Tuesday, November 17, 2009
Wednesday, June 24, 2009
A few last things...
Andy C. and others reminded me that I have not updated the blog in a few weeks, my bad.
I have started, God willing, the final part of treatments. Small cell cancer is a nefarious disease. I wants to go everywhere. The only part of me that remains untreated is my brain. The chemo drugs do not pass the blood-brain barrier. The docs have to assume that the disease is there, or will be there in the future. They have developed a treatment protocol where they irradiate the brain as a preventative treatment, and several large studies done over the past 20 years indicate that this is a very beneficial treatment. High reward/risk ratio for the patient.
This will go on for the next two weeks. The side effects should not be as bad as they were the last few months. I'll lose my hair - no big deal since I don't have any anyway! The fatigue will come back, and I am already starting to feel that after four sessions. Loss of appetite comes with the fatigue. I managed to gain back about 10 pounds or so after the last round of chemo, so I should be able to handle that.
What I will not have is the nausea this time, thank God!
My family has all adopted Facebook as our means of staying in touch day to day. It is much easier to keep my status updated on Facebook than it is maintaining a blog, so this may be my last entry here. Please think about joining Facebook and adding me as one of your friends! It is a fantastic way to keep up to date with many people, easily.
A few things I would ask of all of you. First, thank you for your words of encouragement and prayers, for the cards, the emails, the text messages, and the visits these last few months. Faith, family, and friends has kept me strong, and will continue to do so. Please continue to pray for the many people afflicted by cancer, and the other life altering diseases many fight daily.
Second, pray for our next generation of leaders who are just now finishing their educations and headed out to find their way in the world. If my daughter Jessica is an example of the quality of our young people, we are all in excellent hands!
Third, pray for our service men and women serving our country around the world. They protect our freedoms and liberties at tremendous sacrifice to themselves and their families, sometimes even if it means their lives. Not a soul who is reading this would be doing o had it not been for our soldiers and sailors, our firefighters and police officers, our EMTs and paramedics. Thank you Lord for the men and women who serve our country. Help us to always humbly honor and remember their sacrifices, great and small, to protect and defend our freedom and liberty, and to remain ever grateful of their willingness to serve. Please keep them under Your watchful eye, protect them from harm, lift their spirits, and watch over them until they may all return safely home.
Lastly, feel free to email me at mark dot bryant1 @ mchsi dot com anytime you want. I answer each and every email!
Your prayers are power, and for that I am humbled and grateful. Thank you, and God bless you all.
In His love,
M
I have started, God willing, the final part of treatments. Small cell cancer is a nefarious disease. I wants to go everywhere. The only part of me that remains untreated is my brain. The chemo drugs do not pass the blood-brain barrier. The docs have to assume that the disease is there, or will be there in the future. They have developed a treatment protocol where they irradiate the brain as a preventative treatment, and several large studies done over the past 20 years indicate that this is a very beneficial treatment. High reward/risk ratio for the patient.
This will go on for the next two weeks. The side effects should not be as bad as they were the last few months. I'll lose my hair - no big deal since I don't have any anyway! The fatigue will come back, and I am already starting to feel that after four sessions. Loss of appetite comes with the fatigue. I managed to gain back about 10 pounds or so after the last round of chemo, so I should be able to handle that.
What I will not have is the nausea this time, thank God!
My family has all adopted Facebook as our means of staying in touch day to day. It is much easier to keep my status updated on Facebook than it is maintaining a blog, so this may be my last entry here. Please think about joining Facebook and adding me as one of your friends! It is a fantastic way to keep up to date with many people, easily.
A few things I would ask of all of you. First, thank you for your words of encouragement and prayers, for the cards, the emails, the text messages, and the visits these last few months. Faith, family, and friends has kept me strong, and will continue to do so. Please continue to pray for the many people afflicted by cancer, and the other life altering diseases many fight daily.
Second, pray for our next generation of leaders who are just now finishing their educations and headed out to find their way in the world. If my daughter Jessica is an example of the quality of our young people, we are all in excellent hands!
Third, pray for our service men and women serving our country around the world. They protect our freedoms and liberties at tremendous sacrifice to themselves and their families, sometimes even if it means their lives. Not a soul who is reading this would be doing o had it not been for our soldiers and sailors, our firefighters and police officers, our EMTs and paramedics. Thank you Lord for the men and women who serve our country. Help us to always humbly honor and remember their sacrifices, great and small, to protect and defend our freedom and liberty, and to remain ever grateful of their willingness to serve. Please keep them under Your watchful eye, protect them from harm, lift their spirits, and watch over them until they may all return safely home.
Lastly, feel free to email me at mark dot bryant1 @ mchsi dot com anytime you want. I answer each and every email!
Your prayers are power, and for that I am humbled and grateful. Thank you, and God bless you all.
In His love,
M
Monday, June 1, 2009
Done...
Well, I have finally reached then end of all the treatments. Chemo was finished last Thursday, and thanks to the good people at DMH I was able to get thru the first few post-chemo days sickness that is ever present.
Now it is truly up to the Good Lord. I will have my first x-ray tomorrow morning and then see Dr. Chang, my radiation oncologist. Next Tuesday I go back to Lutheran for a new PET scan, then see Dr. Zimmerman the following Tuesday to get the results. I wish I could say I feel terrific, but I can say I have survived the treatments, and for that I am grateful. One thing I do know is that my lungs are clear and I can breath normally, and that is a miracle!
Lance Armstrong's book "It's Not About The Bike" (highly recommended reading!) does a superb job of describing the effects of chemo on the human body. I read this several weeks ago and quite frankly it scared me pretty bad. Plus, I was also undergoing twice a day radiation treatments, which made things so much worse. Sitting here today, I'm glad that someone took the time to provide people like me with a realistic view of what is going to happen, and acknowledge that through faith, family, and friends that you can and will survive it. Thank you Mr. Armstrong for your courage and for sharing.
Thank you for your support, thoughts, and prayers. I'll keep you posted. God bless each and every one of you!
