More Press for Multiple Myeloma Awareness! Go Blue!!

Blessings on Ann Arbor...

Ever since my diagnosis I continue to receive emails, facebook messages, phone calls, cards and letters from the Michigan Faithful. Just yesterday the most popular U of M sports Magazine, The Wolverine, posted an interview of me talking about my battle with cancer. Read it here: Former Kicker Brabbs Valiantly Battling Cancer

I am so thankful for having played football at the best institution both athletically and academically. The education has provided me opportunities to be on the teams of some of the greatest and fastest growing companies in the world, who happen to make some of the most money (measured in billions). My gridiron experience which was spent mostly at Schembechler Hall with grueling workouts that made grown men cry and puke a lot has engrained in me an intensity so deep within that quitting is not an option (Thanks Mike!).



And now...I am thank for the medical team that is not just behind me, but leading the way in kicking my Myeloma for many years to come and committed to finding a cure. I hope eventually I can do an interview of the medical staff so you can put a face to their names, but they will probably be too busy in clinic working with patients or on a computer trending numbers to understand their new findings. That's the type of staff you want to work with.....

You see, the reason my family and I moved back to Ann Arbor (it wasn't the weather!) was to return to a church that we loved during my college days and to be closer to our immediate family. Almost 3 years later I have found a growing community of love and generosity here in Ann Arbor and now I can thank God for having bigger reasons for placing us back in A2 than I would have ever imagined.

If you missed any of the other articles, here they are:

• Michigan Daily #1
• Michigan Daily #2
• Midland Daily News
• Saginaw News
• WTKA Radio Interview

Dueling Macs.

This is what Phil and I do to pass the time in the infusion center.

Still kicking it... Cycle #3 results are in

The goal of the RVDD trial that I am participating in (got the last spot!) is to prove scientifically the effectiveness of a four drug combination (Rev, Velcade, Dex, Doxil). Thanks to all the new MM friends I have connected with through this blog and Facebook I have learned that today's standard (or most common practice) to treat Multiple Myeloma is using Revlimid, Velcade and Dex (steroid)...commonly known as RVD. Depending on the age, effectiveness of the chemotherapy, patients may then move to transplant (most like auto, i.e. your own cells) and some docs are pushing a tandem (back to back) bone marrow transplants in hopes for an even deeper remission.

So there's some background, now on to the results after completing Cycle 3 of 4 (or maybe 5 and 6). I have another graph for you! This time I have charted the M-Protein (a.k.a. M-Spike)that has been floating in my blood for the last 16 months. The goal with any chemotherapy or transplant is to knock down the M protein to zero. M-protein is a key marker for MM and a normal Joe has zero. The thought is that if you can get rid of the M-protein and it doesn't return after 5-6 years...maybe it won't return. That's the game winning kick we are going for...a deep remission and possibly a Cure.



Since starting treatment my M protein has been on the following decline:
Baseline: 3.0
Cycle #1: 1.9
Cycle #2: 1.2
Cycle #3: 1.0
Cycle #4: TBD

I learned on my last visit with Dr. J that a GPR (Good Partial Response) is 50% reduction in the M Protein. Hooray...I got there after Cycle #2! To achieve VGPR (Very Good Partial Response), my M protein will need to reduce to 0.3. I think the staff (and me) would like to see VGPR before moving onto bone marrow transplant (BMT). Research is showing that the more you can kick the M protein to the ground, the better long term results. The transplant should whack any remainder M protein, but I would prefer we whack it down with chemo prior to transplant to ensure the bad guy is gone post-transplant.

So what this means is that they may actually pull my stem cells after Cycle #4 (while my bone marrow is still doing okay) and then move on to a 5th and 6th Cycle of RVDD to continue to kick away in hopes to get that M-protein as low as possible; if not gone. I am in agreement with this approach. I don't want to rely on my transplant (or two) to bring down the M protein when we can continue to kick its butt with RVDD.

On a side note...I am sporting a beard and I like it. In a few weeks I will be dying my hair in anticipation of my transplant. This is my one opportunity to go from middle class, midwestern Alltel look-a-like to Rockstar/Poser. Isn't cancer great?!?

A little update from the homestead. The one in which we actually live, not the one that Dex built.

It's amazing how feeling good can make things seem as though cancer doesn't exist.

