A week of business travel was a bit of a setback as far as my exercise “routine” so the weather this weekend was exactly what I needed. Yesterday was one of our typical fall marching band days where we’re on the go with the band from early in the morning and into the evening.
But today I managed to get out for the 30-mile ride I wanted to do 2 weekends ago. I totally enjoyed the 30.75 mile ride and I managed to complete it in exactly 2 hours. Ordinarily speed/pace is the last thing that I make any note of, however, in this case I’m viewing this as a gauge of my fitness level and in that regard today’s ride has me feeling pretty good.
I even had the opportunity to see an “All Jacked Up” jersey flash by today! Jim Grassi was riding the Pumpkin Patch Pedal event and passed me, going in the opposite direction, as we were riding through Roosevelt, NJ. We yelled hello to each other without stopping. Just another of those “Hey, butt wipe!” moments (an observation for all you cavemen out there, LOL). It was a nice surprise and very cool to see Jim wearing the Team Mentschen jersey.
For all of the Mentschen that are approaching their final month of fundraising and training please know that I’m continuing to think of you. Thank you, thank you, thank you, and keep Living STRONG. As Dan Nies mentioned in a recent email please remember the real reason we’re doing this and send out another email blast or two to try and attract some more donations. The Mintz’s Mentschen TEAM is at a combined total of $44,000 raised so far. How impressive is that!?!
Sunday, September 21, 2008
Friday, September 12, 2008
Feeling great
Hello. I’m sorry that I don’t have an updated fuzz picture to post but since I do have some other info to pass along I’m not going to wait for the picture. I do promise to get a new pic posted as soon as I can.
Bottom line is that I’m feeling great. The 34-mile bike ride two weekends ago sort of kicked things off for me. I squeezed in a quick 24-mile ride last weekend and returned to the gym this past week to try and regain my strength by going to the spin classes that I really do enjoy very much. Since it’s been in the ballpark of 10 months or so since I had been to a spin class it was all kind of weird for me.
And although there’s a healthy crop of fuzz on my head I’m still dealing with unexpected and funny scenarios. On Wednesday morning when I arrived at the gym and the girl at the desk swiped my ID she stopped me from going in so that she could take a real close look at me and my picture as it appeared on her computer screen. She asked, “is this you?”. I assured her that it really was me. She clearly thought that I had simply shaved my moustache and cut my hair VERY short as she made no mention that the coiffure changes may have been involuntary. Guess that means I’m looking healthier and that the fuzz isn’t looking all that bad. LOL!!
My visit to Dr. Richards on Wednesday was uneventful. Since I hadn’t seen him in a few weeks we had a good old time catching up. It actually was nice to see him with things right now in a very positive light. My hemoglobin level is a bit low but improving and the INR test showed that my blood is a bit on the “thick” side. However, we’re going to keep the coumadin dosage unchanged and in two weeks I come off of it completely. I will see him next on October 9th and we’ll schedule the CT scan to be very soon after that. Obviously THAT will be a biggie…
Bottom line is that I’m feeling great. The 34-mile bike ride two weekends ago sort of kicked things off for me. I squeezed in a quick 24-mile ride last weekend and returned to the gym this past week to try and regain my strength by going to the spin classes that I really do enjoy very much. Since it’s been in the ballpark of 10 months or so since I had been to a spin class it was all kind of weird for me.
And although there’s a healthy crop of fuzz on my head I’m still dealing with unexpected and funny scenarios. On Wednesday morning when I arrived at the gym and the girl at the desk swiped my ID she stopped me from going in so that she could take a real close look at me and my picture as it appeared on her computer screen. She asked, “is this you?”. I assured her that it really was me. She clearly thought that I had simply shaved my moustache and cut my hair VERY short as she made no mention that the coiffure changes may have been involuntary. Guess that means I’m looking healthier and that the fuzz isn’t looking all that bad. LOL!!
