Merry Christmas - What A Year It's Been

Merry Christmas and happy holidays to you all. It's been a while since my last post and I wanted to catch you up on the past 6 months. 

My second, post-chemo follow-up appointment with Dr. Seifter was on October 4. Everything is still going great and my blood counts are all back to normal. My lungs are back to full capacity - it feels so good to take a deep breath and hold it without coughing. I still have mild neuropathy in my feet and right pinky. Other than that, no issues at all. My next appointment is in a few weeks and I expect that will be just as good as the last. 

Thank you for your continued support.  Much love to you all.

Below are a few "getting back to normal" photos since my last post.

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We are all together for Christmas today and life couldn't be better...

Merry Christmas

Merrier Christmas!

We spent Thanksgiving at the beach - there is much to be thankful for...

Happy Thanksgiving

In August Alison and Jen raced in the Iron Girl Sprint Triathlon and both got personal bests and placed 7th overall as a mother-daughter team. Best of all they raised over $4000 for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society in my name...

 
In July, ML and Jimmy C. hosted Sean P., Griff, and me for our first Jugfest weekend of golf, baseball, fine wine and a great steak. We took in a Yankees game on a rainy Friday night, the same night Derek Jeter came back from injured reserve (he didn't play on the slop). We got to see Mariano Rivera (Enter Sandman) close out the Twins for the 30th save of his final season. It was a long game due to several rain delays. The good news is when you have the best seats in the house and access to the Legends Suite it's just fine if the game goes past midnight. On Saturday we went into Manhattan for some good wine at Amuse. Pick joined up with us and we walked over the Williamsburg Bridge into Brooklyn where Rodney and his son Jack also met up with us.  We and had some fine steaks, more excellent wine and laughed for 3 hours straight. As you can see in the photo below, we closed down Peter Luger's Steakhouse after one of those meals you never forget.

Great Friends Enjoy a Fine Meal

Chris graduated from Culinary school...

A Happy Graduate

Happier Grandparents

And he celebrated with a Mediterranean cruise with Saina and PopPop... 

On the way

More Sights

Hungover?

No News is Good News...And Some More Good News!

Hey everyone. I haven't had much to write about since the results from my last scan because there hasn't been any real news. And that's a good thing. I continue to progress back to normal every day. The neuropathy in my fingers is all but gone. It's still going strong in my feet however, but it's not slowing me down. My hair is back and as healthy as ever. I am particularly glad to have my eyebrows and eyelashes back. And my white blood cell count is back in the reference range at 6200 per microliter (I was at 10400 just before chemo started). Below are a couple of pictures from David's graduation last month.

David (the grad) and a very proud Dad!

A Happy Day for Us!

I had my first checkup with Dr. Seifter on Thursday and everything went well. It was a routine checkup followed by some questions and answers. Other than needing to lose a few pounds, I am doing great. At this point I am considered to be in full remission. After three years with no recurrence (swollen lymph nodes or other symptoms), I will be cured. The good news is Dr. Seifter was recently in Chicago at a meeting of oncologists and there's some new data out that's specific to Hodgkin's Lymphoma. For patients who have a clean scan after the completion of chemotherapy, the odds of a recurrence of Hodgkins is now 2% (4 out of 200). I like those numbers! That's about the same as my chances for developing acute leukemia from the chemotherapy treatment. I also got several blood tests done, all of which were just fine. And I got to say hello to Dawn but missed Anna since it was her day off. My next appointment is Sept. 27. And there are no further plans for PET/CT scans.

To top off my Thursday I went to a Nats-Rockies game with ML (Mark), Sean P, Griff, and Mark's dad Phil (awesome tickets Janice!). The Nats won and I had a great time catching up with ML and talking with Phil. It was a great day to spend my last day of spring and something I've been dreaming about since last fall – returning to normal.

And thank you all so much for the incredible support for Alison's Team in Training triathlon drive. Jen has joined her as a teammate and they have met their $3000 fund raising goal already. You are all so very awesome. Thank you again.

Have a wonderful summer. I hope everyone has a chance to relax and enjoy a vacation.

Free At Last! My Final PET/CT Results Are In.

"No metabolic abnormality to suggest active lymphoma." 

No sweeter words exist right now. Translated...my final PET/CT scan was clear! Hodgkin's Lymphoma has left the building, hopefully never to return. 

