Weekend update

Friday morning Spike and Aviva arrived to stay the weekend.

We had a wonderful time with them. Aside from great conversation and Aviva’s culinary skills, we were blessed with perfect weather. Blue skies and 75F – doesn’t get much better. After PF Chang dinner on Saturday night, we walked around the harbor front. Maybe because of the distraction of friends or just the passage of time, my bone pain seems to be lessening. Never underestimate the power of friendship.

Sunday lunchtime before they left for the airport Aviva did some last minute shopping with Diana and Spike and I watched Man U lose to Everton in the FA cup semi final. Oh well.


Carpe Diem.

I'm feeling it!

Well I've had a couple of good days but now I'm feeling what more than likely is the Neulasta shot effects from Tuesday. Really bad neck pain and lower back pain. Oh well!!!

Yesterday I did my rounds at Sinai. I took a gift to one of the RN's who was really helpful in having my records transferred to St. Joseph. I also took a small gift to Mary and went and thanked her , once again, for treating me so well over the past year. I will miss her.

We are also looking into a consult with Doctors at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York. Phil is helping us immensely with all her great contacts there. We are not trying to create a sense of urgency or doom and gloom with all these consults etc. but are just trying to leave no stone unturned for future treatment.

Friday morning our very good friends from Toronto, Spike (Mervyn) and Aviva, are coming to spend the weekend with us. It was Spike's mom who recently passed away after a very long and tough life. She is deeply missed.

Carpe Diem.

Chemo 1 (Round 5)

Today was my first day at St. Joseph Medical Center for the maintenance chemo 1 (Round 5). I think I have found my new Mary. As sad as it was to leave Mary at Sinai, Jen at St. Joseph will be the nurse I work with on a regular basis. She is wonderful as was the rest of the staff. It was a good day even though it took about 3 hours. It was longer because of the first day but it seems like the next few should be fairly brief. Hopefully I will tolerate this round fairly well!

Carpe Diem.

Zimbabwe update

I thought I would include Dennis's latest email to me just in case anyone out there has a lead or contact who would help in obtaining some of the medicines or medical supplies Dennis needs.

Hi Ade,

Got the money from Hylton. Terrific. Re medicines. Asthma inhalers, Ibuprophin (need alot), tylenol, anti fungal creams, anti-histimine eye drops, scabies shampoo and/or lotions.For sports related injuries need bandaids, rubber gloves, ace bandages, anti-bacterial ointment, hand sanitizer would be great for all the kids. Also, I am coming back to the states the week of May 10th. I am making all the necessary arrangements here to make sure the food deliveries are kept up as well as keeping the programs we have in place going and growing. Dr. Sashka Macsimovic will continue monthly visits. Daily home visits are being conducted to make sure we have all the correct info on the kids situations and to keep aprised of any needs. My website is being re-constructed by a Zimbabwean living in Toronto who is an orphan as well. He saw the video and wrote offering his services. When I return I need to find a good truck as mine died. Am using friend’s vehicles now. They will continue the deliveries in my absence. Zimkids is now a registered Trust in Zimbabwe and am working on getting a Forex bank account opened so that funds can be wired directly into the account. (Which is a mighty complicated task!) Formerly it was unreliable as the Federal Reserve just took the money andspent it on Mercedes cars and never returned it but now things seem to be secure.Life here is returning to some normality. With everything being run in Rand or Dollars there are many more cars on the road, Potholes are getting fixed, traffic lights are beginning to be restored but the vast majority of people have little access to foreign currency especially in the rural areas and especially my grandmothers who have no source of income. So it’s still quite tough for them. We tested all the caregivers for blood pressure and out of 100 only 2 had normal blood pressure. The rest had sky high pressure. Will be testing them periodically to get a baseline and then prescribe meds. Need to keep them healthy for the kids sake. Also we requested that all the mothers get HIV tests if they haven’t already. Then Sashka will test the children of those mothers who are HIV+.So we are getting a handle on things here while making sure food is on the table. Also bought 5 volleyballs/soccer/netball. Had 85 kids playing ball over the weekend. Many organizations don’t include regular “fun” things for the kids to do. They mainly concentrate on dramas about poverty, rape, AIDS, and death and the kids act it out. It’s a bit much. I find it so antithetical to being a child and think education can occur with positive activities interspersed with a message. for example, when a kid injures himself playing ball we make a point of gathering them together showing them we need to put on rubber gloves, how to protect from AIDS and use the opportunity for educating them. Anyway, I do go on!Got to run. Be well. Let me know if you need more info.