My visit to Dr. Richards on Wednesday was uneventful. Since I hadn’t seen him in a few weeks we had a good old time catching up. It actually was nice to see him with things right now in a very positive light. My hemoglobin level is a bit low but improving and the INR test showed that my blood is a bit on the “thick” side. However, we’re going to keep the coumadin dosage unchanged and in two weeks I come off of it completely. I will see him next on October 9th and we’ll schedule the CT scan to be very soon after that. Obviously THAT will be a biggie…
Wednesday, September 3, 2008
Wednesday, September 3rd
Hello again. I have a few minutes and have been wanting to get you all some feedback for how the Philly LiveSTRONG weekend was so here goes…
Simply said the weekend was extraordinary. The entire package of what it was like to have the Philly Mintz’s Mentschen team there wearing “All Jacked Up” cycling jerseys, that our team collectively raised over $31,300 for LAF, that the weather was absolutely perfect, that Amy, Erin, and Bailey were there to enjoy the weekend with me (Sasha was at band camp...), and most of all that I was able to rejoice personally in my health and the opportunity to soak in all the love and good karma of the day…. well what more can I say? It was beyond words and I don’t know if I’ve come completely down to earth yet.
The weekend started with our packet pick-up and a team luncheon on Saturday afternoon. This served as a first step into the excitement of what was a very yellow weekend… LOL. I had the chance to meet some of the Austin-based Lance Armstrong Foundation staff that I had been in touch with via email and that had helped our Mentschen team in advance of the weekend. We gave out the Mintz’s Mentschen jerseys and t-shirts at the luncheon and the excitement began to build.
Because our team was so spread out geographically this was the first time that some people were meeting each other and it was also an opportunity for me to sync back up with the many friends that were coming together to honor me as well as other friends and loved ones, and to raise money to fight cancer. Bobby Wiener, a friend of mine from high school, was there for the luncheon with his wife and son. It had been a while since I had seen Bobby and that he so enthusiastically joined our team when he heard of my diagnosis has touched me deeply. “Friends helping Friends” as it says on our Mentschen jerseys…. that couldn’t be more true.
I could continue with the mushy stuff but I think you already get the point for how the weekend went overall. On Saturday night there was a fundraising appreciation dinner in downtown Philly at the National Constitution Center that I was lucky enough to be invited to (well… I guess I did earn it by raising over $5,900). The dinner was fun since my fundraising also earned me two extra tickets so Erin and Bailey were able to join me. Yep, Lance spoke at the dinner and great fun was had by all. Dan Nies and his wife Kathy, Bobby Wiener with his wife Stacey and son Aron, as well as Helen Ihde and Cheri Drysdale were all there from the Mentschen team.
Simply said the weekend was extraordinary. The entire package of what it was like to have the Philly Mintz’s Mentschen team there wearing “All Jacked Up” cycling jerseys, that our team collectively raised over $31,300 for LAF, that the weather was absolutely perfect, that Amy, Erin, and Bailey were there to enjoy the weekend with me (Sasha was at band camp...), and most of all that I was able to rejoice personally in my health and the opportunity to soak in all the love and good karma of the day…. well what more can I say? It was beyond words and I don’t know if I’ve come completely down to earth yet.
The weekend started with our packet pick-up and a team luncheon on Saturday afternoon. This served as a first step into the excitement of what was a very yellow weekend… LOL. I had the chance to meet some of the Austin-based Lance Armstrong Foundation staff that I had been in touch with via email and that had helped our Mentschen team in advance of the weekend. We gave out the Mintz’s Mentschen jerseys and t-shirts at the luncheon and the excitement began to build.
Because our team was so spread out geographically this was the first time that some people were meeting each other and it was also an opportunity for me to sync back up with the many friends that were coming together to honor me as well as other friends and loved ones, and to raise money to fight cancer. Bobby Wiener, a friend of mine from high school, was there for the luncheon with his wife and son. It had been a while since I had seen Bobby and that he so enthusiastically joined our team when he heard of my diagnosis has touched me deeply. “Friends helping Friends” as it says on our Mentschen jerseys…. that couldn’t be more true.