Read it for yourself:

Just an Awesome Result!

While I was expecting nothing less, it was an incredible feeling to see that result in the final report and then hear it from Dr. Seifter.

As I've stated more than once in this blog, I am a fortunate and lucky man. Fortunate to be surrounded by so many loving and supportive family members and friends. Fortunate to have world class medical resources nearby. And lucky to be able to get over this "speed bump" in my life with nothing more than a few minor complications. While my chances of relapse are small and the chances of another cancer due to the chemo regimen are small as well (1-in-200), I am looking forward to being deemed as "cured" a few years from now.

Thank you all...and much love to each and every one of you. And thanks so much to everyone who has supported Alison's triathlon quest. She met her goal in less than 3 days - you all are awesome. 

PS...I'll continue to send out periodic updates on the blog. I will see Dr. Seifter on June 21 for my first 3-month check up.

It's A Small Hodgkin's World!

I was out tonight with my son David and got a hankering for a milk shake. Those who know me will not find this surprising at all. There are only so many places to go at 9pm on a Wednesday in Catonsville and I wasn't feeling like McDonalds or Burger King. We happened to pass Tastee Zone and saw it was still open. And luckily the young woman working the counter was able to get the window open...it was stuck. I ordered a large vanilla malt and then turned around to watch David run to 7-11 for a Slurpee. While standing and waiting on their deck for my nightcap I noticed that the other young woman who was working was wearing a unique, scarf-like, head wrap. My intuition was that this young woman might have cancer. As she was emptying the trash I asked why she was wearing the head wrap.

Very honestly and in a forthright  manner she replied to a complete stranger "I have cancer."

"What type?" I replied. 

As fate would have it "Hodgkin's Lymphoma" came the answer. 

"What stage?" I asked. 

"Stage 2B."

"Are you on ABVD?"

"Yes."

With a big smile I proceeded to tell her about my past 7 months and where I was in the process.  I then asked how her treatments were progressing. She's 20 and has had to take off a semester from Salisbury State to go through treatment. Unfortunately I would say she has not been as lucky as me. Her white cell counts have gotten too low and she was pulled off Bleomycin. She is also on neulasta - something Dr. Seifer is not a big fan of. She just finished chemo treatment #5 and has one to go. We talked about eyebrows (she has some left and does a great job job making them look better than they are) and peripheral neuropathy (she has avoided this thankfully). I also told her about Dr. Seifter because she's not a fan of her current team. As we talked I was struck by how confident and brave she was. I hope she is cancer free after her next treatment so she won't have to endure any more. Otherwise I told her to consider Dr. Seifter.

I left her with the address of this blog so that she could have some additional info. 

I wish her the very best.

Still Going Strong and Alison's Quest

I hope you all are doing well. I continue to improve every day. My taste buds are almost back to normal and I can feel my fingertips again. My toes are still a bit numb but getting better each week. The hair on top of my head is growing faster although I continue to shave it while I wait for my eyebrows to come back. There's some peach fuzz above each eye so hopefully they'll be back soon. My appetite is good although I am still retaining water more than normal. Once I get back on the elliptical that should clear up. My final (hopefully) PET/CT is this Friday so I'll send an update after I get those results early next week. I don't see Dr. Seifter until June unless the PET/CT is anything other than clear. All in all I feel great!

Now on to Alison's quest... Jen and our daughter Alison have competed in the Athleta Iron Girl Columbia Triathlon for several years now. Last year they finished 10th as a mother daughter team and Alison was 17th overall in the swim leg of the triathlon out of more than 1500 competitors. She's working on her cycling and running so they catch up to her swim prowess. For 2013 she got the idea to join Team in Training (TNT). TNT is a charitable organization formed 25 years ago to raise funds for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society (LLS) by participation in the world's major marathons, triathlons, hiking adventures and century rides. I am honored that our lovely daughter will compete in honor of me and my quest to be cancer free. If you would like to support her and the cancer research that is helping me get cured, the link to her training site is here:

Donate to Alison for her Team In Training competition.

I'm also happy to report that my brother's mother-in-law Janet has responded well to chemo and she is back on top of her fight with multiple myeloma. Keep up the good fight mom/Janet!

Much love to you all.

Two Weeks Post Chemo - Doing Great!

