Sunday, November 22, 2009

Well, I saw Dr. Richards last Monday for my 6-week checkup and all is well. I had my medi-port flushed (successfully) and my blood counts/chemistry are all good. The process was started for insurance approval of my next PET/CT that will be sometime around the 2nd week of December. More to come on that.

This weekend was uneventful but from the perspective of bicycling it was simply incredible. I won’t even try to remember the last time that I went for a substantial bike ride two days in a row. But the weather was too good to pass up so yesterday I went for a 34-mile ride with Dan Nies and then today I repeated that same route by myself. I definitely had more zip in my legs yesterday but I felt just fine today. Today was a serious “stop and smell the roses” ride as the crisp fall temperature and sunny skies were terrific.

Assuming that I won’t be writing again this week best wishes for a Happy Thanksgiving to one and all. I won’t preach to you all here but as you know I’ve had cause for a bit of an awakening on this front… please try to take this time to think a bit about all of the good things we really should be thankful for.

Happy Halloween

There was an awesome Mintz's Mentschen bike ride last weekend that took us from Washington's Crossing to Lambertville and back. We had the opportunity to visit with our favorite coffee barista, Jessica Cichalski, in Lambertville before tackling the climb up and out on route 518. The 32-mile ride, great weather, and good company has me looking forward to a possible re-run this coming weekend.

My daughter Bailey made it to a pumpkin patch last night where apparently they carved pumpkins. Happy Halloween!

It's always gonna be something

My last blog post was nearly two full months ago and today I received the FRAMED award-winning Mintz’s Mentschen jersey. So I thought it would be a good idea to use that as a prompt to try and quell the complaints I’m starting to hear from my loyal blog readers.

As if I don’t already have plenty of pictures and indelible memories from the past two years of Mintz’s Mentschen exploits I now also have a framed Mentschen cycling jersey. I love it and will hang it proudly in my home office. The only thing that would have made it any better is if the Lance Armstrong foundation had Lance autograph it before they framed it…. But I’m not complaining… much… LOL.



These many weeks of blog silence have not been an attempt on my part to lull you into submission. Although I may have been fairly successful at achieving exactly that, the explanation for the silence is mostly that there wasn’t a whole lot that was very exciting to say.

Following the Philly LiveSTRONG event I have been able to enjoy every possible weekend opportunity for continued cycling. I have been riding progressively more challenging routes and my climbing strength is returning slowly but surely. When we rode a couple of weekends ago I achieved a symbolic milestone by conquering one of the more challenging hill climbs in our Washington’s Crossing repertoire. I enjoyed every second of it and look forward to continued strength gain and hopefully a bit of weight loss. While my fitness has been improving I’ve struggled to drop the pounds that I gained this year. Hmmmm, last year I dropped 45 pounds only to regain every bit of that and more with the treatment this year. Go figure!?!? I joined a gym that I can manage with my current office location and commute so I hope that I’ll be able to turn this weight situation around as I get into a regular routine of spin classes.

During these past two months I also learned a valuable lesson. It’s a lesson that first was a bit unsettling but after having some time to digest it I came to realize that it was an important one for me to acknowledge and internalize NOW. The moral of the lesson is, “It’s always gonna be something”.

On September 4th I had a regularly scheduled PET/CT scan and I guess I made the mistake of looking past it and thinking that the scan in December would be the first post-treatment scan that I needed to be nervous about. The scan showed VERY LOW levels of “activity” at the G-E junction and the familiar follow-up with my gastroenterologist was suggested. While a basic endoscopy wasn’t going to provide sufficient information the scenario was now right for the endoscopic ultrasound (EUS) that I discussed with Dr. Dhar back in January. I had the EUS on September 22nd and to make a long story short all fears were put to rest. Visually there was only inflammation and the biopsies revealed no evidence of cancer. So…. in December we get to do this all over again! Dr. Dhar did increase my Prevacid prescription to be twice per day though.

I’ve learned that “cancer survivor” isn’t just a temporary thing and that more often then not I’m going to be dealing with something or another medically. The key here is that in dealing with these situations that we accept the reality of the situation and keep emotions in check. I will be making an effort to learn how to dance in the rain instead of expecting the rain to stop.

Wednesday, September 2nd, 2009

I managed to acquire a couple more pictures from the LiveSTRONG bike ride that very effectively capture the emotion of the day and, most importantly, why we continue to do these events.

I also have a PET/CT scan this Friday morning. This one should be no great shakes.

