Alika Simpson's Blog

Cancer Free!!!!

2011-11-13T23:29:00.001-08:00

I feel horrible for not updating my blog for everyone especially after the news that I received last month. After 4 days of testing at the Mayo Clinic Dr. Reeder and his colleagues determined that I was 100% cancer free and being one year out from transplant this was a huge accomplishment. It meant that I could get off of the majority of the meds that I take and I could finally do some things that normal healthy people might take for granted. I have been cleared to travel outside of the US, I can help my dad work on renovating his house and I can eat raw fish again!!!
I have thanked many people in this blog but seemed to have over looked many others. I need to first and foremost thank the wonderful woman that is out there somewhere in the United States that gave me the gift of life again. I do not know you but I hope to one day meet you and thank you for saving my life! What you have done is such a selfless act and I can never, ever thank you enough for what you have done. Without your gift I would be dead and I love and commend you for that!!!
I also need to thank Dr. Liu and his staff especially his nurse Jerlyn, it's been four years and you have always made me feel comfortable and safe even during my most trying times. You are an excellent oncologist and friend, thank you! Dr. Reeder, you brought your knowledge and skills of years of cancer treatment and it is because of you and the othe doctors and Mayo that I am alive and doing so well. One day we will have to get together here in Hawaii so I can buy you some good sushi and some wine! There have been many, many other nurses and assistants that have helped me along the way but the best NP that I have met and feel honored to have met is Mary Peterson. You truly helped to inspire me to not give up when things got hard after this second transplant and honestly were such a help to both me and my mom. Your support made this recent ordeal so much easier, I hope to see you in a few weeks and be able to enjoy a dinner at Alessias and some wine and finally meet your husband. Thank you again for everything that you have ever done!
I am doing great now, work is getting busier and I am hoping to work my way up the ladder at MD and prove to them that now that I am healthy I can do the work to become a solid asset to the Company for many years to come... I also want to thank Dr. Lani Leary my phsychologist for helping me work through the tough transition that I went through after this past transplant. Our talks have really enlightened me and helped me to view life in a much more positive and precious way. One last person is my new girlfriend Brittany, I know that we have not been going out for very long but it truly feels like I have known you forever. I hope that life continues to take us on our journey together from now until the future. You are so very loving, caring, smart and beautiful and I cannot wait for you to meet the rest of my family...I love you!

Update, Finally!!!

2011-09-08T15:22:00.000-07:00

I apologize for not updating as often as I should. I am back to work full time so I am on a computer all day long at work and the last thing I want to do is go home and turn on my computer. But I want to keep everyone updated on my progress so I know I should be on here more often than I have.
Dr. Liu and Dr. Reeder have both said that I am doing great and I have had pretty much NO side-effects from the transplant! An excellent sign as I come up on my one year anniversary on September 16th. I cannot believe it has been a year already since I was given the gift of life by a complete stranger. I hope to be able to contact them once the year waiting period is up and with any luck they will agree to meet with me as I want to thank them personally for being my angel!!! They saved my life and I will be forever grateful to them....
I will be heading up to Arizona again on October 9th for 3 days of tests and scans and then a meeting with Dr. Reeder for my one year check up. I know that everything is going to go great and the test results are going to be excellent! And if I am lucky he will take me off the last of my daily meds so that I can finally enjoy some raw fish again, it was easy to skip when I was in Arizona but it is absolute torture to see poke at every bbq I go to and not be able to have any. I think I am going to go on a poke eating binge as soon as I am able to eat it again! Watch out Rutger Market cause I am coming to wipe out your inventory :)
I have attached a short clip of the video that Jim took during my transplant. It shows the actual donor cells traveling down the IV into my arm. Amazing how this tiny bag of cells rebuilt my entire system! *** Thank you Jim for taking this video as I was so medicated I don't really remember any of this day or the few that followed.

Great News!!!

2011-04-15T00:44:00.000-07:00

Sorry about the lack of updating, I have busy with work and everything else now that I am back in Hawaii. So, I went to Arizona a couple of weeks ago and had my 6 month PET scan and meeting with Dr. Reeder. After an unnerving few minutes of small talk he finally broke the news and told me that the scan showed NO, ZERO, ZILCH signs of cancer!!! I beat this monster once again and for the final time! I am more than relieved to say the least, I feel as if the weight of the world has finally been lifted off of my shoulders. It is now time for me to focus on the future and move on with my life and be happy again. This transplant has been VERY hard on me both emotionally and physically and I still have a ways to go but after everything that I have gone through I know that I can make it through this final hurdle. I could not have done it without all of your support but more importantly I could not have done it without my mom. She has been there for me more than any of you out there reading this can even imagine. And I wish I could repay her for everything that she has done for me but all I can tell her is that I love her and would not be here today had it not been for her!!!

I have even more great news if you can believe it. I was recently nominated and then selected as a 2012 American Cancer Society Hero of Hope. My duties will include speaking at different engagements and telling my story and hopefully inspire others with cancer to speak out about their battles. I will travel to the outer islands for their Relay for Life events but also travel to Dallas, TX this Fall for the annual meeting and conference. It is going to be a lot of work but I am up for the challenge and look forward to spreading hope to others.

Free at last, free at last! Thank God Almighty I am free at last!

2011-02-07T07:30:00.000-08:00

First and foremost I would like to thank everyone for their kind comments and emails regarding my last post! It really helped me to get some feelings off of my chest that I have been struggling with for a while. Secondly and just as important, I met with Dr. Reeder last Friday (2/4) and after some cajoling he agreed to release me to come home! With the news, I rushed home and booked my flight on Hawaiian Airlines before he could change his mind! So I will be heading home this Wednesday (2/9). I cannot wait to get back and see my family, friends, coworkers, and of course Misty. It will be hard to leave my mom and Jim and the rest of my siblings here in AZ (Kevin, Bryn and Brooke) and their families but I will visit often and keep in touch like I always do.

Which leads me to another topic that I seemed to have failed to cover in this blog although it is something of great importance to me and that is the fantastic job my mom and Jim have done for me as my caregivers throughout this latest battle and all the previous ones. They have both put up with the stresses and worries of my sickness with such grace and dignity and never showed me their worries despite my knowing how worried they really were. It is very hard on cancer caregivers as the patients are always the ones that receive all of the attention when in fact they are going through just as much physical and mental stress as the patient and need the same amount of support to help them make it through. I just hope they know that all of their sacrifices have not gone unnoticed or unappreciated by me and I will be forever grateful to them! I love you both very much for everything that you have done and continue to do!

The same goes for Misty, she and I have been through some tough times recently while trying to deal with things from over 3000 miles away. Having to worry and stress daily without her being able to see me for herself and see that I am doing okay. It takes a very strong person to even begin a relationship with a cancer patient let alone go through what we have gone through! And I truly admire her for handling everything as well as she has. And I cannot wait to get home and show her that I am doing better and beating this thing and together we can knock it out once and for all. There will be good times and bad times still to come but we can make it through them! I love you sweetheart and always will!

I cannot list everyone that has helped me throughout this whole ordeal, but I cannot forget the support that I have gotten from my Dad and Nani Janet as well. While they may have not been up here to witness the Mayo side of treatments, they have both been there for me every step of the way back home at Straub. And have gone through the same stresses and worries as everyone else. I still cry when I think of the day that I was first diagnosed and Dr. Liu walked into the room and my dad broke down and asked why it couldn't have been him getting sick instead for me. I love you both as well and cannot wait to see you both in a few days!!

With this being said, I would like to also ask that whenever you talk to my mom or my dad or Jim or Misty or ANY of my other family members and ask them how I am doing, please also take the time to ask them how THEY are doing. Because we are all going through this together. Cancer doesn't just affect the patient it affects everyone in their lives!!!

*** If I did not mention you in this blog specifically please do not feel left out, I would end up with a novel if I had to list everyone that has been there for me throughout the last three years. Just know that you and your love and prayers are appreciated and do not go forgotten.

*** I'd also like to ask those of you who read this blog and pray for me to please say a prayer for a few of my friends that are also battling their own forms of cancer, Wyman Ly, Steve Hext and Rhone Rarick. We can all beat this thing if we stick together and fight like we never fought before, so hang in there guys and keep swinging!

Being Scared

2011-01-28T00:17:00.000-08:00

I'm not quite sure why I am writing this blog entry tonight, possibly because it is 2:15 am and I have been trying unsuccessfully for the past few hours to sleep or maybe I just needed to get things off of my chest... Throughout this journey of fighting cancer I have remained upbeat and positive with everyone around me because in a way it made me feel better about things but also I think I just didn't want people to see how scared I truly am. I felt like I had to put up a front and brush things off as just being minor even though they were not and I was freaking out inside. Maybe it was an ancient survival instinct kicking in, blocking out the fear so that I could go on with things. Or maybe it's because it's not the macho thing to come out and admit that I am scared but there comes a time in your life when I think that everyone must admit it at some point. I'm sure that even a guy like Laird Hamilton who catches huge unthinkable waves for fun has been scared before in his life. I'm sure some of the top professional fighters have been scared at least once during a bout. There have to be Navy Seals out there that were scared when they were faced with live combat and all that training and bullets were suddenly real. Now whether they have admitted it, I don't know. But I think that it takes a real man to come out and admit they are scared. And I am scared...

