The "MouseSkin" family update

Sorry if anyone finds this cruel or offensive. Just don't look!!!

This excerpt is from someone who is taking care of the "MouseSkin" family:

Above is a photo of what the mice look like. The lump on the side of the chest is pretty obvious. The smaller one on the hip is a little difficult to really see. Each of the mice have a metal clip on their ear – this is an identification tag.

All 12 of your mice are doing very well. It has been 8 weeks since implantation and 4 of the mice now have measurable tumors. There are 5 more that have started to show some signs of growth but nothing measurable. The remaining 3 have not had any signs of growth. Now that they have started to grow, I will keep you posted on the progress every week or so.

Carpe Diem.

My daughter's blog

Just like any proud father, I have to plug my daughter's blog. She writes for the Washington Freedom who are part of the WPS (Women's Professional Soccer). She goes to all the home games with her press credentials and takes pictures and interviews the players. How cool! Check out the web site at:

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

Carpe Diem.

ZimKids

Please check out our web site to see what we are doing in Zimbabwe.

http://www.zimkids.com/new/

Carpe Diem.

Ollyn with her "old" friends

Carpe Diem.

Our visitor

This afternoon we picked up an old friend from BWI airport. She will be staying with us until Saturday. Ollyn (Nyatanga) is a Zimbabwean who came to work for us when Michael was born in 1991. Robyn, at the time, was only a year and a half old so we needed all the help we could get. Especially with my travelling and being away. She was a G_dsend. It was very weird how we came to meet. Maybe we will save that story for some other time.

Ollyn stayed with us for a couple of years in Dallas and was amazing with the kids. In true African fashion she gave them all the love, affection and protection a mother could give even though they weren't her kids. She still lives in Dallas with her two older daughters.

Well, fast forward eighteen and a half years and we are still good friends with her and are forever grateful for what she did for us. We asked her to come and visit to see how the kids have grown up and to see us. Ironically, she is now trying to take care of me for the few days she is here.

Carpe Diem.

Meds and massage

What a combo. I visited with Dr. Ward (my psychiatrist) today just to chat and check on my meds. I'm still feeling a bit low even with the encouraging news but my sleeping (or lack of) has been bloody awful. It's wearing me down. The eating is going ok but it seems that it will be a while til I'm able to get back to hamster cheek stage!

As usual, the massage was awesome. It's a big help in my overall recovery and well being. I love it.

Well now that the chest tube hole has finally closed I was able to have my first swim of the season. It was great to be able to do this again.

Carpe Diem.

Chemo 1 (Round 6)

Yes indeed. I've started up again. My blood work was fine and my PET/CT was good news. Overall Dr. Schraeder was pleased with the scan results as there was no evidence of any spreading of the cancer. Whoopee. Today I started back on Alimta which will be given every 3 weeks. Next cycle they will add Avastin. Both these drugs were shown to be favorable on the genetic and molecular testing.

Dr. Sidransky called today to inform me that one of the "MouseSkins" is showing signs of tumor development. This is encouraging for future testing. Keep on plugging my little "MouseSkin" family and thank you for your rather expensive contribution!!!

Carpe Diem.

Chemo ???

Today I'm meeting with Dr.Schraeder (my oncologist). Hopefully we will be starting up the chemo treatments again. It's not that I'm looking forward to the chemo and all the side effects but hopefully positive results. I had my PET/CT scan done this past Friday and we hope to get the results today. I'm trying to be optimistic and positive about the results but it's always a tough time for me.

Carpe Diem.

Hi all

Hi all. I'm sorry it's been such a long while that I have written on the blog. No I haven't given it up!!! I've just hit a bit of a rough patch. I will try and keep up to date and as I add new stuff you may have dig backwards.

Carpe Diem.

Fathers Day

Happy Fathers day to all you Dads out there. All things considered, I had a good day. I got the most beautiful note from Robyn. I wanted to publish it but for obvious reasons she said no. I fully understand. Mike made me a really good lunch time cheese and Picante omelet. Yummy. Max, as always, took the afternoon nap with me. Diana was her usual self. Food shopping, caring for me and checking up that I was doing as best I can to reach 2000 calories a day - minimum. In the evening we went to our neighbors Fathers Day BBQ (Braai). I ate quite well there as their BBQ's are always really good. Excellent food. I know I bust 2245 calories. It doesn't sound like much but it is for me trying to make this comeback and put the weight back. Where are those steroids when you need them!!!

Carpe Diem.