Sunday, August 24, 2014
Better Photos of the Kids
I got some gripes that the passport photos of the kids were a bit serious so here are some better photo studio shots from the past two months:
Wednesday, August 13, 2014
Fourth Chemo (Regimen 2)
August 10-12, 2014
Sorry for the delay in writing. I'm actually five days into the fifth chemo, but the delay in writing is actually a good thing. I'm feeling quite good under this new regimen, and overall, just very thankful for where I am, the health of my family, the new house that we will be moving into, just everything in general.
We also received some very good news from the latest CT scan...well, we weren't actually scheduled for a scan, but if you remember, last session, I got really fatigued and they were worried I might have a blood clot. So they did a CT scan on the upper part of my chest, but it also picked up my lungs and a good portion of my liver and they showed some shrinkage on the lungs and no growth on the liver. Fantastic news!!! We'll probably do the next CT scan sometime in early September so hopefully the progression continues.
I talked to you about some of the side effects I am experiencing in previous emails, and really, the three that most frustrate me are the cold sweats on Day 1, the neuropathy which so far has not gone away, and the fatigue that hits me as I come off the steroid. The cold sweats are just the worst - no matter what I do, I just sweat for no reason - I'm not hot or cold. I tried sleeping on an air mattress in the office room but every time I fell asleep, I woke up drenched. I go through about 10 towels and five or six change of clothes and I think I am stuck with this throughout this regimen. Oh well, one day is not so bad. The neuropathy stayed about the same - I think I am also stuck with it throughout this regimen. The good news is that on Day 7, instead of going to the hospital like last time, I made it through the day, so progress!!
I haven't talked much about it, but we have been in the process of buying a house here in the Boston area. We have been living in a corporate rental, because my assignment here was supposed to be temporary and end at the end of August. Of course, that has all changed, and we decided that rather than move back to Denver, we are going to settle permanently here in Boston. There are many reasons for this decision, the top one being the level of medical care that I can get here. The Dana-Farber Clinic is one of the top cancer clinics in the country, and I just can't get that coverage in Denver. Other reasons include proximity to family, good opportunities for Karla due to a significant deaf community here, and also good opportunities for me with RSI, as five of our client states are in short driving distance. The reality of my life is that I am highly unlikely to go back to traveling by plane 4 days per week (which I would likely have to do from Denver), and to be honest, I'm not even ready yet to be on client site on a regular basis (I really don't know how I'll react to fatigue and side effects on a daily basis). We have had significant support from our parents in allowing us to be able to get a house - honestly, we could not do it without them. We spent a good four months looking mainly in the Reading area, but prices are just ridiculous. We settled on a fixer-upper (mainly cosmetic fixes) in South Walpole which is to the southwest of Boston. It's a great house and we closed on it on July 31. There was some work to be done on it (mainly floors and walls) so we won't actually move until August 28.
Leslie Geraghty also came up for a few days from Jersey on August 6-8. It was great to see Les again and she got to spend some quality time with Graeme. I can't believe how lucky Karla and I are to have the friends we do. Les is one of those people who just makes you feel at ease. Hopefully, we may get to see the whole Geraghty clan sometime in the fall.
Isla and Graeme continue to amaze me every day. I find myself, as a 48 year old, looking over at them and saying to myself: "I have a little girl and a little boy", and just shaking my head. It's unbelievable how much life they bring to our house. Seriously, just a wry smile from Graeme or an offhand comment from Isla and I can completely forget about what's going on in my life.
I did want to make a comment about Robin Williams. I can't begin to know or understand how depression affects people, and so any comments I make in this paragraph are made with ignorance on the subject. But I just can't believe, as I fight and fight to be a part of my children's lives long term that someone would choose to leave this life. I feel sadness at his passing but also some anger as he left three children behind. Again, I can't begin to understand what was going through his head, but my children are going to get every last ounce out of me (whether they like or not!).
Love to all
Andrew
Sorry for the delay in writing. I'm actually five days into the fifth chemo, but the delay in writing is actually a good thing. I'm feeling quite good under this new regimen, and overall, just very thankful for where I am, the health of my family, the new house that we will be moving into, just everything in general.
We also received some very good news from the latest CT scan...well, we weren't actually scheduled for a scan, but if you remember, last session, I got really fatigued and they were worried I might have a blood clot. So they did a CT scan on the upper part of my chest, but it also picked up my lungs and a good portion of my liver and they showed some shrinkage on the lungs and no growth on the liver. Fantastic news!!! We'll probably do the next CT scan sometime in early September so hopefully the progression continues.
I talked to you about some of the side effects I am experiencing in previous emails, and really, the three that most frustrate me are the cold sweats on Day 1, the neuropathy which so far has not gone away, and the fatigue that hits me as I come off the steroid. The cold sweats are just the worst - no matter what I do, I just sweat for no reason - I'm not hot or cold. I tried sleeping on an air mattress in the office room but every time I fell asleep, I woke up drenched. I go through about 10 towels and five or six change of clothes and I think I am stuck with this throughout this regimen. Oh well, one day is not so bad. The neuropathy stayed about the same - I think I am also stuck with it throughout this regimen. The good news is that on Day 7, instead of going to the hospital like last time, I made it through the day, so progress!!
I haven't talked much about it, but we have been in the process of buying a house here in the Boston area. We have been living in a corporate rental, because my assignment here was supposed to be temporary and end at the end of August. Of course, that has all changed, and we decided that rather than move back to Denver, we are going to settle permanently here in Boston. There are many reasons for this decision, the top one being the level of medical care that I can get here. The Dana-Farber Clinic is one of the top cancer clinics in the country, and I just can't get that coverage in Denver. Other reasons include proximity to family, good opportunities for Karla due to a significant deaf community here, and also good opportunities for me with RSI, as five of our client states are in short driving distance. The reality of my life is that I am highly unlikely to go back to traveling by plane 4 days per week (which I would likely have to do from Denver), and to be honest, I'm not even ready yet to be on client site on a regular basis (I really don't know how I'll react to fatigue and side effects on a daily basis). We have had significant support from our parents in allowing us to be able to get a house - honestly, we could not do it without them. We spent a good four months looking mainly in the Reading area, but prices are just ridiculous. We settled on a fixer-upper (mainly cosmetic fixes) in South Walpole which is to the southwest of Boston. It's a great house and we closed on it on July 31. There was some work to be done on it (mainly floors and walls) so we won't actually move until August 28.
Leslie Geraghty also came up for a few days from Jersey on August 6-8. It was great to see Les again and she got to spend some quality time with Graeme. I can't believe how lucky Karla and I are to have the friends we do. Les is one of those people who just makes you feel at ease. Hopefully, we may get to see the whole Geraghty clan sometime in the fall.
Isla and Graeme continue to amaze me every day. I find myself, as a 48 year old, looking over at them and saying to myself: "I have a little girl and a little boy", and just shaking my head. It's unbelievable how much life they bring to our house. Seriously, just a wry smile from Graeme or an offhand comment from Isla and I can completely forget about what's going on in my life.
I did want to make a comment about Robin Williams. I can't begin to know or understand how depression affects people, and so any comments I make in this paragraph are made with ignorance on the subject. But I just can't believe, as I fight and fight to be a part of my children's lives long term that someone would choose to leave this life. I feel sadness at his passing but also some anger as he left three children behind. Again, I can't begin to understand what was going through his head, but my children are going to get every last ounce out of me (whether they like or not!).
Love to all
Andrew
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