Absorbing the news

What a roller coaster ride! We're trying to put this behind us and enjoy the remainder of the holiday. We'll deal with the new reality when we get back to Baltimore.


In the meantime...................................

Carpe Diem

Friday's news

This morning, Diana, Jack, Ilan and I went downtown to the marketplace. While Diana was hunting for a Man U cap for me, Ilan and I snuck off to the internet cafe. And that's when I saw it - the news I had been anxiously waiting for. It was not easy absorbing this latest setback, but it was incredible having Ilan by my side. We then tracked down Jack (who was still looking for dagga in the market - just kidding). He was also an incredible source of comfort for me. And now to find Diana. Judging by my red eyes, she knew the news wasn't good. We spent the next couple of hours finding solace and comfort with our good friends. It was reassuring to hear from Dr. Erlich, through Russy. He actually called her in London to tell her to tell us not to panic,there are lots of options to achieve remission again and that we should stay in Cape Town and enjoy our holidays. Wow.

I naively thought that I was done with this dreadful disease and its associated treatments. What I have come to understand is what Dr. Erlich tried to tell Diana some time back - this is a chronic condition that may require different forms of treatment for some time to come. As explained, this is a marathon, not a race. A war, not a single battle. As usual, Dr. Erlich was very reassuring. Phil and Russ were amazing at supporting and keeping in touch with us.

Carpe Diem.

Waiting for lab results

Before we left on our holiday, we never got the lab results from the lung tap. I had e mailed Dr. Erlich a couple of days before to let me know of the results. It has been a little difficult catching up on our e mails, even here in Cape Town.




We spent an amazing day with Trevor, Ilana and Jack at the Waterfront Shops and generally touring around Cape Town. Some amazing views from the hills above Cape Town (not Table Mountain). In the evening we had the most incredible reunion for ex Zimbos. I saw a lot of people I went to school with and had a great time catching up, especially with old girlfriends. Even Diana felt very comfortable with the "old gang" and had no thoughts of retribution.



The great times helped to alleviate some of the anxiety I have been feeling awaiting the test results.


Carpe Diem.

Cape Town update

I may have to consider early retirement. It seems that when I'm on these long flights, I develop a case of "the runs". The Sutent only enhances this condition. So whilst I was busy in the bathroom, Diana went across to Woolworths and purchased a couple of meat pies and a buncha bananas. I was force fed like a Thaksgiving turkey. The view from our hotel balcony, eased my suffering - a beautiful promenade stretching along the magnificent waterfront; in close proximity to Main St. Seapoint, with all the shops we could wish for. Over the past few days, we have managed to catch up with a lot of our good, old friends. This was achieved during our many meals, walks and tours of little, coastal towns. The weather has been perfect, matching the beautiful sights we have seen. Seapoint, Cape Town, Muizenberg, Fish Hoek, Simonstown - who wouldn't want to live here?


The whole reason we came here was for Silvy's son, Craig's wedding. The wedding was beyond all expectations. From the synagogue service, to the reception hall, to the band, to the food, it was all superb. A great time was had by all.


Carpe Diem.

The Wedding

Carpe Diem.

Travel tips

Well, here we are in beautiful Cape Town. After 1 bus (Baltimore-NY) , 3 long plane rides (albeit in business class) and a day-over hotel in Frankfurt, we finally made it to our destination. Craig and Silvy picked us up at the airport with cold waters, and chauffeured us to our hotel. It was gloriously hot! And now for the travel tips.
#1 Do everything you can to fly business class. If it means selling the kids and home furnishings, do it. Just kidding.
#2 When you check your luggage in, be sure to keep some toiletries with you. Otherwise, you will be visiting the duty free shop to sample the colognes, make-up, etc.
#3 Drink, take drugs, do anything necessary to sleep and fore go the in-flight meals. Legal drugs, that is.

Carpe Diem.

We're off

Today Diana and I leave on our Africa trip. Only South Africa and unfortunately, not Zim. We do, however, have over US$1000 to distribute in Bulawayo for our Zim appeal. Thank you once again.

I will try and update the blog as often as I can and, hopefully, with pictures.

Carpe Diem.

Lung tap

After a not so great night of sleep, off I went to the hospital to get drained. Dr. Skaryak, the thoracic surgeon, is such an amazing person. She explained the procedure to me. Needle in the back after numbing it, and then drain it into a vacuumed bottle. What we want is straw colored fluid. Any sign of pink/blood is not a good sign i.e. cancer.

Ten minutes later, more than 1 liter of clear straw colored fluid in a bottle. Phew – no sign of blood. Hopefully, the lab will validate the seemingly positive news. Did I mention that I have never seen such a freakin long needle in all my life!

Carpe Diem.

Meeting with Dr. Erlich

This afternoon, Diana and I met with Dr. Erlich. I put on 8 lbs. in one month! Dr. Erlich said he has never seen anyone on Sutent gain weight. There's a first. I might need to go on a diet soon. The PET/CT showed an increase in the amount of pleural effusion. Translation – fluid build up between the lining of the lung and the chest cavity. Well, that explains the shortness of breath and coughing. My lungs have no room to expand! So now we have to remove that fluid, send it to the lab to check for cancer. Here we go again.

Carpe Diem.

Tests galore

Today I had my MUGA scan and also my PET/CT scan. It took a little longer today because of getting both tests done on the same morning. Now it's hurry up and wait! The wait for the results is tough. Every time the feeling is the same. What will we be dealt with now? We can only hope and pray that we keep getting good news. But I will be honest with you, you can't help feeling that maybe something not so great will crop up. If that happens we will deal with it. Though I know what I would prefer.

8:00 p.m. Dr. Erlich called. That man never stops working. I feel very fortunate to have him as my oncologist. The good news is that there seems to be no sign of cancer. However, I do have a lot of fluid around my lungs (in the pleura). Tomorrow I’ll find out what this means.

Carpe Diem.