Man with a Mission

Wednesday, June 27, 2007

Well I’m back home already.

The Doctors couldn’t find any reason to keep me any more so I’m able to rest in my own house/bed tonight and looking forward to not being bothered every 4hours in the middle of the night for vitals etc….

Its funny some things went easier this time then last time while other things did not. But the important part is that I’m out and stable.

We also received the results of what they removed from the surgery. They found scar tissue from radiation, dead cancer cells and a few active cancer cells. So over all it was a good thing we did go in and do a little clean up. With knowing that a few living ones were up there, we are going to try for a new study. This medication attacks on the proteins that cancer cells use to grow on.

I will be on light duty for a while and have a couple follow-up appointments next week to see how overall I’m doing and to have the staples removed. Until then take care everyone and thank you for all the thoughts and support.

~ David

Friday, June 22, 2007

"Oh, I get by with a little help from my friends" - The Beatles

A couple friends at work asked me to post this on my blog to help get the information out there easily...Thanks you guys. This means more than you'll ever know.

"Let's all pitch in to help David and Skye so that they can concentrate on getting David well. Jean W and Karen S are coordinating meals. If some of you would like to make a meal for David but are unable to deliver it to his home, Jean and Karen are able to deliver it for you. David and Skye are open to most foods. If the dish includes meat, please make it chicken or pork. No fish! You can contact Jean at jwilde@triseptsolutions.com and Karen at ksolliday@triseptsolutions.com. You might want to include both of us on any messages, in case one or the other is out of the office. Please let us know what day you'd like to make a meal and also if you'll need us to assist with delivery."

Wednesday, June 20, 2007

We’re Going In

Well I had the doctor’s appt today and another MRI. Again the MRI was not able to show us if there really is actual tumor growth, dead cancer cells or side affects of the radiation.

So I have opted to have surgery to find out what the hell is actually going on. I did not have to have surgery, but I don’t want to wait to find out that I have a full-blown tumor in my head again. I will be going in on Monday June 25th (go figure 1 year on the date of the original surgery). After the surgery they will biopsy the removed tissue to find out if it is or not cancer.

Otherwise everything is fine I feel fine no headaches or side affects. I will try to update once I’m out of the hospital to let everyone know how I’m feeling and the results of the surgery. This weekend we are just planning ahead to make next week a little easier on us (prepare food, cut the grass, laundry, give Alec lots of attention). That will be the hardest again, the weight and driving restrictions. I’m hoping Alec will understand when I cannot pick him up. And as I learned from last time, I need to ask for help. So I’m asking for help…from anybody who can spare it. It may not seem like much but it will help not only me, but Skye and Alec. Here is the laundry list of items that helped so much the last time, and again thank you all for your friendship in these times.

- Pre-made food
- Cutting Grass
- Car Pooling (Once I’m released to return back to work, I may need help getting there and home)
- Take Skye out to get her mind off things

Until then take care everyone
~ David

Sunday, June 03, 2007

What a Month

Well the old saying is the glass half full or half empty. In all honestly, it depends on how you like to view things. Ok you are wondering where the hell I’m going with this.

Well now to the point. The May 23rd MRI there was a slight change. I know what does a slight change mean. Nobody seems to know. The Dr ordered a PET scan the following week to see if we could see what this “slight change” means. The results of the PET scan did not help. They inject you with this lovely stuff to help when you have the scan for the cancer cells which will attach to them and show up on the scan. The PET scan came back and there was a little faint glow but then they said that the glowing could be due to the way they slice the images they take.

So 2 scans later and a lot of restless sleep in the household and nobody knows what it could be. It brings it down to 3 possibilities.

It could be a bad MRI scan as I did notice that this one was really quite, I could almost take a nap.
There could be cancer cells there but are dead and just floating up in my head.
Or it could be tumor activity

I go back to the Dr on June 20th for another MRI scan. The surgeon will be there to also view the MRI. Based on that we will have surgery done or not. If we do have the surgery we will also make the decision to have a balloon type device put in my head. This balloon will hold radiation allowing us to counteract the possibility of tumor growth. We looked into this when this whole thing began but the way the surgery was done we could not. I believe this will be a more effective approach then the chemo drug, as that has to travel through my body and break into the brain barrier before even getting to the tumor. Overall I feel great…no headaches, side affects from the drugs, nothing just living life and stopping to smell the flowers along the way as Alec has taught me to do.


Speaking of life, I have lost track on who knows and who does not but I have accepted a new position at Mark Travel. Yes I will be moving across the street from Trisept to Mark Travel. I’m looking forward as this is a new position and a new team. I can’t wait to build this new team and the challenges this new position holds. I will be starting June 18th.