Apologies for waiting so long for an update. It's been a hectic two weeks between work, swim meets, kids commitments and the end of the high school semester. The good news is I did have one major revelation about cancer - possibly a breakthrough for many of us. Below is the fortune from David's fortune cookie from dinner tonight...

If I had only known...

On our way driving east on I-70 yesterday morning Jen reminded me that this was my first 9-80 (AFO) Friday where I wasn't heading to chemo treatment. Instead we were headed to Providence for a long Easter weekend to visit Chris who turned 21 this week. Travel is back to being an option again! It was definitely a Good Friday. What a great feeling to be healing and not going for another round of cancer killing chemicals. As we drove north I was left thinking about so many others still dealing with their treatments like Janet (Twi's mom who is responding well to chemo), Eileen (had chemo on the 22nd), Danita (done with chemo but radiation starts in June), and Colleen and her sister-in-law who are likely right in the middle of treatments. 

I'm doing pretty well overall. My taste is almost back to normal. My toes still hurt from neuropathy more often than not but each day is different. My energy level is good and has supported the long days at work. And it is so nice to be getting away for a few days with Jen and the kids.  Below is a family photo from Chez Pascal in Providence last night. It's a cozy French restaurant just north of Brown University. We had a great meal and an even better conversation as we enjoyed our time together.

Family Dinner

Today we drive to Newport and toured the island on our own. Alison picked out her future home on the drive on Ocean Drive. Unfortunately for her Sotheby's is offering her dream house, Wildacre, for a mere $15.75M. It almost hit 60 degrees and it was just a beautiful day to get out on the Atlantic. Some photos below from the south end of Brenton Point State Park.

David, Chris and me

Alison and Jen

Happy Easter and Passover this weekend. Much love to you all. 

Chemo Treatment #12 - DONE! Hallelujah!

All I can say is "Wow!" It was just an incredible day. I am almost overwhelmed by the incredible outpouring of love and support that reached a crescendo this week. As I said in my last post it started early in the week and just continued to build all week. Between text messages, emails, calls, and the family and friends who were able show up today, it was absolutely amazing.There were lots of pictures today so this post will be a filled with them.

Mom, Dad, Pete, Les, Little Joe, and Sharon came over bright and early. Jen and I joined them in the short trek to the chemo facility. Traffic cooperated and were were early. And Sharon's blood pressure didn't suffer too much as she rode shotgun with dad as he navigated the Baltimore beltway traffic trying to keep up with me. The "crew" nearly filled the back part of Dr. Seifter's waiting area...see below:

Most of the Heart of Team Brack

My consult with Dr. Seifter was uplifting and congratulatory more than anything. My vitals were fine and there were no major issues to address...other than the Ravens rapidly disappearing defense during free agency. We talked about the statistics going forward...there is a 1 in 200 chance of developing acute leukemia or myelodysplasia within 7 years, and there is as high as an 85% chance of total cure (no relapse) with classic Hodgkin's Lymphoma within 5-7 years. And I'll say it again...I like those odds. My schedule going forward is one final PET/CT in 4-6 weeks. I'll see Dr. Seifter in 3 months and every 3 months for a year, followed by every 4 months for year 2, and every 6 months in year 3. All we can do now is look for the standard symptoms like swollen lymph nodes around (primarily in and around my neck), night sweats, unexplained fever, or unexplained weight loss.

Dawn and Nancy were working in the chemo facility today. Two wonderful, caring and friendly "angels" for me. Other than some uncooperative veins, chemo went smoothly. And my third Angel, Anna, called in and wished me well on her day off. I'll see her at my next checkup in 3 months.

Dawn and Nancy

I had a constant stream, 2 or 3 at a time, of family and friends sitting by my side the entire time with a few surprises. John and Lisa showed up early and their two oldest, erin and Ryan, came a short while later. And they came bearing gifts - balloons, chocolate chip cookies and whip cream (Ryan knows I'm a fan of whip cream on any dessert)

Jen

Mom and Dad

Les, Peter/Little Pete, and Little Joe

Sharon, Mom and Little Pete

Lisa and John

Erin and Ryan

After we were done, the majority of us went out to Catonsville Gourmet for lunch that started with a Champagne toast (thanks John!). The food was great and the time spent together was even better.