Mark
Now it is truly up to the Good Lord. I will have my first x-ray tomorrow morning and then see Dr. Chang, my radiation oncologist. Next Tuesday I go back to Lutheran for a new PET scan, then see Dr. Zimmerman the following Tuesday to get the results. I wish I could say I feel terrific, but I can say I have survived the treatments, and for that I am grateful. One thing I do know is that my lungs are clear and I can breath normally, and that is a miracle!
Lance Armstrong's book "It's Not About The Bike" (highly recommended reading!) does a superb job of describing the effects of chemo on the human body. I read this several weeks ago and quite frankly it scared me pretty bad. Plus, I was also undergoing twice a day radiation treatments, which made things so much worse. Sitting here today, I'm glad that someone took the time to provide people like me with a realistic view of what is going to happen, and acknowledge that through faith, family, and friends that you can and will survive it. Thank you Mr. Armstrong for your courage and for sharing.
Thank you for your support, thoughts, and prayers. I'll keep you posted. God bless each and every one of you!
Mark
Monday, May 18, 2009
A Graduation!
18 May 2009
Jessica is now officially a Purdue Alumni, Class 0f 2009! I was feeling well up to the trip to West Lafayette for the ceremony, in fact I would not have missed it even if I had to crawl there and back. Jess had made arrangements for me to sit down front on the aisle and away from as many people as possible, which also worked out great for Mom. (Amazing how tuned in you get to other people coughing, sneezing, etc when you have immune system issues. I heard a bunch that day!) Unfortunately, the 992 graduates that day were split into two sections, and Jessica's group was on the opposite side of Elliot Hall. We never saw her cross the stage because of the line of grads in front of us, but the rest of the family got to see he from the balcony. Purdue had an official photographer there, so in a few weeks I will get a really nice picture to post.
The graduation party on Sunday was a huge success, and I have to thank so many people who stepped in and lent a hand. My Mom and Dad, Gena, Amy, Bill, and Betsy - you guys were fantastic! Roger and Steve Jones, thanks for being Grill Masters! The BBQ chicken and burgers were gourmet! Mike, Matt, and Mitch Johnson - thanks for helping with all the heavy lifting! And to all of our family and friends, you are all God's blessing to us, and we thank you.
And of course thanks to Jessica for doing the hard part - getting here BS in Health Science in four years. Well done Pumpkin!
I will post all the photos from the weekend on Facebook. Let me know if you need a link to the website!
My focus this week is to gain back some strength and weight before next week's final round of chemo. I really hope to finish this off and stay above 200 lbs, but it is going to be close. Doc K's plan to admit me right after the last session for 72 hours of IV meds and hydration really helped the ongoing fight with nausea, so if anyone is in town on Friday May 29th or Saturday May 30th, drop in to DMH say say hey! I love visitors!
Thanks for tuning in. God continues to bless all of us in so many ways, and for that I am so very grateful.
More later! God bless you all!
M
Jessica is now officially a Purdue Alumni, Class 0f 2009! I was feeling well up to the trip to West Lafayette for the ceremony, in fact I would not have missed it even if I had to crawl there and back. Jess had made arrangements for me to sit down front on the aisle and away from as many people as possible, which also worked out great for Mom. (Amazing how tuned in you get to other people coughing, sneezing, etc when you have immune system issues. I heard a bunch that day!) Unfortunately, the 992 graduates that day were split into two sections, and Jessica's group was on the opposite side of Elliot Hall. We never saw her cross the stage because of the line of grads in front of us, but the rest of the family got to see he from the balcony. Purdue had an official photographer there, so in a few weeks I will get a really nice picture to post.
The graduation party on Sunday was a huge success, and I have to thank so many people who stepped in and lent a hand. My Mom and Dad, Gena, Amy, Bill, and Betsy - you guys were fantastic! Roger and Steve Jones, thanks for being Grill Masters! The BBQ chicken and burgers were gourmet! Mike, Matt, and Mitch Johnson - thanks for helping with all the heavy lifting! And to all of our family and friends, you are all God's blessing to us, and we thank you.
And of course thanks to Jessica for doing the hard part - getting here BS in Health Science in four years. Well done Pumpkin!
I will post all the photos from the weekend on Facebook. Let me know if you need a link to the website!
My focus this week is to gain back some strength and weight before next week's final round of chemo. I really hope to finish this off and stay above 200 lbs, but it is going to be close. Doc K's plan to admit me right after the last session for 72 hours of IV meds and hydration really helped the ongoing fight with nausea, so if anyone is in town on Friday May 29th or Saturday May 30th, drop in to DMH say say hey! I love visitors!
Thanks for tuning in. God continues to bless all of us in so many ways, and for that I am so very grateful.
More later! God bless you all!
M
Saturday, May 9, 2009
Recovery continues
Good morning from Suite 315-1, DMH.
(That's bed 1, room 315, Dekalb Memorial Hospital).
Round 3 of the chemo is now history, and I'm on Doc K's recovery plan. It became evident real quick that the oral meds I have been given to control the nausea due to the chemo drugs, and as a bonus, I have been getting dehydrated real quick right after chemo.
So Doc K's plan is to just check in to DMH after the third day of chemo, and get hooked up to an IV to prevent the dehydration and to get the anti-nausea drugs via IV. I'll be here probably until tomorrow morning, and after the next (and last) round of chemo at the end of May, come back for another 2-3 day rehab stint. Well worth it, as the staff here at DMH are wonderful, and I have not been sick at all this week. What a relief.
Things are looking better. I am now starting to be able to swallow and eat some things without a significant amount of pain, which means my esophagus is starting to heal up. Not pain free yet, but getting better. I have a new found love of popsicles!
Weight is (down/up) to 218 lbs this morning and pretty stable.
Had quite a few visitors yesterday, which breaks up the monotony of staring out the window and watching Farmer Smith's herd of Black Angus cows wander around the pasture. Engine 23 made a run past here yesterday evening - I sure can't wait to get back to the department! Thank you Chief Van Zile, Pastor Jess, Matt and Linda, and Greg. God has blessed me with so many wonderful friends!