The one that will be in December... I'll be nervous for that one.

Support for Mintz's Mentschen and Chuck Nies (Dan's father) who is currently in treatment for prostate cancer and is in our thoughts and prayers

Mark Cheben and I after the finish

Back in the saddle

Those of you that are Facebook users have already picked up on some of the comments that have been posted by Mintz’s Mentschen team members regarding the Philly LiveSTRONG ride this past Sunday.

YES, it was as awesome as last year! Perhaps even more so for me since most people aren’t lucky enough to have a 2nd shot at their 15 minutes of fame. The weekend was another opportunity for me to reflect and to see even more clearly, if that’s possible, just how lucky and blessed I am. The Mentschen spirit is always very high and our team had a bunch of new members this year including a very close friend from Union High School track and field, Mark Cheben, as well as Naomi Rabinowitz who is a cousin of Amy’s. That Mark, Naomi, and her boyfriend Paul, supported me and our Mentschen fundraising effort made the weekend even more special. With your generous donations I raised $5,225 and the Mentschen collectively raised over $23,400 in support of the Lance Armstrong Foundation. Simply amazing.

Another surprise from the weekend is that our “All Jacked Up!!” team cycling jersey won first place for the Philly LiveSTRONG event as voted by the event participants themselves. We’re not quite sure what that all means yet but I’ll keep you posted as we get more information.

OK, OK… I bet you’re anxious to know how I did on the ride? Last year I was only able to ride the 10-mile course. I had a posse of Mentschen with me and although it was terrific the ride itself was way too short. This year I had established a goal early on to ride the 45-mile course and I stuck firmly to that goal. I knew that I’d go into the actual event under prepared but I knew too that my Mentschen team members and the emotions of the day would pull me through. The heat/humidity and the hills of eastern PA made the challenge of 45 miles that much more difficult but in the end I covered the distance and had to fight back some tears as I came down the finishing chute with Mark Cheben, Gary Vencius, David Swingle, and Robert Spivack as my support team. It was certainly a memorable experience for all and as you can imagine the day was meaningful to me for multiple reasons. See some pictures from the LiveSTRONG event below.

That the ride came immediately upon our return from 10 days in Colorado that were both vacation and a mission to get Sasha setup at Colorado State made it even more challenging. Amy and I didn’t arrive home until well after midnight on Friday and our emotions were still running high based on our new status as empty nesters. We’re still coming to grips with that one.

I had an appointment with Dr. Richards on Monday. This was a basic checkup where I had my medi-port flushed and blood counts checked. All is A-OK and the process was started to get an insurance pre-certification for a PET/CT scan. The scan should take place sometime mid-September.

Amy and I pre-ride

Mark Cheben and I well into the ride

In the staging area pre-ride... my survivor and "Honor of Dad" cards on my back

Dan Nies and Erin pre-ride

Mintz's Mentschen 2009

One month later...

Wow, how time flies when you’re having fun.

It’s been exactly one month since my last chemo treatment and I’ve transitioned so quickly into a frenzied post-treatment lifestyle that I’ve been a bit remiss with posting to this blog.

As I’ve alluded to, things are going very well. In fact, on August 1st I was able to join others from the Mintz’s Mentschen group to ride in the Princeton Freewheelers bicycling event. A combination of peer pressure and lack of patience had me riding a distance that I really had no business attempting. But on what was a fantastic weather day I rode 38-miles with Gary and Joanne Vencius. As far as I was concerned this was a significant “victory” and clear indication that I’m going to be able to achieve a decent level of fitness fairly quickly.

And that is a good thing since the Philly LiveSTRONG Challenge cycling event is next weekend and I’ll be having to cover 45 hilly miles. The event weekend will be another humbling and emotional experience for me since I have both family and many close friends riding along with me in support of the Lance Armstrong Foundation. You all have supported me to the tune of over $5,100 raised in my personal fundraising account and the Mintz’s Mentschen team is rapidly approaching the $20,000 threshold! Thank you all for your generosity and support.

I’m making this blog post from Denver as Amy, Sasha, and I are enjoying time with Phyllis, Jack, and Jason Quinn. This next week will have us taking Sasha up to Fort Collins where she’ll be a freshman at Colorado State this fall. Amy and I will return to New Jersey in time for the LiveSTRONG ride as empty nesters. Wow, what a whirlwind of events and emotions!