Lunch

The support didn't end there. When we got home I was greeted to balloons at the end of the driveway, a Panera care package (love you Eileen, Mitch, Tim, Matt and Jason), and an Edible Arrangement (love you Maura, Keith, Connor, Nolan, Bridget, Maeve, and Quinn). I'll take a word from my dads vocabulary - FAWESOME!

A Surprise

Thank you all from the bottom of my heart (that has not weakened as a result of Adriamycin). Your incredible support has made it tolerable and much easier than I could have ever expected to make it through 12 treatments/6 cycles over the last 154 days or 5+ months.

Much love to you all.

Round 11...Finishing Strong – Brack 11, HL 0

Apologies for my lack of updates during Round 11. It's been a crazy fortnight with family and work commitments. I absolutely took this round in fine form. I felt pretty good throughout even though I was not at the top of my game as you can see by my scores below. Just when I was getting used to a cycle, chemo threw me a curveball a few weeks ago and the only constant now is change. During round 10 and 11 my ability to taste has been different each day. Some days I can taste just like normal, and the next day almost nothing. This round was also featured a higher than normal sensitivity with my tongue and gums.  I continued to rinse with saltwater throughout the entire round fand started peroxide/water rinses a few days ago – it helps some. Fortunately ice cream has continued to taste good no matter what. And yes my toes still tingle 24/7 although my fingers seem to be doing a little better. I know this because I can completely button a dress shirt in the morning without much pain. Ahh, the little things in life!

Round 11 Scores

I have been thinking a lot about being done with chemo and my awesome friends and family have kept me in that mode. Lori started a text message countdown each day for the past week - so cool. Her husband Dave just texted me some good luck. Terese sent her customary well wishes that always warm my heart. Mom, Angela, JJ and Sudi all left awesome comments on my blog. Paul has kept me in daily/weekly updates on his travels through the Philippines (see the blog stats below). Paulette reached out today with her well wishes (I miss her apple pies that she's been baking for us each Thanksgiving for so long I've lost count of the years). People I barely know at work like Sherry, also a cancer survivor,  sent emails wishing me well. Kelly just texted her well wishes and ML just emailed me to say he was cheering me on - as I was writing this. But the thing I'm most happy about this week, other than finishing chemo, is that mom has voluntarily turned tomorrow into a family party. Jen, mom, dad, brother Pete (squamous cell carcinoma survivor),  sister Les, and our family friend Sharon (visiting from Phoenix and an ovarian cancer survivor) will all be accompanying me tomorrow. So party we will!

Below is a cool thing provided by Google/Blogspot. I can see the countries where people are reading my blog. Notice Paul's hits from the Philippines…

Now for a funny story that could only happen as a result of chemo. A bunch of us went out in Baltimore on the Saturday after chemo treatment #11 to celebrate our friend John's 50th birthday. We had dinner and then went to Howl At The Moon – a dueling piano bar. I knew we were older than your average patron when the waitresses immediately walked over with jello shots. Of all the ironies, the shots were red jello served in "drinkable" (fake) hypodermic syringes. Faithful blog readers should immediately know that this is how I have received Adriamycin at each chemo treatment. It looks like red hummingbird food in a syringe. For a moment I thought I was being stalked by chemo!

Hooray for tomorrow!

Much love.

Chemo Treatment #11 - ONE MORE TO GO!

Everything went great again yesterday at my Round 11 chemo session. Mom and dad showed up at 7am and, as usual, the morning started with smiles all around and a toasted Starbucks croissant. Both mom and dad were elated that we were finishing the second to last treatment today. We were on the road early, bowing to dad's desire to arrive early as opposed to my penchant for showing up just on time. We were at Park Medical early and I was in to see Dr. Seifter around 9:15am. The one question I had was about the probability of the long term side effects of my treatment regimen for Hodgkin’s Lymphoma, in particular secondary malignancies. As with many cancer treatments, patients cured of Hodgkin's Lymphoma remain at increased risk of developing secondary cancers. It looks like there is a 1 in 200 chance of developing acute leukemia or myelodysplasia within 7 years. I like those odds!  

