First Post-Treatment Scan Incoming!

Let the scanxiety begin, its time!

I get my first post-treatment PET scans next Monday. For those who didn't follow the original blog, PET scans involve getting injected with a radioactive sugar. Cancer cells apparently chow down on sugar faster than most other cells in the body, so you get the injection, hang out for an hour, then get a scan. Cancer pops out on the scans as black masses. Here's a copy of a PET slide from my diagnosis back in October to show you what I mean.

Here's the situation: The odds are spectacularly in my favor that it will be nice, clean, and boring. We're talking 95% or so chance its clean. However, if you're going to relapse from Hodgkin's, its going to usually be in the first two years (after that, its Double Secret Probation rare).

Second, if you're going to relapse, you really don't want to do it in the first six months. To put it bluntly... The odds ain't good, even with secondary and tertiary treatments. So yeah, Suzanne and I are a little scared going into the scan, great odds or not.

Now, its not a guaranteed death sentence if this doesn't go well. We can still be cured with a stem cell transplant (using my own stem cells - rest easy Brian, Tracy, and Billy haha, you're off the hook still haha). However, THAT cure rate is a coin toss - about 50%, and being diagnosed in the first 3 months makes it worse. That's not to scare anyone, that's just the stone cold statistics of the thing. And an explanation on why Ativan is my friend at night again.

Again, the expectation of everyone (including my oncologist) is this will be perfectly fine. However, that doesn't take the fear away for one minute. Sometimes I wonder if that nagging fear will ever go away completely.

Speech! Speech!

Last Tuesday, I gave my speech at the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society's Light the Night kickoff. For those who don't know, Light the Night is a big fundraiser for the LLS, as well as a walk to honor those with blood cancers, as well as those who lost their fight. The kickoff was for team captains and corporate fundraisers. I was scheduled in to be the featured speaker.

It was held at T. Burkes in King of Prussia to honor the owner, who recently passed on from leukemia. I thought that was an incredible offering by the bar / restaurant, as the food was incredible as was the room they gave us.

Prior to my speech, they showed a video showcasing last year's Light the Night. Suzanne was in tears, and I started getting a little choked up. NOT how I wanted to go onstage. I held it together, and gave a decent 10 minute speech (at least I was told it was good!) on my story, and why supporting the LLS is as important as it is. That was the easy part.

I enjoyed it, and if it helped motivate one person in that room to raise more funds, then it was worth every minute.

Speaking of, I will have a link over to the side with my team pretty soon, and you can donate online! Please think of donating for my team, as my family will be walking this October.

Vacation!

So, two weeks ago we went on vacation, up to Ricketts Glen State Park (PA). Let me tell you, it was absolutely amazing up there.

We left on Sunday, so as a bonus all of the traffic was heading home, as we headed up into the mountains. It only took us about two and a half hours to get there and while they are relatively low mountains (hey, we don't have the Rockies in Pennsylvania), there was about a 10-15 degree temperature difference. Well, guess who doesn't remember to bring pants? Yeah. Shorts, I have. Pants? Hey, its summer, who needs pants, right?

By Wednesday, I drove 40 miles to around Bloomsburg to buy a pair of sweats. Mosquitos and 50 degree temps will do that to you.

The main attraction of Ricketts Glen is the Waterfall Trail, about 4 miles of almost-climbing into and out of a gorge, with 22 waterfalls along the way. It was absolutely gorgeous, and just the exercise I needed. I also had the smaller rugrat on my back the whole time, so I did the trail with 50 lbs. on my back. Suzanne gets an honorable mention for also attaching full water bottles to the pack, adding a few more on. Hell, just put a saddle on my back and give me a feedbag why don't ya?

I thought we were going to run out of stuff to do, but WOW - No way. We hiked, went boating on the lake, picked blueberries (this place had wild blueberry bushes EVERYWHERE)... Didn't need anything else. We all had a blast.

Speaking of the blueberries, I figure we each ate about two pints of blueberries ourselves while there, then brought home a pint or two as well. Having picked them, I'm glad there are others that have to do so commerically. It reminds me of eating steamed crabs, or unpeeled shrimp - Lots of work for a little reward.