For me the physical part of the cancer treatment has actually not been the hard part as most people would think. The mass amounts of low dose and high dose chemotherapy, the radiation to my chest area to the point that I have already met the max amount of radiation that a person should get, the two bone marrow transplants, those are all things that I am able to deal with. Sure it was hard and I felt horrible but I knew that after a few weeks the sickness would go away and I'd be feeling better again. Even the long lasting side effects like the neuropathy in my feet and left hand or the shoulder pain caused by the excessive radiation to the nerves in my brachial plexus, I can live with those. No, for me the hardest part has been the mental aspect of the entire fight. The not knowing what the next scan is going to show, will the cancer be gone, will it have spread, if the treatment doesn't work do I still have other options. It is these things that scare me and keep me up at night. And now following this last transplant there is a whole new demon to be afraid of GVHD. Will I develop chronic GVHD? How badly if I do develop it? Is it going to affect my lungs and kidneys or will it be more minor and just be an annoying skin rash? I know that I shouldn't worry about these things until they actually happen (hopefully they will not), but they always seem to creep into my mind on nights like tonight and keep me from getting the rest that I need.

Honestly, what scares me the most is the one thing that cancers patients tend to never want to talk about, the elephant in the room so to speak, and that is death. I still have so much to do and so many places to see and people to meet and I am scared that I will never get a chance to do them. But what scares me even more is the suffering that my family and friends are going to go through. They have already been through so much with me going through this battle and the last thing that I want to do is hurt them even more! And sure they will eventually be able to move on but I'm sure a piece of them will never be the same. And I know it is not my fault, it is the cancer that is to blame, but I can't help but feel guilty sometimes for the sorrow that they have already had to deal with and I don't want to put them through anymore. I have spent many nights crying myself to sleep thinking and worrying about this until I just can't worry anymore and I have no more tears to cry.

Dr. Reeder once told me before this 2nd transplant started that I had a choice, do the transplant and have a 25-30% chance of living more than three years or not do it and have a 5% chance of living more than three years. I took the obvious choice, you don't have to spend much time in Vegas to know that you should always play the game with the better odds. But I have been thinking about these numbers a lot recently and what they mean to me. Theoretically, I may not be around to see my 35 birthday, see my nieces and nephews play in their first games or even grow up for that matter. And that really pisses me off! Those percentages have now become my driving force to survive, I come from stubborn scotch blood and we don't give up a fight so easily so I am going to prove ALL of those doctors and their studies wrong! Who are they to tell me what I can and cannot do based on previous statistics, don't group me in with a bunch of other people because I am not like those people. I refuse to lose this battle! I may be scared as I go through it and my opponent may be bigger, stronger, and faster than I am but I have heart and determination and a will to live so that I do not hurt my friends and family. Tough times don't last, tough people do! So it is time for me to toughen up and keep on fighting. "Clear Eyes, Full Heart, CAN'T LOSE"!!!

New Years Update..

2011-01-20T17:00:00.000-08:00

Happy 2011 everyone, I'm sorry that it has taken me so long to update my blog!!! A lot has taken place since my last post, and thankfully it's all been good! Right before Christmas I had my follow up bone marrow biopsy and PET/ CT scan. These tests are always very stressful for me and my loved ones as they determine if the treatments have been working and in the past they have not yielded great results. However, this time I received excellent news! The bone marrow biopsy showed no signs of cancer in my marrow and the PET/ CT scan showed that the latest transplant had worked and the donors cells were attacking the cancer at an astounding rate. Both of the masses have significantly decreased in size and the doctors feel that the new cells will continue to fight and soon the caner will be completely eradicated. It is still too early to be considered in remission, however I am on my way and keeping positive that I will be soon!

I was hoping that Dr. Reeder would release me to return to Hawaii at the end of this month, but he wants me to stay a little bit longer while he weans me off of the prednisone steroids that I have been on since the initial diagnosis of the slight graft v. host disease. He wants to make sure that once I am completely off of the prednisone the GVHD does not flare back up. I am now down to 5mg every other day and will completely stop the pills next Tuesday, after that I will meet with him for an assessment sometime during the first week of February. If everything looks good, I will hopefully be released a week or so later. It was pretty tough for me to deal with having to stay up here longer since I was really hoping to be home in January but I didn't come this far to mess around at the end. And I would much rather stay here a little bit longer now than head home and then have to come back.

I have also been dealing with a small blood clot in my upper right chest that was caused by my port. To treat the clot I had been giving myself Lovanox injections twice a day in my stomach and am now taking Coumadin as well. Dr. Reeder had me stop the Lovanox shots, but I will have to be on the Coumadin until the port is removed. Since I am done with my treatments and no longer need the port, I suggested that we just remove it, that way I can stop the Coumadin and not have to worry about the clot. Dr. Reeder agreed and with any luck they will be able to squeeze me into their schedule sometime tomorrow to have it taken out!

Other than all of my recent appointments I have also had a busy holiday season. Misty came up to visit for Christmas/ New Years and we traveled to Lyons, Nebraska to visit her mom (Wendy), step-dad (Jim) and two brothers (Jimmy and Bobby) for a few days. I had a great time with them and thankfully the weather wasn't bad at all while we were there! It was cold outside so we spent most of the time indoors watching all of the bowl games, playing games and hanging out. My Washington Huskies also played Nebraska in the Holiday Bowl while I was there and I am pretty sure that I was the only Dawg fan in the entire state! I was stoked that they won the game, although I held back my cheering since I was in a house full of Corn Huskers :) I want to thank them again for everything!!!

I promise that I will stop being lazy and update my blog more regularly... I hope that everyone has a great 2011, let's make it one to remember!

*** I also wanted to thank everyone that has been helping my dad out with remodeling his house so that I can live there when I return to Hawaii. I would list all of your names but you know who you are and I don't want to accidentally leave someone out. Thank you for your help and hard work, I truly appreciate it and I know that my dad does too!!!

Misty Did It!

2010-12-13T07:56:00.001-08:00

Misty did it!!! After months of training and dedication Misty completed the Honolulu Marathon yesterday! Despite being sick with a bad cold all week and not getting much sleep (thanks to finals week) she sucked it up and pushed through the 26.2 mile course. I am very proud of her accomplishments and am just sad that I wasn't able to greet her at the finish line but I was there in spirit! I also wanted to thank everyone again for your generous donations to her marathon pledge, with your help she was able to raise $3105.00 for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society!!!

Not much has been going on with me recently, I have been going to the Mayo Clinic every Wednesday morning for blood work and my counts are all pretty much back to normal levels. I did start to develop stomach pains again (from the GVHD) once my first dose of steroids was completed so they have put me back on a smaller dosed schedule and this has taken care of the pain. Now I am just waiting to have my last set of tests and find out if the transplant is fighting the cancer cells. On 12/22 I will go in for a bone marrow biopsy and on 12/23 I will have my PET scan. The PET is the most nerve racking test that I have to go through as this will show if the cancer is still there or not. Since I won't have a meeting with Dr. Reeder until 1/10 I am hoping that he or one of the other oncologists will call me with the results of the PET on 12/24 so that I am not waiting for two weeks.

Happy Holidays to everyone and I WILL have some good news soon!!!

***Misty is pictured above on the left at the start of the race.

Here are some more of my backyard photos that I have taken recently, maybe Santa will get me a new lens for Christmas {hint, hint mom and dad ;)}.

Probes, Scans and Tests...

2010-11-22T10:25:00.000-08:00

Last week was a busy week for me at the Mayo Clinic. My stomach had been bothering me for a few days so I mentioned it to my nurse practitioner Mary and she and Dr. Reeder decided that I needed to have an endoscope to check on what it was. After the scope it was determined that it was low grade graft vs. host disease (GVHD), on a scale of 1-4 it is only a 1 so it is thankfully really low. We were hoping for just a little GVHD through out this process so this is a good thing as long as it does not progress and become chronic.

I have also been having some difficulty with my breathing even prior to my recent transplant which has been getting worse. Because of this I was sent to do another pulmonary test and CT scan of my lungs. The CT showed no sign of infection, however the pulmonary test did show that my lung function had decreased even more since the recent transplant. I am now taking a two week dose of prednisone oral steroids to help my lungs expand and function a little bit better. I have also been working out on the stationary bike everyday for a half hour to try and expand my lungs and get some cardio back. And this Wednesday I will be meeting with the pulmonary doctors to determine if I need to be put on a steroid inhaler for a short time as well.

I haven't been taking as many photos with my Canon T2i as I had been when I first got my camera, I am still pretty limited as to where I can go so my subject matter is limited as well. In the meantime I am saving up to get an underwater housing from SPL as surf photography is what I am truly passionate about. I emailed the owner Sean and he priced me one at $1650.00 which is a fair deal for the best surf photography housing on the market. I also need to get a Tokina 10-17mm lens to use with the housing which is an additional $550.00 or so online. So, if anyone in Hawaii has some extra work that needs to be done I will hopefully be home in mid to late January and am willing to do any side jobs that I can on the weekends to get this housing. With my lungs and stamina being low I may not be able to yard or housework but if you have anything that isn't too physically strenuous please do not hesitate to let me know!!!

Well I hope that everyone has a wonderful Thanksgiving! I know that I have a lot to be thankful for especially for the donor that was kind enough to give someone that they don't even know another shot at life. I hope that I get to thank you personally one day!

New Blood

2010-10-23T09:24:00.000-07:00

Since I am sure some people are wanting to see how I am doing rather than just read about I have decided to post a picture. My hair fell out after the high dose chemotherapy in the hospital but thankfully myeyebrows did not so I look a little less like 'Powder' than I did after the first transplant. And for some strange reason my facial hair has never stopped growing, in fact it seems like it is coming in faster than ever now...
I have been out of the hospitalnow for 3 weeks and things have been progressing very well so far. When I first got out I still had to go into the Mayo outpatient every day for blood work to make sure that my counts were all stable and I didn't need any sort of transfusion. 3 weeks later and I am now scheduled to just 2 days a week because I am doing so well. I have had to have magnesium every time that I go in because the Prograf medication that I am taking causes my levels to drop but other than that all of my counts have been excellent. We did have a little scare last Sunday when I ended up in the ER after starting to feel very disoriented and dizzy but thankfully it was only because I was dehydrated and nothing major, after a bag of fluids I was feeling better and on my way back home.

