9/26/11

I had blood drawn today followed by a check up with Dr. Baeker. The platelets and white blood counts are still a little low, however they are starting to come back. Tom thinks by next week they should be good enough to start chemo again. So instead of starting today, I will begin chemo again next week. I think we are still trying to sort out the optimum dosage/cycle time that will work best for me.

There is nothing new to report from Duke. My main contact is out this week so I probably will not know anything more on this until next week.

In the meantime my running is still decent. I ran 5 miles Thurday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Friday night Marti and I played tennis against Sam and we lost. He also beat us Sunday afternoon. Saturday I played golf and broke even. I started to feel a little tired by the end of the round, then I realized it was from carrying my partner on my back most of the round. Actually Mr. Medaris came on strong with a 38 on the back to help us break even. We might have won money if I had not 3 putted from 8 feet on 17. But that is a story for another day.

Saturday night John, Sarabeth, Will, Sarah, Todd Marti and I went to Octoberfest in Danville. It was a blast. If you didn't go make sure and circle it on you calendar for next year.

And finally the biggest and best news, Marti and are going to be grandparents for the second time. Sarah and Todd are expecting their first child in April. How cool is that?

Thanks for caring.

9/15/11

Last week was one of the first weeks in a long time that I had no doctors appointments. I am still feeling good and my running has been more consistent.

So with no appointments last week I am trying to make up for it this week. I had a follow up with the neurosurgeon yesterday that went very well. He said he didn't need to see me again for 4 months. Today I had a follow up with the radiologist and he has given me a pass for 3 months. I was suppose to have blood drawn today but Duke needs samples from 9/19 and 9/26 so we are waiting until Monday.

Speaking of Duke, trying to get into a clinical trial has been a real start - stop process. The latest is I am waiting to be accepted into the trial designed to fight the specific marker found in my tumor. Dr. Baeker has been in touch with the doctor at Duke as well as Dr. Reardon (who has since moved on to Boston) and everyone is in agreement that my current Temador treatment, while waiting for me to be accepted into the trial, is the best course of action. Hopefully this is going to happen soon.

In the meantime there has been some good news and good times over the past couple of weeks.

The good news is that over the last week and a half I have reconnected with a couple of friends from high school. Dave Bolin lives about 30 miles from us and Marti and I are having lunch with Dave and his wife on Saturday. I can remember at least two occasions of riding in Dave's trunk during high school. Once was sneaking into a drive in movie and once was after a pick up football game in the rain and Bolin wouldn't let any of us sit in his car. I think there were 3 of us in trunk.

I have also heard from Cliff Staton who ran track and played football at West Lafayette (as did Bolin). Although I think Staton and I really came into our own during intramural basketball. Cliff is flying in from San Francisco to run the race in November.

The good times were last weekend when Marti and I met some other couples at a wine tasting and then later in the weekend I served beer at the local arts festival. Plus I got a 7 mile run in on Sunday.

This weekend my goal is a 9 miler.

Thanks for enduring the rambling post and thank you so much for caring.

Three Months Later

The last 3 day weekend of the summer has been a helluva lot better than the first 3 day weekend of the summer.

This past week I did 5 days of, as Sarah calls it, big boy chemo. I actually came through it ok, with only some fatigue. I am now on a 23 day stretch where I do not take any chemo, and then I start over again. Marti and Sarah both think it is somewhat funny that I am on a 28 day cycle. What passes for humor in this family is beyond belief.

Also on Friday I spent 6 hours at the UK Clinic undergoing test for diabetes insipidus. Since I completed radiation I have been very thirsty much of the time and making frequent trips to the bathroom. My glucose and other diabetes indicators were normal. However apparently diabetes insipidus can result from head trauma and disrupts hormones that should be secreted into the blood system. (For those of you reading this blog for the first time, I was a Political Science major, not Biology. For the actual facts about diabetes insipidus, look it up.). I will get the results tomorrow, but even if I have it, it appears to be easily controlled.

The rest of the weekend has been great. Marti and I went to a family wedding in Indiana and Roberta and Bob both made it up as well. I will say my sister is absolutely becoming more like her mother every day. We decided to stop at a Farmers Market to pick up some flowers to take to the cemetery, Roberta said she would pay for them and then announced to everyone at the Farmers Market she was getting these for her brothers as well and it was costing her $12. Being subtle is not her strong suit so I hand over $4. I don't think Bob ever paid up.

Sunday we stopped by and went to church with Sarah, Todd and Sam and to a great brunch at Ramsi's in Louisville. Sunday night was dinner with good friends.

Today I ran 7 miles in a slow, steady rain. It was about 65 degrees and perfect. This afternoon is shaping up to be Cubs on the couch.

Thanks for caring.