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.