This week we work, we play and life goes on as normal. Things are a little messier (we lose two days per on-week at infusion so the general house responsibilities go to hell, if things weren't creeping that way already) and we're all a bit more cranky due to the winning combination of the Dex high wearing off, pregnancy exhaustion, dueling toddlers and gray Michigan skies. But I'll take a messy house and moodiness over what went down, or rather what didn't, just a couple of short weeks ago what with all the barf.

We have managed to get our Christmas tree up

and I have been getting all Martha Stewart-meets-Ty Pennington over here in the evenings once Phil and the kids are in bed. I've been working on the kids' Christmas gift: creating a sensory table/craft area for the kids' playroom. And I finally finished making the lazy susan that I've been wanting to do forever.

I also painted what we call the "short wall" in the playroom with magnetic primer and will put a chalkboard paint topcoat on it so the kids can have a magnetic chalkboard to practice writing their letters, numbers and complaints to management.

I even went to the grocery store and bought actual ingredients and have been cooking. Nothing as delectable as our amazing friends have provided for us, but still. Food. It feels like real life again.



In addition to his day job, Phil is working on getting out the rest of the wristbands. In case I didn't say it before, many, many thanks are due to Erin, Jessica, Todd and my mom for getting us caught up when we've fallen behind. There would be no Cancer Kicking without you, at least from the perspective of about 1500 wrists. And of course a huge thanks to everyone who continues to support myeloma awareness by rocking your wristbands.

So yes, this off-week has been productive. Much more so than the others. I will even venture to tentatively say that all signs point to a smooth final cycle beginning next week and a poop-filled, vomit-free Christmas.

Hallelujah, y'all.

Two Months of our Lives...Gone

We just eclipsed the two month mark since I started my chemotherapy in route to kicking Multiple Myeloma (not Melanoma)for good. I also finished up Chemo Cycle #3 today and I am still doing great since the bout with projectile vomiting.

I am thinking it's time the Cassie and Phil Plus Cancer Video Blog series return tonight (click here to watch one of the first episodes back in October)....does anyone else agree? (Amy L. - you owe me a comment and I think I owe you four more bracelets).

Also, leave a comment on when you think I should unveil my dyed hair:

(1) After Christmas...idoit! But before New Year's.

(2) Dude, you should totally rock it for New Year's

(3) What?!?! I didn't know you were going to dye your hair!

(4) If you were tough you would just stop talking about it and do it now.

Multiple Myeloma for Dummies Helps Build Awareness in Every U.S. State and 50 Countries Since Phil started chemo only 2 Months Ago. Here are some of the numbers:

• 14,688 visits to MM For Dummies Blog
• Over 200 visits per day, 30% being New Visitors
• Distributed over 1,500 Cancer Kicker Bracelets (still some available)
• 5 News Articles & Some Air Time at WTKA

Check out below to see just where the traffic is coming from:

Ocean is a Believer...sort of

Michigan faithful I need your help! How do I get Ocean to fall in love with Michigan Football!?! Leave a comment and let me know! I am struggling...

Cancer Kicker bracelets. You want 'em, we got 'em.

We're totally jumping on the silicone cancer bracelet bandwagon, guys....just look at our unborn child already representing in the womb in the picture below! We are All In for Kicking Cancer. Please DOMINATE with us! You can also order a Myeloma Dominate Shirt!

It all began when we decided to get some made for our friends who were running the BHBH run with Phil, kind of as a team thing. But when we saw that the minimum order was a hundred bracelets we started thinking, I bet there are people who would wanna rock these and here they are!!!!. So we had a few hundred made because, you know, the more you buy the more you save (I know, that makes zero sense but it got Phil to buy 500) and so now we must sell them to recoup the money we spent getting them made. Ahem.

Here's the lovely bling:

CANCER KICKER

dominate

And the inside of the bracelets is embossed with "Phil 4:13" which is Phil's personal favorite scripture verse. I wanted to put the one from 2 Kings where the punk kids are calling Elisha a baldhead but rock beats scissors so Phil 4:13 is on there instead.

If you want to show your support by sporting a myeloma-burgundy Cancer Kicker bracelet, you can purchase them online by clicking here.

Thanks, all. Keep dominating.

Oh boy...