While it was chilly at night, we couldn't have asked for better weather. It didn't rain until the morning we left. Couldn't ask for more.

Oh, and before anyone thinks I'm a camera hog -- Unfortunately, we didn't have electric at the campground like we were told we would, so the battery died a couple days in. Sue was taking pictures while I carried Steven, so... Yeah, she got out of the photos. Not my fault.

Been Gone Awhile

Hey, sorry I've been gone awhile! I'm back though! I have a few things to catch everyone up on - Our vacation, a few scares (but nothing to worry about - I'm fine).

I'm going to nix the IT stuff. Frankly, I'm back to work - Meaning if I get 10 minutes to write something, I'm really not in the mood to write about... Work. If I got paid to blog some, then that's something else, but I don't.

So, I'll keep the posts coming a little more frequently!

Confirmed, I'll be Speaking in August

Just confirmed today via email that I'll be speaking at the Light the Night kickoff for the Philadelphia area in August. Looking forward to this more than I think any of you can know.

Short post, because its late!

IGGLES!

Thank God, only 26 days until the first preseason game. The good time of the year is almost upon us!

So, What's Been Happening, Slacker?

Sorry for the delays in posting, work has been kicking my butt, just not used to working a full week yet! Anyway, I have a LOT to cover, so let me get started!

First, Hodge-A-Palooza. Wow. What a great time that was. Ingredients: Add about 20 Hodgkin's survivors, a bunch of caregivers, a dash of Italian food, sprinkle liberally with alcohol then bake in Boston, MA. Amazing fun, even if I was in Philly sport's enemy territory.

We started out around 3AM, leaving Philadelphia for the drive (so the kids could sleep), and arrived in New Hampshire at the darling wife's sister's house around 10AM. I said hello for about an hour, then proceeded to pass out. After a few hours sleep, we hung out some more, then I got ready to head into Boston myself (Sue wasn't coming, since we were also there to visit her sister, and it wouldnt have been right to ditch her completely with the kids - And she's right).

First off, can a major city call itself a major city when the friggin parking rates are higher than the food bill?!? I mean, I paid $36 to park in a mall parking lot. I think I saw people shooting at each other for the street parking. Still, the part of town we were in (Back Bay, on Boylston Street) was an awesome hangout.

Dinner was at Vinny T's, which for a chain was some really good italian food. The service left a bit to be desired, bringing out 10 portions of an appetizer for a table of 15 (for example). They did rectify problems when asked, but cmon now! Dinner took hours, as most of us were talking more than eating.

Which brings me to something: I'm one of those "If I know you online, I most likely don't want to meet you in person" types, since I find meeting friends online kinda weird - Please leave out the obvious "Well YOU are chatting online too", I acknowledge I'm a hypocrite. However... This group were genuinely people I would hang out with. They were FUN, and alot like my friends at home. If anything, I was the "I most likely don't want to meet you in person" person, since I was still exhausted from the drive up that morning. Not that we weren't a bit odd though - Nothing like seeing a large group of people pulling shirts down a little to show off surgery scars!

We moved shop to the bar next door, which was a fun bar, but served Guinness in a plastic cup. In a plastic cup. In Boston. I thought a quarter of Ireland's original population now lived in Boston. How could this be allowed? So, while Boston may have titles in most of the major sports, at least those of us in Philly know how to properly treat the black stuff.

There wasn't much news in between the past week until this past Friday, when I had my first appointment with Dr. Szarka (my medical oncologist) since I finished chemo three months ago. I went in and they were packed, so I got to wait in the infusion room. I shrug off alot, but I fully acknowledge sitting in "The Comfy Chair (tm)", the place where I got poisoned twelve times in the last eight months... Kinda freaked me out. Mercifully, we didn't wait there long, and went to an exam room. In popped Dr. Szarka, and the comments on my hair started immediately!

The good news: My bloodwork looks fantastic, the CT from when I had breathing problems showed nothing, and I appear to be in great health. The bad news: My cough and slight issues with breathing may potentially be permanent. As she described it, I hit my lungs with Bleomycin (one of the chemo drugs) and radiation - Between the two, I probably have some scarring which makes my lungs less flexible. My airflow is great, but when I try to expand my lungs completely, that's when I get the cough and tightness (scarring). Makes sense. When I asked if anything can be done, she said it may get better over time, but the main thing that would help is losing weight.