Last week they ran a blood test to check my chimerisms to see what percentage of blood was still mine and what percent belonged to my donor. This would be the first test to see how well my body was accepting the new cells and if the transplant was working. After 10 days of anxiously waiting for the results Dr. Slack (one of the oncologists that was on rounds yesterday) informed me that my chimerisms were at 100% donor blood, the transplant is working! They had been hoping for at least 80% but 100% is excellent! I have to admit that I wasn't as excited when I first heard the news as I thought I would be. I think the fact the my blood was no longer really mine kind of freaked me out, forsome reason I felt as if I lost a part of me. I know it is crazy but that is how I felt at first. Of course I am very happy with the results and look forward tomore great news when they run the next set of tests in about 3 weeks from now.

Other than my now bi-weekly trips to Mayo for blood work I haven't been up to very much else. Because my body is still recovering from the transplant and my immune system is easily compromised I have been spending all of my time at home in my moms house so that I can be sure to stay away from anyone that may have an infection. So my weekdays are spent watching movies on HBO and my weekends are spent watching football and soon the World Series! It gets pretty boring at times but I need to remember that I haveto be cautious and not take any chances because any type of infection at this point could have major consequences. I have also become frustrated at times with my physical recovery because my mind is telling me that I feel good enough to workout and get my body moving but as soon as I try I get slapped back to reality by my body. What most of us may take for granted as an easy physical activity has become a struggle for me. Even a simple walk around the block has become difficult but I just have to remind myself that it is a slow process and to not give up because every little thing I do will be a step in the right direction for recovery.

Aside from the large doses of television I have also been playing with my latest toy, my Canon T2i DSLR camera. Because I am not able to really leave the house I have been doing a lot of practicing with all of the settings and different features so that when I am finally able to drive myself and get out and take some pictures I will be familiarwith all that the camera can do. Ilook forward to getting some nice desert scenery photos while I am up here! But for now the backyard has been the inspiration for most of my shots. Below are a few pictures that I have taken so far:

"Monsoon Clouds"

"Fall Sunset"

"Misty's Rose"

"Hibiscus"

***As always I want to thank everyone for your continued support and prayers with you all I will make it through this latest journey"

Out of the Hospital (Finally!!!)

2010-10-06T13:25:00.000-07:00

So after 24 days in the hospital I was finally able to leave the hospital and go home last week Friday. The transplant went very well and thankfully the chemotherapy that I was given was much weaker than what I had during the last transplant. All of my blood counts recovered pretty quickly except for the most important ones which are the white blood cells and the absolute neutrophils, these are the baby white cells that are the infection fighters. Since it was taking awhile for them to come up the doctors decided to give me a neupogen shot which helps the cells form faster. A common side effect of neupogen shots is bone pain in the hips as this is where the bone marrow that produces the cells are located. I have had many neupogen shots in the past without too much pain but this time I experienced some of the worst pain that I have ever felt. After being given two oxycodone pills I was still in extreme pain so they gave me an injection of dilaudid. For those of you who don't know what dilaudid is, it's a pain reducer similar to morphine but 5 times stronger and let me tell you it works!!! The next day they tested my blood again and the reason for the extreme pain was because my body went into overdrive and the white cells and absolute neutrophils bursted out with a vengeance. My WBC went from 1.8 to 16.1 and my neutrophils went from 0.5 to 2.5! Thanks to the neupogen I was released the next day. Since being released I am still having to go to the hospital everyday to check my blood levels but it is much nicer to be able to walk in get my tests and leave after a few hours than being stuck there 24 hours a day in a solitary room.

I am starting to feel better and better each day and cannot wait for them to run the tests to see if the donor cells are grafting or not. They will run this test in a few weeks so keep your fingers crossed! An interesting fact that I learned yesterday is that when the cells do graft I will have two sets of DNA within my body. The DNA found in my organs will still be my own but the DNA found in my blood will be that of my donor. And since my donor is a female my blood will show the DNA of a female.

I will try and post updates more often now that I am starting to feel better. Thanks to everyone for their continued support!

The picture above was taken while driving back from Kona to Hilo on Saddle Road after dropping off Misty's mom and brother Bobby at the airport. It was great to see them and can't wait to see them again.

Thank you's and an Update

2010-09-10T19:08:00.000-07:00

First and foremost I would like to thank everyone for their generosity in donating to Misty's Marathon Pledge page, in a matter of a few short days she has managed to collect more than two times her minimum limit! An extra special thanks goes to Don and Francesca Hardy who donated $1000.00, the picture attached is of a bodysurfing dragon drawing that Don "Ed Hardy" painted for me when I first returned to Hawaii after my fist transplant and I have had it framed and hanging in my living room ever since. Next step is to get to SF following this next transplant for the real deal on my upper shoulder....

I started the transplant process and am going through my third day of chemo therapy here in AZ. So far it hasn't been too bad, I got a little sick yesterday but since they have updated the anti-nausuea medicine I've felt much better. I still have 3 more days of chemotherapy and then 2 days of medicine that will help the graft take. And on the morning of September 16 I will be giving the stem cells back to me from my "angel" donor. I know in an earlier post I mentioned the donor as being a stranger but I have decided that they aren't a stranger rather they are truly and angel who is giving e a shot at another life. And I cannot thank them enough!!!!

Thank you again to everyone for your good vibes and prayers!!!

****Special thanks as well to Matt BLangiardi for the book "Lone Survivor"

Engagement and Update

2010-09-01T13:38:00.001-07:00

Well, a lot has changed since my last post. I went to Kauai on 08/26/10 for the night and asked my girlfriend Misty Pacheco to marry me as we sat on a remote beach near Princeville. After her initial shock wore off she said YES!!! I am very lucky to have such a loving, smart and beautiful woman in my life!

She is also very determined and after proving to herself that she could run the half marathon she has decided to run the Honolulu Marathon in December. In order to train for the marathon she has joined the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society: Team in Training, the same group that my friend John Gephart trained with when he ran in the Honolulu Marathon in my honor when I was first diagnosed in 2008. Part of her responsibility as a team member is to raise $1350.00, any amount that she fails to raise will be charged to her credit card so all donations are greatly appreciated. I can personally attest that the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society does help out those in need. Every year I am able to get reimbursed $150.00 for any doctors office visit or pharmacy copays that I pay for out of pocket. When I was first diagnosed this amount was $500.00 so they are definitely in need of money in order to be able to continue to help out those afflicted with Leukemia or Lymphoma. Here is a link to her page: http://pages.teamintraining.org/hi/honolulu10/mpachecfjm. I have also created a link on the left hand side of my page.

After talking it over with my family and doctors and reading everyones encouraging comments to my last posting I have decided to go ahead and do the transplant. Despite the risks of going through with it (35% survival rate after 3 years), the risks are far greater if I do not go through with it (5% survival rate after 3 years). Though I wasn't the greatest math student at Iolani I do know that 35% beats out 5% every time!!! So that brings me back to Arizona and the Mayo Clinic once again. I have been very busy since I arrived here Sunday at midnight with meetings and tests everyday all day for the last four days. We had a little scare yesterday when we met with Dr. Reeder. Apparently my lung capacity is not up to what they were projecting it to be so they were concerned that I may not be able to go ahead with the treatment until this problem was addressed. Thankfully after a meeting today with a thoracic nurse and doctor it was determined that the diffusion restriction in my left lung is due to the prior radiation and it should not affect my breathing during the transplant process.

Here is my upcoming schedule so that you guys can follow what I am going through:

9/7: Final meeting with Dr. Reeder

9/8: Surgery @ 6:30 a.m. to place Hickman Line and then be admitted into the hospital

9/9 - 9/13: High dose chemotherapy

9/14: Day of rest

9/15: Transplant

Post transplant I will be in the hospital until my counts recover and they are sure that the stem cells are grafting (3 weeks or so).

My family and I are going to need all of the support that we can get in the next few weeks so please continue to pray and send good vibes our way.

*** Side note: I write this blog freestyle so please ignore any spelling or grammatical errors that you may come across :)

And So It Begins Again...

2010-07-25T22:58:00.000-07:00

So I have not updated my blog in quite a long time, in part because my health has been better and in part because I don't like coming back to this page and remembering the tough times that I went through. But it was this page and everyones words of encouragement that got me through everything. And unfortunately I am back on here because I am need of that support once again.

Over the last few months I have been undergoing chemotherapy again here in Hawaii (Navelbine and Gemzar). While the drugs are much weaker than any of the others in the past, my body has been having problems recovering from each treatment. My white and red blood counts and my plattlete counts have all been affected to the point that I ended up in the ER twice and have had to have blood and plattlete transfusions. Because of this Dr. Liu decided to stop my treatment early and go ahead and give me a PET/CT scan to see if the drugs have been working on killing the cancer cells. Following the scans I was told that the cancer was almost gone except for one spot remaining on my left 4th rib. After speaking with Dr. Reeder at the Mayo Clinic, Dr. Liu decided to restart the chemotherapy but this time only giving me one drug (Navelbine). I have undergone one treatment of this so far and have another three to go before they go ahead and schedule another PET/CT. Hopefully after this round of treatment the cancer will be gone and I will be considered in remission.

While this is something that I have been working towards it also means that I will have to undergo another bone marrow transplant which I am not looking forward to to say the least. The first transplant was hard enough on my body but to go through another one and this time have to infuse the bone marrow of a stranger will make it all that much harder. The stay in the hospital will be much longer and because of the chance of graft v. host disease (my body rejects the donor marrow) I will be under much closer watch by my doctors to make sure that I do not develop any major side effects in the first three months following the transplant. But what worries me the most are the potential for long term side effects that could include liver and lung disease and skin sensitivity. So while they are possibly curing me of Hodgkins Disease, I may now have another major disease to deal with not to mention the possibility of another type of cancer developing due to all of the chemicals that they have pumped into my body.