Quad and aerobic training via stair climb at Alpine Visitor Center
Trail Ridge Road, Rocky Mountain National Park (11,799 feet)

Elk in Rocky Mountain National Park

Flowers, Estes Park, Colorado

Another non-countdown countdown

I"m sorry for the late notice but things have truly been THAT crazy for me lately. Despite the short notice I couldn't let the opportunity for even this one day countdown to pass by.

Tomorrow, Wednesday, July 29th, will be the last day that I'll be taking the chemo drug xeloda. Remember, although the IV part of the chemo treatment was nearly two weeks ago I have to take xeloda for the first two weeks of every cycle. After tomorrow I'll be down to only prevacid which is basically a super antacid.

Excitement for the August 23rd LiveSTRONG event is definitely building. At least for me it is! I'm hoping to ride in a local bike ride that is hosted by the Princeton FreeWheelers bike club this coming Saturday as a training ride. And with a bit of luck maybe Amy will do it with me on the tandem.

Thanks so much for the generous donations to LiveSTRONG. After raising well over $5,000 last year I was hoping for a scaled back personal goal of $3,000 and I'm exactly halfway there. As I've mentioned before I know that I have a lot of readers on this blog so if everyone can consider even a small donation it will all add up. Click here to get to my fundraising website.

All done...

Well, here I am in my usual post-treatment location. As Amy likes to say I've assumed the position. I'm on the couch and sleeping off and on. The side affects are immediate. Aside from the fatigue my arms, legs, feet, and hands are quite tingly and crampy. In 4 or 5 days that will all have subsided and each day will bring true recovery from chemo.

There was nothing unusual with the treatment as it went off very matter of factly. It was mentioned by Dr. Richards and the nurses that this was the last one but other then that there was no fanfare whatsoever. And nothing really that would prompt much of an emotional response from me. That's all fine by me.

There was talk, as I expected there would be, of scheduling a PET/CT scan. I go back for my Neulasta shot tomorrow and then not again for 30 days and we'll get the scan scheduling started at that time.

That's it for now.... back to "the position".

The eve before

Not much of a countdown was it? From T-7 to T-1 in one shot. LOL.

I'm in serious need of sleep but I really want to get something posted here real quick.

The past week has been crazy with work hours but the terrific weekend weather and an unexpected bike ride with Dan Nies last evening came together as 3 days of bike riding in the last 5. Not bad at all!

I met Dan, Stephanie Tobler and Doreen Dunnigan at Washington's Crossing on Saturday and had little trouble completing a 26.2 mile ride. What was most meaningful to me is that I was able to climb the "mansion hill". This was the hill that caused me to fail and call Gary Vencius for sag support not long ago. And then on Sunday I rode 11 miles with Amy on our tandem. That was an accomplishment in itself as it's been a very long time since Amy and I rode the tandem together. The best news is that Amy approves of the new cushy seat that I put on the tandem so hopefully our riding together will become more of a regular occurrence. I already have my sights set on our next tandem, a da Vinci. It only costs.... (shhhh, it's a secret! LOL). The 3rd and final ride was a 20-miler last evening with Dan. Thanks so much Dan for the late day text asking if I was interested. I'm thinking that each of these miles will help me to get my girlish figure back at some point. LOL.

I'm thinking about tomorrow and starting to get caught up in the emotion. So many things to think about but mostly, of course, it's the idea that this will be my last treatment for 2009 and hopefully a very long time after that as well. Here's to hoping that these 3 "add-on" treatments that followed the clean PET scan in May have really done their job.

Finally, thanks VERY MUCH to those that have responded to my plea with donations to the Lance Armstrong Foundation. We're collectively trying to make a concerted push for donations over these final weeks before the actual cycling event on August 23rd. Please become a part of it all by supporting me with a small donation. Click here for my LAF fundraising website. Note that there's a link on the website so that you can print a form if you prefer to mail a paper check.

Next post soon....

The countdown begins...

With only 1 week remaining before my final chemo treatment I suppose it’s OK that we start an official countdown. I was actually at Dr. Richards office today for a check-up and the nurses were teasing me about whether this next treatment was the last one. I quickly confirmed for them that, yes, next Thursday is it.

Some of you will appreciate this so I’ll mention it… I find it very fitting that next Thursday, July 16^th, also marks the 28^th anniversary of the death of one of my personal heroes, Harry Chapin. So while I sit there in the treatment room I’ll be thinking about Harry and as I have my personal Chapin music marathon playing on my Ipod I’ll meditate on his “do something” attitude as well as his lyric “it’s got to be the going, not the getting there that’s good….”.

