White House Press Secretary Tony Snow who was treated for colon cancer in 2005 has suffered a setback with the news that his cancer has spread to his liver.My heart goes out to Tony and his family.
I saw the president this morning make his well wishes to Tony with hopes for a speedy recovery. It made me wonder, with this cause now hitting so close to home will he begin to regret his failure to increase funding for cancer research this year.
Tuesday, March 27, 2007
Thursday, March 22, 2007
John Edwards Suspends Presidential Campaign, NOT
Presidential hopeful John Edwards is expected to announce today that due to a reoccurrence of his wife Elizabeth's breast cancer he will suspend his 2008 presidential bid.
More to come...
Well that was a false report from the media. John Edwards will continue his campaign although Elizabeth's cancer has metastasized and has shown up via a bone study and biopsy of her right rib.
Elizabeth is scheduled for chemotherapy treatment and both her and John remain optimistic of elizabeth's future health.
More to come...
Well that was a false report from the media. John Edwards will continue his campaign although Elizabeth's cancer has metastasized and has shown up via a bone study and biopsy of her right rib.
Elizabeth is scheduled for chemotherapy treatment and both her and John remain optimistic of elizabeth's future health.
Sunday, March 18, 2007
Feeling Guilty, Personal Journey Part IV
It's been awhile since I've posted and need to catch everyone up on what's been going on. For starters, reviewing my previous posts I wonder why I ever decided to post obituaries. I guess it's a reminder to myself that cancer is a serious condition. I also have been a big NASCAR fan for many years and wanted to give some kind of tribute to Benny and Bobby as they both played large roles in making the sport what it is today.
My guilt arises from the fact that my personal journey has been nothing short of miraculous and I've failed to share the great progress I've made with visitors to this site. My two month follow-up CAT scan showed that the mass in my lung, which at one time was 11cm in diameter has shrunk on it's own to a size of 3mm. I can only attribute this to the many people that have been praying for me. As far as my recovery from the triple by-pass. I'd have to say I'm very close to a 100% and continue to exercise daily, weather permitting and can't wait for spring so I can begin to start getting fresh vegetables from the local farmers market. It's tough on the wallet getting the produce my diet requires during these winter months.
If you happen upon this blog, don't hesitate to leave a comment or just say hello. Sometimes you feel like your talking to yourself when you bang away on the keyboard as a blogger.
My guilt arises from the fact that my personal journey has been nothing short of miraculous and I've failed to share the great progress I've made with visitors to this site. My two month follow-up CAT scan showed that the mass in my lung, which at one time was 11cm in diameter has shrunk on it's own to a size of 3mm. I can only attribute this to the many people that have been praying for me. As far as my recovery from the triple by-pass. I'd have to say I'm very close to a 100% and continue to exercise daily, weather permitting and can't wait for spring so I can begin to start getting fresh vegetables from the local farmers market. It's tough on the wallet getting the produce my diet requires during these winter months.
If you happen upon this blog, don't hesitate to leave a comment or just say hello. Sometimes you feel like your talking to yourself when you bang away on the keyboard as a blogger.
Tuesday, January 16, 2007
Benny Parsons loses battle with lung cancer
The NASCAR family loses another of its favorite personalities, Benny Parsons.Benny was 65 years old and had been battling lung cancer since July of 2006. In Oct. he announced remission with no evidence of desease, but was forced back into the hospital in Dec. do to complications of treatment.
Benny was crowned the 1973 Winston Cup champion and later became a familar voice in NASCAR broadcasting. To read more...
Monday, January 8, 2007
NASCAR Driver Bobby Hamilton Dies of Cancer
49 year old former Nextel Cup driver Bobby Hamilton has passed away. Bobby was a four time Winston cup race champion and a NASCAR Craftsman Truck series champion. He announced his diagnosis of neck cancer last March and lost his battle January 7th 2007.He will be greatly missed by all of us in the NASCAR family. To read more...
Monday, January 1, 2007
Non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma Telephone Workshop
Topic: Update on Clinical Trials for Indolent (Follicular) Non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma
Date: January 18th 2007
Time: 1:30 p.m. - 2:30 p.m. EST
This free telephone workshop is sponsored by Cancer Care and presents a field of top cancer researchers and clinicians for discussions covering current treatmant options in regard to clinical trials. There will be a question and answer period.
To register for this free Lymphoma Telephone Education Workshop, please contact Cancer Care at 800-813-4673 or at their website www.cancercare.org.
Date: January 18th 2007
Time: 1:30 p.m. - 2:30 p.m. EST
This free telephone workshop is sponsored by Cancer Care and presents a field of top cancer researchers and clinicians for discussions covering current treatmant options in regard to clinical trials. There will be a question and answer period.
To register for this free Lymphoma Telephone Education Workshop, please contact Cancer Care at 800-813-4673 or at their website www.cancercare.org.
Saturday, December 30, 2006
A Big Scare - Part Three
On October 30, 2006 I'm setting at my computer desk playing some online poker as I do many days when I start having a tightness in my chest. Having suffered two heart attacks prior, it's a feeling I am way to familiar with. Angina is the medical term and when it sets in it scares the hell out of you. With the pain increasing to that place I've been before, my mind starts wondering, why me, can this really be happening again. In hopes I can make the pain go away I start taking nitro pills placing them under my tongue and waiting five minutes to see if the pain subsides. After 20 minutes and 3 nitro pills the tightness had grown to the feeling of an elephant setting on my chest. It's time to dial 911.