So now I have to make the tough decision of undergoing the second bone marrow transplant or taking the chance that the cancer will stay in remission after this last dose of chemotherapy. While I know my doctors believe that the transplant is the best option I am not quite sure how much more of this I can take. I already have a ton of side effects that I deal with daily and then to add on a heap more I am not sure I want to do that. I am hoping that with a complete change in diet and way of life I can maybe keep the cancer at bay without having more chemicals pumped into me. In the end I will have to talk it over with my family and doctors and come to the best conclusion but as I write this I am fearing the transplant and everything that comes along with it. I would rather live out a shortened life and enjoy myself than live a longer one that includes endless limitations and health issues...

Heading Back Home

2009-11-13T07:51:00.000-08:00

I had my meeting with Dr. Reeder yesterday to review the results of my latest CT scan and so far the mass has not grown at all. Although we are hoping for it to grow because that means that I can qualify for one of the trial treatments, the fact that it is not growing and/or spreading rapidly is a good sign! Since it still has to grow another .2 cm I am going to be heading home next week and will wait another 6-8 weeks before they run another CT scan.

At this point we are shooting for the bone marrow transplant to take place sometime in mid to late Spring. Because of this, Dr. Reeder does not want me to start either the trial treatment or conventional chemotherapy too early because he doesn't want to push the duration of treatment over such a long time. So with any luck the mass will have grown by January and at that point I can start treatment and get ready to come back to Arizona for the transplant.

Thanks again to everyone for the support and I wish you all a Happy Thanksgiving and Happy Holidays!!!

CT Scan and Bone Marrow Registry

2009-11-09T09:27:00.000-08:00

So, I met with Dr. Reeder and he feels that adding me to a clinical trial is the best thing for me. It would involve me taking a pill once a day and thankfully the pill has very little to no side effects at all. He feels the trial is the best thing because it is so non-intrusive as far as side effects go and because if it doesn't work I still have the option to do conventional chemotherapy... The only thing is my mass needs to be at least 2 cm to do the clinical trial and it's only 1.8 cm right now, so it has to grow before I qualify for the trial. The bigger mass that was there unfortunately was just removed during the biopsy which is why we need this one to grow. Weird I know but that's a qualification of the trial.

So at this point, I will be up here for at least more weeks waiting to do the new CT scan to see if the mass has grown .2 cm. If it is still too small, then I will go home and do another scan every month until it is 2 cm or more. Once it hits 2 cm, they will get me enrolled in the trial and I would start it here and then go home to Hawaii. I would fly back here about once a month for a few days at a time during the first cycle of the trial (2-3 months) to get tested and see the doctors that are running the trail. Once I have completed the first cycle I should be able to remain at home for the remainder of the trial. If my body responds to the trial and/ or chemotherapy I will then be scheduled for an allogenic transplant (meaning they would take someone else's bone marrow this time instead of my own like they did the first time) and with any luck it will take and I will be back in remission for good!

If anyone one is interested in joining the Bone Marrow Donor Registry you can follow this link, http://www.marrow.org/JOIN/Join_in_Person/US_Donor_Centers/dc_list_by_state.pl. and register in your area. It takes only a few minutes and involves completing a registration form and a simple swab of the cheek, that's it! If you aren't a match for me, maybe you will be a match for someone else and you can help save their life... I do know that there will be a Hawaii drive next Wednesday, November 18th, 2009 at the Ward Starbucks from 10:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m., so go get a cup of coffee and help save someone at the same time. And if you don't like coffee you can always get a $2 taco and a pitcher of beer at Wahoo Taco's next door for their Wahoo Wednesday special ;)

Back In Zona

2009-10-17T10:23:00.000-07:00

I am back in Arizona and unfortunately it isn't for golf! I had another biopsy two days ago to determine if the new spots that showed up on my PET scan were cancerous or if they were just left over radiation residue. The biopsy consisted of me being put into the CT machine as my doctor (in a full lead bodysuit, and me in nothing more than a hospital gown) reached his hands into the machine and stuck a hollow needle into my chest while following it's path on the CT screen. He then inserted another needle into the hollow one that was still protruding from my chest and "grabbed" three samples of tissue. While the biopsy did not hurt very much, it was a little disconcerting to look down and see a hollow needle sticking out of my chest. Especially when I was informed that there was a chance of the needle puncturing my lung and/or one of the major blood vessels in the surrounding area. Thankfully my doctor had very steady hands and I am fine. With any luck the samples will come back negative and I will be on my way back to Hawaii! However if it is still cancer I will be given a few options of chemo and will need another bone marrow transplant. This one coming from a donor, not from my own bone marrow. I will have all of the results this Monday and will repost shortly after that...

The good news about being up here is that the University of Washington football team is in town to play against Arizona State so I will be at the stadium tonight rooting on the Huskies, GO DAWGS!

Another Step...

2009-09-18T17:34:00.000-07:00

I finally received the latest PET/ CT san results last Tuesday and unfortunately they were not great. The cancer that was treated under my armpit was no longer present (a good thing!), however there are now two small spots showing which were not there in the beginning. One at the bottom of my lung and the other just above my abdomen. So basically this means that I will have to do another round of chemotherapy. My docotor here in Hawaii (Dr. Liu) has sent the results of the scans to my doctor in Arizona (Dr. Reeder) for him to review. Once he's had a chance to review them, they will make a decision on what the best treatment route will be. Until this decision is made I am left in the dark not knowing what type of chemo I will have to endure or whether or not I will have to go back to Arizona for treatment or be able to stay at home in Hawaii to do it.
It seems unfair after all I have gone through to have to go through it all over again and I have to admit that I was pretty angry, sad, depressed, etc... when I found out the news. But all of those negative feelings aren't going to get me anywhere so I have to brush them off and put the gloves back on for another round. I refuse to let this thing beat me and make me another statistic and if I have to go through chemo and all of it's crappy side effects again, than that is what I will do!!! Thanks to everyone for their continued support!

*** On a happier note, I was able to attend Aunty Kathleen Franklin's surprise birthday party last month at the Outrigger Canoe Club. It was great to see her after all of these years, she was and still is like a second mom to me...

Radiation Round Two Completed!

2009-07-22T12:30:00.000-07:00

So I finished my full month of radiation on July 15th without any major complications. Halfway through the treatment Dr. Pang decided to expand the treatment area to include my chest and neck area as well. This was done as a precaution to keep the cancer from spreading to other areas that have already been affected. Prior to the expanded treatment the only side effect that I was suffering from was exhaustion which continues to be a problem but should subside over time. However after the treatment was expanded two more minor side effects occured. The first being a minor sore throat which was caused by the radiation hitting my esophagus, the other being a dry cough from the treatment to my chest and lung area. While the sore throat was minor and went away within a few days the dry cough has been persistent and is starting to get annoying. I have been up coughing in the middle of the night for 1-2 hours straight for the last few nights which has been making my exhaustion/ fatigue even greater. I am hoping that Dr. Pang can suggest a good cough medicine that will get rid of the ever present "tickle" in my throat so that I can start getting some better sleep!

I will be meeting with Dr. Liu on July 27th and at this time will find out what the next step of treatment will be. My "educated" guess is that he will have me wait another two weeks before running a PET scan at which time we will be able to see if the radiation was succesfull. I will update my blog at this time with any new reports!

- The picture above is Matt and Ryan Blangiardi and myself. I grew up two houses away from them in Kahala and we terrorized the neighborhood throughout our adolecent years. So much so that another neighbor dubbed us the "Makaiwa Monsters." It was great to get together with them for a few hours before Matt had to fly back to LA. We will have to meet up more often!

- I wanted to use this space to also send my continued sympathy to one of my best friends Vail and his family. Vails mom, Aunty Sandy, passed away after her own battle with health issues. She always greeted us boys with a smile whenever we got together at their house whether it be for New Years Eve celebrations or just random Friday nights. You will be missed by us all!

It's been awhile!

2009-06-17T17:59:00.000-07:00

So it has been a while since I updated this blog. Life back home in Hawaii has been great! I am enjoying being back in the sunshine with my family and friends. The waves on the South Shore are finally starting to pick up so after work surf sessions are becoming more regular!
So why I am back on here??? To be quite honest I never really intended to update this thing ever again, it was more of a tool for me to vent my frustrations and feelings while I went through treatment rather than a blog of my life. Which leads me to some unfortunate news. In May I went up to Arizona for a routine check up and scan, while there they discovered that one of my lymph nodes under my left armpit was swollen so a biopsy was done. Unfortunately the biopsy came back as reccurrent Hodgkins Disease. After talking it over with Dr. Reeder in Arizona it was determined that radation treatment could be done here in Hawaii as it was basic enough that the Mayo Clinic didn't feel I needed to have it done there.
So, last week I went in for my initial meeting with Dr. Pang (my radialogist here in Hawaii) and they ran some scans on me so that they could calibrate the exact area that they were going to treat. Apparently those scans are now showing a significant size increase in the lymph nodes since my sans in Arizona last month. The lympnode has gone from one 2 millimeter node to four nodes that are totaling almost 5 millimeters. What this means is that the cancer is getting bigger but thankfully it is still localized to under the left armpit. They also discovered that they have already radiated the area that I am having treated so they may have to cut the radiation short and begin chemotherapy at some point. The reason for this is because too much radiation to one area can cause nerve damage which could lead to paralysis. At this point I am going to just continue with the treatment schedule as is but there could be changes in the schedule once they review all the scans and look at progress of the current treatment cycle.

Thanks for the continued support and don't worry I will be fine!

(The picture above is of my friends Michelle and Leimomi punching me out just like I am going to do to this cancer!!!)

I'm Back!!!