There really isn’t much more to say on the medical front. Aside from extreme fatigue in the week immediately following treatment I’ve been OK. Oh, and of course the tingling and aversion to cold but that too only lasts for 5 days or so. I’ve been managing to get into the office when I’m feeling well and not at high risk for exposure to the outside world. I’ve also managed to get some much needed bicycling in as well.

I’m sure that the start of the Tour de France on Saturday had something to do with it but this past Sunday morning I enjoyed a very inspired and emotional 30-mile ride. Considering my current fitness level I really had no business trying to ride quite that far but it worked out just fine and needless to say it was simply heavenly. Since my objective is to ride the 45-mile distance at the LiveSTRONG event on August 23^rd this is all very meaningful riding for preparation. I hope to get in another ride with the Mintz’s Mentschen team this Saturday.

Which brings me to a segue opportunity… the LiveSTRONG event is only 6 weeks from this Sunday. Our Mintz’s Mentschen team that is riding in the Philadelphia event is much smaller this year so the hope of exceeding the $53,100 we raised last year in support of the Lance Armstrong Foundation just isn’t going to happen. However, we’re making a big push over these remaining weeks to try and raise as much as possible. If there’s any way that you can consider a small donation I’d appreciate it very much. Please go to my LiveSTRONG fundraising website by clicking here. If you’d rather send a paper check there is a form that can be printed from that same web page so that you know where to send it and so that your donation gets logged to me and the Mintz’s Mentschen.

Stay tuned for more updates as I go through my final treatment, the LiveSTRONG event, and quarterly PET scans which should actually begin in August given that my last one was in May.

Treatment #7 today

It's 7pm on treatment day and I've already had a 3 hour nap upon getting back home. As usual the treatment itself was non-eventful although the tingles are back already and physical issues with regard to cold drink/food is also back. In the big scheme of things, as I've said numerous times, those should be my worst problems!
In 4-5 days those side affects will dissipate and I'll be looking ahead to the final treatment, #8.

Recent weeks have been great as even with the constant rain I've been able to sneak in at least one bike ride over the weekend. My last one with Bailey on the tandem was 24-miles and it was great. I look forward to getting back into a regular biking/exercise routine as I really do need to drop about 20 pounds. It's so funny to even say that since it's the polar opposite of the issues from last year where I had lost 45 pounds due to chemo.

MUGA follow-up

It’s been a crazy week so I’m sorry for this belated follow-up to my visit with Dr. Richards on Monday.

As is the normal routine for each of these regular visits to Dr. Richards I had some blood taken and the counts were checked. Given that I didn’t have a neulasta injection with this treatment cycle I wasn’t quite sure what to expect. But all was fine with my white blood cell count at the bottom of the normal range and my hemoglobin and platelets also good.

We then changed gears and focused on the MUGA scan results as well as discussion about the remaining chemo treatments. Dr. Richards pointed out that the number reported by this latest MUGA was identical to the results from the MUGA in early February. Since I hadn’t seen a copy of this latest report I wasn’t aware of this and I’m obviously thrilled to now know that the epirubicin hasn’t had a negative impact on my heart. The down side of these positive results is that Dr. Richards wants to bring the epirubicin back into play for the remaining two chemo treatments. I attempted to lobby against this but when it came right down to it I realized I was being wimpy and given that there hasn’t been a physical impact to this point I know I need to suck it up and focus on kicking some cancer cell butt for just two more treatments.

Work has been crazy busy lately. That coupled with the excitement leading up to Sasha’s prom, which is tomorrow, and graduation, which is Friday June 19th, means that we’ve had little time to even think about chemo and it’s side affects. This is all goodness and really I haven’t been feeling that bad. Mostly just tired. Therefore, I was able to get out on the tandem with Bailey last weekend for a 21-mile ride. I felt just fine physically and mentally the ride was HUGE! I may even join the Mentschen for the first 20-25 miles of their scheduled 40-45 mile training ride this Sunday.

MUGA update

I received a call yesterday afternoon from Dr. Richards. He told me that the MUGA scan results came back in the "normal" range.

That's very much what I expected but given how much this chemo protocol has impacted my ability to do anything that is at all physical these results do provide some peace of mind.

So... the discussion regarding go-forward chemo plans, etc. will continue when I see Dr. Richards on Monday for my regular 10-day checkup.

50th birthday picture.... as promised

The Mintz family birthday tradition requires the hat....