Jessica will be graduating from Purdue a week from today - my pumpkin is all grown up! I will be sure to post some grad pictures as soon as I can.
More later. As always, I so appreciate your thoughts and prayers. I would not be here without God's grace and the power of your prayers, and for that, I thank you.
More later, God bless you all!
M
(That's bed 1, room 315, Dekalb Memorial Hospital).
Round 3 of the chemo is now history, and I'm on Doc K's recovery plan. It became evident real quick that the oral meds I have been given to control the nausea due to the chemo drugs, and as a bonus, I have been getting dehydrated real quick right after chemo.
So Doc K's plan is to just check in to DMH after the third day of chemo, and get hooked up to an IV to prevent the dehydration and to get the anti-nausea drugs via IV. I'll be here probably until tomorrow morning, and after the next (and last) round of chemo at the end of May, come back for another 2-3 day rehab stint. Well worth it, as the staff here at DMH are wonderful, and I have not been sick at all this week. What a relief.
Things are looking better. I am now starting to be able to swallow and eat some things without a significant amount of pain, which means my esophagus is starting to heal up. Not pain free yet, but getting better. I have a new found love of popsicles!
Weight is (down/up) to 218 lbs this morning and pretty stable.
Had quite a few visitors yesterday, which breaks up the monotony of staring out the window and watching Farmer Smith's herd of Black Angus cows wander around the pasture. Engine 23 made a run past here yesterday evening - I sure can't wait to get back to the department! Thank you Chief Van Zile, Pastor Jess, Matt and Linda, and Greg. God has blessed me with so many wonderful friends!
Jessica will be graduating from Purdue a week from today - my pumpkin is all grown up! I will be sure to post some grad pictures as soon as I can.
More later. As always, I so appreciate your thoughts and prayers. I would not be here without God's grace and the power of your prayers, and for that, I thank you.
More later, God bless you all!
M
Monday, April 27, 2009
There and Back Again, by Bilbo Baggins
Monday, 27 April, 2009
Any Lord of The Rings fans out there will recognize this as Bilbo's accounting of his great adventure with the dragon, and the basis for the Ring Series. I have had my great adventure the last few weeks as well. And, while it was not necessarily the path I would have chosen, it is what God choose for us, and He got us thru safe and sound.
Radiation treatments concluded last Wednesday. I had been radiated twice a day for 15 days, and the REAL side effects started to come out and play. I had also just finished the second round of chemo the previous Thursday.
In a nut shell, I had nothing left in the bag of tricks. Did not have enough energy to sit upright. Walking felt like wading thru a pool of warm grease. Was unable to keep any food down, and I was getting severely dehydrated. In addition, the one critical piece of anatomy I needed to begin to recuperate, the esophagus, was now burned to a crisp. Drinking, eating, talking, anything other than breathing was not going to happen. So after the last radiation treatment, we asked Dr. Chang to just admit me direct to the hospital, otherwise I really didn't see a way to get any better.
I got to choose, so I opted to get admitted here locally at Dekalb County Hospital, as I know lots of the people there. Jan took me there straight from Dr. Chang's office. First thing they did was get me plugged in with IV fluids. Lets see, I got there Wednesday late afternoon, and did not pee until Friday morning, after 3 liters of normal saline. Yup, dehydrated.
The nourishment side actually turns out to be an easier fix. The esophagus is not going to heal for about ten more days, so nothing beyond ice chips and small sips of water are going to get thru. So I got a feeding tube placed directly from the outside world to my stomach, so I can get some fuel into the body finally. It sounds gross, it's actually kind of neat. No need to worry about what your meal will taste like - taste isn't an option! Pop the top and pour, that is about it. The tube will need to stay in place for two months, but I hope I will only need it for the next 2 weeks. And it works well - I have gained back about six pounds from Wednesday.
I got discharged yesterday morning, so now I'm back home on the sidelines, feeling reasonably well, ready to do some stuff. It is nice to be able to get a whole night's sleep in, during the night! I have to limit my talking during the healing process, so I will be in electronic stalker mode for the time being.
Next round of chemo is a week from tomorrow, and I hope that it will be not as bad this time since I will not be doing the simultaneous twice daily radiation beatings.
Thanks and God bless to Beth, Herb, Ted, Dale, Bill, and Jess for visiting me this week. It is good to see our friends in person!
More of my heros at the bottom!
More later. Thanks so much for checking in, and thank you more for your thoughts and prayers. They work!
God bless,
Mark
Any Lord of The Rings fans out there will recognize this as Bilbo's accounting of his great adventure with the dragon, and the basis for the Ring Series. I have had my great adventure the last few weeks as well. And, while it was not necessarily the path I would have chosen, it is what God choose for us, and He got us thru safe and sound.
Radiation treatments concluded last Wednesday. I had been radiated twice a day for 15 days, and the REAL side effects started to come out and play. I had also just finished the second round of chemo the previous Thursday.
In a nut shell, I had nothing left in the bag of tricks. Did not have enough energy to sit upright. Walking felt like wading thru a pool of warm grease. Was unable to keep any food down, and I was getting severely dehydrated. In addition, the one critical piece of anatomy I needed to begin to recuperate, the esophagus, was now burned to a crisp. Drinking, eating, talking, anything other than breathing was not going to happen. So after the last radiation treatment, we asked Dr. Chang to just admit me direct to the hospital, otherwise I really didn't see a way to get any better.
I got to choose, so I opted to get admitted here locally at Dekalb County Hospital, as I know lots of the people there. Jan took me there straight from Dr. Chang's office. First thing they did was get me plugged in with IV fluids. Lets see, I got there Wednesday late afternoon, and did not pee until Friday morning, after 3 liters of normal saline. Yup, dehydrated.
The nourishment side actually turns out to be an easier fix. The esophagus is not going to heal for about ten more days, so nothing beyond ice chips and small sips of water are going to get thru. So I got a feeding tube placed directly from the outside world to my stomach, so I can get some fuel into the body finally. It sounds gross, it's actually kind of neat. No need to worry about what your meal will taste like - taste isn't an option! Pop the top and pour, that is about it. The tube will need to stay in place for two months, but I hope I will only need it for the next 2 weeks. And it works well - I have gained back about six pounds from Wednesday.