After a quick checkout (all vital signs are fine) I was in my chemo chair by 9:30 ready to go. Both Dawn and Anna were manning the fort today. For the second week in a row Dawn hit a homer with the IV on the topside of my right hand just below my thumb. The blood flowed out and the IV fluid flowed in with no problems. My CBC was fine although we're beyond the point of changing the treatment as a result of blood counts. To top things off my buddy John showed up around 9:45am and stayed for the duration. Mom, dad and John had to split time sitting with me because the room filled up with patients by 10:30am. It's fun when John, dad and me get going on current events of business issues - lot's of good info and opinion. Dawn and Anna have been so accommodating when my family and friends show up with me. I am in the minority because most patients either show up alone or their family/friends leave or stay outside in the waiting area.   

It was a good week leading up to treatment #11. The highlight was dinner on Wednesday with an old college friend and teammate who was in town on business. I first met Bondy before our junior year in high school on the hoop courts of the 5-Star Basketball Camp at Robert Morris College, as it was called back then. It was pretty easy for two laid-back, 6'7", skinny, white guys to quickly become friends that summer. In addition to trying to make a name for ourselves, we were treated to daily games by a rising basketball star whose nickname at the time was "Blagic" - in deference to Magic Johnson who was just starting to make his name in the NBA. That high school player, who to my recollection beat Linton Townes (JMU) handily in a pickup game one afternoon at camp, was none other than Michael Jordan. At the end of that camp Bondy headed back to Richmond, VA and I returned to the suburbs of DC. Somewhat fortuitously we both ended up at W&M as teammates a few years later. Bondy is one of those guys that always brings a smile to my face. I can't recall that I've ever seen him in any other mood than upbeat - except for many in the heat of commotion on the court. It was great to see him. And now, some 32 years later, we were sitting across from each other have a good meal and a great laugh as we caught up. I'm smiling as I type this.  

Below are my Round 10 scores. You can see the dip where I caught a cold. And even though I was below average for the almost the whole round, it was a good round with no new side effects or other issues.

Round 10 Scores

Well, all I can say is March 15 here I come. One more to go. It would have been a much tougher road without all of your support for me, Jen, Chris, David and Alison. Thank you all from the bottom of my heart.  Much Love.

Doing Fine Midway Through Round 10

This is a quick mid-round update. The round has gone well, albeit my scores are slightly lower than average. I did have a head cold on days 2-4 (Sun-Tue). It didn't help that I spent the entire first weekend after chemo (Days 0-2) at a swim meet. Breathing hot, chlorinated air for 8 hours straight isn't fun for a healthy person. And it's much less fun for a breathing-challenged lunkhead like myself. I took my first two sick days off from work in as long as I can remember. I was able to sleep for 12 hours each day and that really helped kick the cold. Luckily I made it through unscathed.

And I've finally found the official term for the tingling in my toes and fingers - Chemotherapy-Induced Peripheral Neuropathy. Unfortunately knowing this has't lessened the effect of the tinging sensation that is now more pronounced in my toes and is not so bad in my fingers. It is harder to button a dress shirt in the morning and I seem to be stubbing my toes more often – Murphy's Law.  On the good news front I have shed the water I was holding during round 9 so I no longer feel like a beached whale going through menopause.

One highlight this week is I'm having dinner with Bondy on Wednesday. It will be great to see him. Mom and Dad are taking me to Chemo treatment #11 on Friday. Only one more to go after that. Hallelujah!

I'll leave you with the rainbow that greeted me as I was getting over my cold last Tuesday. A good sign.

Good Luck Double Rainbow

Much Love!

Chemo Treatment #10 - Smooth as Silk

Everything went better than I expected today at my Round 10 chemo session. It started with dad's positive attitude that it was going to be a great day and I would have only two treatment s left after this one was over. And that's just what I needed because leading up to today I felt like I was coming down with a cold. Add to that the aforementioned water retention and veins that are becoming harder to find, and I thought I might possibly have to skip this treatment. On the upside, I had the latest pulmonary function test on Thursday and my DLCO/VA score was 90.1% of predicted value, this is up from 89.3% one month ago and that is good news. After discussing all this with Dr. Seifter there were no questions that we would proceed with this treatment...more good news. I was also happy to see my vitals were all good with my blood pressure being 110/70.

