Thanks, everyone who can called, emailed, texted etc. with good wishes. Gestures such as that are appreciated more than you know.
I'm not even sure if good wishes are really in order. This may be something, it may not. I've decided to orient on the side of optimism and have pushed it to the back of my head; not much I can do about it anyway.
My office was closed today for Columbus Day; kind of a ridiculous holiday, but one that was perfectly timed. A three day weekend was frankly just what I needed.
I pretty much had a perfect day: woke up, did some work, hung out with my good buddy Brian, who started the remodel of our bathroom today (more on this later), then went to school and helped out with the Girl's art class, which was great fun. Afterwards I took the Wife to lunch, did some more work, went for a trail run, and then took the Girl for a long walk with Coach Phil's dog. I think the walk was the most fun, as my daughter is generally terrified of dogs but couldn't stop hugging and kissing Kylie.
Now that our Indian Summer is in full effect (it was 77 and PERFECT), it was the textbook definition of a great day; days like this really make me appreciate life.
Tomorrow is back to the real world: 7:30 flight to LA. Get back and then have a 6:15 am flight to New York (upstate, New York peeps -- not Manhattan) on Wednesday for two days of meetings and then straight from there to Vegas for my second bachelor party in two weeks.
If the cancer doesn't kill me, I think this week might.
Monday, October 13, 2008
Sunday, October 12, 2008
Angel Island Fire
This is a test of my new Flip video camera; let's see if I can figure out how to upload video. This is a pretty big fire that's burning at Angel Island, just a few short miles from our house. The video probably doesn't do this justice, but it's lighting up the entire skyline. It would actually be quite beautiful if it wasn't what i think is a fairly destructive event.
Saturday, October 11, 2008
Not Exactly What I Expected
Well, the results of my scan are in and I have to confess they aren't exactly what I expected or hoped for.
First, a bit of background, which I will try to break down to laymen's terms. My quarterly scans are essentially two sets of tests. The first is a blood workup, focused on TSH (thyroid stimulating hormone) and TG (thyroid globulin). TG in particular is key; you hope that it tests as undetectable. This has been the case for my past three tests and I have come to accept it as rote. The second is a neck ultrasound, where they search for aberrent looking lymph nodes.
The good news is that my neck ultrasound was clean. So, I got that going for me. And that is important, without doubt. The problem, though, was with my blood work. They picked up "antibodies" which essentially render the TG test moot. This is my first experience with "antibodies" and I'm still getting my arms around exactly what it means, but basically, an antibody is something that identifies and attempts to fight foreign matter. According to my doctor, the presence of antibodies can be attributed to one of several things: it's an anomoly (false positive), there's an auto immune issue at play, or it's fighting emerging cancer cells. It's the latter that's obviously disconcerting and according to the Internet research I've conducted, the presence of antibodies seems pretty decent early indicator of a recurrence.
So, we're going to do another round of bloodwork in about a month and will decide where to go from there. Hopefully, they will have disappeared. So, I'd be lying if I didn't say I was a bit bummed but such is life.
The ironic thing is that I've never felt better and earlier today I completed an absolutely epic run - 9 mile hilly trail run at average of about 7:25 per mile - followed immediately by 10 x 1000 meters on the track at average of about 7:30 pace. This latest quasi-setback is providing even further motivation for me to really give it a good go at the Cal International marathon in December.
(PS. CrazyMama and Gail; hit me on comments or offline if you have any perspective on this matter)
First, a bit of background, which I will try to break down to laymen's terms. My quarterly scans are essentially two sets of tests. The first is a blood workup, focused on TSH (thyroid stimulating hormone) and TG (thyroid globulin). TG in particular is key; you hope that it tests as undetectable. This has been the case for my past three tests and I have come to accept it as rote. The second is a neck ultrasound, where they search for aberrent looking lymph nodes.
The good news is that my neck ultrasound was clean. So, I got that going for me. And that is important, without doubt. The problem, though, was with my blood work. They picked up "antibodies" which essentially render the TG test moot. This is my first experience with "antibodies" and I'm still getting my arms around exactly what it means, but basically, an antibody is something that identifies and attempts to fight foreign matter. According to my doctor, the presence of antibodies can be attributed to one of several things: it's an anomoly (false positive), there's an auto immune issue at play, or it's fighting emerging cancer cells. It's the latter that's obviously disconcerting and according to the Internet research I've conducted, the presence of antibodies seems pretty decent early indicator of a recurrence.