I got discharged yesterday morning, so now I'm back home on the sidelines, feeling reasonably well, ready to do some stuff. It is nice to be able to get a whole night's sleep in, during the night! I have to limit my talking during the healing process, so I will be in electronic stalker mode for the time being.
Next round of chemo is a week from tomorrow, and I hope that it will be not as bad this time since I will not be doing the simultaneous twice daily radiation beatings.
Thanks and God bless to Beth, Herb, Ted, Dale, Bill, and Jess for visiting me this week. It is good to see our friends in person!
More of my heros at the bottom!
More later. Thanks so much for checking in, and thank you more for your thoughts and prayers. They work!
God bless,
Mark
Friday, April 17, 2009
Another round complete
17 April 09
This will be short. Round 2 of chemp is done. Still doing twice a day radiation. The fatigue is unbelievable. I am sleeping nearly all day right now. Hope this gets better over the next few days.
Love an miss you all! God bless!
M
This will be short. Round 2 of chemp is done. Still doing twice a day radiation. The fatigue is unbelievable. I am sleeping nearly all day right now. Hope this gets better over the next few days.
Love an miss you all! God bless!
M
Thursday, April 9, 2009
Updated treatments!
9 Apr 2009
Welcome to my blog! If you are reading this, then I want to say thank you for thinking about me, and for your prayers, right up front. I hope this blog is serving it's intended purpose of keeping so many family members and friends up to date. I get cards, emails, and calls pretty consistantly each day from so many of you, and it just plain old makes my day! Thank you so much!
I had my Jonesing for a needle puncture fulfilled Tuesday. Dr. Z did the first blood workup since treatments started. My white blood cell count was a bit below the normal range, but Dr. Z said he is not worried. My red blood cell count was normal. Dr. Z said that he wants to accelerate the chemo to every three weeks instead of every four, which my two most favorite nurses in the world, Gena and Betsy, says is a good thing.
So we start round 2 next Tuesday rather than the following Monday. If I can stay on the three week cycle, I get done almost a month earlier! That would be great! The frequency of the beatings will increase, but the duration will decrease. Fair enough for me.
To put it in perspective, if Dad was traveling and I got in Dutch with Mom and had a good butt whooping coming when Dad got home, then the news that he is coming home a week early is one of those good news/bad news things. The good news is you don't have to agonize over the impending "meeting of the minds" an entire extra week. The bad news is that the results are not going to change.
And Dad was a school teacher, so I (we) got what we USUALLY deserved from a professional! There is that incident with the fly swatter while I was taking a bath that was something one of my siblings blamed me for, and for once I was completely innocent, but that is a story for another time. Needless to say I probably still ended up ahead of the game, but had one coming for something I didn't get caught doing. There may be many similar stories in the entire Hidy clan, I'm sure.
So that is about it for now. Still feeling good, hoping the weather warms up some more soon. I am just about 1/2 way thru the radiation treatments. 9 more days to go!
Today's post is for Jan, who I could not have possibly made it this far without. Thanks sweetie!
More in a few days. Thanks again, and God bless!
M
Welcome to my blog! If you are reading this, then I want to say thank you for thinking about me, and for your prayers, right up front. I hope this blog is serving it's intended purpose of keeping so many family members and friends up to date. I get cards, emails, and calls pretty consistantly each day from so many of you, and it just plain old makes my day! Thank you so much!
I had my Jonesing for a needle puncture fulfilled Tuesday. Dr. Z did the first blood workup since treatments started. My white blood cell count was a bit below the normal range, but Dr. Z said he is not worried. My red blood cell count was normal. Dr. Z said that he wants to accelerate the chemo to every three weeks instead of every four, which my two most favorite nurses in the world, Gena and Betsy, says is a good thing.
So we start round 2 next Tuesday rather than the following Monday. If I can stay on the three week cycle, I get done almost a month earlier! That would be great! The frequency of the beatings will increase, but the duration will decrease. Fair enough for me.
To put it in perspective, if Dad was traveling and I got in Dutch with Mom and had a good butt whooping coming when Dad got home, then the news that he is coming home a week early is one of those good news/bad news things. The good news is you don't have to agonize over the impending "meeting of the minds" an entire extra week. The bad news is that the results are not going to change.
And Dad was a school teacher, so I (we) got what we USUALLY deserved from a professional! There is that incident with the fly swatter while I was taking a bath that was something one of my siblings blamed me for, and for once I was completely innocent, but that is a story for another time. Needless to say I probably still ended up ahead of the game, but had one coming for something I didn't get caught doing. There may be many similar stories in the entire Hidy clan, I'm sure.
So that is about it for now. Still feeling good, hoping the weather warms up some more soon. I am just about 1/2 way thru the radiation treatments. 9 more days to go!
Today's post is for Jan, who I could not have possibly made it this far without. Thanks sweetie!
More in a few days. Thanks again, and God bless!
M
Sunday, April 5, 2009
A great weekend!
Sunday, 4 Apr 09
Has been a great weekend! Jessica came home from Boilerville, and as usual she lights up a room anywhere she goes! A few more weeks and she will be a Purdue alumni, which doesn't seem at all possible. More on that later down the road.
I updated my heroes photo on the right. Heroes and angels, all in one!
Young Master William S. Bryant just celebrated his sixty fourth, er, umm, no his forty sixth, birthday. Happy Birthday bro, and thanks for getting me started with Facebook. A whole new way to spend time in front of the computer, and time I got!
I started radiation therapy on Thursday. Got a bit of a surprise, Dr. Chang decided to change the protocol from once a day for six weeks to twice a day for three weeks. So I have a set of bookends to help structure the day, 8:10 am and 3:30 pm. The whole process takes about 15 minutes start to finish, and for those of you who wonder about such things, you do not feel anything at all. Just noises of the machine spinning and moving. The radiation techs at Parkview North are all very kind and courteous, just like my favorite nurses Gena and Betsy.
