Friday, April 15, 2011

I'm back...

I know I have left alot of my blog followers hanging after the last post way back in January and for that I apologize. Since then I have been enjoying my life and spending time with family and friends. Most of all spending quality time with Sandy and Olivia. I have been keeping busy working my job. I really do love my job and find it very therapeutic. It keeps my mind busy and focused on something other than my current situation. Treo has allowed me to work from home which has been really great. This gives me more time with Sandy and Olivia. So in general all is good with the family.

On to the news at hand... So as I explained in the last post the scan we had done back in December showed disease progression. At that point my oncologist at MSKCC had announced his resignation. Prior to leaving we had one last appointment with him and it was decided that we would switch chemo protocols and see what happens after 6 rounds. The first round went OK but after that things kinda went down hill. The second round I went through resulted in me spending 2 days in the hospital. The doctors seemed to think that I may have had an infection of some sort however that was not the case. The third round resulted in the same reaction. This time I ended up getting 2 shots of Demerol in the clinic and calm the body tremors I was experiencing. After a couple of hours they sent me home. At that point it was determined that I had an allergic reaction to the chemo and in order to ward off the reaction I was given a high dose of steroids prior to all future treatments. This worked and I had no problems moving forward. After the 6th round we scheduled a scan down in NYC.

So we just got back from the city last night with the fresh scan results. The results were not the best. The scan showed that the disease had progressed albeit slowly but not something to take lightly. My new oncologist at Sloan is really great. She spends lots of time with us and answers all our questions using language that we can understand. We saw her yesterday and it was decided that we will switch chemo protocols. I will undergo 6 rounds of the new chemo and then have another scan after the 5th round. This protocol is what I was on prior to having surgery. It really worked well the last time and I'm hopeful that I'll see the same this time. So that's my story.

I really appreciate all the support that my family and friends have given me. I am very grateful to have such wonderful people in my life, especially my wife Sandy and daughter Olivia. They are the reason I drive forward and continue to fight. I will not give up!

As always her is my gratitude list:
Sandy - Thanks for all your love and support. I know it's not easy. I love you!
Olivia - Thanks for all the love, joy and happiness you give me. I love you!
Mom - thanks for being there when we need you. I love you!
Dad - thanks for being there too. I love you!
The rest of my family - You guys are the best. I love you all!
Treo - Thanks for all the support you have given me. I can't express enough gratitude. Thank You!
All my friends - Thanks for the encouragement, kind words, and support. It means so much to me. I love you all!

I will try to be more active with this blog going forward so I don't leave guessing. I have a big lump in my throat that I have to take care of. Until next time...