Best to you,

Dennis.

Carpe Diem.

Weekend update

Saturday morning was spent watching Man U beat Sunderland 2-1 to remain on top of the Premiership table by 1 point with a game in hand. Yehaa.


Saturday evening Rob took us to the first home game of the Washington Freedom women's soccer team. It was played at the Germantown soccerplex just outside Washington. She writes a blog for the team and so is a credentialed member of the press with a parking pass and a press ID. How cool is that. The game was pretty good but you can read all about it at her blog:


http://www.oleole.com/blogs/washingtonfreedom




On the way home we dropped her off at school and as usual, it was a bummer saying bye to her. It's always nice having her home!

Sunday was just a lazy mild shopping day. Sunday evening we watched Extreme Makeover Home Edition. This was a bit tough for me to watch as the father was dying of a brain tumor. Even though I try desperately to stay in the now I can't help thinking of what would happen if they told me I had a certain time to live. Would it be painful, would it take a while etc. etc. I simply have to follow my mantra and.............

Carpe Diem.

Citizen Diana

Friday morning Diana, Rob, Mike and I went to Diana's USA Citizenship swearing in. It was a really nice ceremony with quite a few people getting sworn in. Now get out there and vote!

Rob, Diana and Mike.

Carpe Diem.

New York and home

After a good nights sleep (aside from the damn horn honking) and a leisurely breakfast we went to say hi to the people at Phil's office. It was great because Diana got to meet a lot of people that she has heard me talking about. Just to name a few, David Finn and Karen Hughes.

After a nice lunch with Uncle Hchie, Aunt Joan, Jennifer, Paul, Mike, Diana and I we left to dive back to Baltimore. What a pain in the arse drive. It took us over an hour just to leave Manhattan. There were a few more delays on the rest of the drive and instead of a nice 3 hour and 15 minute drive it took just under 5 hours. Yuccchhh.

Lil and Mike.

Carpe Diem.

Off to New York

This morning Mike, Max, Diana and I drove to New York to spend the first night of Passover with Phil and the family. Robyn only got off school late Wednesday so she wasn't able to come with us. She spent the evening with our good friends Ann and Dan Fried in Baltimore. The drive, for us, was fine with not too many delays. We stopped in China Town for a quick round of Dim Sum then on to Phil. It's amazing how much a good parking spot in Manhattan means to your mental state of mind. We got a prime spot right out front of the building. It's like hitting the jackpot. Well, enough about the parking and on to the dinner. It was amazing. The food was fantastic. Lots of choices as everyone brought something. There were lots of Uncles, Aunts, Cousins and friends. Just a really enjoyable evening. Now I'm not so sure about eating Matzo for eight days. Howard, Uncle Hchie, Me, Mike, Diana, Aunt Joan, Jennifer and Phil.

Carpe Diem.

MRI results

I just got the MRI report and everything looks and is normal. Phew.

I am now dealing with St. Joseph Medical Center and am thrilled with the treatment I have received so far. I am really happy with the move away from Sinai. I will say that it is going to be difficult saying goodbye to Mary. But I will occasionally visit with her. We are still waiting to hear from Dr. Erlich about where he will be practicing. In the meantime, and for the foreseeable future, I am delighted with my medical team at St. Joseph.

Carpe Diem.

Weekend update

Late Friday I had an MRI scan of the brain done. Even though I am asymptomatic they are doing the scan as a precaution. With lung cancer the two most likely places for recurrence are the bones and the brain. I should have the results on Monday.

Lots of soccer games this weekend to watch. Would have preferred different results for Liverpool, Chelsea and Arsenal (losses) but at least Man U beat Aston Villa 3-2. It was an incredibly exciting game and yes, we are still top of the league by 1 point with a game in hand. The weather was spectacular this weekend but the Cardinal is still at it. He must have a bloody sore head!!!

Carpe Diem.