Yes, my weight became the central focus in fact. She beat my butt over it. Then she had the audacity to apologize for being rough on me about it! Listen, one of the main reasons Sue and I LOVE Dr. Szarka (beyond her expertise) is the fact that she does stuff like that - She cares and isn't afraid to joke and bust my b*lls about things that are important. I feel like I'm having a conversation with her, rather than listening to a clinical presentation.

So, I need to drop weight. Away I go with that then.

Finally, I got an email Friday night from Kate Weissman from the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society. I've been asked to be the featured speaker at the Philly area kickoff for Light the Night. The Light the Night campaign is one of the major fundraisers for the LLS, and one in which the family and I will be taking part in. Besides being a night to raise money for the LLS, its a night to celebrate survivorship with the ones you love, and remember those who lost the fight.

Naturally I'll be there for myself and my family (who went through this fight with me), but I'll also be sure to throw a prayer in for Sarah, someone who helped me immensely in the early, uncertain days of cancer treatment. When she passed on earlier this year, the world became a darker place for it.

I'm completely honored to be speaking at the kickoff, and I look forward to it. Its just 5-10 minutes where I'll share my story, but to get the chance to simply say thank you to those who help keep the LLS going... Priceless.

Yeah, I Suck.

I've been busy, trust me. I'll have updates galore coming shortly (the trip, some stuff at work, recent Dr's visit, etc.

Vacation Plans

So, we finally finalized our vacation plans for the summer. I'm thinking something relaxing; You know, laying out on the beach for a week, relaxing with a cold drink, chillin' out...

Instead, we're going camping.

Now, I like camping, and I like camping in tents. But I'm a long-weekend type of camper. Seven days in a tent fighting off mildew from within sleeping bags... Not so sure. However, it is inherently not masculine to say no when your wife and 12 year old daughter are saying they want to go. I only recently got leghair back people, my security in my manliness is still trying to get back to normal levels.

So as I said, we're going camping. To be specific, heading up to Rickett's Glen in upstate Pennsylvania (think a crossbreeding of the Mid-Atlantic States and the movie Deliverance). We're going with my brother-in-law's family, so we'll have four kids under 5 at a place where the famous trails include warnings of certain death over waterfall cliffs. OK, I jest - Not certain death, just good odds.

It will be a good time, since we all manage to make these things fun together. What will be interesting is after 8 months of little to no exercise, carrying my 40 lb. son in a backpack carrier should he elect to use me as a pack mule. I mean, I want to get back to working out and all, but... Damn!

It is a beautiful place though, and a lot of the hiker sites give it rave reviews. Gimme a can of Off! and I'll be ready to rock.

Off for Some Hodge Fun in Boston

Well, we're off tomorrow morning (early morning) for some fun up north. We're going to visit Sue's sister up in New Hampshire, and while we're up there, I'm going out for dinner with a number of the great folks from the WebMagic forums, a group of fellow Hodgers (aka my Hodge Homies). It all started when a couple from the UK were going to visit the States. Next thing you know, about 20 of us all agreed to mee up for the weekend.

Visit to Boston: 12 hours of driving round-trip.
Getting to meet people who helped me through cancer: Priceless.

The last two days back to work have been awesome. My new boss threw me on some projects I could help with immediately, and it felt good just to do something. A little tired at night, but nothing earth-shattering. Just trying to get back to the good-ol' NORMAL.

I'll be sure to have some pictures up soon!

Feeling Ready to Go Back

Well, its settled - I go back to work (happily) on Thursday. My lung stuff cleared up for the most part (still have that "I breathed water" feeling, and still get a cough when its humid, but overall pretty good. On the plus side, I had to have another CT to rule out a pulmonary embolism - And that showed no change in lymph nodes (that's good, means no signs of relapse).

Last Thursday's surgery went well, and I've been officially deported :) The spot's a bit sore, but its nice not having a large bump there - Also, I'll be ready to start bench pressing again once the gym opens up.

Can't wait until I get back to 100% normal, but that may take a while. In the meantime, loving being cancer-free and wanting to get to work!