One of the possible side effects of the radiation will be, alas, coughing. Siiiggghhhh, I was just getting adjusted to not hacking up a lung every three minutes. Oh well, its part of the plan, and I'll get thru it. God has prepared me to be a professional at coughing the last few months. So those of you who hear me, it's just the treatment!
And something seems to be missing from my life. Hmmmm, oh yeah, needles! I have not had anyone stick me with a needle or an IV port in about three weeks, so tomorrow I go to Lutheran and get tapped for a few tubes of blood. It's time to start monitoring white and red blood cell counts. I still have an almost full head of hair, but I don't think it is going to last much longer. I am down to shaving every three days, maybe four this week, so it will be Kojak time pretty soon. Look at the money and time I get to save!
That about sums up status right now. I have a load of work to do, plenty of emails to answer, and always a card or letter to write (that's old school communication for you youngsters out there).
God bless all of us, remember to be thankful and gracious, and thanks for all of your thoughts and prayers. They work!
M
Has been a great weekend! Jessica came home from Boilerville, and as usual she lights up a room anywhere she goes! A few more weeks and she will be a Purdue alumni, which doesn't seem at all possible. More on that later down the road.
I updated my heroes photo on the right. Heroes and angels, all in one!
Young Master William S. Bryant just celebrated his sixty fourth, er, umm, no his forty sixth, birthday. Happy Birthday bro, and thanks for getting me started with Facebook. A whole new way to spend time in front of the computer, and time I got!
I started radiation therapy on Thursday. Got a bit of a surprise, Dr. Chang decided to change the protocol from once a day for six weeks to twice a day for three weeks. So I have a set of bookends to help structure the day, 8:10 am and 3:30 pm. The whole process takes about 15 minutes start to finish, and for those of you who wonder about such things, you do not feel anything at all. Just noises of the machine spinning and moving. The radiation techs at Parkview North are all very kind and courteous, just like my favorite nurses Gena and Betsy.
One of the possible side effects of the radiation will be, alas, coughing. Siiiggghhhh, I was just getting adjusted to not hacking up a lung every three minutes. Oh well, its part of the plan, and I'll get thru it. God has prepared me to be a professional at coughing the last few months. So those of you who hear me, it's just the treatment!
And something seems to be missing from my life. Hmmmm, oh yeah, needles! I have not had anyone stick me with a needle or an IV port in about three weeks, so tomorrow I go to Lutheran and get tapped for a few tubes of blood. It's time to start monitoring white and red blood cell counts. I still have an almost full head of hair, but I don't think it is going to last much longer. I am down to shaving every three days, maybe four this week, so it will be Kojak time pretty soon. Look at the money and time I get to save!
That about sums up status right now. I have a load of work to do, plenty of emails to answer, and always a card or letter to write (that's old school communication for you youngsters out there).
God bless all of us, remember to be thankful and gracious, and thanks for all of your thoughts and prayers. They work!
M
Tuesday, March 31, 2009
Tuesday, 31 March 2009
Tuesday, 31 March 2009
Thank you in advance for coming here and checking in. I hope this blog is serving it’s purpose, to let all of you know how I’m doing. If anyone wants to know more about anything, just let me know! I have time…..
The Good Lord continues to work His magic in our lives. Two wonderful things have happened in the last few days! First, my Mom QUIT SMOKING!!!!!!!! Yippee! Hooray! Thank the Lord. I was (and continue to be) so proud of her when she told me I cried. If any of you out there are ex-smokers, you know just how hard it is to kick that monkey off your back. I believe God makes it really easy, as long as your have FAITH! If you get a chance in the next day or so, call Mom and congratulate her. Positive reinforcement is very very important! Drop her a note or a card. Me, I’m getting her flowers!
And if that were not enough, my cough has noticeably decreased over the past few days, I no longer wheeze like a steam locomotive at idle on a siding, and I am feeling better all around. Dr. Zimmerman, Dr. Rasp, Dr. Chang, and Dr. Kidder all said that once the cancer starts to shrink and die due to the chemo and the radiation, that this was going to happen. Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic (Mickey Mouse said that back in the late 70s), and what modern medicine can do right now is well beyond that magic stage. God works thru all of us, and I think He works overtime thru our doctors, nurses, health care workers, scientists, and many others just to name a few. Add these people to your prayer list, as we owe them so very much.
And speaking of nurses, I spent the last part of last week with one of my two most favorite nurses in the entire known universe, and I loved every minute of it. Sis, thank you so very much for watching out for your little brother. Right here in public in front of God and everybody I want to tell you just how special you are as a sister, a friend, as one of my angels. I’ll never be able to say thank you enough. I love you without measure.
One of the things I will remember most about staying with Gena is the piece of artwork she has hanging on one wall of her house. It has probably been there for forever, and I’ll bet I have looked AT it dozens of times, but I never READ it. It is a simple phrase that describes so much:
“Faith, Family, Friends, Forever”
To me, this sums up most everything we need to know about life, and more importantly, it does it in the correct order (at least for me). Once again, God talks to us all the time, if we just take time to listen. Thank you for that as well sis!
I start radiation treatment this Thursday at Parkview North. What a fantastic group of people there! Treatments will take about 10 minutes, so I will spend 4 times longer getting there and getting home than I will actually getting treated. Cool. No waiting! Dr. Chang is my radiation oncologist, and a very impressive doctor.
And I also will be heading down to IU in April to talk to Dr. Lawrence Einhorn, just to get an overall second opinion on treatment plans in general and mine in particular. You may have heard of him before. He is maybe the best of the best in the business. I am 100% certain I am getting the absolute best care available, but always good to get another opinion.
The entire tribe made it back from
Thanks to each and every one who has sent me a card, a note, or said a prayer. I would not be able to do any of this without all of you, my A Team, leading the charge. I remain forever grateful.
I will end this entry with a recent picture of one my heroes, whom I love and respect so very much. You should see him over on the right side of the page somewhere.
Thanks to you all and God bless!