I could continue with the mushy stuff but I think you already get the point for how the weekend went overall. On Saturday night there was a fundraising appreciation dinner in downtown Philly at the National Constitution Center that I was lucky enough to be invited to (well… I guess I did earn it by raising over $5,900). The dinner was fun since my fundraising also earned me two extra tickets so Erin and Bailey were able to join me. Yep, Lance spoke at the dinner and great fun was had by all. Dan Nies and his wife Kathy, Bobby Wiener with his wife Stacey and son Aron, as well as Helen Ihde and Cheri Drysdale were all there from the Mentschen team.
And the ride? Well the ride was simply icing on the cake. I had a Mentschen posse to escort me on the 10-mile route and I couldn't be more thankful that Joanne Vencius, Stephanie Tobler, Robin Harrell, and Ron and Heather Minsky rode with me.
Following are some pictures from the weekend.
Oh, and before wrapping up this blog entry I need to tell you all that I joined the team for a ride this past weekend and actually was able to handle a ride of 34 miles! Cool, huh!? And let's not forget that approximately half of the Mentschen team, around 30 people, are still fundraising and training for their LiveStrong event in Austin that is in late October. I will be riding with them as much as I can.
I visit Dr. Richards next Wednesday for a blood test so will try to have another blog entry then to let you know how that went. And the fuzz on my head is actually starting to look like something so I'll also try to get some new pics of that.
I visit Dr. Richards next Wednesday for a blood test so will try to have another blog entry then to let you know how that went. And the fuzz on my head is actually starting to look like something so I'll also try to get some new pics of that.
The Philly Mintz's Mentschen team
Me finishing the ride
Erin and I posing by the LAF Mission wall (see my survivor sign between us?)
My buddy Lance and I
Friends helping Friends...
Wednesday, August 27, 2008
New fuzz pic
Hello everyone. The Philly LiveSTRONG event weekend was incredible. I have so much to tell you about but unfortunately not enough time to do it justice right now. So for now you'll have to be satisfied with a new picture of my head fuzz that is a definite improvement from the prior one I had posted. YES, YES, YES, it is mostly gray but at least something is growing up there! LOL.
Thursday, August 21, 2008
Thursday, August 21st.... status quo
Time for a quick update.
My INR blood test came up at 2.3 last week. That means that the coumadin dosage is perfect where it is and I was freed from the weekly visits to Dr. Richards. My next appointment isn’t until September 10th and he said that I’ll probably be able to come off of the coumadin by the end of September.
Aside from that the only excitement taking place right now is related to our first LiveSTRONG cycling event. And that will be taking place this weekend! The festivities start with a Fundraising Appreciation dinner on Saturday night in downtown Philly at the National Constitution Center. It is for those that have raised over $3,000 and thanks to your generous support I not only receive an invitation but since I’ve surpassed the $5,000 level I also get 2 additional tickets. It should be a blast. Three others from the Mintz’s Mentschen team will be there as well. Lance Armstrong will be speaking… lots of excitement as you can imagine.
The biggest news is that the Philly Mintz’s Mentschen group has exceeded $30,000 of fundraising. And the Austin team is very close to $10,000 despite their event being 3 months away! Very impressive numbers indeed. It’s all incredibly humbling and I hope to have the chance to thank our team again and again this weekend.
Oh!... I almost forgot to mention that my hair has started the slow process of growing back! There’s not too much happening with facial hair yet but I definitely have a decent crop of fuzz on my head. I’ll try to get some better pictures but for now please enjoy the one below.
My INR blood test came up at 2.3 last week. That means that the coumadin dosage is perfect where it is and I was freed from the weekly visits to Dr. Richards. My next appointment isn’t until September 10th and he said that I’ll probably be able to come off of the coumadin by the end of September.