Well Crud...

Due to some breathing issues, I've been on a course of Prednizone (weight gain, anyone?) for the last week.

Still coughing, breathing has become better, but not perfect.

Off for a CT.

Causes? Who knows. Just sick of being sick.

Giants DE Strahan to retire: 15 years, 7 Pro Bowls

So sorry Brian, but no repeat for you and your Giants.

Traitor. ;)

Sent to you by Steve via Google Reader:

Giants DE Strahan to retire: 15 years, 7 Pro Bowls

via ESPN.com - NFL by ESPN.com news services on 6/10/08

Michael Strahan, the New York Giants' 15-year veteran defensive end and seven-time Pro Bowl player who helped lead them to a 2008 Super Bowl win, is retiring, ESPN.com's John Clayton confirmed Monday.

Things you can do from here:

• Subscribe to ESPN.com - NFL using Google Reader
• Get started using Google Reader to easily keep up with all your favorite sites

Tags

OK, this is annoying!

I'm still new to the blogosphere, so bear with me. I'm trying to set up a means of tagging posts - I don't think my family members looking for updates on my cancer remission care about .NET, and I don't think .NET developers care much about PET scans. Anyone know how to get tags to work on Blogspot? I have an email in to my lovely friend Bekah (who has tags), but in case she's busy living life (as any 20-something should be doing in the summer) I'd figure I'd ask everyone else out there. Just pop me an email or leave a comment. Thanks!

DEPORTATION IS SET!!

Well, for those of you that followed my old blog, I have a PowerPort, which is a device stuck under your skin and links directly into a main artery for ease of delivering chemotherapy drugs. Basically I have a huge bump on my left chest that's kept me from working out for the last 8 months.

Here's a little picture of one (outside the body). I'm sure the present one won't look so clean coming out :)

Next Thursday, that bad boy comes out. Ten minute procedure, they cut me open and yank it out. But it will be NIIIIICE to work out again!

Election Blahs

I read on someone's signature today an awesome new definition for something I appear to be inflicted with as well:

Electile Disfunction.

No, not erectile, but electile. As in " The inability to become aroused over any of the choices for President put forth by either party during an election year."

How it is used:
"Is anyone appealing to you in this years presidential race?"
"Naa... No one excites me. I think I'm suffering from Electile Dysfunction."

That is exactly how I feel about the upcoming election. I'm a registered Republican, but I don't consider many of the current crop of Republican leaders to be true conservatives. So let's see what we have to work with, shall we?

On the Donkey side, I have Barack Obama, who, IMHO, might have some racial tendencies about Caucasians, or is partially surrounded by people who have prejudices. He attended a church for 20 years and considered the pastor a friend, a church where the pastor has been caught saying some really vitriolic stuff (as well as more stuff from guest preachers). Are you really trying to tell me that the Rev. Wright just started spewing that type of stuff this year? I think not. There are even rumors about his wife holding similar viewpoints. No, Barack is not his wife. But for those of us who are married... Yeah, the wife holds a bit of sway in things like it or not. As a Caucasian (and with children who are Caucasian), naturally I'm scared of this -- I want equality, not inequality as revenge. Just because I'm white, doesn't mean I grew up with a silver spoon in my mouth. Hell, I grew up in Kensington - We used stainless steel in our silverware, thank you.

I truly believe the only thing holding us back from a color-blind world is ourselves. I know that's easy to say as a white man, but when you're a white man with no real concern over color. My friends are my friends because of who they are inside, not because of their skin color. Therefore, hearing what "white people" are trying to do hurts - I know racism still exists, but recognize that most people don't even think about race. We're all just people - Its how we act towards others that determines how valued we are. I really hope I'm wrong about Obama, since I actually like the guy. Oh well, enough venting on that.

On the Elephant side, I have John McCain. Four years ago, I liked him over Bush. I feel he is generally a centrist-to-conservative. But lately... I don't know if he's trying to pander to the Religious Right (whatever that is) or what, but he's changing some positions from where he voted over the last few years. Therefore, he sounds really... Confused lately. I don't think its his age (I liked Reagan as president, even with his age), but he should stick with what got him to where he is in this election and in government. I even have disagreements on some of his policies now. In particular (and no, its not very conservative), I've come around to the need for some form of socialized medicine. Personally, I'd like to see the government paying the bills for everyone to join existing health plans.

