So This is Christmas......

And what have you done?
Another year over
And a new one just begun.

I received an early Christmas present on the 11th of this month. My PET Scan has come back clean...again. That's two in a row folks! Time to rejoice and give thanks. Thanks to the Lord up above, my family and friends that have been on this journey with me, and also to the great nurses and doctors that have treated me.
My fight with the "Big C" is hopefully over but will never be forgotten.


Thank you all again for the support,

Steve

Where has the time gone?

The radiation treatment at the beginning of the year has proven successful. I have had two PET scans, with my latest on July 9th. Mary and I went in to the doctor's office this morning(7/10) and were bracing ourselves for the worst. Dr. Chen said she would show us the scan even though there wasn't anything to see. It was clean. We asked her if she had the right disc and report. She read off my name and date of birth and it was mine. The scan looked great. After Dr. Chen did her exam I asked that one pressing question. Yes folks she gave me the answer I was looking for. I can finally have a cocktail! Woo hoo!!! A couple of milestones have been achieved over the past few weeks. A haircut, being cleared to have a beer, what's next? I know, the Cubs coming back from 17 games down to win the World Series! Yea right, I'll stick with the haircut and beer. Next appointment is in 3 months with my next scan in 6 months. Thank you to all for your prayers and support. Steve

And the Saga continues...

Yes folks it does. Hopefully next week I start my SBRT treatment at Arizona Oncology at St.Joseph's Hospital. SBRT stands for Stereotactic Body Radiation Therapy and it is a high dose of radiation to a specific target. There will be treatments on 5 consecutive mornings and I will go in to work afterwards. The immediate side effects will be fatigue(been there, done that, have the tee shirt), the long term would be scarring on the lung and there is a good chance of breaking a rib if I sneeze or cough hard. The cure for those is medication. Slowly but surely the fingernails and hair are growing back from the last treatment. It would be nice to have a full head of hair for once but I may have to wait for that wish to come true. After The SBRT is finished I'll start back on the joy juice for 6 to 8 sessions. You didn't think I was going to get off that easy did you? I'll keep everyone up to date once the carnival begins. C YA Steve

Happy Holidays, well sort of.......

The holidays were great, filled with good food and family fun. Hope everyone that looks in on the blog had the same. Elton John sang "The Bitch is Back" and guess what, it's back. I received the news from my latest PET scan, a couple days prior to Christmas, and a small tumor has appeared on the base of my right lung. If there's any good news coming out of this it is that the tumor is about the size of a dime and little to no activity. Treatments start this Wednesday the 9th. The chemo will be less invasive than previous chemos. Looks like the peach fuzz will fall off the melon again. The Kojak look is back. Peace and love to all! Steve

Gone but not forgotten

Well it's been a couple of months since my last post and I apologize for that. As of the 6th of this month my chemo cycles are over with. About two weeks prior to that I had a CT scan of my chest to see how things were going and it came back favorable, the tumors were gone but I had some fluid on my lungs. This was due to my treatment and also to my lung surgery in January. Dr. Chen is not too worried about this. If she's not worried then I'm not worried. On Friday the 24th I had my PET scan to see exactly how my treatments were working. That was a long weekend waiting to hear what the results were. Well I'm here to tell you that after 17 chemo treatments, 35 radiation doses, and 1 lung surgery I am cancer free!!! Woohoo!!! I have started a maintenance program which consists of premeds and only 1 chemo drug. This will be our ritual every 3 weeks for as long as.............. Liquor is not an option to celebrate anymore. The liver needs to be working properly in order for the chemo drug to do it's job. A small price to pay to stay above the ground instead of below it. Mary and I would like to say thank you to all for their well wishes and prayers. As of now this will probably be the last post. Peace Out! Steve

And now it is two......

drugs that is. Yes Dr. Chen decided to take me off of the 5fu pump and I am happier than a pig in you know what. Some of the side effects of the 5fu were mouth sores, nausea, heartburn, drying of the skin on my hands causing them to peel. The tumors were chemo sensitive (a good thing) and appear to be gone. I will be going for a Pet scan towards the middle of July to see how much progress I have made. I mentioned that I had a little soreness, like tugging, in the area of the tumors and she assured me that was normal and it was the scar tissue from the dead tumors. I have to say one thing for the tumor between my ribs, it seems to have helped my golf game. I am keeping my right elbow in to my body so as to not over stress the area of the ribs and it seems to help straighten my shot and smooth out my swing. As always thanks to all for their prayers and well wishes. Peace out!

Some Uplifting News

Dr. Chen confirmed at my appointment this past Monday that the tumor that was between my ribs and the tumor just below my shoulder blade seem to be gone after one cycle. Woohoo!!!!! Now we are looking at 4 cycles and probably going down to just 2 drugs for cycles 5 and 6. We will keep everyone up to date.