Aside from that the only excitement taking place right now is related to our first LiveSTRONG cycling event. And that will be taking place this weekend! The festivities start with a Fundraising Appreciation dinner on Saturday night in downtown Philly at the National Constitution Center. It is for those that have raised over $3,000 and thanks to your generous support I not only receive an invitation but since I’ve surpassed the $5,000 level I also get 2 additional tickets. It should be a blast. Three others from the Mintz’s Mentschen team will be there as well. Lance Armstrong will be speaking… lots of excitement as you can imagine.
The biggest news is that the Philly Mintz’s Mentschen group has exceeded $30,000 of fundraising. And the Austin team is very close to $10,000 despite their event being 3 months away! Very impressive numbers indeed. It’s all incredibly humbling and I hope to have the chance to thank our team again and again this weekend.
Oh!... I almost forgot to mention that my hair has started the slow process of growing back! There’s not too much happening with facial hair yet but I definitely have a decent crop of fuzz on my head. I’ll try to get some better pictures but for now please enjoy the one below.
Friday, August 8, 2008
INR Update
TGIF....
I just got back from my INR test and the reading was 2.5.
Therefore there's no change in the coumadin dosage and my next INR test is scheduled for Thursday, August 14th.
To be continued...
I just got back from my INR test and the reading was 2.5.
Therefore there's no change in the coumadin dosage and my next INR test is scheduled for Thursday, August 14th.
To be continued...
Thursday, August 7, 2008
Thursday, August 7, 2008
Hello everyone.
My visit to Dr. Richards this past Monday to check the "coumadin affect" in my blood went well and yielded the results I was hoping for. These visits are for an INR test which produces a ratio indicating the ability of blood to clot. I needed something in the 2.0-3.0 range with the objective being to get the blood so that it's not too thick and not too thin. My INR was 2.0 on the nose. This was good enough for me to be able to stop the heparin injections. I don't know about Amy but that prompted a big WOO HOO from me. Not that the injections were that uncomfortable, because they weren't, but at least it's that one less thing for Amy and I to have to remember each day. The INR testing continues, however, and I'll be going back to Dr. Richards at 8:15am tomorrow morning. We need to make sure that the coumadin dosage is able to keep the INR in the desired range.
Last Saturday Dan Gerstenhaber and I got lucky and squeezed a 21.5 mile bike ride in between some really nasty rain storms. My cycling strength is still non-existent but as always it was great to be out on the bike.
With the Philly LiveSTRONG event looming ever closer the team fundraising has really been kicked up a notch. The Philly team alone has now raised $22,792 and our overall team total is now over $32,500! GO TEAM MENTSCHEN!!
My visit to Dr. Richards this past Monday to check the "coumadin affect" in my blood went well and yielded the results I was hoping for. These visits are for an INR test which produces a ratio indicating the ability of blood to clot. I needed something in the 2.0-3.0 range with the objective being to get the blood so that it's not too thick and not too thin. My INR was 2.0 on the nose. This was good enough for me to be able to stop the heparin injections. I don't know about Amy but that prompted a big WOO HOO from me. Not that the injections were that uncomfortable, because they weren't, but at least it's that one less thing for Amy and I to have to remember each day. The INR testing continues, however, and I'll be going back to Dr. Richards at 8:15am tomorrow morning. We need to make sure that the coumadin dosage is able to keep the INR in the desired range.
Last Saturday Dan Gerstenhaber and I got lucky and squeezed a 21.5 mile bike ride in between some really nasty rain storms. My cycling strength is still non-existent but as always it was great to be out on the bike.
With the Philly LiveSTRONG event looming ever closer the team fundraising has really been kicked up a notch. The Philly team alone has now raised $22,792 and our overall team total is now over $32,500! GO TEAM MENTSCHEN!!
Thursday, July 31, 2008
Thursday, July 31st
Hello everyone.
I’m sorry for the blog silence over this past week but you’ll be glad to know that it had nothing whatsoever to do with my health. For you worry warts out there that get nervous when you don’t see a blog entry for a while it’s OK now to assume that no news is good news!! LOL.