...it's a girl!

We had our ultrasound this morning and saw a beautiful, sleepy little girl curled up and using her placenta as a pillow. Awwwww. Toward the end she gave us a little thumbs-up as if to say, "It's cool, you guys. I got this."

This pregnancy is SO different from the other two. First, I'm carrying much higher and more compactly than I did with Ocean or Iris. I can still wear regular jeans (just bigger ones) which wasn't a possibility past 12 weeks with Ocean, and about 9 weeks with Iris. Really.

Also, this one is QUIET. She kind of rolls around from time to time or gives me a little thump to let me know she's there, whereas at this point with both the others it was like a freaking three-ring-circus inside my uterus. The ultrasound tech called her stubborn because she wouldn't move. I prefer to think that she's laid-back. I'm freaking due for one of those, for crying out loud.

Also, the profile didn't scream PHIL! like the other two did. At least not to the same degree. So maybe this one will look more like me...? A mother with long pregnancies and what feels like even longer labors can hope.

The name we will keep to ourselves until she arrives. I'd love to tell the kids, but then everyone would know. So they'll have to wait as well. They both seem content with the idea of another girl and I'm looking forward to seeing how she blends with the entity which we call OceanIris. (Ocean, by himself, is fabulous. So is Iris. Together? Holy Shnikes. Put on a helmet, get the hose ready and don't look directly at it or you might turn into a pile of ash.)

We'll close with a photo of our newest dominator.

Phil is going Blue! But what shade???

Like most chemotherapy patients, I too will lose my hair...eventually. Fortunately for me during the cocktail chemotherapy I am currently on my hair stays in tact and it's not until I move on to stem collection, high dose chemo and transplant do I lose my hair. The transplant will probably hit in January.

I see dying my hair as an opportunity to seek and explore my creative expression of self. Okay...really I just thought it would be fun and who do you know in corporate america that shows up at work with blue hair and spikes! I also decided to allow my facial hair to grow out which is something I have wanted to do for years; plus, it will keep me warm through this Michigan winter.

So now it is once again our readers turn to decide what hair dye I am going to need to purchase and I am open to bribes (e.g., buy 100 bracelets and your color wins...wink..wink). You can vote by using the poll on the right side of the screen. I am sure my friends at MMRF (Multiple Myeloma Research Foundation) are pulling for teal, which I think would be the most ridiculous color.

I am scared out of my mind to go in public with blue hair....just so you know. It doesn't fit my clean, down to earth midwestern personality...BUT nor does cancer...so there you have it. Blue it is.

Endoscopy results

I just realized that we never really updated with the results of last week's Upper GI Endoscopy. First of all, you should know that Phil refused to be knocked out for the procedure which, frankly, creeped me out. But he wanted to watch while they did it so he gagged his way through it and did great I'm told (I wasn't permitted to be present which is just as well because I would have vomited without question).

So it was determined that there is no obstruction (which we figured) and no ulcer (which we were relieved to hear) so they're pretty sure that the Velcade basically sort of shut off Phil's digestive system. The only thing they can do is treat symptoms so he's on the Reglan which contracts the stomach and intestines, forcing food through the digestive tract, and he's supposed to be* eating small, frequent meals so stuff doesn't just sit in his stomach.

*I'm seeing firsthand that old habits die hard, and neither of us is thrilled about my micro-management of Phil's portion sizes, but that is my current lot in life I suppose, and a small price to pay for vomit-free evenings.

The other thing is that they cut down his Velcade dose, as we mentioned earlier, which seems to have made things a lot easier this week.

So there's the update. Also, we're in the throes of Dexmania over here, but I'll take that over the awful events of the preceding weeks. Bring on the subdivision plans!

I hope you all had a great Thanksgiving. OH... and another shipment of wristbands is going out
tomorrow. Sorry about the delay!

It's about more than just Kicking Cancer...

...like women giving me free shoulder and neck massages at the UMHS Infusion Center and the fact that the warts on my right foot, which have been family for seven years, are almost gone!

Just think, you too could get babes all over you, remove all your blemishes and lose 20 lbs in 12 days with R.V.D.D. (i.e. my chemo drugs)!

Coming to a CVS Pharmacy near you...

Cancer allows you to be a dreamer. Or maybe it's the Dex.