Dawn was running the chemo room today all by herself. I was the first patient and it was quiet for for the better part of the first hour. Dawn found an excellent vein (cephalic?) on the top side of my right hand, next to the thumb muscles. The three vials for my CBC were filled in no time and steroids, anti-nausea, and standard saline IV fluid were all flowing in short order. The CBC results (below) were back quickly and the WBC was still acceptable although it's the lowest we've seen yet (1300/uL). The granulocytes numbers were acceptable as well and my RBC, which continues to be almost normal. Given all that, we were a go for chemo.

CBC Round 10

The chemo treatment lasted just over 3 hours, one of the quickest yet. Dawn was awesome, working with no assistance and handling 5 additional patients while dad and I had an ongoing conversation. I was back home by 1pm and ready for a nap, quite the opposite of what's supposed to happen when one is full of steroids.

We're almost there! Two more to go.
Much love to you all.

PS
A picture from our oysterfest an birthday party at mom and dad's last week.

49th Birthday Pic

Round 9: Brack-9, HL-0... 75% There!

Happy Valentine's Day. It's been another good round that included my birthday, a superb Super Bowl win, lots of great Cajun food and some fine sweets. It started with the birthday oysterfest at mom and dad's on Sunday. Yes we ate more than 150 oysters prepared a half dozen different ways. Big Money and Chris made an appearance as did my friend Rob who has been hanging with me since third gade. It was a fine day for sure.  Fat Tuesday featured homemade oyster and sausage creole from David. Dinner tonight was homemade oyster and sausage gumbo from dad. Jason brought over a Panera cookie and pastry sampler last weekend from his family. Danny brought by some good brew from his family. And Mark and Janice sent a cookie and candy sampler that never stood a chance. That's one sure fire way to keep the weight on!

My scores for the round have been good although a few things kept my them in the reasonable range. My tastebuds never quite made it back during the second week. I've been retaining more water than the Hoover Dam and my sinuses are a bit out of whack. Other than that all is good.

Round 9 Scores

The funniest thing this round had to be mom's temporary teeth while she was waiting for a couple implant crowns. She looked just like the picture below…no kidding.

Almost Mom with Temporary Teeth

Much love to you all.

*** 

PS...I'll also leave you with a couple jokes I heard this week, #1 for the first time. Both were good for a laugh. Warning...the #2 features adult (juvenile?) humor.

#1: 

Three men each married a woman from a different country. The first man married a woman from Italy. He told her that she was to do the dishes and house cleaning. It took a couple of days, but on the third day, he came home to see a clean house and dishes washed and put away.

The second man married a woman from Poland. He gave his wife orders that she was to do all the cleaning, dishes and the cooking. The first day he didn't see any results, but the next day he saw it was better. By the third day, he saw his house was clean, the dishes were done and there was a huge dinner on the table.

The third man married a girl from Ireland. He ordered her to keep the house clean, dishes washed, lawn mowed, laundry washed, and hot meals on the table for every meal. He said the first day he didn't see anything, the second day he didn't see anything but by the third day, some of the swelling had gone down and he could see a little out of his left eye, and his arm was healed enough that he could fix himself a sandwich and load the dishwasher. He still has some difficulty when he pees!

#2: 

A vacationing penguin is driving his through Arizona when he notices that the oil pressure light is on. He gets out to look and sees oil dripping out of the motor. He drives to the nearest town and stops at the first gas station.

After dropping the car off, the penguin goes for a walk around town. He sees an ice-cream shop and, being a penguin in Arizona, decides that something cold would really hit the spot. He gets a big dish of ice cream and sits down to eat. Having no hands he makes a real mess trying to eat with his flippers. After finishing his ice cream, he goes back to the gas station and asks the mechanic if he's found the problem. The mechanic looks up and says "It looks like you blew a seal."

"No no," the penguin replies, "it's just ice cream."

Round 9 - Looking good, Billy Ray! Feeling good, Louis!

And that blog title pretty much sums it up!

Round 9 has gone just fine so far. I did have a short period of eating less than I should simply because I didn't feel like eating something I couldn't taste. Fortunately that only lasted a few days (days 2-5). During that time I re-rediscovered a fondness for mac and cheese. It seems to cut through the blandness caused by affected taste buds and it tasted great with lemonade. I was back to normal just in time for my birthday on the 7th. It was perfect timing because oyster stew was on the menu and it tasted superb. 49 and doing fine!

