We did it!

Thank you all so much for your generous donations to my Relay for Life campaign - you raised $1700 for the American Cancer Society. In keeping with strict tradition, it rained a bit on Friday night, but not enough to dampen the spirits of the participants. A good time was had by all. I learned that chemotherapy drugs do not work well as performance enhancing drugs, even with the steroids from last Thursday's treatment. I did manage to get around the track enough times to get five miles in before my feet said "enough". The link below has more pictures:



http://s195.photobucket.com/albums/z85/haydnprong/Relay%20for%20Life%202007/


I finally got to discuss my last PET scan in some detail with my oncologist on Thursday. I had some concerns about the radiologist's report that I wanted to clear up. It's amazing what your mind is capable of conjuring up when you don't really have all of the information. It's hard not to have the negative slip in when in doubt. I had a couple of weeks to mull over the language in the report and really did wonder if I had a few more things to worry about. It wasn't a conscious worry that constantly occupied my thoughts, but a little nagging thought that kept popping up that just said "What if....". And what I read in the report sounded like it had everything to do with cancer - isn't that why I was getting the scan in the first place? Of course, the "What if..." turned out to be absolutely nothing to worry about, and the radiologist was simply doing his job and noting everything he saw, whether it had anything to do with cancer or not. I let the negative slip in and allowed it to fill my brain with doubts for a few weeks. With that in mind, my marker number from last Thursday was 8, virtually unchanged for the past two measurements. My oncologist says "don't worry"... I'll do my best and listen to him.

Relay for Life - less than one week to go!

I wasn't going to post this, but I thought the concept was funny when it came to me, and I hope nobody is offended by it. Let me be right up front - the above message is not endorsed by the American Cancer Society, and I'm sure they'd be horrified at this approach to fundraising, but I thought there was some humor to be had in this. Those of you who know me know that I have been avid homebrewer for 27 years, and have actually made some very drinkable ales. Intake of my favorite malty beverage is now limited to one beer every two weeks because of the metastasized tumors that have taken up residence in my liver. We've decided to try to take it easy on this poor overworked organ and cut back on things that stress it, like alcohol. OK, maybe your contribution won't really let me have another beer, but the money spent on research by the American Cancer Society might keep someone else from making such a cheesy attempt at fundraising in the future. Just so you know, I did print this out and hung it outside my office cubicle and it's brought in over $100 in donations....

I had some difficulty writing this - it's easy to pass on positive news and progress, but it's not quite as easy to report news that isn't as positive. I did not receive treatment last Thursday - both my nurse and oncologist thought that it would be better for me to skip the treatment and treat an infection that developed from my rash. The antibiotic treatment has done a great job in knocking back the infection, and combined with the skipped Erbitux treatment, my face has cleared up and the rash has started to ease up a bit. While I'm enjoying the break from side effects, I sure hate to lose any ground by missing a treatment. Nobody said that this was going to be easy, and there are going to be ups and downs along the way. Let's call this a little dip on the ride.

The big Relay is Friday. I've got my official "Survivor" T-shirt and get to sit in the "Survivor's Bullpen" before we get to do the first lap on the track - the "Survivor's Lap" - this "Survivor" stuff is a lot of work. For those of you who aren't familiar with how Relay operates, there is a pretty moving opening presentation, followed by a lap for all the survivors, and then teams keep a member on the track throughout the entire event until noon the following day. My "shift" on the track is from 7-8:00 PM. The opening presentation gets me teary-eyed when they go over the symbolism of the relay representing the diagnosis and treatment that a cancer patient receives. The relay starts at dusk, representing the diagnosis and the beginning of treatment and there are lots of people on the track. As the night goes on, there are fewer and fewer people on the track and the darkest of night represents the fear and loneliness that we patients experience as we go through the rigors of treatment. As the sun comes up and day breaks, the track comes alive again, representing a a positive outcome from successful treatment. Dang - that's the second time that cancer has made me cry today. Anyway, it's pretty uplifting - thank you again for all your support. I'll try to get lots of pictures to post.

And if you need a good cry, read Leroy Sievers' blog today. The comments from Michael Lewis of Seattle, describing a meeting with a child at the treatment clinic he goes to, turned me into a blubbering mess. Here's the link to today's post:
http://www.npr.org/blogs/mycancer/2007/05/the_burdens_we_can_bear_1.html#commentSection

Michael's comments are about half-way down the list of posted comments. I don't know Michael, but I'd sure like to meet him.

Wish me luck on Friday.
-bob

NPR Cancer Spokesperson of the Week

OK - my 90 seconds of fame on NPR's Morning Edition on Friday morning have come and gone. If you missed hearing it live, here's your second chance: http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=9984792
The link has the text of the story, and if you click on the "Listen" button at the top of the page, you can hear the story as it aired.

As a postscript to the story about my choice of planting perennials as an act of defiance to my cancer, the picture above is one of those plantings from last summer (Lewisia tweedyi). And I'll be planting more perennials again this year - it's just a matter of finding the space to squeeze in a few more. I have a couple of flats with new plants in the backyard and if it's nice outside today, I'll go out and plant them.

Not much to report for progress - the tumor marker number from last Thursday is unchanged from two weeks ago, and maybe everything is taking a little break before making a final assault to shut down the last tumors. But what a long way from where I was almost a year ago. At this point one year ago, I was still undiagnosed, and actually out on a weekend backpacking and climbing trip in the Cascades. I thought that my back was sore from the 6 mile trip up the mountain with an ill-fitting borrowed pack, with 50 pounds of gear slamming into my spine. I was a little out of breath and needed to take a few more breaks than I thought I should have. Little did I know that a month later, I'd learn that those back pains were from a collection of tumors in my chest - two of which were the size of 3x5" index cards. I was short of breath because there was no room in my chest for my lungs to fully expand - I just thought I needed more exercise. But that was one of the most enjoyable trips I've ever taken and I'm looking forward to getting back in shape to do it again. Face it - I've got Spring Fever and cancer has put a crimp in my plans for now.
Summit Picture - Earl Peak May 2006 - I'm in the brown and grey jacket.

Relay for Life update - again, thank you for your continued support and contributions. The $1000 goal has been met, but there are still two more weeks to go before our Relay. I will continue to accept your generous donations up until Relay day - May 18-19th.

Please be sure to watch the Ted Koppel Discovery Channel special "Living with Cancer" which is set to air tonight, May 6 at 8:00PM. I consider Leroy Sievers a friend and a true hero to all those who have cancer. It will be followed by a town hall discussion where you may see some of the other "My Cancer" blog commenters.

Listen Up on Friday morning to Morning Edition

This just came into my email box from National Public Radio:

Dear Bob,

I’ve been working on the Leroy Sievers interview (following up on Neva Grant’s earlier work, as Neva is in London this week for our Climate Connections series).

Just wanted to send you a quick heads up to let you know that the Leroy Sievers interview is scheduled to air tomorrow at the end of the second hour of Morning Edition (including two brief cuts of tape from your comments to the blog).

Depending on the member station’s programming schedule, that means it is scheduled to air at about 6:51 am, 8:51 am, 10:51 am.

Thanks very much.

All the best,

Anne

Anne Hawke
Producer
NPR

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I'll more for the week when I get my marker numbers on Saturday
-bob