Mark
Tuesday, March 24, 2009
Tuesday, 24 March
Happy Tuesday everyone!
Top of the list is to say thanks to Jess and my friends at Lakeview - I just saw where Jess put a link to the blog right on the main page. God bless all of you guys, I do miss you!
Second day of chemo is in the bag, one more day to go and them round 1 of 4is complete. I meet with the Dr. Sunshine (the radiation oncologists) tomorrow at 3:30 pm to find out what all that will involve, and then get started on the radiation treatments probably Thursday or Friday.
I did not have any problems with the first day of chemo. I get two meds, Cisplatin and VP-16. The Cisplatin is the one that will make you sick, but thanks to God working miracles in modern medicine, they give you anti-nausea meds at the same time to negate any nasty side effects. When I got home in the afternoon, I did feel a bit like I had went 2 rounds with George Foreman, but the current version, not the younger in shape George. He can hit hard enough today to make you feel pretty bad, but I don't think he's got the KO strength anymore.
In any event, I took one of the three different nausea meds they precribed, took a nap, and woke up feeling better, just some mild aches and pains. The hot tub took care of those, and I had a great night's sleep.
All that worry for nothing... Thank you God for once again carrying us across another hurdle.
Let's all get behind the Boilers and the Spartans to continue their runs in the sweet 16. I'm rooting for Purdue (go figure), but at this level you just have to want all our Big 10 teams to do well, even poor old University of Michigan. (Those who know me know that just to write that ast little bit must mean I have fundamentally changed...)
Bolier Up, and thnaks so very much for tuning in, taking time to check up on me, for your thoughts, and for your prayers. They mean everything.
Until later, safe travels and God bless!
Mark
Happy Tuesday everyone!
Top of the list is to say thanks to Jess and my friends at Lakeview - I just saw where Jess put a link to the blog right on the main page. God bless all of you guys, I do miss you!
Second day of chemo is in the bag, one more day to go and them round 1 of 4is complete. I meet with the Dr. Sunshine (the radiation oncologists) tomorrow at 3:30 pm to find out what all that will involve, and then get started on the radiation treatments probably Thursday or Friday.
I did not have any problems with the first day of chemo. I get two meds, Cisplatin and VP-16. The Cisplatin is the one that will make you sick, but thanks to God working miracles in modern medicine, they give you anti-nausea meds at the same time to negate any nasty side effects. When I got home in the afternoon, I did feel a bit like I had went 2 rounds with George Foreman, but the current version, not the younger in shape George. He can hit hard enough today to make you feel pretty bad, but I don't think he's got the KO strength anymore.
In any event, I took one of the three different nausea meds they precribed, took a nap, and woke up feeling better, just some mild aches and pains. The hot tub took care of those, and I had a great night's sleep.
All that worry for nothing... Thank you God for once again carrying us across another hurdle.
Let's all get behind the Boilers and the Spartans to continue their runs in the sweet 16. I'm rooting for Purdue (go figure), but at this level you just have to want all our Big 10 teams to do well, even poor old University of Michigan. (Those who know me know that just to write that ast little bit must mean I have fundamentally changed...)
Bolier Up, and thnaks so very much for tuning in, taking time to check up on me, for your thoughts, and for your prayers. They mean everything.
Until later, safe travels and God bless!
Mark
Sunday, March 22, 2009
Sunday, March 22
Thanks for tuning in!
Tomorrow will be my first day of chemo. I went to an educational class on Friday that Lutheran sponsors, and what great nurses they have there! (Not quite as good as my sisters, but pretty close). Some of the stuff they taught I knew, but it is what I didn't know and these fine people took time to teach me that made it well worth the trip there. Lutheran Hospital runs this teaching clinic for free, which served as a reminder to me that there is something you can find in your life to be grateful for every day, as long as you keep you eyes, mind, and heart open.
I'll bore everyone you with the details later on. There are three general classes of side effects, those that will happen, those that might happen, and those that rarely happen. Of the ones that will happen for sure, it is not the loss of hair that will be the hardest to handle. Quite the opposite actually. I will wear that as a badge of honor for being able to do this fight in the first place.
The weakening of your immune system, and how you have to deal with that, will be the hardest for me. I don't get to go to Walmart and watch the weekly child beatings or catch up on the latest fashion statement from our rural brethren (Carhart is known around hear as the Dekalb County Tuxedo). That goes into the plus column. On the minus side, I will not be able to go to church, which I will miss the most. I will not be able to go hang out with my Auburn Fire Department brothers and sisters, which I will miss second of all.
However, God never tasks us without knowing we have the tools to deal with anything that comes our ways. I have this laptop, which will be my connection to the world for a while. I can listen to services right here anytime I want. I have more scanners than any one person should own, so keeping up with the AFD is easy enough. And of course there is email and this blog. I'll be AOK.
Anyone who knows me knows just how much I am grateful for, how proud I am, how much I admire and respect all of our men and women in uniform who serve our country, both here at home and all around the world. The sacrifices that these heros have made in the past, are making today, and will continue to make in the future, to preserve our rights as Americans to free speech, the freedom to worship, to protect our Constitution, is beyond my scope of understanding. Our son is a US Marine, so I get to have another of my greatest heros come home every chance he can. I am so very proud of him and what he has accomplished, and I think back on how I got here today. I was to young for Vietnam. I was to old for the Gulf War. I never seemed to be able to fulfill my duty to my country in the way that I wanted to, in the way that past and future generations of US servicemen and servicewomen will be there when they are needed. I believe God had another war in mind for me to fight and win, and He has been preparing me to the best of His ability. I am ready to stand in and do my duty, you can count on that. Adapt, improvise, and OVERCOME!
God gave us a beautiful day today. Warm and sunny. Tomorrow promises to be even better, in many many ways.
Thanks for listening, thank you for your thoughts, and thank you for your prayers. God bless all of us.
Mark
Thanks for tuning in!
