Good news!

Last week at Sloan I had a CT scan done. The results came back good and my oncologist told us to make an appointment to see the surgeon to discuss liver resection. The surgery is what we have been anticipating since we started this regimine. The chemo is rough but all in all its not been that bad.
So today was the day I went to see the surgeon and the news was better than we expected. He basically told us that there was nothing he could resect. The tumors that started out at 3CM are now so small that they are not measureable. In other words I have had a complete response to the chemo. The disease is jsut about all gone. Remission!!! The news was not what we expected as we were sure I'd be getting a liver resection. I for one am glad that I won't have to endure that surgery. I will however be scheduling surgery to take care of a few residual things from the last surgery. Nothing too serious and not much to worry about.
First, I want to thank the Lord for answering the prayers. I want to thank everyone who has kept me in their thoughts and prayers. Please keep them coming it really works. I especially want to thank my wife Sandy for all that she has done and continues to do to get us through this journey. You inspire me with your dedication and perseverence. I love you! I thank my daughter Olivia for bringing happiness into each day. You are my little angel. I love you too!Thank you to my health care team for giving me the best care. Thanks to evryone at Treo for all the support you give.
Thank you, thank you, thank you...

A little R & R

Just back from vacation. We spent the week up north on Schroon lake. Our friend Lauren's family has a place right on the lake. Sandy's friends Amy and Heidi joined us for the week as well. We had great weather all week. The heat of the city was not present as cool breezes off lake were always present. Olivia and I went kayaking together a couple of times and she really enjoyed being out on the water. I was really nice to catch up with everyone. It is not often we are all together like we were. I felt really good all week probably due to the fact that I took a partial treatment the week prior. I ended up getting the HAI pump filled and taking an IV of Avastin. No 5FU which is what usually gets to me.
While we were up north we took Olivia to the Great Escape. She had fun and let us know that she'd prefer to go to Hoffman's instead. Despite that she rode with Cinderella in the pumpkin coach. Went on all the rides in Looney Toon village, had a good time in Wiggles land and caught the stage show there as well.
This week I have treatment in Albany and the next trip to the city has me scheduled for a CT scan. This scan will determine whether or not I go to the tumor board for surgery consideration. I am very confident that I will be in surgery for the liver resection some time this fall. Please keep me in your thoughts and pray that I get there. It is the cure!
I want to thank Sandy and Olivia for giving me so much love and joy and all my family and friends for their support and prayers. Thank You.

The people you meet.

The last time we were down to NYC I noticed a guy walk past me at the subway station who had the same 48 hour infusion pump on his hip as I did on mine. We arrived at our station stop and began the walk to Penn Station. As we were walking up to Penn I again noticed the same guy with the pump. I held mine up said hello and shook his hand. I wished him well on his journey and parted ways. We had a nice train ride home. When we got to our car in the garage parked right next to me was the same guy I had bumped into earlier. Ends up he has the same thing I do, he goes down to Sloan on the same schedule as me and, he has a passion for camaros. He was driving a clean 80;s Z-28. It was very bizarre that this guy was parked right next to me. He shared his story with me and he's survived over 10 years and is facing a recurrence. His prognosis is good. I told him my story and afterwards we agreed to look for one another in the future. I have to say he was a very positive person who has lots of good energy. I'm looking forward to seeing him again. Funny how the universe works...

June Post

It's been a while since I posted something so here goes.

Olivia had a great princess birthday party complete with a real princess entertaining the kids. My niece Vanessa dressed up as a princess to entertain the kids it was a big hit. Thanks Vee! Sandy really put on a great party and everyone had a good time.

We have been alternating my chemo treatments between Albany and NYC. It has been working out OK. A few bumps in the road but I think we have things Ironed out now. At the end of May I had a cat scan done that showed terrific shrinkage of the tumors in my live the 3 big ones are now sub centimeter in size and it appears the all the tiny ones are gone. My Oncologist recommended 3 more months of chemo and then send me to the surgeon to discuss resection. Resection = the CURE! That was some welcome news. I can’t express how happy, excited and ecstatic we were to get this news. He also told me that I have developed a hernia but who cares. I’m going to beat this and besides when I go for the resection they can fix the hernia while they’re in there and do the takedown on my ostomy. A 3 for 1 operation.

I have been feeling pretty good generally. Last week I hit a rough patch and had some toxicity effects from the 5FU. Typical stuff that I have experienced in the past so it was no surprise. I march on as I can see the finish line.

I have to express gratitude and love to everyone. Sandy my wife deserves the biggest thank you for all she does and she picked up the best Father’s day gift (a Dustin Pedroia Red Sox shirt). Thanks to my Mom and Sandy’s Mom for all their help that they give us. Olivia really loves spending time with you guys. Thanks to all my doctors and nurses whose expertise has gotten me to where I am today. To all my family, friends and neighbors for the love and support that you give freely. I thank you one and all. Thanks to my employer whose continuing support I truly appreciate. Thanks to Sister Patrick for keeping me in your prayers. Most of all thanks to the Creator for prayers answered.

Love and Gratitude to all.

May Update

Treatment continues to go as planned. We have made arrangements to get treatment in Albany once a month. Our new doc in Albany used to work out of Sloan and knows our doc down there and they are collaborating now. It is nice to know that we have someone local now we can go to should the need arise. The treatments in Albany are a little different than at Sloan. In Albany they drip the chemo at a slower rate which means more time in the treatment suite however it beats a 5 hour round trip train ride. I have a scan scheduled for the end of May. My doc is still confident that we will get to resection soon. I know that I will get there!
Life on the home front has been great. Olivia is growing up fast and turns 3 on May 22. Sandy has been planning a princess themed birthday party for her. The boys will be Knights and the girls Princesses. We're even going to slay a dragon. Sandy continues to be the greatest CEO and Queen of everything good. I love her greatly for all she does and I'm very grateful to have such a loving, caring and kind wife.
Work is going along well too. I feel so lucky and grateful to have such a great job. Everyone I work with is supportive and understanding.
I want to extend my gratitude to everyone who reads my blog and keeps me in their thoughts and prayers. Thank You...

Happy Easter

Happy Easter everyone...

I'm back on treatment after our little set back. We went down to the city this past Wednesday and saw the doc. We decided to re-introduce Avastin into the treatment. Hopefully that will speed up the results so I can get to the resection sooner. We will be cutting our trips down to the city to once a month now. We have a doc at Albany Med who is collaborating with our Sloan doc. That will save us alot of time and money.

I hope everyone has a Happy Easter and a great spring.

Love and gratitude to all...

Back in the Saddle

We went to the city on St. Patricks Day to visit the doc at Sloan. We were hoping to get over to 5th ave. to check out the parade but we had no such luck. We did mangage to have a corned beef and cabbage dinner at an Irish pub so that was our substitute. Treatment was with held to give me a chance to bounce back from the month long pain episode that I experienced. FINALLY THE PAIN HAS SUBSIDED! The suspicion is that I had an ulcer and it healed up with the doubling dose of prilosec. I worked from home this past week and I plan to head into the office on Tuesday. Sandy is away for the week end visiting her girlfriend down in North Carolina. It is a well deserved break for her and I just hope she comes back home (hahaha). Me and Olivia are enjoying our time together with a little help from Granma who is staying with us while Sandy is gone. Today we went to an awesome playground at the Hillside school in Niskayuna. It was lots of fun and afterwards we went to Target and did a little shopping.

I want everyone to know that I am feeling much better now that the pain is gone and I am concentrating on staying healthy and giving nothing back to the disease. My immune sytem is strong and the diease is weak. I feel my system kicking its ass....

Thats all for now!