You might say "Steve, the health plans are EVIL!" Actually, they are not. However, they are paying for all of the people who DON'T pay at the hospital, and your escalated costs cover them already. By using the existing plans (and, particularly, their already-established billing and payment systems), we can implement a plan to cover all Americans a LOT faster.

Honestly? Never gave socialized medicine a second thought. After all, I'm employed and have insurance, right? Well, lemme tell ya some more on what cancer does for you. I actually worried more about losing my insurance if my company let me go, then about the cancer itself. That's a problem, folks. You have a million things you need to worry about with a serious illness, whether or not you'll get quality care shouldn't be one of them.

So... I'm in a tossup, and have an awful case of electile disfunction. I really don't care which one of them wins at this point, and that's really really sad. I just don't think either of them are going to help me as an American citizen. Right now I'm leaning Barack, but my heart's not in it, you know?

Treatment Effects

Well, it hasn't been a fun three days so far, let me tell you. I've had a really bad time with a cough, as well as being unable to catch my breath. It's sucked, and could be from a million things between the Hodge being back (least likely) to simple inflammation (most likely). I had a nice long visit with my GP today, who felt my neck (no nodes - that's a good thing), and put me on some more steroids and an inhaler if I need it. Along with that, I got the law laid down: If its not better in three days, we're off for a CT scan. Friday. No waiting BS. Apparently post-cancer its a brave new world for ailments - I apparently get the hairy eyeball now and nothing is toyed with.

Anyway, we will see. I expect he's right and that its inflammation though - My pulse oxygen was 100%, so I'm breathing great as far as getting air from point A to point B. Just need to figure out why its not working as expected though to get that.

On a positive note for the above, I guess it doesn't matter now that my new Gold's Gym's opening has been delayed!

Hello Folks!

Hi all, and welcome to my little blog. So, what am I hoping to accomplish with my little journal? Well, to get an idea on why, its best to give a detailed explanation of where I've been.

Last October, I was diagnosed with Hodgkin's Lymphoma, a cancer of the lymphatic system that only impacts about 7,500 people a year in the US. I can't get a winning night at the casinos, but I can catch a rare cancer. I think my lucky four leaf clover is actually poison ivy. Anyway, after eight months of chemotherapy and radiation therapy, I'm out on the other side cancer-free and ready to get back on with things. During this time, I kept a blog of the treatments and my reactions to them, and I actually enjoyed the process. So, I'm going to keep a personal journal for everyone to see, but relating to all topics, not just my cancer.

My blog description discusses family, technology, and all things Philadelphia. To be honest, that is probably a lie - I hate to say it, but a mid 30s married guy with two kids is NOT your go-to guy on the club scene on South Street, for example. However, I can rattle off a Top 5 cheesesteak joints in town with ease. Know your audience, people, know your audience.

As for family, I liked the ability of keeping my extended family up to date on what we've been up to: Vacations, kid's stuff, etc. So, I'll be sure to include a bit of that on the site. I'm not the biggest phone talker, so it allows me to let everyone know if one of the kids did something cool. Don't worry, this won't turn into the World Wide Web equivalent of the vacation slide show.

Finally, technology. As I mention in my profile, I work as a Solutions Architect with an insurance company in the Philly area. My area of focus is Informatics, or information processing engineering. In other words, the process of taking terabytes of data and making it useful for knowledge workers at a business. As part of this work, we're starting to include Microsoft's tools in this effort: SharePoint, PerformancePoint, and SQL Server Analysis Services / Reporting Services. I'm a definite noob to .NET, so most of my discussions and discoveries in the products will be old hat to a lot of developers, but the idea will be the same as my cancer blog: It might give a new developer to those products an idea of what's to come. Many blogs give you the latest and greatest on what's happening in the products - But you may as well present it in a foreign language if you're new to it.

Anyway, that's it from me for now. I hope to hear back from some of you, and let me know if there's anything you'd like to see different on the site!

UNDER CONSTRUCTION

OK, just a post to say sorry for the mess, and that the site is under construction!