With the positive medical news has come a shift to working less from home and also for more total hours per week. The result is that I’ve been a bit tired lately and this is actually the first time this week that I’ve touched my laptop in the evening. Hence no blog entries.
But as for the current medical report the heparin is doing its job and the worst of the blood clot episode is behind us. The swelling in my neck is gone and it’s no longer sensitive to the touch. I began taking coumadin on Monday of this week and based on my visit to Dr. Richards today we hope to be able to stop the heparin by early next week. As expected Amy has been doing an excellent job with administering the heparin injections. My next visit to Dr. Richards will be on Monday afternoon and we’ll assess my blood counts yet again. Once I’m free from the heparin the focus will transition to tweaking the coumadin dosage. It’s expected that I’ll be on coumadin for approximately 2-3 months.
On Tuesday of this week I actually had a very symbolic and unexpectedly emotional milestone. Livingston Infusion Care, the company that provided my visiting nurse Lana and the pump that administered the 5FU chemo drug with each treatment, came to pick-up “the box”. In addition to containing 7 chemo treatments worth of medical waste “the box” contained the pump. They actually came to my office to make the pick-up and upon signing the receipt and returning to my desk I found myself in tears. I suppose it truly was a symbolic end to the chemo process. I hadn’t given much thought to how it might hit me when I really thought about it.
The first Mintz’s Mentschen LiveSTRONG event is getting very close and the TEAM has been really cranking up the miles and hill training in recent weeks. They’re ready. As for me, I’ll be slugging along on the 10-mile route on August 24th (I think the actual mileage is slightly higher then that). If there was something in the 20-30 range I’d do that route but the next event route is 45 hilly miles and there’s no way I can pull that off right now. So, my appearance will be largely symbolic and also so that I can give my teammates a huge hug in thanks for their love and support. Total fundraising is now above $28,900!!
I’m sorry for the blog silence over this past week but you’ll be glad to know that it had nothing whatsoever to do with my health. For you worry warts out there that get nervous when you don’t see a blog entry for a while it’s OK now to assume that no news is good news!! LOL.
With the positive medical news has come a shift to working less from home and also for more total hours per week. The result is that I’ve been a bit tired lately and this is actually the first time this week that I’ve touched my laptop in the evening. Hence no blog entries.
But as for the current medical report the heparin is doing its job and the worst of the blood clot episode is behind us. The swelling in my neck is gone and it’s no longer sensitive to the touch. I began taking coumadin on Monday of this week and based on my visit to Dr. Richards today we hope to be able to stop the heparin by early next week. As expected Amy has been doing an excellent job with administering the heparin injections. My next visit to Dr. Richards will be on Monday afternoon and we’ll assess my blood counts yet again. Once I’m free from the heparin the focus will transition to tweaking the coumadin dosage. It’s expected that I’ll be on coumadin for approximately 2-3 months.
On Tuesday of this week I actually had a very symbolic and unexpectedly emotional milestone. Livingston Infusion Care, the company that provided my visiting nurse Lana and the pump that administered the 5FU chemo drug with each treatment, came to pick-up “the box”. In addition to containing 7 chemo treatments worth of medical waste “the box” contained the pump. They actually came to my office to make the pick-up and upon signing the receipt and returning to my desk I found myself in tears. I suppose it truly was a symbolic end to the chemo process. I hadn’t given much thought to how it might hit me when I really thought about it.
The first Mintz’s Mentschen LiveSTRONG event is getting very close and the TEAM has been really cranking up the miles and hill training in recent weeks. They’re ready. As for me, I’ll be slugging along on the 10-mile route on August 24th (I think the actual mileage is slightly higher then that). If there was something in the 20-30 range I’d do that route but the next event route is 45 hilly miles and there’s no way I can pull that off right now. So, my appearance will be largely symbolic and also so that I can give my teammates a huge hug in thanks for their love and support. Total fundraising is now above $28,900!!
