Close But Not Yet

Almost!

I had the Medi-Port removal all set for today, and then fate happened. Originally, my surgery was scheduled for 9:00 AM today, but the scheduler didn't allow for enough time for the procedure. Thus, I was rescheduled to 2:00 PM. Only that didn't work either. It seems that the surgery prior to mine was going to go into overtime, so I was re-scheduled again to 2:45. Well, as I was on the way to the appointment, I received another call from the nurse saying that the doctor would not be available until 3:30. So, I was re-scheduled yet again. Lastly, I got a call at 3:15 and guess what? Well I guess it just wasn't in the cards for today. So, bottom line, I'm scheduled for tomorrow at 3:15 and hopefully it will happen that I get to start the weekend with a little chest pain.

Keep your fingers crossed!

Bionic No More

A little over a year ago I had the pleasure of having a "spare part" placed in my chest. This little device, known generically as a mediport, provided an entry location for chemotherapy to be injected into my veins. When it was placed in me I declared myself "the bionic man" in this very blog sight. The port was a great help in that it saved my veins form the onslaught of needles that were to follow and allowed Ethel (my favorite) to be a part of my life for a week at a time without monopolizing my arm. Unfortunately, it has also provided a reminder to me on a daily basis (every morning) that I have been a cancer victim and patient. While it remains in me I need to go back to the chemo clinic and have the port flushed out monthly so as to avoid infections from it. A monthly reminder of the clinic, the chemo experience, and another needle stick. The positive of the monthly clinic visits are the hugs and greetings I get from the nursing staff there, so I guess its not all bad!

As I am no longer a full fledged patient, but rather a recovering survivor (and it feels really good to say that!) I decided a while back that the "spare part" needs to be removed. I'll admit that losing the bionic man tag will be a blow to my ego, but its a blow that I'm willing to live with!


I e-mailed Dr. S (my chemo oncologists) to get the process started and to get a referral. Naturally nothing comes without debate in this cancer world. Dr. S wrote back that she recommended the port to stay in a year after radiation is completed in case of a (dare I say) recurrence. I responded that I would prefer to have it out and that it could be placed back in if a recurrence were to befall me (which according to Emily and my beliefs it won't...the Beast has been evicted). Dr. S has sent the referral.


So I am now scheduled to become a mere mortal with the removal of my bionic part on Aug 6. It will be an outpatient surgery and looks to be a great deal of fun. Finally, the last vestige of chemo days removed. No more daily reminders and monthly needle sticks. Yippee!


Have a good one all, and remember ... Life Is Good.

The Jig

Mary Pettibone Poole is credited with saying (back in 1938), and I quote, " He who laughs, lasts." What a great saying!

So a few weeks ago I took a road trip with Dave-o to visit TJ & Joan in Chicago. We also were able to get together with another old college pal and roommate, Jorge. Joan had a bunch of things planned including a Cubbies game, a visit tho the Chicago Art Festival, a party at her sister's home (Kathy & Dave), and then a trip to the Chicago Blues festival. A perfect weekend! The only thing I had to promise to Joan was to perform my Cancer Free Jig. Naturally, I made the promise!

I think a little explanation is due here! The Cancer Free Jig, or CFJ as it is uncommonly known to most, is a jig that I witnessed on my 1st day of radiation treatment (oh so long ago). As I was about to go into my first of many zaps, a lady was coming out of the lab with a certificate in hand. As soon as she made it through the door, she broke out into a spontaneous dance and declared it her CFJ. I was quite taken with it. It made quite the impression on me and when I told Joan about it she said that I was going to have to perform one too. She also said that she was going to have to see it. So, I agreed. Thus, the CFG promise made for the Chi-town Road Trip.

The trip went almost as planned. TJ, Dave-o, & I went to the Cubbies game with a stop at the Sears Tower (how touristy of us). The tower was great, the Cubs game was a blast (Cubs lost though) and the three of us laughed a bunch!

The next day we went to the art festival with Joan's sister & bro-in-law (Kathy & Dave), Jorge came along, and a bunch of other folks too. It made for a wonderful afternoon. And we laughed a bunch!

This was followed by the party at Kathy & Dave's place (a tradition for the apres art fest times as I understand it). As the night went on, we laughed a bunch. The party was a blast, people were fantastically nice. And we laughed a bunch more!

During the party, I promised to dance my CFJ, as long as I didn't dance alone. So there were a few volunteers that joined in. Here are the pictures to prove it.

And we laughed more!!!

Unfortunately, sometime after the jig was completed, I ended up falling down the stairs at Kathy & Dave's place. No need for long explanations here, suffice it to say that good times were had by all and we laughed a bunch. Joan's other sister Carol helped to break my fall a little (thanks Carol), but the net result was a nasty soreness on my left side.

The next day it took me about 20 minutes to work my way out of bed, literally. So it was off to the Emergency Room with Joan, TJ & Dave-o where we ran into a doctor with a great sense of humor. Unfortunately, it really hurt to laugh. Thus, I believe that the doctor, TJ, & Dave-o took it as a personal challenge to keep me guffawing. And we laughed a bunch!

After a few x-rays (Joan accompanying me all the way as she always seems to do), confirmation came in as to why I hurt when I laughed. I was the proud owner of 2 broken ribs on my left side. OUCH!! (should you have the opportunity to experience this, do yourself a favor and pass it by) This curtailed the laughter a bit, but not completely! There were some good snickers that ensued that were at my expense, naturally.

Unfortunately, the broken ribs put a damper on our trip to the blues festival, but I was still able to spend some great times with the the gang, and Jorge caught up to us too. And we laughed a bunch (even if it hurt a bit).

