Happy Birthday...To Iris!

Our little girl turns two today and all she asks for is a Michigan Wolverine win over the Buckeyes...no biggie, right??? When I was first diagnosed (8/8/08) I couldn't fathom what Iris's world would be like without a father. I am so thankful and almost in tears to think that not only have we been able to spend 15 great months together since diagnosis, but the treatment options today for MM provide instant hope that we can push out remission for 5 to 10 years, if not even knock this thing down forever. So my dream would be to walk this little girl down the isle, although I see her being the first president and without a first man by her side....she's just that tough and sazzy. So cheers to Iris as she turns two and begins her third year of life!







On the health front, I unfortunately tossed my cookies again last night. Cassie has been busy researching what she thinks my issue may be and on Monday we see an awesome gastroenterologist from U of M. Many thanks to a neighborhood friend who is a gastroenterologist at U of M who hooked us up big time with this appointment. He even visited me when I was in the ER yesterday to check in on me. It pays to have doctor friends. If you don't have any, find some!!!

How Michigan Men are Made

The Michigan Daily article has hit the press so you can read my quotes and the entire article by going here. I was extremely humbled to be interviewed as part of the story because if you look at the other names they included: Carol Hutchins, Lloyd Carr, Bo Schembechler, Desmond Howard, Ron Kramer and Red Berenson. These people will me Michigan (Men and Women) sports legends for years and decades to come. I guess it goes to show that maybe the answer to my question in the original Daily article (What is the purpose of Multiple Myeloma in my life?) is starting to slowly unfold as thousands of people are learning about it through not just my struggle, but our struggle.



On Phil's health news front, my nurse and P.A. in oncology requested that I go to the E.R. (don't worry mom) so that I could see a G.I. I pleaded to the nurse for another way, given my last experience in the E.R. So here I am, playing the waiting game in the E.R.. Once again thank you modern technology gods for making wireless internet pass through brick walls. I am hoping this doesn't end in an admission because my beautiful daughter turns two tomorrow...oh yeah...and there is a big football game that's going down at Noon and someone needs to park all those cars on my lawn!



God Bless all! -Phil

Puking Stan is Back, but the M-Protein is Waning

It's hard not to smile through the vomit after seeing the results of my slowly-but-surely-being-vanquished M-protein. The M-Protein can be a key indicator of the progression of myeloma, but not always. I plan to insert a graph of my M-protein over the last 15 months once my stomach settles down. Since starting chemo, here is a quick run of the numbers:

Day 0 = 3.0
End of Partial Cycle #1 = 1.9
End of Full Cycle #2 = 1.0
Cycle #3 = Hopefully start on Tuesday, November 24th
Cycle #4 = Hopefully start 3 weeks after that
GOAL = A Big Fat Zero before bone marrow transplant (possibly tandem)

So the bad news is that Tossing Cookies Stan is back in full force. I was hoping for a decrease in the death grip on my bowels and stomach but so far... no dice. I thought I was back on the fast track to my wonderful vegetarian diet, until I ate a baked potato with the skin. I probably should mention that I had roughly 8 graham crackers, 2 apple juices and 2 cranberry juices in the cancer infusion center this morning while I was filling up on 2 liters of saline via IV and catching up with an awesome friend known to most as Bal; short for Rockin' Andy Balazer. Long story short, I saw it all again a few short hours later. Good times.


Stan Puking His Guts Out

Some more good news for Multiple Myeloma Awareness. The Michigan Daily's featured article (here's the first story they broke over six weeks ago if you missed it) leading up to the match up between us and that team down in Ohio will include some shot outs from me as I try my best to explain the definition of a Michigan Man, which is the term used by the Michigan faithful to define the character of the Leaders and Best. There's just something different about wearing the winged helmet and playing in the Big House that is really hard to put into words....it's like trying to explain to your family what Multiple Myeloma is. Rimshot! Thanks to the awesome Courtney for reaching out. Be sure to check out Friday's Michigan Daily for the article.

Take that IgG! Domination continues...

After having spent a number of hours in urgent care and a couple of extra trips to the infusion center for hydration and additional blood work, I can say all that is overshadowed by the results that are starting to come in following Chemo Cycle #2. I have already explained IgG a little in a previous post, but basically everyone has some level of IgG, which are antibodies that karate chop bad guys in the face. Unfortunately for my body, I have way too many IgG's who aren't doing much in the way of karate chopping any bad guys. As shown in the beautiful excel graph below, we can now say I am back to normal, for IgG levels that is. We will hear either tomorrow or Friday where the M-protein/spike is at (i.e. on its knees awaiting a final blow!).



I feel like everyone deserves a part of this good news because we have had an army of support! From meals, to people dominating bracelets, to taking care of our kids and to praying for us when we don't have the words...nor do we feel good enough or have enough energy to come up with them. So thanks to all and all a good night!

Dominating Water with a side of Apple Juice

Cassie and I have been at the Cancer Center for 7 hours thus far. I am dominating 2 liters of water through an IV and some Mag Citrate. The meeting with Dr. J was good. We are going to delay the start of Cycle 3 for a week, and hopefully in that time my stomach and bowel get their act together and start playing together nicely. For those who don't know, Dominating Water is my life!



I haven't been able to stomach eating anything today knowing what I know now. I did have a couple of "free" apple juice boxes courtesy of the infusion center. This apple juice is so amazing that it takes produce from four different continents to come up with just the right blend. So although each box just carries a bit over four ounces, I will sleep well tonight knowing that it traveled tens of thousands of miles to make it into my stomach. Don't worry greenies out there, I paid $238,239,039.14 to offset the CO2 exhausted.

An update on the cookie-tossing situation

Okay, first of all, anti-nausea medications must lower inhibitions because WOW! I can't believe Phil opened up the marijuana can o' worms on the blog. But hey, desperate times, ya know?

Second, we will be taking another week off of chemo so Phil's system can get back to functioning normally- whatever that is. He spent some time at the infusion center today double-fisting about three liters of IV fluids since he's been so sick for the last few days, and we'll head back again in the morning for more of the same.

We're also still working on the constipation issue, since our team feels that's exacerbating the nausea and vomiting. Phil is already on an intense bowel regimen so I don't really know what else they can do but we plan to address that (again) tomorrow.

Sigh.

I'm going to feed my unborn child and get myself to bed. I hope the goin' is good with all y'all.

An Off Week of Tossing Cookies

No time to post, I have been busy puking my guts out for the last few days and I wish I could blame it on the Big Blue losing their sixth consecutive Big Ten game. We have retired Zofran and moved to Compazine (aka: prochlorperazine). For the record, I called the on call Doc and requested Ativan.



To remain transparent in my struggle with several chemo side effects, I have definitely questioned whether medical marijuana, which was made legal in Michigan the past year, would be more effective than all these man made anti-nausea drugs that don't increase my appetite and make me constipated (a former nightmare).

I am looking forward to being drug-free next Spring, my body is pissed at me.