The First Cycle

And my two rest weeks are coming to an end. Do you know what that means?? Cycle number two starts on Monday the 14th. The first cycle wasn't too bad. Wednesday was the worst day, but some drugs during hydration took care of the nausea and upset stomach. I have to give kudos to my lovely wife for insisting that I do hydration during chemo week. It has helped immensely with how I felt during the week. Mary and I thank everyone for their prayers and well wishes. Peace out!

It's hard to believe..................

that one week ago today, and at the time of this writing, I was under the knife and having a tumor removed from my lung. How time flies. Although it was great having my meals and pain pills brought to me it's still not home. I have been at home since Monday and am enjoying being able to sleep through the night without being woken up for this or woken up for that. The pain has subsided to only feeling like a mild muscle pull on my right side. Multiple doctors visits are scheduled for the next few weeks along with bloodwork and a chest x-ray. If all looks good I could be back in a couple of weeks. Hopefully the doctors agree with me. To all the folks that have been following our journey and praying for us, Mary and I would like to offer our thanks to you. Until the next update.

Peace Out!
Steve

Surgery and the day after

Steve had surgery on the 5th and Dr. Tsau did not need to remove the lobe. In fact, he was done in just under two hours, just when Geoff, Carol and I went to grab a snack in the cafeteria my buzzer went off. Dr. Tsau told me that the tumor had metastasized from his throat/neck cancer and it was not lung cancer - which is a good thing (at least that's what I've been told) and the margins were clear (I can't take credit for asking this, Geoff was there and asked). He was put in ICU (same place as when his feeding tube was in, not as scary) and hopefully will be moved to a "less expensive room" (my words) this evening after Dr. T comes in. Steve has an epidural in his back and that will most likely stay for a couple more days. Everything is fine, so far and he's feeling a little better - what a trooper. I keep saying Three Times a Charm and he will be done/finished with the big C.
Thank you to Alanna for coming yesterday morning and Geoff and Carol for spending the morning and afternoon with me. This was much appreciated.
Love to all - Mary

It's been a few months........

since the last post and I have a little discouraging news. The tumor on my lung, that was taken care of by chemo, has reappeared in the same place. Don't be too glum chum there are a couple of bright spots. The tumor is a fraction smaller, the activity is quite a bit less than the first one,it came back in the same spot, and best of all there isn't any other cancer in my body. Discussing my options with Mary and Dr. Chen, my oncologist, I have made the decision to have surgery to remove the tumor. Dr. Chen explained that although she could give me two more doses of chemo it would not benefit me. Another option would have been radiation treatment that would take care of it. But,,,,, there's always a but thrown in there, if it were to come back and I had surgery it would be a longer healing process than just having surgery right off the bat. The procedure will be handled by Dr. Pei Tsau who is a cardiothoracic surgeon that graduated from the University of Arizona. She's another one of my doctors that tells it like it is and doesn't mince words. The surgery consists of three small incisions on my right side, collapsing the lung, making a V cut in the lung and removing the tumor. The tumor will be sent to the pathologist and if it comes back that it is the same as what was in my neck two years ago they inflate the lung and close the incisions. If it is something else they will remove the entire lower lobe of my right lung. Don't fret, I have two other lobes on that side. Recuperation time is anywhere from two to four weeks. Of that four to seven days will be in the hospital. Again thanks to all for your support through this. Mary, Stephen, Alanna, and myself appreciate it.

Drum roll please.....................................

Ladies and gentlemen of the blog site I have some exciting news. I had my PET scan on Thursday and I got the results today.(Monday) And the results are..........wait for it............wait for it...............the cancer has been taken care of by the chemo. There is nothing there anymore. Woohoo!!!!!!!!!!! I celebrated this evening with an ice cold beer with dinner. I go to the radiation oncologist on Tuesday, 09/27/11, to see what is next. I will keep all informed.
Thanks for the prayers.

Cycle 4 is..........................

out the door and there ain't no more. Next will be a PET scan in a couple of weeks to see how much more, if any, the tumor has shrunk.(I'm keeping my fingers crossed) Then 5 radiation treatments in October. I'm glad the chemo is over and done with. This round was a little bit more taxing on the system physically. Plus I had to carry a fanny pack with a pump in it for a week. What a pain taking a shower. I guess it will be all worth it in the end and I shouldn't complain since I requested it for the extra % points in cure it was giving me.

I tell you it has been a crazy year for all of us. Mary and I couldn't have gotten through it without the support of our kids, Alanna and Stephen, and all of our family and friends. Hopefully this will be the last of it and we can get to living a somewhat normal lifestyle cancer free.

You can overcome all obstacles with the help and support of family and friends.

Peace out!!!!
Steve

News Flash!!!!