2009-01-22T20:11:00.000-08:00

So I apologize for not updating my blog for the past few weeks. I have been getting yelled at by family and friends to update so here I am! I was released by Dr. Reeder to return to Hawaii and arrived here last week Thursday. It is great to be back and to be able to get my life back on track. The first few days were spent getting situated in the cottage that I am renting on Diamond Head Rd. right near Kapiolani Park. The cottage is a little small, but it is perfect for a single guy and the location could not get any better. I have the park a block away, Kaimana beach is a 5 min walk away, and Tonggs and Ricebowls surf breaks are just across the street!

It has also been great to get back and see my family, friends, and coworkers. The first two days back at work have been awesome but a little tiring. My body still needs to get used to an 8 hour work day after everything that it has gone through, but it will come back!

Thanksgiving

2008-12-09T17:16:00.000-08:00

I hope that everyone enjoyed their Thanksgiving. We had about 30 people here at my mom and Jim's house for dinner. It was great to spend time with family and friends and after the good news that I got a few days earlier I had a lot to be thankful for!

I met with Dr. Reeder and Dr. Schild last week and went over my progress and the upcoming radiation treatment. I am waiting this week to here back from Dr. Schild's office and get my schedule but I am assuming that I will start within the next week. I should be going everyday for 10-12 days and then will be done with all of my treatment!!! After that it will be about a week of recuperation and then I should be able to make it back to HI sometime after the 5th of January. I cannot wait to get back and see everyone and get back to a normal schedule.

I also want to say thanks to Maui Divers for the giant card! I couldn't get the picture to post but will try again later and hopefully it will work then...

WE Did It!

2008-11-25T18:39:00.000-08:00

Yesterday was the big day of my PET scan that would determine whether or not my cancer was still present. After a sleepless night and a day of jitters waiting for the results, I finally heard from Dr. Reeder at about 2:30 pm this afternoon. And it was great news, the cancer is no longer present! After nearly a year, three different chemotherapy treatments and a bone marrow transplant this thing is finally out of my system!!! I still have a few years before they consider me completely in remission and I will now have to undergo about two weeks of low dose radiation but this was the first big step!

Thank you very much again to everyone that has been supportive throughout my entire journey, I couldn't have done it without you guys!

Radiation

2008-11-13T12:16:00.000-08:00

I just returned from my meeting with Dr. Shild who is going to be my radiation oncologist. Because of the recurrence of the mass in the past and the size that is was they are going to go ahead and give me some radiation. How much is going to be determined by a PET scan that I will have sometime in the next few weeks. If the scan comes back "cold" meaning that the cancer is no longer present I will have a lower dose of radiation that will be for about 2 weeks. If it comes back "hot" meaning that the cancer is still present I will have a much higher dose that will be for about 4 weeks. Once the results come back it will be up to my platelet counts as to when they will start. If they are high enough they are going to be starting as soon as possible, if they are still low it could be another 30 days before they even get started. If this is the case I could be here in AZ until February.

I wanted to let everyone know that just because I am missing home a lot as mentioned in my previous blog, in no way does this mean that I am going to give up! I am just ready to get this thing over with and get my life back on track!

Recovery

2008-11-12T10:58:00.000-08:00

So recovery since I got out of the hospital has been much harder than I thought that it would be. Despite my counts going up everyday, I am still very weak and feel lightheaded a lot of the time and I am finally starting to realize that recovering from a possibly fatal dose of chemotherapy is going to be much harder than all of the other treatments. It is a very frustrating since it only took a few days to recover from each ABVD treatment and about a week from the ESHAP but I have a feeling that this one is going to take a few months. I started to workout today and was able to ride for 10 minutes on the stationary bike and lifted 5lb weights. I know it doesn't seem like much but it is truly the best that I can do right now. My goal is to increase the time by 1-2 minutes each day and increase the amount of reps as well but it is easier said than done.

I am also missing Hawaii a lot and knowing that I cannot go home for another month or two has been making me feel depressed. It is just something that I have to work through and know that home will always be there and my getting better is the most important thing right now. But it is hard when I am stuck in a house in AZ all day long and almost everything that I know and love is going on without me in HI.

I Escaped from Mayo!!!

2008-11-06T07:40:00.000-08:00

So as some of you already know, I was released from the Mayo Clinic yesterday after 3 long weeks! It was a big surprise since my nurse told me in the morning that my white blood cell count numbers had jumped significantly but that I would still have to stay one more day for monitoring. But when I met with Dr. Reeder an hour later he over ruled her and said that I was in good enough shape to return home!!! It was a little strange leaving the hospital after such a long stay but I think that I am getting used to being home now after a nights sleep in a real bed... Now I am going to be going through weekly blood tests and then probably some radiation just to make sure that everything is completely killed before I get sent back home to Hawaii!!! By the way, if anyone out there in Hawaii is looking for a roommate or knows of a place to rent that isn't going to cost me an arm and a leg please let me know as I need to start planning my return!

Home sweet, home!

Day +11 Update

2008-11-03T11:17:00.000-08:00

Today is November 3rd which is considered day +11 meaning it is the 11th day from the transplant. Things have been going okay but the last week has been pretty rough. First I got nauseous and sick for a few days so they had me on a strict regimen of anti-nausea medication which caused me to become very drowsy. I then developed a bad rash all over my body that didn't bother me but didn't look great either. And finally I got a sore throat that has been so bad that I have not been able to eat or drink anything for the last few days (I have lost 19 lbs in the last 9 days). In fact they have me on a morphine drip pump that gives me a constant flow of morphine but also allows me to push a button every 8 minutes and get an extra burst just to try and fight some of the pain. So suffice to say, between the anti-nausea medication and the morphine I have been pretty stoned over these last few days.

Dr. Reeder was on rounds this morning and stopped to check on me and let me know how my progress was going. According to my lab results I may be able to leave the hospital as early as this Wednesday! I cannot wait to get out of here and breathe some non-circulated air!

Stoned!

My sister Malia flew down for the weekend!

Transplant Day: October 24, 2008

2008-10-21T15:26:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was the big day for my transplant! After suffering through 7 straight days of intense chemotherapy, my stem cells were reintroduced into my body. The entire process took about 12 minutes, which according to the nurse was extremely short. The shortness was because my original harvest had been so good that I only needed to infuse one bag rather than multiple bags. I have been feeling very week these last few days and had gotten some of the unfortunate side effects of the chemotherapy, burn marks on my hands and mouth sores. But in about 5 days they will begin the nuprogen shots that will boost my white blood cell counts and that should take care of the side effects. Sorry if this is poorly written and a little rambling as I am still really tired but I wanted to put up a post and let people know that I am still hanging in there and everything is going according to plan!

Five Million frozen stem-cells

Hanging the stem cells for transplant

Close-up of cells going down the tube and into me.

Day One

2008-10-15T18:23:00.000-07:00

I checked into the Mayo Clinic this afternoon at 1:00 pm. They gave me a huge room which is great but unfortunately I don't have a view of anything. The day has been spent meeting with the doctors and nurses and going over everything that is going to be happening while I am here. I am being filled with fluids as I write this to keep me hydrated and I will also be given two drugs one to prevent seizures and another to protect my liver. They weighed me the second that I checked in and will weigh me everyday at 4:00 am and then again at 4:00 pm. It is essential that my weight remains the same while I am in here as too much weight loss is not good and any weight gain at all can be a negative sign of one if the chemo drugs. Other than that I have just been getting settled into my new "home," it is probably a bad sign that I already want to break out of this place as I am going crazy but my mom has confiscated my wallet so there will be no taxi rides to the airport for me :(

Starting tomorrow I will begin the chemotherapy at 8:00 am and be given one of the drugs every 4 hours for the first three days. Following that I will have the remaining three drugs over the last three days. They have stressed multiple times that these drugs are not going to be fun, in fact one nurse said I am going to feel like I have been beaten by a Louisville Slugger, but what does not kill me will only make me stronger. Below are some pictures of me in my room:

Cowboys v. Cardinals/ Final Update

2008-10-14T15:34:00.000-07:00

I was able to make it out to the Cowboys v. Cardinals game this past Sunday to tailgate with Kevin, Brooke, JJ and a bunch of other friends! We had a great time and it was cool to be able to tailgate at a professional event, pretty much what you would expect beer and bbq's but with way too many Cowboys fans. If you didn't know better you might have thought that you were in Dallas. I have to give them credit Cowboys fan sure do travel. The game was exciting with the Cardinals pulling off the win in OT! And it was hard, yet funny, to watch the hoards of Cowboy fans make the walk of shame through the parking lot to their cars following the loss...

As far as updates go, I met with Dr. Reeder today to get the results of my most recent tests and to find out the official schedule of my transplant. Dr. Reeder was very pleased with the results of the tests especially after everything that took place last week and he is feeling optimistic about the transplant. I will be heading in tomorrow once they have a room available for me to get situated and started on pre-meds and hydration. The chemotherapy will then begin Thursday and last for seven days with one day off at the end before they re-introduce my stem cells on the 24th. After that it will be all recovery time with daily blood works tests as we wait for my blood counts to return to a healthy level so that I can be discharged.

Thanks again to all of you for your support! I will try and update my blog while I am in the hospital, but if I am unable to I will have my mom or Jim type something up so that everyone knows what is going on!

Yo Adrian!

2008-10-09T22:12:00.000-07:00

My schedule is finally set, after a few more tests this upcoming Monday and a final meeting with my doctor on Tuesday I will be admitted on Wednesday October 15th! I will be in the hospital for about 2-3 weeks depending upon my recovery time, but I am going to do everything that they tell me to do and then some so that I can try and get out of there sooner. I wish that I could sit here and pretend like I am not nervous and scared, but I am.