So, we're going to do another round of bloodwork in about a month and will decide where to go from there. Hopefully, they will have disappeared. So, I'd be lying if I didn't say I was a bit bummed but such is life.
The ironic thing is that I've never felt better and earlier today I completed an absolutely epic run - 9 mile hilly trail run at average of about 7:25 per mile - followed immediately by 10 x 1000 meters on the track at average of about 7:30 pace. This latest quasi-setback is providing even further motivation for me to really give it a good go at the Cal International marathon in December.
(PS. CrazyMama and Gail; hit me on comments or offline if you have any perspective on this matter)
Thursday, October 9, 2008
Scan Day
Today was/is Yom Kippur, the most important holiday of the Jewish year. It's also a fast day, which is never a particularly good time. I had a mild grade headache but otherwise, not too bad. The wife and I went to temple together in the am (as well as last night) and this afternoon we took the kid's to the children's service. I have to say that our synogogue, Temple Emmanuel in San Francisco, is pretty impressive. Afterwards, we had a couple of friends over for dinner, which was great. Each day I feel like we become a bigger part of the fabric of this place.
Anyway, it was probably good timing for the holidays and a solid day of prayer, because tomorrow I have my quarterly ultrasound in the am, and get results of that and my blood work in the afternoon. I don't really write about cancer as pertains to me anymore, becuase fortunately, there's no real reason to, but I confess to being a tad bit apprehensive (not nervous -- apprehensive) prior to my tests. I feel great and am very optimistic and all, but I think any cancer patient would concur that there's always that nagging little voice that resides in the back of ones head, and that voice naturally becomes a tad bit louder during scan days.
Anyway, that's my maudlin message of the day/month/hopefully year. I am sure everything will turn out great and I will post results tomorrow.
Anyway, it was probably good timing for the holidays and a solid day of prayer, because tomorrow I have my quarterly ultrasound in the am, and get results of that and my blood work in the afternoon. I don't really write about cancer as pertains to me anymore, becuase fortunately, there's no real reason to, but I confess to being a tad bit apprehensive (not nervous -- apprehensive) prior to my tests. I feel great and am very optimistic and all, but I think any cancer patient would concur that there's always that nagging little voice that resides in the back of ones head, and that voice naturally becomes a tad bit louder during scan days.
Anyway, that's my maudlin message of the day/month/hopefully year. I am sure everything will turn out great and I will post results tomorrow.
Monday, October 6, 2008
Random Thoughts
A couple of predictions, apropos of absolutely nothing in particular:
-- While I hate the Red Sox with the passion of a million burning suns, they now enter round two of the playoffs as the prohibitive favorites and I predict they will win the World Series. Pains me just to write those words.
-- The media needs a good story, but I am calling it now: short of some sort of miracle on the part of the McCain campaign, this election is over. I suspect Obama will not just win, but will win in a route. I am calling 300 plus electroral votes. While I am a big Obama fan, given the state of the county and economy, I am not exactly sure why he would want this job, but since he appears destined to win it he better do one hell of a good job for all our sake.
-- Chris McCormack and Chrissie Wellington will repeat as 2008 Ironman World Championsthis coming Saturday in Kona. In related news, I predict that for the 11th consecutive year, I wil ger rejected by the Ironman lottery.
-- Michigan will finish 6-6 in football, which given the state of this team, will be deemed a success. We will lose key games to Penn State and MSU but in one of the biggest upsets of the season, we will defeat Ohio State. Hey, a guy can dream, can't he?
-- The situation with the economy will get much, much worse before it starts to get better (which won't occur until 2010). Once doesn't need to be Milton Friedman to make this prediction.
-- Warren Sapp will win Dancing with Stars? Why? Cause the Big Man can flat out dance.
-- The Cubs will disappoint in 2009? Why? Cause that's what the Cub's have been doing for more than a 100 years.
-- While I hate the Red Sox with the passion of a million burning suns, they now enter round two of the playoffs as the prohibitive favorites and I predict they will win the World Series. Pains me just to write those words.
-- The media needs a good story, but I am calling it now: short of some sort of miracle on the part of the McCain campaign, this election is over. I suspect Obama will not just win, but will win in a route. I am calling 300 plus electroral votes. While I am a big Obama fan, given the state of the county and economy, I am not exactly sure why he would want this job, but since he appears destined to win it he better do one hell of a good job for all our sake.
-- Chris McCormack and Chrissie Wellington will repeat as 2008 Ironman World Championsthis coming Saturday in Kona. In related news, I predict that for the 11th consecutive year, I wil ger rejected by the Ironman lottery.