Wednesday, July 23, 2008
Wednesday, July 23rd, 2008
Hello everyone... just a quick post to let you know that the mediport removal went very smoothly yesterday. I had been told that removal was going to be easier then when it was put in but I was still concerned. A little extra sedative and a much gentler doctor did the trick I think.
I'm a little sore but I'm already having improvement on the stiff neck simply from removal of the mediport. The rest will be cleared up when the blood thinners start tomorrow.
I have an appointment at Dr. Richards at 1:45pm. Amy will get a tutorial on administering the injections and I'd be surprised if they didn't have her go ahead and do this first one while people are there to provide help/feedback. Hopefully these drugs will have a quick impact and we can get beyond this little bump in the road.
I'm a little sore but I'm already having improvement on the stiff neck simply from removal of the mediport. The rest will be cleared up when the blood thinners start tomorrow.
I have an appointment at Dr. Richards at 1:45pm. Amy will get a tutorial on administering the injections and I'd be surprised if they didn't have her go ahead and do this first one while people are there to provide help/feedback. Hopefully these drugs will have a quick impact and we can get beyond this little bump in the road.
Here's a picture while on the the 23.8 mile ride last weekend with two of my "draggers" (Cheri and Geneva.... Stephanie is taking the picture)
To be continued....
Monday, July 21, 2008
Are we having fun yet? REDUX
This past week has been nice since every passing day brought improvement in my eating and I’ve been taking full advantage. Oh yes, believe me on that one. I was really looking forward to this past weekend since Amy and I were able to join some of our Team Mentschen friends for a group fundraising effort in Mt. Holly. Lots of hugs and kisses were shared and it was just a special, albeit toasty, day to spend with some of my closest friends. The real icing on the cake came yesterday when I joined in on a team training ride and managed to drag my butt through a 23.8 mile ride. Actually Cheri Drysdale, Geneva DiTaranto, and Stephanie Tobler were the draggers and I thank them for their patience.
I was all excited to post a blog entry that focused on the success of the bike ride yesterday but today brought info that kind of trumps the bike ride for top billing.
Last Tuesday/Wednesday I woke up with pain in my neck but figured that I just slept funny and that it would go away. Problem is that it didn’t go away and this morning we made an unexpected visit to see Dr. Richards. He quickly sent me to the adjacent building to see a vascular surgeon for an ultrasound to see what might be going on. The important point for me to mention here is that the discomfort is right where the catheter from my mediport goes into the jugular vein in my neck. The diagnosis was clear and immediate… sure enough I have a blood clot in my jugular vein.
So…. I have an emergency procedure to unexpectedly remove my mediport tomorrow afternoon. And that will be closely followed by a several day regimen of heparin and then Coumadin. Amy gets to inject the heparin here at home.
Are we having fun yet? LOL!!
For those of you worrying about the mere mention of “blood clot” please don’t get too carried away. The situation would be very different if the clot was in a larger blood vessel and if that vessel was an artery instead of a vein. There’s no risk of a stroke. Having the mediport removed tomorrow is a whole lot earlier then expected but that may turn out to be a blessing as well. I do know that I’m going to ask them to crank up the sedation a bit more then when it was put in which was NOT fun.
So that’s the whole scoop for now.
I’ll be back in touch as soon as I can with status.
Don’t panic!!
I was all excited to post a blog entry that focused on the success of the bike ride yesterday but today brought info that kind of trumps the bike ride for top billing.
Last Tuesday/Wednesday I woke up with pain in my neck but figured that I just slept funny and that it would go away. Problem is that it didn’t go away and this morning we made an unexpected visit to see Dr. Richards. He quickly sent me to the adjacent building to see a vascular surgeon for an ultrasound to see what might be going on. The important point for me to mention here is that the discomfort is right where the catheter from my mediport goes into the jugular vein in my neck. The diagnosis was clear and immediate… sure enough I have a blood clot in my jugular vein.
