Wanna buy a house

We have put our house, here in Baltimore, up for sale. Anyone interested???

http://matrix.mris.com/Matrix/Public/Email.aspx?ID=30389973491

Carpe Diem.

Baltimore fishing expedition

Speaking of fish, Max went to the vet this morning to get his teeth cleaned. Hopefully all will go well. His last cleaning was a couple of years ago as the cleaning has to be done under anesthetic. His mouth smelled like he had just munched down on a rotten herring sandwich. I think you get the idea! I will pick him up later today.

This afternoon Diana and I are meeting with a Doctor at Johns Hopkins who specializes in really advanced genetic testing for cancer. I will , of course, update the blog later today.

Lets not forget lunch with Larry.

Here is the abbreviated update. Lunch was great, Max is fine and the Hopkins Doctor was very interesting.

Now here is the expanded version about Hopkins. Our meeting with Dr. Sidransky was very interesting. Not only is he an oncologist, but he is also CEO of a bio genetic company. He wants to implant my cancerous cells into mice, propagate them in order to tailor make a chemotherapy that could possibly eradicate my disease. It’s all very high tech and involves molecular and bio genetic engineering. Apparently, this will be the standard treatment 5-10 years down the road. Unfortunately, at this point in time, it is a very, very expensive procedure (not covered by insurance). I guess this is where the ethicists would have a dilemma. What price can you put on life and whose life is more precious? The meeting gave me a lot to ponder. Of course, my wife is ready for me to jump on this bandwagon. But in my usual pilot meticulous and methodical way, I need to investigate further.

Before the appointment I played a trick on Diana. I called her to tell her what time the appointment was and then proceeded to tell her that, strangely enough, we had to bring a dozen lab mice with us to the appointment. What made it even more plausible was I gave her a bogus address where we could get the mice. When I finally confessed that it was a joke she had a good laugh. At our meeting with Dr. Sidransky she offered to supply the mice if we could get a break on the price. All in all, pretty darn funny.

Carpe Diem.

Go Man U

This afternoon Man U plays Portsmouth in a Premiership game. Basically, they have to win the last six or so remaining games and the title is theirs. They can and should do it. I will update the results later today.

I went for my massage this morning. I see the same therapist as I find this really nice, easy and convenient for me. She is a wonderful, warm and friendly person and is very clued into my physical condition and my cancer treatment regimen. She is perceptive enough to know, like all good therapists, when I want to talk or when I just want to relax and sleep. I know this sounds like an advert for massages but I find it a wonderful part of my overall therapy plus it's incredibly relaxing. Thanks Aimee.

Well, it was a good afternoon. Man U beat Portsmouth 2-0. So we are now 3 points ahead and a game in hand. It was a fairly entertaining game. The rest of the league results were in our favor as Liverpool, Arsenal and Chelsea all tied.

On a personal level, I felt pretty good today. It is quite comforting to have our medical team in place again.

Carpe Diem.

New York fishing expedition

Diana and I travelled to New York today to consult with a highly recommended thoracic oncologist at MSKCC (Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center). The appointment was set up for us by a good friend of Phil's who just happens to be a very high up at MSKCC. How convenient. It was a really wonderful and insightful meeting and we both came away really satisfied at this development. Basically, we will continue working with and getting treatments done at St. Joseph but our Doctor at MSKCC will work in conjunction with the Doctor at St.Joseph.

We are having some additional genetic testing done at MSKCC that may be quite helpful and relevant for my future treatments. I also volunteered to be a part of a program that deals in other genetic and genotyping research. There is not much more for me to do other than donate my slides from a previous biopsy done at Sinai Hospital in March 2008 to this research project. Quite painless but the benefits down the road could be huge for others as well as me.

It was a really long, exhausting and draining day for me as new information about my disease was explained to us. Nothing we already didn't know but presented in a different way. A bit of a mortality check!

We are very excited about all this as it seems that our ship finally has it's rudder back. Ay Ay Captain.

Carpe Diem

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.