mentschen friends. Despite my being incredibly weak and out of shape it was a thrill to enjoy the exercise, good friends, and an absolutely beautiful day with Bailey. We rode just over 18 miles and I’m only saddened with knowing that it’s going to be another few weeks before I’m up to trying it again.

As I gear up for treatment #7 on this coming Wednesday I’m moved by knowing that our Mintz’s Mentschen fundraising total is now up to $22,850. This total was bumped significantly today by an extremely generous donation from a high school track buddy of mine, Mike Halloran. The donation itself is extremely humbling to me but Mike also wrote a poem that included some words and a message that I coincidentally try to live by. He wrote “….For in the end, we are not judged by the # of races we won or lost. Our measure of success is how we ran the race…”. I thanked Mike for joining the good fight against cancer and I pointed out how one of my personal heroes, Harry Chapin, had a similar message in one of his lyrics where he sang, “… it’s got to be the going not the getting there that’s good…”. My heartfelt thanks go out to everyone that has supported Mintz’s Mentschen through financial donation and/or by joining as a team member.

And Amy’s Army…. Oh, Amy’s Army… another constant source of love and support. The cards, emails, food, etc. are terrific. We can’t say thank you often enough or find the words that express the real depth of our gratitude.

On Wednesday we will be making the appointment for my July CT scan. I will be in touch to let you all know the details for that all important day.

Sunday, June 8th

Hello. Once again, a week has past and I’m sure that many of you are wondering about what may be happening in my corner of the world. Well, I guess I can sum it up by saying that it hasn’t been a great week. Mouth-related side affects settled in right away and actually have worsened through the week. I am fighting these with the tried and true “magic mouthwash” but really the biggest problem remains what I refer to as “food aversion” when it comes to meal time. Most foods just don’t pass the gag reflex and that’s making things tough. I’ve lost 1-2 pounds a day for the past week reaching a new all-time low for my “chemo era”. LOL.

I do have two new prescriptions for anti-nausea drugs that Dr. Richards is hoping might alleviate some of the eating problems. I guess it’s a positive sign that I was able to eat a bit of dinner tonight. Amy grilled some awesome hamburgers and I was able to eat one without a bun or condiments, and with a knife and fork. Hey, it’s some calories so I’m not complaining.

I continue to focus on getting through treatment #7 at the end of June and then to my next CT scan in early July. That scan will give us the basis to drill into any changes that may be required in the treatment plan.

On another topic, one of the things I do in my spare time (LOL) is to help organize an alumni group for my high school track team. Hey, I wasn’t always a bicyclist! My closest buddy from the high school team is Mark Cheben. Mark attended West Point and we’ve been able to maintain contact for the 31 years since high school. Last night we had a reunion dinner and Mark mentioned in advance that he had a surprise for me. I had a sneaky hunch what it was and I mentioned it to Amy as we drove up to the dinner in Union, NJ. Sure enough I was right, Mark had shaved HIS head as a gesture of our friendship. How cool is that!? Check out the picture below.



And a brief Mintz’s Mentschen report. We just passed the $19,000 level for total fundraising! LiveSTRONG!