This cancer may be as strong as Clubber Lang and Ivan Drago combined, and it has definitely thrown a lot punches at me and had me in the corner more than once wanting to throw in the towel, but that is something that I refuse to do! I have gone through way too much and fought way too many rounds to give up in the 15th because "I aint no bum!" It is now time for me to find the inner Rocky in myself and know that I have a ton of people rooting me on like Rocks trainer Mickey. And with that kind of support there is no way that I can lose! I am going to, "eat lightnin' and crap thunder" until this cancer can't get up from the ten count...

It will be then, that I proclaim to all of you in my corner. "Yo Adrian, WE did it!!!"

Update from CT Scan

2008-10-07T21:37:00.000-07:00

It was a pretty rough weekend for me after my last round of ESHAP. I spent most of Sunday in bed trying unsuccessfully to keep any food down and unfortunately the sickness led into Monday when I had to go into Mayo for blood work and my CT scan.

I had my follow-up meeting with Dr. Reeder today to go over the CT scan results from yesterday, apparently the mass has grown slightly since my last scan in September which means that the cancer is once again adapting to the chemotherapy and fighting back. Instead of giving me another round of a different type of chemotherapy they have decided that the best thing to do is go ahead with the bone marrow transplant followed by some radiation and try and knock this thing out once and for good. So I will more than likely be admitted on Monday and begin the BEAM chemotherapy on Tuesday. I am going to be going through some tough times in the next few weeks but I will try and update my blog as much as possible while I am in the hospital. Once again, thank you to everyone for your continued support!

A Minor Setback

2008-10-05T12:11:00.000-07:00

After going through the first four days of what was supposed to be the last round of ESHAP I ran into a minor brick wall. Friday was supposed to be the quickest day as far as the length of treatment but when I woke up that morning my face was swollen and my chest was feeling tight. I brought up my symptoms to the nurse as soon as I got to the Mayo Clinic and as a precaution she decided to weigh me to see if I was retaining fluid. Turns out I had gained almost 15lbs of fluid since the chemotherapy started. So my last day of treatment was cancelled and I was sent to get an x-ray which did show fluid in my lung cavity once again. Below is information from cancerbackup.org explaining a pleural effusion.

What is a pleural effusion?: The lungs are covered by a membrane or lining, called the pleura, which has an inner layer and an outer layer. The inner layer covers the lungs. The outer layer lines the rib cage and diaphragm, which is a sheet of muscle which separates the chest from the abdomen. The pleura produces a fluid which acts as a lubricant that helps you to breathe easily, allowing the lungs to move in and out smoothly. Sometimes too much of this fluid can build up between the two layers of the pleura: this is called a pleura effusion.

Causes: Pleural effusions are quite common and are often due to infections such as pneumonia, or heart failure, when the heart is not pumping the blood efficiently around the body. A pleural effusion can also be a symptom of several types of cancer. A pleural effusion usually develops if cancer cells have spread into the membrane lining the lungs, where they can lead to irritation and cause fluid to build up.

At this point I am awaiting a CT scan on Monday to see what the next step is going to be. If there is still a significant amount of fluid my doctor will drain the area in order to relieve some of the pressure. This is done by placing a small tube in between my ribs in my back and allowing the fluid to flow out into jars. Dr. Reeder will then have to determine whether or not I am going to go ahead and complete the last day of treatment or start an entirely new type of chemotherapy. I am hoping that I just have to do the last day as I am already feeling ill and don't want another weeks worth of chemicals pumped into my body! I will be sure to update my blog tomorrow as soon as I hear any news...

Yet another round of ESHAP required

2008-09-24T15:20:00.000-07:00

I just got back from my meeting with Dr. Reeder and unfortunately the PET scan came out positive again. My body has been responding well to the chemotherapy but there are still a few small spots of cancer just below my collar bone and in my chest. Thankfully the mass in my chest has shrunk significantly! The plan now is to start another 5 day round of ESHAP this upcoming Monday and then wait 2-3 weeks to run another PET scan. Hopefully at that time the scan will be negative of any active cancer cells and I will be admitted into the hospital to start the transplant. Thank you to everyone for your continued support!

As many of you also know, my friend John Gephart is running in the 2008 Honolulu Marathon for Team in Training in my honor. Below is a link to an article from todays Honolulu Advertiser spotlighting John's training and efforts to raise money for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society of Hawaii. Thanks again John, keep up the hard work!!!

http://www.honoluluadvertiser.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080924/COMPUB03/809240324/1224

My cousin Dallas has also informed me that her friend Becky Hurley will be running the 2008 San Francisco Marathon for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society Team in Training in my honor. I have never met Becky before but I want to thank her very much for the support and wish her the best of luck!!! Below is a link to her Team in Training webpage:

http://pages.teamintraining.org/nce/nikesf08/bhurley

Malia: My Sister that thinks is my Mother!

2008-09-17T16:25:00.000-07:00

So my sister Malia wasn't very pleased with the picture that I posted of her on my blog. In fact she is still complaining about it so here are two other pictures of her, not too sure how much she will like the second one but my tormenting her won't stop just because I am sick!

Malia and Andy (aka: Baby Huey)

Whatchu' looking at fool!

*** These photos are both courtesy of Andy's myspace page so if anyone is to blame it is him for putting them out there for me to access.

Diamondbacks game and New Dates

2008-09-16T15:48:00.000-07:00

I have another busy week here going between the Mayo Hospital in Phoenix and the Mayo Clinic in Scottsdale everyday for tests and meetings before I am able to get cleared to go in for my transplant. I met with Chris my bone marrow transplant coordinator again yesterday and he let me know how surprised everyone truly was to find out my harvest numbers from last week. Apparently giving enough for three transplants in one sitting is an amazing feat, not that I did much besides just sit there, I guess I am just lucky! A good thing since I am sure it costs a lot of money each time I am hooked up to that machine...

According to Chris the results from my PET scan that I have this Friday are the most important indicator of when I will be admitted into the hospital for the transplant. If the scan shows active cancer cells I will have to go through another round of ESHAP chemotherapy but if it shows that the cancer is no longer active I will be admitted into the hospital on Sept. 25th. I am keeping my fingers crossed that the results will show the cancer no longer active so that I can get this transplant started and over with!!!

If I am admitted into the hospital next week, I will spend the first day receiving fluids and medications in order to get me ready for the BEAM chemotherapy which will begin the following day and last for about 5 days if I remember correctly. BEAM is a lethal dose of chemotherapy that will destroy not only the cancer but also everything in my body (red/ white blood cells, immune system, etc...). After the chemotherapy my stem cells will then be reintroduced to my body in order to rebuild everything that they have killed off. But for the next few months I will have the immune system equivalent to that of a newborn so making sure that I don't get any infections will be critical. In fact, I will have to have all of the immunization shots that I was given as a child all over again because the BEAM will destroy those as well...

I am not really looking forward to going through the BEAM chemotherapy and the long stay in the hospital but I know that the end result will be worth the sickness and fight that I am going to have to endure for the next few weeks/ months.

On a lighter note I was able to attend the Diamondbacks v. Reds game on Saturday night. Here is a picture from the nosebleed seats that we had. That little black spec on the mound is Randy Johnson. Thanks Bryn and Tahnie, fun times!

I am also very bummed that I will be missing the wedding of two of my best friends Ryan and Jenn this Saturday at Waialae Country Club. I want to wish you both the best of luck and I will be home soon enough, so be ready to celebrate again with me there!!!

Blood Transfusion and Fall Harvest

2008-09-08T16:53:00.001-07:00

I went into Mayo yesterday for a blood transfusion to boost my red blood cell count which had fallen to a really low level after my last chemotherapy treatment. I was a little nervous about the whole thing since I was going to be having someone else's blood put into my body, but I was reassured that it had been double and triple checked by the lab and was perfectly safe. I have donated blood before but have never been the recipient and I now know for a fact that donating blood is an extremely important thing to do!!! The process was a pretty simple one, they basically just hooked up the bags of blood to my ash-split catheter and slowly dripped it into my body...

While I was having my transfusion they also ran labs to see where my white blood cell counts were at. I got the good news that the levels had finally bottomed out and were now on their way back up, this meant that my bone marrow harvest was going to be very soon! On Saturday the count was at 3.8 and on Sunday it had gone up to 8.5. In order for the harvest to take place my rates had to reach anything over 10 which the nurses felt would happen this morning. When we got the results in today, my numbers amazingly had jumped all the way to 76.5 and the so the harvest began!!!

The harvest was a very easy process as well. My ash-split was this time hooked up to the large machine in the picture on the left. One tube of the ash-split allowed the blood to flow out of my body and into the machine where it was spun around and filtered. The stem-cells were then separated and placed into a bag while the red blood cells and platelets were returned to my body through the other tube in my ash-split. (They actually removed and replaced the equivalent of all of the blood in my body four times). It is the stem-cells that they want to keep because this is where the bone marrow that will later be put back into me during the transplant is located. According to the nurses that were helping me today, my harvest went extremely well. Attached to the machine there is a small chart with the different colors that the stem-cells can look like as they are filtered and put into the bag. If the coloring is too light or too dark they have to make adjustments to the machine and either speed it up or slow it down until it is corrected. Luckily my stem-cells came out perfect the entire four hours that I was hooked up to the machine and not one adjustment had to be made!

As I was just finishing up this posting I received a phone call from my bone marrow transplant coordinator Chris and he informed me that during todays harvest they were able to get enough stem-cells for three transplants! It normally takes about two to three days for them to collect enough for two transplants, which is their goal, and I was able to give them enough for three in one sitting!!! This means that I finally have a week long break before I have to return to the hospital, the first break in quite awhile!!!

The picture below shows the blood being taken out of my body from the tube with the red clip and being returned through the tube with the blue clip...

This is a closer picture of the harvesting machine. It is a pretty amazing machine and whomever invented it was a real genius. It is able to run algorithms based on your body height and weight along with the labs results of your current blood counts and determine the exact rate at which it needs to filter your blood in order to get the stem-cells out in the best condition. You can also see my stem-cells filling the bag hanging on the right above the machine...