So I am naturally a dreamer and over the last few years I have learned to apply my visions and make them into a reality. Early on in my marriage for every 10 ideas I brought home to Cassie, there were probably 10 more I left on paper in my car. The first big dream that came true was our Old West Side home that I designed and built all under six months, while transitioning to a new job, introducing our second child to this world and living with the in-laws (who are awesome for more reasons than I could list here). The home is charming, spacious and fits the character of the almost 100 year old neighborhood. What a dream.


Immediately after the diagnosis of an incurable blood cancer, everything slowed down for me. I started thinking more practically as I started to run the "what-if" scenarios over and over again. The first thing I decided was my dream home had to go. I could not fathom Cassie being stuck with two little babes and a mortgage that would put her more than six feet in the ground. So we listed our home and although we had a lot of interest, our home did not include a garage (yet) so buyers would not pull the trigger. Actually, right before the start of treatment we thought we came to terms with a buyer, but they eventually walked at the thought of having to build a two car garage.


So we remain in our home, but the dream has definitely changed since diagnosis. Although our house is situated in one of the most desirable locations in Ann Arbor; walking distance from Jefferson Market, Washtenaw Dairy, Downtown A2, the Big House and a stone's throw from one of my favorite parks, it still doesn't seem to completely fit our evolving dream. Even with the best porch on the Old West Side. Seriously, nothing compares to living six blocks from the Big House on a football Saturday, tailgating from the comfort of our home, watching the game from the cable jack on the porch. (My little stroke of design genius.)


One thing cancer has taught me and apparently my Cancer Kicker friend as well is that forming a team or what I would call community is critical in difficult and challenging times. But why just difficult times? Why does it take a cancer diagnosis in order for neighbors to feel comfortable enough to drop off desserts and friends the ability to drop in and say hi while providing dinner? I have my theory about where society has been and where it is and where it is going, but I am far from getting my PhD in Sociology (I haven't even had a college course in English, let alone Sociology), I was one of the four fools on the football team to spend my non-football practice time up on North Campus at Michigan.

To the left are the only football players stupid enough to study engineering. Yes, I was the only one in my class to graduate from the School of Dorks.

So our desire is for ongoing community; free of the busyness of American life which offers us black Friday, fast fried food and attached garages that close out the world and the neighbors upon entry. Since listing our house I was powerless to resist seeking out the next dream. So for the last year I have been searching for land like those who expanded the western frontier, although in my 1998 S10 and not on my horse.

Our recent trip to Calder Dairy farms confirmed our desire to be out West (of Ann Arbor). A group of our close friends ventured out last Sunday to a little family farm that was chock full of goats, cows, ducks and more. I took plenty of photos, all majestic, but what captured my eye was the ability for the adults to intermingle as the kids just played together and ran all about the farm. Freedom!

Needless to say, I have been out driving the country roads 3 times in the last 5 days. Two of the trips included stopping by to visit some dear friends who just started a Barn Wedding business and it is blowing up, so it's not like I am driving the S-10 aimlessly back and forth down random country roads... although that sounds fun. I have been pretty wordy (thanks, Dex!), but to bring the dream down to earth a little, I hope to acquire 50-100 acres where I can build 10 to 25 homes depending on what the township allows.


I have a passion for design that takes into account place, efficiency and environmentalism. Although I'll be the first to admit building a new home (or 25) can be seen as not environmentally friendly, I think as caretakers of creation we can bring restoration to the land and rejuvenate it after decades of industrial farming. I also would like to take to practice green design principles that push the envelope with the help of modern day technology: solar, wind-turbines, geo-thermal heating while including proven building principles that have been abandoned (e.g. timber framing, masonry heating, etc.). In the end, I want to build something that will last.


So if you either want to buy our house or live in the country with us, let me know. ;)

This post was written while dominating Velcade and Doxil, and was written moderately under the influence of Dex, but it didn't slow my domination as you can see below!

I am thankful for...

Given the recent bout of projectile vomiting, constipation and overall discomfort, the list of things I am thankful for are quite different this year.

I am thankful for...