-- Michigan will finish 6-6 in football, which given the state of this team, will be deemed a success. We will lose key games to Penn State and MSU but in one of the biggest upsets of the season, we will defeat Ohio State. Hey, a guy can dream, can't he?
-- The situation with the economy will get much, much worse before it starts to get better (which won't occur until 2010). Once doesn't need to be Milton Friedman to make this prediction.
-- Warren Sapp will win Dancing with Stars? Why? Cause the Big Man can flat out dance.
-- The Cubs will disappoint in 2009? Why? Cause that's what the Cub's have been doing for more than a 100 years.
Sunday, October 5, 2008
Reno, NV
I just got back from a two day bachelor party in Reno for my friend Blake. Being that it was a bachelor party, by definition, it was a lot of fun (I am finding that any and all activities that do not involve human beings under the age of eight are more fun than ever). We gambled (I got killed), ate, hung out, slept late (9:30!), ran (at least I did), gambled, checked out Reno and did I say gambled?
I cannot even describe Reno. Words simply fail me. I'm not sure I could ever recommend it but at the same time, it's something everyone should experience -- once. I am not even sure how or where to being: it's like the devil offspring of Vegas. Vegas is all glitz and glamour. Reno is all honky and tonk. It's like Atlantic City though transposed to a beautiful locale, and it is pretty darn redneck to put it mildly. We went walking from hotel to hotel yesterday and they were all the same: darn and dank. Another thing I noticed is that in Vegas, you get rollers and you get people who are in town looking to have fun. In Reno you get degenerate gamblers who carry with them a whiff of desperation. I was sitting in the sports book watching the Michigan game (about the smartest thing I did all weekend was NOT bet on Michigan, though I was very, very tempted) and you could tell that some of the people sitting near me were losing their shirts. It would have been entertaining in a weird sort of way, if it wasn't depressing.
Anyway, as stated, it was fun and something I'm glad to have experienced -- once. I will say that the road home up and over Lake Tahoe features some of the most spectacular scenery I have seen this side of Highway One up the coast to LA.
I cannot even describe Reno. Words simply fail me. I'm not sure I could ever recommend it but at the same time, it's something everyone should experience -- once. I am not even sure how or where to being: it's like the devil offspring of Vegas. Vegas is all glitz and glamour. Reno is all honky and tonk. It's like Atlantic City though transposed to a beautiful locale, and it is pretty darn redneck to put it mildly. We went walking from hotel to hotel yesterday and they were all the same: darn and dank. Another thing I noticed is that in Vegas, you get rollers and you get people who are in town looking to have fun. In Reno you get degenerate gamblers who carry with them a whiff of desperation. I was sitting in the sports book watching the Michigan game (about the smartest thing I did all weekend was NOT bet on Michigan, though I was very, very tempted) and you could tell that some of the people sitting near me were losing their shirts. It would have been entertaining in a weird sort of way, if it wasn't depressing.
Anyway, as stated, it was fun and something I'm glad to have experienced -- once. I will say that the road home up and over Lake Tahoe features some of the most spectacular scenery I have seen this side of Highway One up the coast to LA.
Wednesday, October 1, 2008
Go Cubs
Well, my Yankees are out, the Mets are out, The Twins are out so who's a guy to root for? Pretty easy: Go Cubs. As I was telling a colleague earlier today: It's impossible to have spent as much time in Chicago as I have (nine years to be precise) without developing some form of affinity for the Cub's. They truly are the most loveable losers, and I mean that in the most genuine manner possible. Both my kids were born in Chicago and the Little Boy remains true to the Cubs. In a sense, it's his last connection to the City and that is meaningful.
I was in Chicago foir five or six Bull's championships and those were good times That being said, I think it would absolutely pale in comparison to the Cub's. So, a long winded way of saying -- Go Cubbies. May this be your year. But you only get one.
__________________________________________
In other news, busy work week. Spectacularly busy week, actually, but it's mostly good, despite the market meltdown. Come Friday, I am headed to Reno for a bachelor party. Stay tuned for pictures and details.....
I was in Chicago foir five or six Bull's championships and those were good times That being said, I think it would absolutely pale in comparison to the Cub's. So, a long winded way of saying -- Go Cubbies. May this be your year. But you only get one.
__________________________________________
In other news, busy work week. Spectacularly busy week, actually, but it's mostly good, despite the market meltdown. Come Friday, I am headed to Reno for a bachelor party. Stay tuned for pictures and details.....
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