Phil's visit

Picture is from August 2008 Today is somewhat of a mixed emotion day. Allow me to explain. It's Russ's birthday today (yippee) and it's also the 1 year anniversary of me being diagnosed with lung cancer (oh shit!). So where are we after one pretty long tough year. Well, still here for one thing. I wish I could say that all is great but I know that we still have a good fight on our hands.

Gerry, Carolina, Ilan & Russ - London March 5th, 2009.

Now onto Phil's visit. As Always, the visits are way too brief but they are really uplifting for me. We talk about all sorts of things and plan all sorts of things. Of course, we always have to get approval from our older sibling for some of the nuttier things we plan. Suffice to say, a lot involves travel. I was actually able to treat Phil to lunch today which is a feat in itself. She always finds some way to justify paying for our lunches or meals but today I won. All $20 worth of it. It was the company that was worth a million.

Carpe Diem

Meeting with Dr. Kumar

Picture is from January 2009.

Today we met with Dr. Kumar. She is the oncologist who has taken over for Dr. Erlich in the interim. I say in the interim because as soon as Dr. Erlich has established himself in another practice we will more than likely be moving there. The meeting went fine. We asked all our questions and confirmed the treatment plan for the near future. My next chemo treatment will be Monday March 16th. Hopefully, if I am doing and feeling well, I will get all three drugs again. So far this week I have been feeling ok. Better than before! My next scan will be at the beginning of April.

Now onto the really important event of the day. Dr. Chef Mike's birthday. Yes, our little snot goblin turned 18 today. We went out for a quick bite to eat tonight but the real dinner celebration will be this coming Friday evening. Diana, me, Mike and Kevin (Mike's best friend) will pick up Rob from school and go to P.F. Changs in Bethesda. Yummee.

Oh yea. Man U beat Newcastle 2-1 today. Still 7 points clear in the table. We are number 1.

Carpe Diem.

Rest in Peace Bella

This morning we found out that our good friend Spike's (Mervyn Spiro) mom had passed away. She wasn't far off being 100 years old but sadly the last few years of her life were racked with immense pain and suffering. Her mind and sense of humor stayed with her all most to the very end. I was fortunate enough to be able to visit with her a few months ago in Toronto and while her eye site and hearing were a bit compromised her ability to still be kidded by us and throw it right back was amazing. She will be sadly missed. Her hardships aside, we should all be so lucky to live such a wonderful, long and full life. This longevity fact being especially poignant to me personally. My heart goes out to you and your family Spike. Rest in peace Bella.

Carpe Diem.

Chemo 3 (Round 4)

Chemo day today and a bit of a reprieve. My vitals were all fine, my weight is down a couple of pounds and my blood work looked good. But all that taken into account (including the rough past week) they decided to change this weeks cocktail. I only got the Alimta. No Avastin or Oxiliplatin. So hopefully this will be a relatively good 2 weeks. Time will tell! Even though the blood work was good I will still get my Neupogen shots but this time with a small twist. They will be administered at home by Dr. Mike. Yes, the very same person as Chef Mike. He's the only one willing to do it!!!

Carpe Diem.

Weekend update

It's been a tough few days. I'm not sure I signed up for this.

As Diana mentioned in the previous post, I had my blood work done on Monday and everything looked ok on the report back. The only thing that was suggested to me was to try a supplement called Coenzyme Q 10 (CoQ-10). It's supposed to help with the fatigue. I have been taking it for a couple of days and am not sure I have noticed any improvement in the fatigue. Maybe I'm too tired to notice!

On Friday morning I had a chest xray done to make sure there wasn't a pneumonia developing or there was not more fluid buildup in the pleura even after the talc procedure. Our surgeon, Dr. Skaryak, saw the xray and report and said that what she saw was the post op results of the talc procedure. All else looked as normal as it could look! Yea, I know. It doesn't make me feel a whole lot better.

Saturday morning Al Goldstein (aka Goldfish or Fish) came to visit. We picked him up at the airport and he will stay the night and leave tomorrow. It's been really nice catching up with him about all the goings on at work (UPS). For those that do not know, Al and I are both senior Captains flying for UPS. He is on the MD11 and I am on the B757/767. Albeit not right now for me!!! I've also know Al since I was about 8 years old. He is the only one of my good close friends that knows me both professionally and socially.

Saturday evening Diana, Al, Mike and I went for a really nice dinner at Akbar Palace. Then back to the house for more catching up.

Sunday morning I made Al and myself omelettes and then off to the airport to drop him off. It was a really rejuvenating visit for me. The rest of the morning was spent watching Man U beat Tottenham in the Carling cup final. Yehaa!

"And now for something completely different". This afternoon I was in touch with Dr. Erlich. We had a wonderful conversation and I am sure I do not have to explain to you all how much of a mental and physical lift this was for me. I will elaborate more soon.

Tomorrow is chemo 3!!!

Carpe Diem.