Pain, Pepper and Paintings

2008-09-06T15:51:00.000-07:00

Had my ash-split catheter implanted on Tuesday. The procedure was pretty quick although I had to ask them for more pain killers part way through because I could feel everything that was going on. Thanks to Sally I was able to get the VIP service for my procedure, thank you again! The ash-split has been a little hard to get used to since there are now two tubes coming out of my chest, but I am starting to forget that it is there...

I have been feeling much better this week and am finally eating three meals a day, first time in a long time! Hopefully I can gain a little weight back before I get admitted into the hospital and am forced to eat the food there...

Been going to the hospital everyday to have blood drawn and get my shots to boost my white blood cell counts. What they are looking for is my white blood cells to hit a low plateau and then begin to come back up. Once this happens they will be able to harvest my bone marrow for the transplant. They were hoping that my numbers would be heading back up by today but unfortunately they are still on the decline so it will be a few more days before anything else can be done.

Jim thought that I should put a close up of what the ash-split looks like. Pretty crazy stuff but it is only temporary and if it is needed to get me better than I will suck it up and live with it.... Sorry if this grosses anyone out!

Made it to the Pepper and Slightly Stoopid concert yesterday! Was very happy to be able to get out of the house and see some bands that I really like here in Mesa. I went with Joanna and her friend Angelica, unfortunately Brooke had to work! We got there without tickets only to find out that it was sold out but after asking for extra tickets outside we finally were able to bribe a security guard to let us in the back gate. Actually we lucked out because he charged us less than the ticket value!!! Below are some more pics from the concert:

Joanna, Angelica and I

Slightly Stoopid "live and direct"

Finally, but certainly not least I received this painting in the mail the other day from my cousin Dallas' eight year old daughter Regan. She painted it for me to help brighten my day and it did just that. Thank you very much Regan, I love it very much and have it up in my room here in AZ. I will be sure to take it back to Hawaii and put it up at home when I get there!!!

Birthday, Fireworks, Up Coming Dates and Donations

2008-08-31T20:11:00.000-07:00

Was feeling pretty down yesterday but toughed it out enough to make it to my niece Giullianna's 1st birthday party for an hour or so. Was happy that I made it but felt bad that I couldn't enjoy myself and made my mom and Jim leave early so that I could get home and get some rest. Despite my intention to take photos of the event I really didn't feel up to it so here is a photo that I have of her from a few weeks ago. I think that at the time she had just woken up from a long nap which is why she has the glazed over look on her face. Looks a lot like me before I have my coffee in the morning!

And here's one of Owen stuffing his face, just so he doesn't feel left out!

After leaving the party to go home and rest up for my 7:45 am appointment at the Mayo Clinic this morning we remembered that there was going to be a fireworks show at the church down the street from my mom's house. They normally have a huge show for the 4th of July but I guess another church in the neighborhood began competing with them so they chose to move it to Labor Day weekend this year. I took these photos from a lawn chair in the front yard:

I head into a long week at the Mayo Clinic with appointments starting at 7:00 am tomorrow and taking place everyday until the 9th when I will finally have about a week off. This week will be filled with shots to boost my blood counts. Meetings with the bone marrow transplant coordinators to get more familiar with what is going to take place. And the implantation of the ash spit catheter so that they can begin harvesting. I am hoping to get a lot of questions answered tomorrow when I meet with my "team" as like I said before, I am pretty nervous about the whole process.

I am not sure if this played a factor into anything but I saw that my mom posted a comment on my last blog about my going into a tough time and reaching out to others to keep in contact with me. Following that post I received many calls, texts, e-mails and posts which I am grateful for. It is so hard to explain all of the emotional feelings that someone goes through when they are faced with something like cancer but at times, despite knowing better, you tend to feel completely alone in the world. At least that is how I have felt and it is these comments and messages that let me know that I am not alone in this thing and help to keep me going! I don't want to single any particular one out as they all meant so much but Mr. Minn, your comments really brought the fighter back out of me at a time when I was beginning to doubt myself and I thank you for that!

I also want to thank Maui Divers (my employer and work Ohana for those that don't know) for their extremely generous donation to the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society of Hawaii's Team in Training. My good friend John Gephart will be running the 2008 Honolulu Marathon in my honor for Team in Training and it is through donations like these that help keep the society functioning. They do great things for those inflicted with Lymphoma, Leukemia, and other cancers including offering emotional and financial support. There is a link on the left hand side of my page to John's pledge, if you are able to donate anything at all, even one dollar, I can promise you that it will be going towards a good cause...

Losing my Hair

2008-08-27T18:10:00.000-07:00

So after going through six months of chemotherapy in Hawaii and having my hair thin a little but not fully come out, I am finally actually losing my hair with this new stronger chemotherapy. I know that it isn't as big a deal for a man to lose his hair but it is a little weird to lose your eyebrows. I had been waiting for a month for my eyebrows to finally come back and now I am scared that they are going to be going away again. At least it is all temporary and will come back once I recover from everything, so I really shouldn't complain too much!!! I decided to have my hair cut shorter so that it wasn't so obvious every time that I took a shower or woke up and saw a ton of hair on my pillow.

Here's a pic that my step-dad took to remember the moment of my military cut. I think that after this round of treatment when I feel a little better I am going to get the mohawk until the rest of it all falls out...

Round two has been okay so far. I spent almost 11 1/2 hours at the Mayo Hospital in Phoenix on Monday going through tests, meeting with Dr. Reeder and then finally having chemotherapy. Dr. Reeder seemed very pleased with the results of the scans and is getting me prepared to start the bone marrow harvest immediately following this round of chemotherapy. Essentially what will happen is they will have me go through tests to make sure that my lung and heart functions are up to par with what I am going to be facing. I will also be given shots of Nuprogen for a few days straight, what this does is boost the production of my white bloods cells and hopefully makes it easier for them to access my bone marrow. They are going to also have an ash split catheter implanted into my chest. What this will do is allow them to pull my blood out of one tube into a machine that will separate the bone marrow from the blood, the other tube will then replace the blood back into my body minus the bone marrow which they will freeze until my treatment. Below is a diagram of the ash split catheter and the bone marrow harvest machine:

To be quite honest I am a little afraid of the bone marrow process as they will be giving me another round of chemotherapy while I am staying in the hospital call BEAM. If they were to not harvest my bone marrow before giving me the BEAM treatment, I would essentially die due to it's potency. Not exactly the kind of thing that I wanted to hear but I guess it is better to know that whole truth when you are going into something like this. I will also have to go through an approximate 10 day period in which my immune will be so low that I will be susceptible to disease and bleeding, therefore I will be placed in a safe room like the bubble boy until I begin to regain my immunity. I will stay strong and face this thing like a man!!! The stronger I fight it the faster I will beat it!!!

Getting Ready for the Next Round

2008-08-24T19:43:00.000-07:00

I spent a few hours on Friday morning at the Mayo Clinic in Scottsdale having my port-a-cath declotted. Essentially what happens is the body views the port-a-cath as a foreign body and creates a fibrin sheath over the catheter making it difficult for blood to be drawn. So after waiting for ten minutes without any results from the Heparin that was injected to declot the sheath I was given an injection of a stronger medicine (I am not sure what it was called but I am sure it was expensive) and was told to wait for another half hour. Thankfully the medicine worked and I was able to have my blood drawn for testing before my next treatment tomorrow. For those of you who don't know what a port-a-cath is, it is a small medical device installed beneath the skin in the chest. The catheter is connected to a major vein usually near the heart and is used for blood draws and infusions for chemotherapy. Below are some pictures that may help give you a better idea:

After leaving the clinic my mom, Jim and I headed about an hour north to Payson, AZ to escape the desert heat and grab some lunch. It was a nice drive and much cooler up in the mountains although the lunch wasn't anything spectacular.

These are some of the pictures that I took both on our way up to Payson and then on our way back to the valley.

I will be meeting with Dr. Reeder tomorrow for the first time since I began treatment and am anxious to hear what he has to say about my first round and the results of the chest x-rays that I am having in the morning. Following the meeting I will be starting the second round of chemotherapy, I will try and update my blog as much as possible this week but it will all depend on how I handle the treatment. But you better believe that I will continue to fight this thing with all of my strength! I also want to thank everyone for the comments on my blog wishing me good luck and sending prayers out to me. I may not respond to them all, but I do read them and truly appreciate them very much!!! One more week and I will be a step closer to recovery and Hawaii...

Mia Comes to Visit

2008-08-18T21:07:00.000-07:00

My sister Malia (or Mia or Mimi) came to visit for the weekend. It was great to see her although she is probably going to kill me for posting this picture of her on the internet. But what do I care she is two states away ;) We had a nice time just hanging out around the house and arguing with each other as we always do :) But deep down we love one another. Can't wait for her to come back again!

Also had a big bday party for my step-bro Kevin, step-sister Bryn, and her husband JJ. There were about 20+ people here at the house enjoying good food and drinks and just good company in general. After the party my step-sister Brooke took me out with her boyfriend Jake and her friend Joanna to arguably the most ghetto bar in the City of Mesa. But we made the best of it and still had a great time. It was great to get out of the house and hang out!!!

Still waiting for the next treatment to take place on August 25th-29th. Not that I want to do it, but I know that it is something that I have to do and just want to get it over with! Hopefully this will be the last chemotherapy treatment that I have to do before they begin the bone marrow transplant process but it is going to be up to the scans and how my body has reacted to the treatments so far. So cross your fingers for me because this treatment is pretty killer compared to what I went through back in Hawaii. On a lighter note, one of my favorite bands Pepper from Kona is coming to town on September 5th along with Slightly Stoopid, so hopefully I will have my strength back to go and check them out with Brooke, Jake and Joanna!!!