• regular trips to the bathroom
• eating cake
• sleeping sitting up
• chemo drugs that work
• a wife(i.e. mine) who does not pity herself and just dominates
• People sporting cancer kicker bracelets
• an awesome boss
• watching back-to-back DVDs with Cassie
  
• an understanding employer
• family and friends that meet needs without asking with no strings attached
• pickles (they make the list every year)
• advances in MM research
• my positive attitude amidst a lot of crappy stuff
• my growing kiddos
• a faith that allows me to just exist
• greasy pizza
• Jefferson Market and other local biz
  
• organic food
• short commutes
• our house
• the michigan family and faithful
• Dr J. & PA B and the rest of UMHS's medical staff I see
• the body's ability to bounce back
• people who don't eat turkey on thanksgiving (I still love those who do!)
  
• myeloma that doesn't like chemo drugs
• people who leave blog comments
• aspiring young kickers
• sleeping next to Ocean and hugs from Iris
  
• cows
• friends that I can just drop over and walk into their home
• the ability to dream
• farm house and red barns
  
• Michigan Football (even when we go 3-9 and 5-7)

Cassie and I cannot say enough of how thankful we are for all those who have stepped up and supported us through our charge to complete healing, MM awareness and some stability in this crazy journey. So thanks everyone!

Much love, peace and restfulness this holiday weekend!

Phil

Digestion. Brought to you by God, apparently.

To quickly recap the last two weeks, Phil started vomiting regularly in the evenings on November 11. We assumed it was chemo-related nausea (why wouldn't it be, right?) and tried all the good anti-nausea meds to no avail. It wasn't until the beginning of last week that I realized Phil wasn't nauseated... rather, he was projectile vomiting whenever he ate or drank anything. He was put on Reglan to help his stomach empty more quickly into his intestines, but it didn't really help. He had no sensation of hunger. He was also constipated, and by the time it was all said and done he went a week and a half without being able to keep down solid food and lost 15 pounds. He got the week off from chemo but still spent some serious time at the hospital getting IV fluids, and finally got an appointment with a gastroenterologist (thanks, Jay!) so we can get to the bottom of what's going on. Phil is getting a scope down his throat at 3:00 this afternoon (wheeee!) to try and get some answers.

Anyway, Phil didn't puke at all on Saturday, which was the first day in what felt like a thousand. On Sunday he woke up feeling okay. I went to the first service at church and came home early so he could go to the second service. (We go to separate services so we don't have to put our kids in children's church and risk the germs.) After he left I noticed that two brownies were missing from the plate my neighbor brought over on Saturday. (Normal brownies, by the way. I assume.) When he got home from church he relayed that some friends prayed for him afterward, and while they were praying he felt sensations of electrical currents in his body. He also confessed to eating the brownies for breakfast (which, you know, DUH) and drinking about 20 oz. of water and said he felt fine.

Then on Sunday evening we went with a whole buncha' friends to Calder Dairy for their farm tour. Included was a scoop of ice cream which Phil dominated. On the drive home he ate the kids' dinner leftovers and then- THEN- when we got home we ordered Jimmy John's. He ate half the sandwich that night and finished the rest for breakfast. He's been eating like a pregnant woman for the last couple of days- or at least how I want to eat when I'm pregnant: cheese and cupcakes. And he feels great.

So considering where we were just a few days ago, with projectile vomit happening after a sip of water, and 15 pounds of weight loss, this whole thing is pretty miraculous and Phil won't allow me to attribute it to anything other than God. He won't even let me insinuate that there were perhaps factors in addition to divine intervention. And I'm cool with that because, hey, no vomit. So thanks, God! And thank you to everyone who has been praying for Phil and/or sending good thoughts our way. It all matters and it all counts, and we are grateful.

We're back on track with infusions this week and are at the infusion center right now. Phil is getting his Velcade push as we speak, but they are cutting down the dose slightly. (Randomized studies showed no difference in outcome between the previous dose and his new current dose.)

Phil's weight is slowly going back up and his appetite is back. He can't eat before his scope today but he grabbed a bag of gummy bears for later. Scandalous.

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.

Take that Total Protein!

I know that people discover their Multilple Myeloma through various symptoms like broken bones, big masses where they should not be, recurring infections, etc. For me, three blood clots in two years (1 PE, 2 DVTs) signaled to us that we needed to see a hematologist....or Blood Doctor as I call them. Our Blood Doctor ran the labs and noticed that my Total Protein was near the upper range (8.2), but not too high. For some reason she decided to dig into the number a little bit and sure enough my IgG was 2360; normal being between 620-1520 according to UMHS. This significance of the 2360 wasn't that it was above the normal range, but rather, the issue was that it was above the normal range and I had no signs of illness/infection.