One thing I've thought about during this round is luck. Luck can run in a lot of directions. In some cases you smile thinking that someone was looking out for you. In other cases you realize that it's what you make of it. Those who know me have heard me say I've live d a charmed life. I truly believe that I am a lucky man year after year.  Some recent examples (and I could go on for pages)…We dodged Hurricane Sandy back in late-October while it devastated many, like Colleen, who is still working each day to get back to normal.  Winter storm "Nemo" (as they are now calling it) is wreaking havoc right now over the same region as Sandy and all we got was a little rain. So my "good luck" snow thrower (two years old now) remains unboxed in the garage. Meanwhile our son Chris, who is in Providence, RI, has 18" of snow and counting – he's shoveled at least three times already but he still has power. And I'm still managing to do much better than just getting by. I firmly believe I'll be cancer free by April.

Below is a picture JJ sent me. It first reminded me of Danita's voicemail from a weeks back (Jan. 26 blog entry). In addition to what I mentioned in the earlier blog post she said that we would celebrate being cancer free together by getting superhero costumes a telling people "chemo is shmemo" and cancer can be beat. She is so right and JJ's email to me below further illustrates that: 

A Masterpiece

This is a picture from ~15 years ago, done by one of the oncology kids here at CHOP (Children's Hospital of Philly).  I have had this picture on my desk all 15 years (long before I even started working at CHOP).  This pic was in a calendar given-out by CHOP as a thank-you for supporting them.  I noticed this one picture and scanned it separately.  I first made a desk picture out of it and then a large poster, which greets everyone as they enter my office.  Anyway, I always thought if this young kid (11 years old) can have this attitude going through what he is going through - I can make it through my daily trials.  I contacted the kid (now a young man) about 2 years ago and thanked him for the picture and told him what it meant to me. By the way, he is now ~25, studied graphics arts at college, doing well, and living in Jersey.  Anyway, I hope you like it - I know you'll like this kid's attitude (Captain Chemo meets Cancer Man and KICKS HIS ASS!) Keep kickin' ass! --JJ

My thanks to JJ for the picture and email and to Tommy (now Tom?) for the additional inspiration from a cancer survivor.

Much love to you all. 

Number 9, Number 9, Number 9...

A not-so-subtle reference for you Beatles fans like mom and dad, Griff (aka Big Money), and Colin (aka cross-country capable and contemplative brother of Meaghan). Chemo treatment #9 is complete with no issues whatsoever. I am now 75% done with chemo, three-quarters complete, LXXV, the proverbial Jonathan Ogden jersey…and it feels good. This is what it looks like:

Doing Alright

The morning started slow, as in the travel time to Dr. Seifter's office. A snow dusting overnight had the usual effect of transforming a select few Maryland drivers into complete morons thus slowing the rest of us to a crawl. A 35-minute trip turned into a 90-minute trip through west Baltimore (think The Wire). We were only a half hour late thankfully.

I remembered to ask Dr. Seifter my questions that I had been forgetting to ask. Primarily I was interested in what happens after #12? It's pretty straightforward. I will get another PET/CT a month or two afterwards to verify that I am still clear. Then I will continue to go in for check-ups every 3 months for the first year, every 4 months for the second year, and then every 6 months  for the third year of being cancer free. This will be accompanied by one or more PET/CTs  throughout. Typically the doctor will also order an additional blood test for erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR). This is sometimes elevated in Hodgkin's Lymphoma patients however I have not followed a typical path through HL when it comes to blood markers or any other symptom. We'll se how that test goes. 

It was then off to chemo. Anna and Dawn were working today and it got pretty busy. It was the first time I've seen every chair full. There were three new faces and couple familiar faces. A blood test is always first and my CBC continues to look good. WBC was at 1600 (up 100 from two weeks ago), GRAN was up as was RBC which is almost back in the normal range. After that everything went as smooth as possible.

The only unusual event today was when one of the new patients, a thin but fit-looking man in his late 60s, got an awful case of the shakes. His shakes were much more violent and painful looking than I remember all too well from chemo #6. Fortunately Dr. Seifter was able to work with Anna and Dawn and the patient was almost back to normal in 30 minutes after some additional meds.

We were finished by 1:30 and headed home. A solid nap in mid-afternoon, some snacks, and homemade, fresh blueberry pancakes with maple syrup for dinner all sealed the deal for another good start to a round of chemo. 