Giullianna enjoying the bubble wrap

Mom, Owen and Jim

Decided to shave my head out of boredom. Still contemplating the short mohawk as this will probably be the only time that I can get away with it since I have no work and don't really know anyone here in Arizona...

Live with Intention

2008-08-10T01:06:00.001-07:00

I began reading The Last Lecture by Randy Pausch today an inspiring book that looks into the life of a man who was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer and given 3-6 months to live. Rather than wallow in his sorrows he decided to take advantage of what time he had and make the most out of it. Most importantly he wanted to be able to leave behind something that his young children could remember him by which led to his "Last Lecture" that he gave to 400 people at Carnegie Mellon where he was a Professor. One of the more profound quotes that he makes is regarding the "brick walls" that we all face in life and why they are sometimes placed there. Here is what he had to say, "The brick walls are there for a reason, the brick walls are not there to keep us out. The brick walls are there to give us a chance to show how badly we want something." In essence, if you want something bad enough there is nothing that can stop you from getting it not even a brick wall!!!

I cannot help but feel like I need to beat this cancer not only for myself but for my family and friends as well. Not only that, but as I look back on what I have accomplished so far in my life I know that there is so much more out there for me to do and see. I no longer want to just live my life day to day without setting and achieving new goals I want to make sure that I create a legacy, big or small, here on this Earth when I do leave it many many years from now! I plan on living my life with intention!

I have come to realize that life isn't just about materialistic things but about how you live it and what you do with it. I am not saying that I don't want to be able to afford nice things, what I am trying to say is that having those nice things are not the be all end all. There is so much more out there in this world than a big house and a nice car in the garage. I want to see other countries and learn about different cultures first hand. I want to help people that are in need rather than just helping myself. I want to give back as much to this world as I have taken from it and that is what I plan on doing from here on out! But first I must break through this brick wall that I am facing right now!

***If you have a chance I highly recommend reading The Last Lecture or at least watching the video of the lecture that he gave, I know that the video is a little long (1 hour +) but in my opinion it can give you a great insight on how life is supposed to be lived and how you can achieve your dreams. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ji5_MqicxSo or you can watch the reprised version he did on Oprah which is much shorter at http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=8577255250907450469

***Thank you Nani Janet very much for giving me this book, it has been an inspiration...

Owen meets Uncle Alika (again)

2008-08-06T19:37:00.000-07:00

My step-sister Bryn stopped by with her 17 month old son Owen today. Although he was a little skittish of this giant guy in a bright orange shirt, side note I will never wear orange again, I think that we were getting along pretty well by the end. He spent most of the time playing with Paka and all of the toys that Tutu and Paka have bought him and Giulianna but he did share his tv remote with me, surprisingly because when I have the remote he will never ever get a chance to use it :) He also showed me his version of knuckles which he calls cinco, I guess that's what happens when you are raised so close to the border and are becoming integrated ;) Can't wait to see him again, he is a cute little guy and pretty soon he'll be out on the links with us drinking O'Doul's and telling bad jokes, sorry Bryn!!!

First Course of Treatment

2008-08-03T14:58:00.001-07:00

Round One:

The first day of treatment was another long one. We got to the Mayo Hospital at around 1:30pm only to have to wait until almost 3:00pm to finally meet with Dr. Reeder. Thankfully his review of my scans and slides did not reveal anything unexpected and he is confident that the new ESHAP form of chemotherapy and bone marrow transplant will help take care of the cancer and knock it into remission once and for all. The first complete round should take care of the most of the mass while the second round will be used to prepare my bone marrow for the transplant. He even made reference to not having to do the third round of chemotherapy if the bone marrow transplant goes along without a hitch!!!

At around 4pm the first round of the 5 round title fight began between me and ESHAP. Sitting ringside were my mom and step-dad Jim and officiating the round was nurse Jackie. The fight went almost five and a half hours with me taking the first round but it was a close one. Despite getting in some good shots ESHAP was unable to take me down, just wore me out with the ground game and drained some of my stamina. Round two is set for August 3rd at 9:00am so I am going to need my rest to keep the momentum going.

Round Two:

It was difficult to wake up and get started for round two as I hadn't gotten a lot of sleep the night before and was drugged up on anti-nausea and pain pills, but nothing was going to stop me from getting back in that ring and taking the second round from ESHAP. The second round started off a little slow with ESHAP taking me down to the ground once again and trying to work his brazilian jiu jitsu moves but I was abl

e to escape the multiple submissions and take it back to our feet. The round ended after another epic 5 hours and I was able to walk out although I think that ESHAP may have been able to edge me in the cards this time. But tomorrow would be another day and anther round!

Round Three:

I was able to get more sleep following the second round and went it to the battle with more vim and vigor than the previous two. I was even able to catch a quick break for something to eat after the rampage style slam that I laid down put ESHAP into the corner for a bit trying to recover. Round three lasted about as long as the first two and I have a feeling that the battles are going to continue to go the distance as we are both tough and stubborn competitors but only one of us can be named the victor and with the amount of support that I have in my corner I already know what the outcome is going to be! Stay tuned for rounds four and five to come in the next two days...

Round Four:

I started off round for a little tired and

feeling pretty nausues from the night before. My hands and feet were tingling and I honestly did not want to leave my bed and make it to the ringside but I forced myself to man up and take another shot. It was too late for me to throw in the towel at this point. After receiving some anti-nauseu pills and an IV drip of Zofran I began another battle. I don't remember much, just that I slept throughout most of it and was happy to still be in one piece once it was all over. Just one more day of treatment and a winner will be named and I think that we all know who that winner will be...

Round Five:

This was the shortest of the five rounds as I decided that it was about time that I lay the smack down on ESHAP once and for all and stop playing games. I knew how much ESHAP liked the ground game so I thought that I would mess with him a little and take it to the ground myself. After slipping out of a kimura and then reversing the attempted rear naked choke I felt it was time to bust out the secret CB Dalloway peruvian necktie. And I caught ESHAP just like CB caught Rampage in practice and Jesse Taylor in the ring... It's official the first match-up went to the victor, me of course, could it have gone any other way? I am the one writing this blog after all. Stay tuned for the rematch in about 2-3 weeks!

***Note: I am not an MMA fighter and am not trying to be one especially since Anderson Silva just fought in what would be my weight class, oh hell no!!! I just thought that it would make for a good analogy ;)

The Road Not Taken

2008-07-31T06:20:00.000-07:00

"The Road Not Taken"

Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,

And sorry I could not travel both

And be one traveler, long I stood

And looked down one as far as I could

To where it bent in the undergrowth;

Then took the other, as just as fair,

And having perhaps the better claim,

Because it was grassy and wanted wear;

Though as for that the passing there

Had worn them really about the same,

And both that morning equally lay

In leaves no step had trodden black.

Oh, I kept the first for another day!

Yet knowing how way leads on to way,

I doubted if I should ever come back.

I shall be telling this with a sigh

Somewhere ages and ages hence;

Two roads diverged in wood, and I -

I took the one less traveled by,

And that has made all the difference.

-Robert Frost (1874 - 1963)

Mayo Clinic Day One

2008-07-30T17:19:00.000-07:00

Just got home after a long day. My step-brother Kevin stopped by this morning with his 11 month old daughter Giulianna, it was great to see both of them! She is the cutest, funniest little rascal who speaks her own crazy language...

After they left we headed off to the Mayo Clinic to meet with Dr. Reeder my new oncologist. The clinic itself is quite amazing with top of the line everything and a very helpful staff. They even have oversized golf carts that shuttle you from your car to the front door of the hospital and back. Although he had not had time to review all of my scans and slides Dr. Reeder was pretty familiar with my case and is prepared to start me on high dose chemotherapy this Friday August 2nd. Here is a brief description of everything that is going to be taking place over the next few months...

Unlike my first chemotherapy treatment this treatment will be much stronger and will be for five days in a row. I am however going to be able to come home each day after treatment so that I can rest in my own bed. After the 5th day of treatment I will have between 2-3 weeks to recover before they begin the next 5 day cycle of chemotherapy. If everything goes according to plan I will then have an autologous bone marrow transplant after the 2nd cycle of chemotherapy. Following the transplant I will have one last cycle of treatment and then will play the waiting game/ run through tests to make sure that my body accepts the bone marrow and that the cancer remains in remission!

Here are some pics from the Mayo Clinic:

View of the Mayo Hospital lobby from the 4th floor...

Me and my mom in the waiting room...

My step-dad is a weirdo ;) and yes it is hot in AZ!!!

Last Few Days in Paradise (For Now)

2008-07-29T02:36:00.000-07:00

These last few days have been quite a whirlwind! On Tuesday July 22nd I was informed that I would be needing to head to the Mayo Clinic in Scottsdale, AZ and here I am exactly one week later packed and ready to leave this afternoon. It has been very hard for me to accept the fact that I am not going to be finishing my treatment in one month as I had previously thought but I have faith in my doctors and the doctors at the Mayo Clinic that I will be getting better soon! I have been trying to mentally prepare myself for the next few months and the treatments that are to come and I think that although it is still a mystery as to what exactly is going to happen, I am as prepared as I can be. Having gone through most of the tests already and experiencing my lung pocket being drained three times in the last week I think that I am ready for anything that they can throw my way. Like my good friend Masa told me, I need to look this thing in the face and make it regret that it ever chose to mess with me...

I want my family, friends and coworkers to know how appreciative I am for everything that they have done for me in these last few months. I am extremely lucky to have people as great as all of you in my life. It is amazing to see the outpouring of support and love that I have received not only within this last week but since I was initially diagnosed in January. I am not quite ready to leave yet (I probably never will be), but I know that it is something that I have to do! Just 3-6 months and I will be back home healthier than ever and ready to embark on the journey that is life!!!

Below are some pictures from my last two nights out with friends, once again thank you so much for being there for me! I am going to miss each and everyone one of you...