Tomorrow will be my first day of chemo. I went to an educational class on Friday that Lutheran sponsors, and what great nurses they have there! (Not quite as good as my sisters, but pretty close). Some of the stuff they taught I knew, but it is what I didn't know and these fine people took time to teach me that made it well worth the trip there. Lutheran Hospital runs this teaching clinic for free, which served as a reminder to me that there is something you can find in your life to be grateful for every day, as long as you keep you eyes, mind, and heart open.
I'll bore everyone you with the details later on. There are three general classes of side effects, those that will happen, those that might happen, and those that rarely happen. Of the ones that will happen for sure, it is not the loss of hair that will be the hardest to handle. Quite the opposite actually. I will wear that as a badge of honor for being able to do this fight in the first place.
The weakening of your immune system, and how you have to deal with that, will be the hardest for me. I don't get to go to Walmart and watch the weekly child beatings or catch up on the latest fashion statement from our rural brethren (Carhart is known around hear as the Dekalb County Tuxedo). That goes into the plus column. On the minus side, I will not be able to go to church, which I will miss the most. I will not be able to go hang out with my Auburn Fire Department brothers and sisters, which I will miss second of all.
However, God never tasks us without knowing we have the tools to deal with anything that comes our ways. I have this laptop, which will be my connection to the world for a while. I can listen to services right here anytime I want. I have more scanners than any one person should own, so keeping up with the AFD is easy enough. And of course there is email and this blog. I'll be AOK.
Anyone who knows me knows just how much I am grateful for, how proud I am, how much I admire and respect all of our men and women in uniform who serve our country, both here at home and all around the world. The sacrifices that these heros have made in the past, are making today, and will continue to make in the future, to preserve our rights as Americans to free speech, the freedom to worship, to protect our Constitution, is beyond my scope of understanding. Our son is a US Marine, so I get to have another of my greatest heros come home every chance he can. I am so very proud of him and what he has accomplished, and I think back on how I got here today. I was to young for Vietnam. I was to old for the Gulf War. I never seemed to be able to fulfill my duty to my country in the way that I wanted to, in the way that past and future generations of US servicemen and servicewomen will be there when they are needed. I believe God had another war in mind for me to fight and win, and He has been preparing me to the best of His ability. I am ready to stand in and do my duty, you can count on that. Adapt, improvise, and OVERCOME!
God gave us a beautiful day today. Warm and sunny. Tomorrow promises to be even better, in many many ways.
Thanks for listening, thank you for your thoughts, and thank you for your prayers. God bless all of us.
Mark
Saturday, March 21, 2009
Saturday, 21 March, first day of spring!
(This is an email I just sent out to many of you, so you may have seen this already)
All,
Just wanted to give everyone a quick update from the most recent visits with the docs.
The PET scan came back clean, which is really really good. I take no credit for it, this one was all God's doing. The only place I have a problem is the mass in my right lung. Dr. Zimmerman said that we caught this really early, and he is quite surprised that there just is nothing else there.
Personally, I'm not. I have had God's A-team sending our prayers for weeks now. Powerful stuff indeed, and I am one very grateful man.
Matter of fact, Dr. Z said that I am the healthiest cancer patient he may have ever seen in his practice. Again, I take no credit.
I got my head examined yesterday morning. No joke. Brain MRI. Dr. Z wants to make sure the PET scan wasn't lying or missed even a miniscule blip of anything. His nurse says he is a bit OCD about the small details, which is a good trait in an oncologist.
I will start the first of four rounds of chemo on Monday at 8 am. Each round is three days of treatment, six hours the first day, one hour the second, one hour the third, then stop and repeat 4 weeks later. So that will take 12 or so weeks to complete. I get to keep my hair for about two to three weeks max, after which I will look like:
Eric
Shane
Kojak
and a few more of you. ;-) Nothing wrong with emulating those you look up to in life, that's what Dad says.
Radiation will start sometime next week. I meet with the radiological oncologist on Wednesday, and they get you all semi-permanently tattooed with aiming points. The radiation treatment will be 5 days a week for six weeks.
Best I know so far the side affects aside from saving money on shampoo and razors will be some nausea about three to four days after chemo starts, and that can be controlled pretty well with meds. The fatigue will set in about then as well, but I really don't think it can be much worse than the fatigue of having pneumonia for four months. (By the way, I still have a little of that kicking around as well). Dr. Z did say that on the whole I may actually feel the same or better, as once the chemo starts to shrink the mass, I will start breathing properly, get air into all of my lungs, clear the last of the crap out, and best of all STOP COUGHING! I will rate that as yet another miracle the minute it happens. The radiation will irritate my esophagus quite a bit after a few weeks, which will make eating and drinking a bit of a pain, but again that can be helped with meds.
It would appear that my travel ability will be really restricted due to the radiation treatments for six weeks, unless it is something that can happen over a weekend. I am not real happy about that because that impacts my work, but in the bit scheme of things, I'm not going to utter a peep. And on top of that, the chemo slaps your immune system around pretty good, so two weeks out of every four I can't be exposed to anyone sick, which is really home detention. Small price to pay.
Thank you from the bottom of my heart for all of your thoughts and prayers for me an my family these past few weeks. They have made such a difference in our lives and I do not think I will ever be able to fully describe what it feels like for us. I have been blessed with many great people in my life, and all of you folks are at the top of the list. God bless each of you, and thank you once again.
Mark
(This is an email I just sent out to many of you, so you may have seen this already)
All,
Just wanted to give everyone a quick update from the most recent visits with the docs.
The PET scan came back clean, which is really really good. I take no credit for it, this one was all God's doing. The only place I have a problem is the mass in my right lung. Dr. Zimmerman said that we caught this really early, and he is quite surprised that there just is nothing else there.
Personally, I'm not. I have had God's A-team sending our prayers for weeks now. Powerful stuff indeed, and I am one very grateful man.
Matter of fact, Dr. Z said that I am the healthiest cancer patient he may have ever seen in his practice. Again, I take no credit.
I got my head examined yesterday morning. No joke. Brain MRI. Dr. Z wants to make sure the PET scan wasn't lying or missed even a miniscule blip of anything. His nurse says he is a bit OCD about the small details, which is a good trait in an oncologist.