Here's some medical speak from a very non-medical minded person. The IgG (and IgM, IgA, etc.) are good old antibodies that occur in your body that make up your immune system. An elevated IgG would just signal that the immune system is kicked on and the body is following its natural defense system to do some damage (i.e. domination) of the intruders. The problem with my elevated IgG is that there are no intruders....that we know of (I like to think tiny dioxins are at the root of all of this, but I need to raise a lot of money and pay off some smart guy with a PhD to confirm my claim). So my body is pumping out proteins to create plasma cells to go dominate something that they can't find. So they basically collect in my bones, and eventually make it into my blood stream. So calcium from my bones gets pushed out into my bloodstream causing two main problems.
(1) Elevated calcium and protein levels can be hard on the kidney
(2) The calcium that's suppose to be in the bones, is not. Therefore one is prone to bone fractures.

So here is the spectacular news of the day. My Total Protein today was...(drum role please).... 7.6. Normal range is stated as 6.0 to 8.3.

Here is a chart of Phil's Total Protein over the last 15 months, which has finally hit smack dab in the middle of the normal range...hooray for Friday the 13th!



Did you find this post helpful? Please let me know, because I can talk all day on other fascinating topics like chemo side effects, what we learned in Little Rock, and other fun stuff that thanks to Multiple Myeloma I have learned. Please leave a comment so I know you are reading!

Blessings and domination to all,
Phil

Purse-holders

Our friend Moira posted this awesome article on her Facebook page and I totally swiped it. While many of my friends are married to awesome purse-holder types, many are still single and looking for Mr. or Miss Marriage Material and this... this is something not many people think about when they are considering what qualities are important in a soulmate/mate/date/whatever. When I was dating I thought these were things that you might think about when you're 75 years old with many decades of healthy wedded bliss under your belt to get you through the inevitable health crises, not something you should think about in your teens, twenties, thirties.

For us, In Sickness And In Health is being cashed in much earlier than either Phil or I anticipated. We were married for under two years and had a five-month-old when he got his pulmonary embolism. He was diagnosed with myeloma before our fourth anniversary. Now I sit by and helplessly watch him get worse in order to get better. While I never considered the purse-holder quality while we were dating, I'm very thankful that Phil and I made a marriage decision based not only upon Love, but equally upon our shared values and perspectives, our respect for one another and our desire and willingness to run/walk/crawl this life race together until death parts us. Phil doesn't have a purse, but I sure can fetch a bucket in record speed. And if the situation were reversed I know Phil would hold my purse, my hand and my hair back. He's good like that. And that's how I know it's Love... because infatuation only gets you so far when puke is involved.

And after the 14th day...

Hooray! We made it through our first full cycle of chemotherapy. I would definitely prefer to take the High and Mighty approach of six days of chemo work and the 7th day of rest, but nonetheless, I am grateful that we were able to hang in the ring for a full 14 days this time around. Actually, we now get a week off, so I should really just shut up right now and continue to sip on my chai latte. Expect a lot more posts now that we have made it out of the chemo cloud...maybe even a video blog or two recapping Cycle #2.



On the Myeloma Awareness front, WTKA (Sports Talk 1050AM) has graciously asked us to come to their studio Wednesday morning (Nov. 11th) for a live interview at 8:20am. So we will be rocking the air waves hoping to bring some more light to Multiple Myeloma, which the majority of the medical community says is incurable. Whether that's true or not, we want to help push towards a cure; but it's hard to cure something that no one knows anything about. Cassie will be by my side which is awesome because she has experience in radio broadcasting. If I am lucky they we'll ask her what she thought about the Purdue game and how she thinks we match up against the Badgers this weekend. They have also asked me to come on the air the Friday before the OSU game to give an update to the Michigan faithful on how the Myeloma responded to Chemo Cycle #2.

