Thursday, July 29, 2010

Late July...

Hey Studs/Studettes,

I started another two week round of chemotherapy this week at Swedish in Seattle. Once I finish this round, I will be in Houston Aug 16/17 to meet with the MDAnderson crew. I'm going to see if I can start spreading these treatments further out, so I can lead a slightly more normal schedule, we will see.....Some thoughts from the land of chemo:

1. When you have been off for several weeks and are finally feeling like a normal human, that needle that is shoved into your body which attaches the port to the chemo infusion is really annoying! It lets you know quickly "you are back! welcome to the land of the fuzzy!"

2. Nurses are awesome, don't ever act like they are giving you a service of some kind, and not true care. I heard an elderly gentlemen say one time "Medic, I need service over here" I almost spit up laughing, but that dude nearly got kicked in the face and kicked out of chemo for that comment....

3. When you start getting the first infusion after being off for awhile, so much races through your head immediately. "am i going to die soon?" "am i going to live longer then anyone predicts?" "am I ever going to decide what I want to be when I grow up and get done with this insane cancer process that feels like a scene from the movie inception?" All these kind of thoughts flood your mind for like the first 20 minutes of treatment, then you resort to wondering what yummy food item a friend or family member can bring you! haha...

4. Many people will ask you what stage cancer you are in. Its always an odd question, I don't mind answering but its almost like the guy at the gym asking you how much you can bench press, or somebody asking you how much money you have.....The conversations between people about what stage they are in, and what level of treatments they have done is hilarious.....Not taking anything away from ANYBODY who has done ANY treatment of ANY kind for cancer, everyone is a winner, and a fighter, but you would think some people had fought on the front lines of a major war when they get treatments a couple times a year for a treatable cancer......(No I'm not jealous, well a little bit maybe...hahaha) Enough locker room talk.

5. Maybe my attitude or something has rubbed off on this one particular patient or something but he made a comment to me the other day that made me laugh, smile & take things into perspective (thinking about all my struggles over the last 1.5 years) and reply with a funny response.

Patient: "How's life at the top my man?"
Me: "Oh my friend if you only knew, if you only knew...." haha

Thanks everybody for following, I am truly amazed and blessed!

Andrew


A couple PS's:

-This Lance Armstrong deal was pretty cool, despite all his steroid troubles, he still reps the cancer crew hardcore. Click here

-Inception and Salt were both cool summer flicks

-Some pictures of my family below from the spring


Vegas in March for Tyler's 30th birthday


Woodland Park Zoo with Riley in March


Family Easter Dinner


Henry's 2nd Birthday in May


Elizabeth's 30 Birthday in May

Friday, July 9, 2010

July update

Blog Followers!

I had a scan done a few weeks ago, it was relatively uneventful in a positive way! There continues to be no new growth or existing tumors in any major organs, which is such a blessing-Especially the tumor in my liver that existed. I feel so lucky that isn't showing on the scans as of right now.....I still continue to have very small tumors in the lining of my stomach wall. NO growth or enlargement of those spots to report which is really cool. I also completed a round of chemo last week, which was nice to enjoy the fourth of July chemo free so to speak. It was a hard 2 weeks for some reason this time, but we made it through a-ok....I think the world cup on at all hours helped me pass the time! I am planning a visit in a couple weeks to MD Anderson, as my doctor is back from maternity leave. I need to work with her on what the next six months looks like, then the 2011 year. I'm certainly grateful for how far we have come in this past year and a half. I couldn't have dreamed for these levels of positive reports. So far to go still, but still grinding!

Andrew