So…. I have an emergency procedure to unexpectedly remove my mediport tomorrow afternoon. And that will be closely followed by a several day regimen of heparin and then Coumadin. Amy gets to inject the heparin here at home.
Are we having fun yet? LOL!!
For those of you worrying about the mere mention of “blood clot” please don’t get too carried away. The situation would be very different if the clot was in a larger blood vessel and if that vessel was an artery instead of a vein. There’s no risk of a stroke. Having the mediport removed tomorrow is a whole lot earlier then expected but that may turn out to be a blessing as well. I do know that I’m going to ask them to crank up the sedation a bit more then when it was put in which was NOT fun.
So that’s the whole scoop for now.
I’ll be back in touch as soon as I can with status.
Don’t panic!!
Monday, July 14, 2008
The verdict is in
It took until 8pm when the phone first rang from Dr. Meng at Sloan-Kettering. This was followed in short order by a call from Dr. Richards so I now have what I was referring to as “the punch line”. And as far as I’m concerned it is NOW safe to celebrate!!
I thanked Dr. Meng for calling but he said he was only too happy to call as he doesn’t get good news such as the results of my PET scan all that often. He said people do get a complete response such as I have but that I should be commended for enduring 7 cycles of what he described as “a difficult treatment protocol”. He said that he and Dr. Richards agreed that “a break” of 3 months from all treatment was in order. In 3 months we’ll take a CT scan to see what, if anything, is happening.
What a relief!
I’m still feeling the affects of treatment #7 but have all of the patience in the world knowing that I’ll have the opportunity for complete recovery this time around. It’s time for me to get back on that bike!
I thanked Dr. Meng for calling but he said he was only too happy to call as he doesn’t get good news such as the results of my PET scan all that often. He said people do get a complete response such as I have but that I should be commended for enduring 7 cycles of what he described as “a difficult treatment protocol”. He said that he and Dr. Richards agreed that “a break” of 3 months from all treatment was in order. In 3 months we’ll take a CT scan to see what, if anything, is happening.
What a relief!
I’m still feeling the affects of treatment #7 but have all of the patience in the world knowing that I’ll have the opportunity for complete recovery this time around. It’s time for me to get back on that bike!
Thursday, July 10, 2008
Are you ready for this?
“COMPLETE METABOLIC RESPONSE”
What does that mean you ask? It means that the preliminary results from the PET scan this morning show that the cancer is GONE!!!!
Yes! You read that correctly, GONE.
It’s all very fresh and we’re still shaking and crying but it’s true.
The plan is that we will have a discussion with Dr. Richards and doctors at Sloan-Kettering on Monday to determine next steps.
I’m not sure at this point what else to say. Although I guess a big thank-you goes out to all of you for the prayers, support, cards/letters, phone calls, text messages, food, gifts, donations to LAF, and generally good karma that came our way over these past 7 months. It was a huge help, very humbling at times, and all greatly appreciated.
It’s definitely a bit surreal right now and I look forward to a return to “normalcy” with an appreciation for life from the perspective of a cancer survivor.
LiveSTRONG, enjoy life, and never take the simple pleasures for granted.
More to follow next week.
What does that mean you ask? It means that the preliminary results from the PET scan this morning show that the cancer is GONE!!!!
Yes! You read that correctly, GONE.
It’s all very fresh and we’re still shaking and crying but it’s true.
The plan is that we will have a discussion with Dr. Richards and doctors at Sloan-Kettering on Monday to determine next steps.
I’m not sure at this point what else to say. Although I guess a big thank-you goes out to all of you for the prayers, support, cards/letters, phone calls, text messages, food, gifts, donations to LAF, and generally good karma that came our way over these past 7 months. It was a huge help, very humbling at times, and all greatly appreciated.
It’s definitely a bit surreal right now and I look forward to a return to “normalcy” with an appreciation for life from the perspective of a cancer survivor.
LiveSTRONG, enjoy life, and never take the simple pleasures for granted.
More to follow next week.
Saturday, July 5, 2008
And now for something totally different...