TMI Friday

This week I am fighting to get to Day 14 of Cycle #2 of RVDD and I am willing to do whatever it takes. This week included bouts of nausea, lack of sleep and once again I started getting backed up. For the nausea I went with Zofran. For the lack of sleep I stuck with benadryl. For the constipation, I brought in the little guns:



Notice that Cassie unwittingly purchased "Child Size". I'd hate to see what the "Grown-Up Size" would do to me. Let's just say, they work.

To keep things short, everything seems to be moving in the right direction as we head to the cancer center this morning for day 11 of treatment which includes Velcade infusion #4.

The domination continues...

Coupla things

Tomorrow morning is the last infusion of the cycle. Let's hear it for zero hospitalizations this round! Huzzah!

Phil's stomach is much better. He's been taking his anti-nausea meds and going to bed earlyish which appears to help. I'm not used to him being sick so that's hard. But we know this is all temporary and the end result will be worth all the vomit and constipation that chemotherapy (and pregnancy for that matter) throws our way.

If you ordered your bracelets before October 26 you should have received them by now, with the exception of those who live overseas (it'll take a little longer) and those of you who mailed checks (they will be going out this weekend) and my brother (I'm a slacker dude, sorry). If any of the rest of you wonderful dearhearts still haven't received your bracelets by Friday please send an email to CancerKicker at gmail dot com and we'll run a check to make sure it got sent to the right place. Also, I tried emailing people individually if a quantity wasn't specified (I know the Paypal buttons make that impossible- sorry about that) but I didn't get responses from a few dozen people so I just went ahead and sent a handful to those folks. If that's you and you wanted more than you got, please let me know via the CancerKicker email and we'll get some more to you.

For the record, we (me, Erin P., Jessica O. and my mom) have mailed out around 800 bracelets, and still have several hundred more to go. So once again I want to thank you not only for your generosity (Like, wow, you guys. For real.) but also for your patience and if we inadvertently missed your order please let me know and we'll correct that. We didn't mean for this to turn into a business, and my businessy skills are seriously lacking so that's why it's taking fo-evah and is kind of a shoddy operation.

Welp, time for some shut-eye. I'm sure we will update more tomorrow. Peace, friends.

Addendum by Phil:
I really appreciate receiving photos of folks rocking the Cancer Kicker bracelets [like the pics posted here] with the requirement you are posed to dominate Multiple Myeloma with us. Here's a good example of a friend, Zak, who is not only supporting the cause to dominate MM, but also is an inspiration to his wife who is currently dominating breast cancer:

Velcade vs. Veggie Patty at Subway

The latest hiccup in chemo was today after I consumed either Velcade or a footlong Veggie Patty from Subway. For someone who doesn't ever struggle with nausea...ever, it was tough lying down with a mouth overflowing with bitter saliva and a fiery stomach that was utterly pissed off by either the Velcade or the Veggie Patty, my apologies on both Mr. Stomach, but at least get used to the friggin Velcade by now which was my six infusion in 4 weeks.


VERSUS


Cassie was great in confirming that I don't have the flu and making sure that I get a good nights rest. She sent me off to bed around 6:30pm with one Zofran to combat the nausea.

Cancer Takes Back Seat To Soccer

Although I wasn't feeling great on Saturday, I wouldn't miss Ocean's second soccer game for anything. Some awesome friends of ours let Ocean drop in and play with a team of 3 year olds for the last two games. His first game was last week where he ended up in tears versus on the soccer field. I later asked Ocean why he was upset and he said it was because he didn't have a green jersey. It's amazing what kids pick up on and what makes them feel not part of the team.


So this week Ocean got to wear his buddy's green soccer shirt so he could fit in. His buddy Ethan happens to be a few years older and Ocean just looks up to him. So he was very excited to be able to sport his buddy's jersey. I was just happy to see Ocean on a team of kids where he could play together. We pulled the little guy out of pre-school this year to help avoid infections that he could bring home. So to see him out there high five-ing other kids was huge.


The best part of soccer at any age is the juice box after the game. Ocean was smiling ear to ear. He also got a chocolate chip bar and dominated an apple. I was very proud of the way he was able to listen to coaches and run tirelessly up and down the field.


Lastly, this is Ocean coming to give me a high five after he scored his second goal. My favorite part was seeing him celebrate with his teammates. He made much improvement in just one week and hopefully next year he can start playing with a team from the beginning. I hope to make many more of Ocean's games.