If your ever unfortunate enough to experience a heart attack, don't do like I did the first time and drive yourself to the hospital. Call 911, get help Immediately. You really need medical attention within the first 30 minutes of a heart attack in-order to minimize heart damage. The advantage of pre-treatment from the EMT's will greatly increase your chance of survival.
This time around the doctors found 70% blockage in three arteries and I underwent triple by-pass surgery. Obviously all went well as I'm here to share this story with you but the big scare is yet to come. Since I was already in the hospital and I was overdue for a check-up from my oncologist, I requested he be contacted to check me out. His initial review of my blood work was positive and he stopped in to tell me I was still dancing with N.E.D. which was a short lived but welcome relief. The very next day he reappeared at my bedside announcing he had bad news. X-rays had revealed a mass in my lung, as well as a swollen spleen.
What a crushing blow. I was so weak from the surgery and was looking at a 6 to 8 month recuperation period. The question was could I really survive a course of chemotherapy which I knew was the next step in treatment as the cancer had spread. I was scheduled to follow-up and have a port installed in my chest 5 weeks later. Like another hole in my chest is what I needed.
Back at home I was having a difficult time as most open heart surgery patients do. Pain, extreme fatigue and loss of appetite were the order of the day, all the while wondering if I was really going to be able to survive chemo as sick as I was. Three weeks into my home recouperation a slight set back sent me to the heart surgeons office. A stabbing pain in my upper back during deep breath was a symptom of a possible pulmonary embolism. I was sent back to the hospital for a CT scan. I spoke with the radiologist shortly after the scan and was told everything was fine, he saw no blood clots and would send copies of the results to my heart surgeon and oncologist for review.
Two weeks later, still extremely weak, I headed back to the oncology clinic to resume my battle with cancer. After the typical weigh in and pre-exam from a P.A. she discovered the prior CT and told me that it appeared the mass in my lung was shrinking. SAY WHAT! Shortly after the doctor walked in and said I had found a cure for lymphoma and wanted to know how I had managed to shrink this tumor. Apparently the mass was not due my lymphoma but was some how related to my resent surgery. You can not begin to know the relieve I felt when I was told no chemo was in my immediate future and was put back on a watch and wait status.
It's now been close to two months since my surgery and I'm doing great. I'm walking a mile or more every day, my pain is minimal and I feel I'm back to 80% of my previous self. I will head back for another scan in two months but until that time I'm still Dancing with N.E.D.
Technorati Tags: cancer, lymphoma, by-pass surgery, heart attack
If your ever unfortunate enough to experience a heart attack, don't do like I did the first time and drive yourself to the hospital. Call 911, get help Immediately. You really need medical attention within the first 30 minutes of a heart attack in-order to minimize heart damage. The advantage of pre-treatment from the EMT's will greatly increase your chance of survival.
This time around the doctors found 70% blockage in three arteries and I underwent triple by-pass surgery. Obviously all went well as I'm here to share this story with you but the big scare is yet to come. Since I was already in the hospital and I was overdue for a check-up from my oncologist, I requested he be contacted to check me out. His initial review of my blood work was positive and he stopped in to tell me I was still dancing with N.E.D. which was a short lived but welcome relief. The very next day he reappeared at my bedside announcing he had bad news. X-rays had revealed a mass in my lung, as well as a swollen spleen.
What a crushing blow. I was so weak from the surgery and was looking at a 6 to 8 month recuperation period. The question was could I really survive a course of chemotherapy which I knew was the next step in treatment as the cancer had spread. I was scheduled to follow-up and have a port installed in my chest 5 weeks later. Like another hole in my chest is what I needed.
Back at home I was having a difficult time as most open heart surgery patients do. Pain, extreme fatigue and loss of appetite were the order of the day, all the while wondering if I was really going to be able to survive chemo as sick as I was. Three weeks into my home recouperation a slight set back sent me to the heart surgeons office. A stabbing pain in my upper back during deep breath was a symptom of a possible pulmonary embolism. I was sent back to the hospital for a CT scan. I spoke with the radiologist shortly after the scan and was told everything was fine, he saw no blood clots and would send copies of the results to my heart surgeon and oncologist for review.
Two weeks later, still extremely weak, I headed back to the oncology clinic to resume my battle with cancer. After the typical weigh in and pre-exam from a P.A. she discovered the prior CT and told me that it appeared the mass in my lung was shrinking. SAY WHAT! Shortly after the doctor walked in and said I had found a cure for lymphoma and wanted to know how I had managed to shrink this tumor. Apparently the mass was not due my lymphoma but was some how related to my resent surgery. You can not begin to know the relieve I felt when I was told no chemo was in my immediate future and was put back on a watch and wait status.
It's now been close to two months since my surgery and I'm doing great. I'm walking a mile or more every day, my pain is minimal and I feel I'm back to 80% of my previous self. I will head back for another scan in two months but until that time I'm still Dancing with N.E.D.
Technorati Tags: cancer, lymphoma, by-pass surgery, heart attack
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