I will start the first of four rounds of chemo on Monday at 8 am. Each round is three days of treatment, six hours the first day, one hour the second, one hour the third, then stop and repeat 4 weeks later. So that will take 12 or so weeks to complete. I get to keep my hair for about two to three weeks max, after which I will look like:
Eric
Shane
Kojak
and a few more of you. ;-) Nothing wrong with emulating those you look up to in life, that's what Dad says.
Radiation will start sometime next week. I meet with the radiological oncologist on Wednesday, and they get you all semi-permanently tattooed with aiming points. The radiation treatment will be 5 days a week for six weeks.
Best I know so far the side affects aside from saving money on shampoo and razors will be some nausea about three to four days after chemo starts, and that can be controlled pretty well with meds. The fatigue will set in about then as well, but I really don't think it can be much worse than the fatigue of having pneumonia for four months. (By the way, I still have a little of that kicking around as well). Dr. Z did say that on the whole I may actually feel the same or better, as once the chemo starts to shrink the mass, I will start breathing properly, get air into all of my lungs, clear the last of the crap out, and best of all STOP COUGHING! I will rate that as yet another miracle the minute it happens. The radiation will irritate my esophagus quite a bit after a few weeks, which will make eating and drinking a bit of a pain, but again that can be helped with meds.
It would appear that my travel ability will be really restricted due to the radiation treatments for six weeks, unless it is something that can happen over a weekend. I am not real happy about that because that impacts my work, but in the bit scheme of things, I'm not going to utter a peep. And on top of that, the chemo slaps your immune system around pretty good, so two weeks out of every four I can't be exposed to anyone sick, which is really home detention. Small price to pay.
Thank you from the bottom of my heart for all of your thoughts and prayers for me an my family these past few weeks. They have made such a difference in our lives and I do not think I will ever be able to fully describe what it feels like for us. I have been blessed with many great people in my life, and all of you folks are at the top of the list. God bless each of you, and thank you once again.
Mark
Wednesday, March 18, 2009
Wednesday, March 18th, 2009
Pretty easy day today. Lots of light duty emails to deal with from work, couple phone conferences. I bet everyone I talk to on the phone regularly will appreciate it as much if not more than I will when I can quit this stinking coughing!
Tomorrow is when I go see Dr. Z and hopefully get my treatment plan underway. I'm a bit anxious about what will be happening, but the Good Lord has taken away any fear. I have none, none at all, and I will credit all of you and your prayers for taking away that fear. I had am image cross my mind while I was talking about how much everyone's prayers mean to me of the Verizon Wireless commercials. You know the ones, where at the end of the commercial the camera pans out and you see this huge crowd of Verizon people. Well, if you panned the camera of my life out wide right now, you would easily see what I feel, my own version of Verizon support, except the people in the crowd are my family and friends, and they all have angel's wings, because they are indeed all angels.
Thanks and God bless everyone!
Mark
Pretty easy day today. Lots of light duty emails to deal with from work, couple phone conferences. I bet everyone I talk to on the phone regularly will appreciate it as much if not more than I will when I can quit this stinking coughing!
Tomorrow is when I go see Dr. Z and hopefully get my treatment plan underway. I'm a bit anxious about what will be happening, but the Good Lord has taken away any fear. I have none, none at all, and I will credit all of you and your prayers for taking away that fear. I had am image cross my mind while I was talking about how much everyone's prayers mean to me of the Verizon Wireless commercials. You know the ones, where at the end of the commercial the camera pans out and you see this huge crowd of Verizon people. Well, if you panned the camera of my life out wide right now, you would easily see what I feel, my own version of Verizon support, except the people in the crowd are my family and friends, and they all have angel's wings, because they are indeed all angels.
Thanks and God bless everyone!
Mark
Tuesday, March 17, 2009
Hi, and welcome! Just like my home, the door is always open, everyone is always welcome, and no one is allowed to rush away.
I had the last in a long series of tests yesterday, a PET-G scan. This is the one where you get shot up with glow in the dark particles, then get to sit back in a really nice recliner for an hour and take a nap, followed by another nap for 30 minutes on a table stuck in a long tube. Just about like an MRI, but without any noise.
I go see Dr. David Zimmerman this Thursday at 1:30 pm, and I am pretty sure that Dr. Z will have my treatment plan all detailed out in terms of what, where and when. I will share that with all of you as soon as I can. Not sure yet what the treatment will be, but I am going to do my part, and I can do that because of your prayers. Beth Horrum gave me a framed picture of an enormous rock being held up in balance by a single guy. The caption Beth put under the picture says "The task ahead of you is not greater than the strength behind you". I look at the picture, and what the caption says to me is it is not what you see, a lone guy doing the impossible, but what you don't see, and that is the strength of hundreds if not thousands of loving caring people flowing though this one man, that makes a difference.
Each of you make a difference to me, and for that I love all of you. God grants us many blessings each and every day. Never overlook a single one, be stong and have courage, and God bless you all.
Mark
I had the last in a long series of tests yesterday, a PET-G scan. This is the one where you get shot up with glow in the dark particles, then get to sit back in a really nice recliner for an hour and take a nap, followed by another nap for 30 minutes on a table stuck in a long tube. Just about like an MRI, but without any noise.
I go see Dr. David Zimmerman this Thursday at 1:30 pm, and I am pretty sure that Dr. Z will have my treatment plan all detailed out in terms of what, where and when. I will share that with all of you as soon as I can. Not sure yet what the treatment will be, but I am going to do my part, and I can do that because of your prayers. Beth Horrum gave me a framed picture of an enormous rock being held up in balance by a single guy. The caption Beth put under the picture says "The task ahead of you is not greater than the strength behind you". I look at the picture, and what the caption says to me is it is not what you see, a lone guy doing the impossible, but what you don't see, and that is the strength of hundreds if not thousands of loving caring people flowing though this one man, that makes a difference.
Each of you make a difference to me, and for that I love all of you. God grants us many blessings each and every day. Never overlook a single one, be stong and have courage, and God bless you all.
Mark
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