Well, the trip was much needed even if the price was a soreness in my rib area that reminded me of my post surgical pain. However, the stories that have propagated from the weekend has provided a great deal of laughs. And in those immortal words of Mary Pettibone Poole, "He who laughs, lasts" I plan to keep dancing, laugh a bunch more, and last a long time! Watch me live!

Life is good!

PS: Sorry it's taken so long since the last posting. I hope all is well with you all.

Yesterday's Blur & Results

Yesterday was a basic blur. When you get an endoscopy, they knock you out so that you don't choke on the camera ... the tube ... and any other ancillary equipment that may be going down your throat to get the pictures. That said, I was aware of my surroundings as I went into the Endo Room and got to see Dr. L, who was to perform the procedure. It turns out that Dr. L is the same person that performed the endoscopy last year that proved to be pivotal in finding that I had cancer. Dr. L said that she remembered me from last year too! She's a very nice lady who was definitely rooting for a different outcome this year! Although I have to wonder if she actually remembered me or if she was just playing along. I'll give her the benefit of the doubt though and say its nice to be remembered.

Anyway, I was knocked out and the next thing I know I was being awakened by a nice nurse who helped me to my brother-in-law's car. Chris (my b-in-law) had the pleasure of telling me that the endoscopy showed no visual signs of the beast being present. Dr. L took a couple of biopsies and we're still awaiting the results from the lab. Given the way things are going, I have to say that I'm pretty confident that they'll come back "unremarkable" ... negative ... no evidence of disease (NED) ... clean ... or whatever way you may want to describe cancer free.

So, given the visual results (I'm going out on a limb here), I get to say ...

WATCH ME LIVE and LIFE IS GOOD!

Happy Father's Day to all you dad's out there.

Cheers all!

Endoscopy Eve

Tomorrow I'll get pictures taken of the my esophagus. I'll get to see the place where this crazy adventure began! Can't say I'm looking forward to it, but I'm glad I'm getting it done. Naturally I don't want a rerun of last year. Actually, I don't feel that there will be one. I'm rooting for some added closure here!

Fingers are crossed!

More "Unremarkable"

Hi!

Yesterday I had the pleasure of visiting NIH again. I really have an affinity for the place. So, my day there consisted of more blood work followed by a PET scan. Then I went for a CT scan (administered by a very proud parent of a just graduated St. Johns College High senior ... SJC is my alma mater and my nephew also just graduated from there ... made for nice conversation and something in common). Then I went off to get another liver MRI. Tests, tests, and more tests ... or rather scans, scans, and more scans.

Today I had the pleasure of going back to NIH to speak with Dr. Sch, Dr. TR and Tricia RN. They first thing Dr. Sch said to me was (and I quote), "Congratulations!" There was further discussions of unremarkable scan results. Bottom line ... The Beast is still not hanging about. A pretty good day!

Thus, my affinity for NIH these days. It seems that every time I go there I'm either tested, scanned or given good news.

By the way, the efforts of Dr. TR, Dr. Sch, Tricia RN, the lab technicians, the PET scan machine, the CT scan machine, the MRI machine and for that matter, the entire NIH facility are your tax dollars at work. I am truly lucky that they are working with me and have a continued interest in me for their research efforts. Because you all have a bit of a financial input here from payment of taxes, I feel I should say ... Thanks for the help all.

Life is Good ... and unremarkable again!

Making Memories

Dave left me a comment for my last posting that has inspired me to write about a thought that I've had for while.

After the SNAFU'd diagnosis, a good friend of mine (Mike) offered himself up as my own Make-A-Wish foundation. You see, Make-a-Wish-Mike works for COMCAST TV and can get tickets to many different events. So he took it upon himself to get my kids and me tickets to opening day for the Nats. We had third row seats right by the Phillies dugout on the 3rd base line along with tickets to a pregame party (food, drink, and fun with friends). Emily proclaimed that she liked hanging out with the rich folks. The game was a blast and the Nats actually managed to keep it close, almost pulling off the upset. We had a blast & a great day of memories!




Next Make-a-Wish-Mike went and got us tickets to game 5 of the Caps vs. Rangers hockey series. MaW-Mike gave us tickets that were right behind the goal, 10 rows back. Pretty cool! If you recall this was the game where the Caps were down 3 games to 1 in the series and they need to win the rest of the way to get to the 2nd round of the Stanley Cup. Well, the Caps won, the kids had a blast, and I had a wonderful time with my kids and another set of great memories. The only thing we lost that night were our voices from cheering too much! Mike came with his son and had a few good memories too!




Make-a-Wish-Mike then took it upon himself to get us tickets to a day of soccer. We were treated to a double header at RFK stadium with the Washington Freedom opening the day and DC United finishing it up. Unfortunately Stephen couldn't make the game so Emily had the joy of bringing a friend. MaW-Mike got us tickets that were on the field. Basically we were so close to the field that we could have reached out and touched the players as they performed a throw-in. Very cool! Better yet, as the game ended, we were escorted to the side of the field with the team benches and our escort arranged for the girls to meet the players of their choice. Autographs, hugs, pictures, for the girls and I got to shake a few hands. Pretty cool again!






Good times all! Good memories all! Thanks Make-a-Wish Mike. It's pretty cool to have more great memories and some darn good fun! Life is good! Take that beast, more good living!





PS: Don't tell Make-a-Wish-Mike that the SNAFU diagnosis was reversed. He might come to his senses and stop giving us some really cool tickets!