I received a call from my Medical Oncologist, Dr. Chen, today with awesome news. The results from my PET scan are showing the tumor has reduced in size. It has gone from 3.6cm to 2.1cm. Dr. Chen is looking at 1 maybe 2 more cycles and then reduced radiation treatments. I would love to have a cold one to celebrate but that is going to have to wait until September.

Cycle #2

With the ongoing treatment I started to get real warm sitting around the house and decided it was time to cut off the hair. As you can see Alanna was more than happy to oblige. It felt so much better, but wait there's more. While getting ready for lunch the next week I decided to just grab some hair and pull. I got enough for a small paint brush. I knew this day was going to come. Jacques to the rescue and the finished product is below.

Yes folks Kojak is alive and well and receiving chemo in Arizona. Carla, my nurse, is ready to start up my joy juice for Cycle #2.

Fastforward and it's Friday. This treatment week went much better now that I have gotten my rotation down with the Tagamet and my nausea medication. The heartburn and nausea have gotten better. The fatigue and muscle weakness is just kicking in today and it seems to have gotten a little worse with my shot of Neulasta, for my white bloodcell count, that I got during my hydration this afternoon.

I will start with some Aleve for the weakness and fatigue and hopefully it won't last as long as the first cycle.

As always Mary and I thank you for your support and prayers.

2011 ASG

Thanks to my niece and nephew-in-law for giving me a "shout out" at the 2011 Allstar Game in Phoenix. Brooke and Sean thank you for "standing up" for me, it means alot.

Week 1 in the books

Hello all and Happy Boom Boom Day! Sorry I'm a few days late in updating about my first week but the treatment kicked my butt. I'm guessing the added 5FU that is on a pump being injected all week is the culprit. The heartburn and the hiccups have been tamed by Tagamet and nausea pills. It's the fatigue in my back, arms, and legs that is annoying. Fortunately I'm feeling a little better each day off of treatment. July 18th is the start of my next cycle. Until then, when you feel down and troubled and need a helping hand just remember WWDHD. What Would David Hasselhoff Do? Yes, get up brush himself off and move forward. Until then adios.

Steve

Part II Day one

Okee dokee my brothers and sisters still following the saga. Today was day one of my new treatment and it went without a hitch. I would like to give a shout out to the Bard company for manufacturing the Power Port. That little bad boy was placed in my chest last Thursday and it makes drawing blood and administering the chemo drugs easy as 1 2 3. All you do is pierce the skin with a special needle and snap it into place. As my nurse put it "Slicker than snot on a doorknob". Mary and I got into the chemo room , after my doctors appointment, around 10:30. I was hooked up shortly after and pumped up with the good stuff. After all was said and done Mary and I were out of there a little before 5:00. Long day filled with a few naps induced by the Benadryl iv's. So far so good on the lack of side effects. I am hooked up to a portable pump that shoots me up with 5FU for the next 96 hours. I'll be going back the next few days for hydration and I will keep everyone updated. Thanks for your prayers and well wishes, it means alot to Mary and myself.

Peace and Lovie Dovie,
Steve

Update for 06/16/11

I will be undergoing chemotherapy again in about a week and it will be a more aggressive approach. Although my oncologists aren't sure what kind of cancer it is they feel it may be what I had in my neck and throat. She mentioned that lung cancer usually starts centrally in the lung and not peripherally where mine is located. There were a couple of options given for treatment and I decided for the more aggressive approach. This time around I will be having a port placed in my chest next week to accommodate drawing blood and for the ease of administering my chemo drugs. The plan of attack consists of three drugs. Cisplatin, Taxotere, and Fluorouracil(5-FU). All will be given on a Monday session. The 5-FU will be pumped into my system for 4 days by a handy, dandy little pump that I will be carrying on me. On Tuesday I will go back and have a shot of Neulasta which is a white blood cell booster. From my understanding the only drug after the initial Monday chemo is the 5-FU for 3 weeks. This whole process, "Chemo Mondays" and "Neulasta Tuesdays", is considered a cycle. I will do 2 - 4 of these before my radiation treatments. The side effects for all of this is neuropathy(diabetes), nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, fatigue, low white blood count, allergic reaction to the texotere, and last but not least hair loss. The original game plan by the doctor is to be out for 6 months. That is only precautionary until after the first cycle and how my system handles it. If I do well with minimum side effects then I will petition the court to let me come back with IFAM. So for now Sunday, the 26th of June, will be my last day. Thank you for all of your support through all of this. It means a lot to Mary and myself.

Biopsy Update

To those that are still following the ongoing saga of Cancer Boy.I have been scheduled for a lung biopsy Thursday June 9th to see what is on my lung. I am assured that I won't feel a thing. I will let you know what the results are when I get them and also if I feel anything.