Friday, February 5, 2010

To my fellow pirates err pilots

So I was bored, OK!
Thanks, once again, for all the support, well wishes and encouragement.

I'm looking outside right now, here in Baltimore, watching the snow come down. We are supposed to get 20 to 30 inches. I think about how much I don't miss getting de-iced. But I do miss the best office in the world and certainly the best cadre of pilots one could ever wish to be associated with. I don't miss some of the shitty hours we fly. But I do miss those layovers. I remember fondly the incident with the fire engine, mayonnaise, rope and hair gel. Oops, never mind. I digress.

I hope to be able to be in a position one day to continue my flying career or retire. But I want it on my terms and not cancer's terms!
Fly safely,
Adrian aka (girls name)
Yo Adrian aka (Rocky XXVI)
Ade aka (short for girls name)
Skin aka (I used to be in the 'Movie' business)
Zimbillybob (from my days in Texas)

Carpe Diem.

Thursday, February 4, 2010

From that to this

July of 2008

December of 2009
I know which one I prefer!
Carpe Diem.

Wednesday, February 3, 2010

Yes, it's each and everyone of you

I cannot begin to thank each and everyone of you for your love, caring and support over the last couple of years. My family has been unbelievable but my friends have also been there through thick and thin. This ordeal is far from over but what sustains me is you all. I may not have spoken to some of you for quite some time but I appreciate your love and support and interest in my well being. I am forever grateful. I am at a loss to understand how anyone could (or would) go through this "war" on their own or with no help and support. Even though this word is overused I feel 'blessed'.

Now more than ever........................

Carpe Diem.

Cooking, cleaning, laundry & exercising!!!

There I was thinking that if I got lung cancer I could get out of the mundane tasks of cooking, cleaning, laundry & exercising. How wrong I was. Well it worked for 2 years but I've been found out. Dr. Sidransky (of MouseSkin fame) went and spilt the beans and told us (Diana included) that my last scan showed no signs of cancer. That I was, for now, in remission. Dr. Schraeder ( my oncologist) sort of told us that a short while ago. Albeit in a slightly different way. None the less, we are thrilled and cautiously optimistic with this development.

Our doctors will be conferring in the next few days to establish my course of treatment for the foreseeable future. It looks like the chemo drug Alimta will be dropped and I will just be receiving the biological therapy of Avastin every 2 weeks. I know Diana talked about all this already but it's my turn to babble and I'm good at it!

This is all a bit tough for me to process as you can well understand. Like I keep saying - we have won a huge battle but the war continues. And to quote a famous phrase (from me) - "It's not over til you're dead".

From a work standpoint, I cannot apply for my FAA medical until it's been a year from my last chemotherapy. It's my FAA medical that validates my flying licence and that is what I need to return to work. So we wait.

Carpe Diem.
P.S. I really have been helping with cooking, cleaning and laundry. However, the exercising is another matter. Also, if you recognised the picture you should be a radiologist. It's my PET/CT scan.

The big "R"

Hi everybody, it's "the wife" again.

Well, today was a really good day. To remind you, Adrian had his PET/CT last Monday, and, we thought the results were good. But today was the first time the "R" word was used - and by a doctor to boot!!! Yes, you read it correctly. We had a meeting with Dr. Sidransky (aka the mouse doctor at Hopkins) and he confirmed what we were both thinking and hoping - Adrian is in remission. OMG!!! Now, this doesn't mean he is cured, but for now there are no visible signs of malignancy. He no longer has to have Alimta (chemo) every 3 weeks - yay!! And even though Adrian claims he tolerated it well, that was a bunch of BS!! The first week following chemo, he was nauseous and fatigued; the second week he was just OK, which left just 1 good week. So, yay!! 1 year was enough for the both of us.

Now, should the cancer come back - which it may - the Alimta will still work to keep it contained. He won't grow resistant to it as we were once told. And, on top of all that good news, there has been a lot of progress on new therapies for adenocarcinoma. I guess word finally got out that it wasn't just smokers who got lung cancer.

What about the MouseSkins, you ask? The first generation (offspring of the implanted mice) are now maturing. The good news is that the tumours are very slow growing (mimicking our human situation) - some have no tumours at all! The bad news is that it will be a while till the researchers can determine where the mutation exists. I think we'll be happy with that.

So, all in all, a very good day - at long last. Even though it's coming up on 2 years (since diagnosis), it seems like an eternity. Our lives were turned upside down in a nanosecond. But hey, what doesn't kill you makes you stronger (at least, that's the rumour). In the grand scheme of things, we've been very lucky. Lucky to have food, shelter, lots of love...AND UPS!
So that's it from me. Now I'll hand the keyboard over to my very abled husband.

P.S. This all means that Adrian has to now partake in cooking, cleaning, laundry & exercising!!!

Carpe Diem.