Just when I start to refer to these treatments as a “monotonous roller-coaster”, as if they’ve become routine, it opened the door for something entirely different. I’m not exactly sure what the cause was, whether it is the chemo itself or inexplicably something I ate, but to say that I have been under the weather for the past couple of days would be an understatement for sure. Ordinarily I’d be dealing with “typical” mouth issues at this point but this time my digestive system has been down for the count big time. So much so that I had the opportunity to experience my first bouts with vomiting (sorry for the gorey details) on top of the other stuff that you can just imagine. So… needless to say I haven’t been sleeping well nor eating/drinking… well, just forget any of that for the past couple of days.
As of this morning things are definitely looking up and I was able to do a little bit of eating today. However, my weight is now down to new levels of “low”. A walk out to the mailbox this afternoon had me needing to sit down immediately. I’m hoping that since things seemed to have turned around that I’ll be able to put some pounds back on and get myself together before the PET scan on Thursday morning.
To be continued…
As of this morning things are definitely looking up and I was able to do a little bit of eating today. However, my weight is now down to new levels of “low”. A walk out to the mailbox this afternoon had me needing to sit down immediately. I’m hoping that since things seemed to have turned around that I’ll be able to put some pounds back on and get myself together before the PET scan on Thursday morning.
To be continued…
Tuesday, July 1, 2008
Tuesday, July 1st, 2008
Hello everyone….
About the only new and exciting news I have for you is a date/time for my PET scan. It will be on Thursday, July 10th at 7:45am. Since it will provide the first insight as to where we stand after the CT scan that was taken on April 9th I’m very anxious to get this done. I have every reason to believe that the positive affect of the treatments has continued and that once we have the results we’ll be able to discuss go-forward plans. Anything that eases what has become a monotonous roller-coaster of normalcy followed by extreme weight loss and discomfort has to be an improvement.
And that’s where I am right now… I was OK yesterday but took a big downturn today into the whole eating malaise. I fought it for as long as I could but now have to just ride it out again. Tomorrow is a visit to Dr. Richards for my Neulasta injection and some IV fluids. I can probably use the fluids at this point.
On the Mintz’s Mentschen front the training has become more serious, as expected, and total fundraising is now peeking over the $23,200 level. And many of the Austin team members, since their event isn’t until late October, have yet to really kick into gear. My personal fundraising is over $4,000 before JPMorgan Chase matching gifts have even hit my account! And there’s talk of publicizing our LiveSTRONG cause for 3rd Quarter giving at Chase.
Following are a couple of pictures of me and Bailey with the tandem and Mentschen teammates before the “simple pleasures” ride on June 21st. Thanks to Caren Altieri for the pics!!
About the only new and exciting news I have for you is a date/time for my PET scan. It will be on Thursday, July 10th at 7:45am. Since it will provide the first insight as to where we stand after the CT scan that was taken on April 9th I’m very anxious to get this done. I have every reason to believe that the positive affect of the treatments has continued and that once we have the results we’ll be able to discuss go-forward plans. Anything that eases what has become a monotonous roller-coaster of normalcy followed by extreme weight loss and discomfort has to be an improvement.
And that’s where I am right now… I was OK yesterday but took a big downturn today into the whole eating malaise. I fought it for as long as I could but now have to just ride it out again. Tomorrow is a visit to Dr. Richards for my Neulasta injection and some IV fluids. I can probably use the fluids at this point.
On the Mintz’s Mentschen front the training has become more serious, as expected, and total fundraising is now peeking over the $23,200 level. And many of the Austin team members, since their event isn’t until late October, have yet to really kick into gear. My personal fundraising is over $4,000 before JPMorgan Chase matching gifts have even hit my account! And there’s talk of publicizing our LiveSTRONG cause for 3rd Quarter giving at Chase.
Following are a couple of pictures of me and Bailey with the tandem and Mentschen teammates before the “simple pleasures” ride on June 21st. Thanks to Caren Altieri for the pics!!
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