Much Love and Go Ravens!

Round 8: Brack-8, HL-0... Stronger Than Ever!

Fabulous. Lucky. Amazed. Pick a word. Lucky and amazed at how fabulous I feel. Yeah my veins still hurt near my elbows and my toes have been "numb" for weeks...among other things. Like the hum of the refrigerator you've learned to ignore, I can live with with these minor annoyances. I continue to exceed any expectation I had given what I was told or read several months ago. I know, I'm starting to sound like a broken record. But the way I see it now, unless HL scores a TKO, I'm kicking its proverbial ass all the way to the finish line. Here's a illustrative cartoon for you JJ (more on that later...)

This round has presented me with no issues at all. At worst I was average - never below average. Thanks continue to go to a phenomenal doctor, his incredible staff, years of research and the love and support from family and friends. 

Round 9 chemo treatment is tomorrow and Jen is coming along. I need to remember to ask Dr. Seifter all of the questions I keep forgetting to ask...she'll remind me. For those keeping score round 8 scores are below.

Round 8 Scores

Lastly I'll leave you with a blog comment that Jay (aka JJ) left for me on Sunday. He is a friend since elementary school - hard to believe it's been 40 years! But first a little background... for those of you who have heard those oft repeated stories from my youth, JJ figures into two of the more prominent tales. First, it was his former girlfriend (the assistant manager at the Berwyn Heights McDonalds), who provided quite a few gratis morsels to us starving high school kids. And it was at that fine establishment where I powered down 100s of Big Macs, including the one I just barely finished in a single bite after having just consumed a few for appetizers - I did win the bet! Jay is also one of the infamous "Ex-Lax" crew who taught me a valuable junior high school lesson about liberating tasty morsels from friends' unattended lunches. Back in the day their simple act was highly effective. Today, that same act would likely be a federal offense!

I loved JJ's blog comment from Sunday and trying to paraphrase it would not do justice. So here is the original work:

Hey Mike! Just went through the entire blog (Request: Can you add cartoons and more jokes for your knuckle-headed friends like me?). I sincerely am impressed with your approach, attitude and actions as you attack this aggravant (how's that assonance... "What did you call me?"). I will be following this, cheering you on, saying my prayers, and waiting to hear the cancer scream out on the Ides of March, "Et tu, Brack-a" (ok, I need to modify it for phonetic-correctness).. As you give it its final stab. YOU ARE THE MAN!! Your fighting spirit drives you and encourages the rest of us. Your old pal -- JJ

Thanks Jay, you've left yet another big smile on my face. Your singular skill at selecting sincere semantic selections that suggest superb symbiosis is second to none.

Much love to you all.

Round 8: Feeling Great at Mid Round

All is awesome! Other than a couple veins in my arms that are getting sore, numb toes and fingers and a few days of tastebuds that seem to be asleep…I am doing great and enjoying the feeling because I know there is no guarantee it will last. Miss Shirley's blueberry pancakes tasted so good this morning. I got to enjoy them with two of my favorites breakfast buds - Alison and Ryan. Alison finaled in the 200 free at National Catholics so we celebrated with carb loading at one of our favorite breakfast spots.

The highlight of this round was dinner last Sunday with my brothers from college. It didn't hurt that the Ravens punctuated our feast with a thumping of the Pats. It was great to see every one of these guys and catch up...and I think I'm still in a food coma. Thanks to Rod for planning a fine meal and to those who made the trek into DC on inauguration weekend.

My Brothers

Many thanks to Sandy, Jon and Diane, Kay and Steve, and Angela for the uplifting comments via the blog. Another big thanks to my dear friend Colleen (from way way back in my long hair days) for putting my info on our high school Facebook site. 

Congratulations to Danita for finishing up chemo - WOO HOO! I'm happy to report that she is doing "absolutely fantastic!" She left me a voicemail yesterday that I saved because it was so positive and left me laughing really hard. My favorite part is when she said "chemo is shmemo and it is so not a f&*#ing big deal…" She is 100% correct because chemo is do–able. We are two diametric opposite examples of how to get through chemo on the winning side. Our common bond is that we both know we will come out on top! Good luck with surgery Danita and I hope your new set is as perky as can be!

Last but not least… get well Dr. D. We miss you and know you'll be back before long.