The Average Guy Proved to be far from Average

This post is a tribute to Zak Branigan who used the circumstance of his wife's breast cancer diagnosis to become far from average. Over a year ago, Zak and his beautiful bride, Moira, were devastated with news that Moria had an aggressive form of Breast Cancer that needed attention immediately. On top of the diagnosis, they were new parents and Moria was about to lose her job thanks to the tanking economy. I would never say Zak was average at that moment in his life, but wherever he was at, he decided to dominate....or Hit the Road as he says.

Zak was encouraged by his beautiful bride to go after something, so Hitting the Road he did! He started to blog his journey (a must read) and even got a Brooks sponsorship. During all of this I was fortunate enough to meet Zak and Moira who were the first young couple I had met in the area facing the same kind of fears of being both young with a cancer diagnosis and having the same kind of struggles to communicate to others. What a great connection at the right time.

Eventually, Moira domianted her breast cancer and Zak wanted to continue to do more. He had run his first half marathon and dropped a ton of weight. At this time I was about to take on my major treatment and I had a strong desire to use my platform as a former UM placekicker to build awareness for Multiple Myeloma, an incurable blood cancer, mostly known as an "older person disease." I wanted to give Multiple Myeloma a new face and find a cure and Zak wanted to help.

So Zak signed up to be the force behind getting all the paper work to the State, working with the graphic designer, and all that other fun stuff that people rarely get credit for to ensure that the Cancer Kicker Foundation was properly established. All of this happened while I was in the middle of my battle; not to mention dex crazes and probably some chemo brain. I still tell Zak today that if all Cancer Kicker becomes is a couple of Dominate Shirts that sport my school colors and my cancer colors, I am set for seven days a week!

Just this month Zak completed his goal of running in a marathon. He dominated Chicago and finished exactly in the middle, or Average in terms of time. It's been made clear to me that Zak is far from Average and he has the energy, mental disciple and the wife to help him pursue his dreams and passions. In 2011, Zak is going to return his focus to the things that got him on this path and provided a heck-of-a-lot of support. One of those things was and is still today the Wellness Community of Southeast Detroit. My family has supported them over the last few years and their service for cancer patients and their families is top notch.

I want to thank Zak and Moria for all they have done personally and the role they played in establishing the Cancer Kicker Foundation as non-profit that WILL Dominate Multiple Myeloma and Inspire many more dominators to Hit the Road and dare to be as "average" as Zak.

Thanks Zak and many blessings as you continue to Hit the Road! We are behind you 100% as you return to your original focus and you continue to inspire many. Thanks for holding the baton this year.

I love you man,

-Phil

The Dominate Army

Zak, President of the Cancer Kicker Foundation, used the term "Dominate Army" today in one of his facebook posts on the Cancer Kicker Facebook page and it really struck a cord deep within me.

One year ago July we were in Little Rock, AR seeking a second opinion from the renown, eccentric, caring and hilarious Dr. BB who recommended we start treatment immediately after uncovering over 100+ bone legions throughout my body. The cancer had gone from smoldering to a nice warm campfire. We decided it was time to dominate Multiple Myeloma.

Through this pursuit a force or "army" has been raised to help us build momentum and maintain some sanity. Even still today our church, family, friends, neighbors, co-workers, former teammates/coaches, medical staff are committed to bringing us meals and whatever we need as we sort through the chaos of being young with MM...which is allowing us to focus on one thing, dominating MM.

We are so thankful for the recent media attention that allows us to be a voice for this disease which is often mistakenly called "multiple melanoma". All of this could not happen without all the support around us. I think Matt (here's his caringbridge & blog), a young MM patient from Columbus said it best:

"I feel terrible for Myeloma. It's messed with the wrong people."

That's dead on Matt, Myeloma messed with the wrong people and now it has a whole army to respond to, the Dominate Army!

Thanks everyone for joining forces to dominate MM. -Phil

Funeral, Chickens and My 60 Day Test Results

What an emotional week. I am back in the saddle at home with not much energy to chase the kids around. Cassie was a champ with all three kids for four days as I flew to Florida to commemorate the life of my Grandpa George and share in family time. I was given an opportunity to speak at the funeral and share how my two grandparents, who were both only children, started something known as the Brabbs' Family which today includes 17 grandchildren and currently 10 great-grandchildren. Although I was born and raised several states away from my Grandpa George, it was made clear this past week that I am very much similar to the man he was and that I hope to be. On a lighter note, my uncle Jeff hosted my parents and me at his legit guest house which is home to three chickens (shown below) that provided some awesome breakfast (eggs) served up by my uncle Jeff.

Yesterday, I had bone marrow biopsy #5. I really don't mind them, partially because my PA at UMCCC knows how to dominate the procedure without dominating me. Those results will be on there way in a few days and will tell us what percentage of Myeloma plasma cells still exist in my bone marrow. Below is a picture of me waiting to see the BMT Doc, showing of my new watch which was given to Grandpa George for his High School Graduation at Flint Central. I am also wearing a silly band which I just learned about. I think the dominate bracelets are much cooler!

Also, I received my 60 Day (from transplant #1) test results and my M-Protein dropped from 0.6 to 0.5. This is positive because it is showing that my body is responding to the high-dose chemo (Melphalan) that I received. My goal is still to get this to 0.0 after my second transplant and some consolidation (more low-dose chemotherapy). I feel like I am at the mid-point of my treatment and I am very excited with the results although we still have a little more way to go.

On a side note, there are some really cool things going on with the Cancer Kicker Foundation as the Facebook Fan page is now over 4,o00 members and almost all 100 dominate shirts have been pre-ordered. I must say all of this work on CKF has been dominated by Zak Branigan who is such an inspiration and good friend to our family. Cassie is sporting her dominate shirt today and she looks hot for having Ruby only 6 weeks ago. Score.

The Dominate Gene Lives On

There's so much both Cassie and I want to say and reflect on over the last two months, but the reality is that things have been too busy on the home front to find the time and energy to blog about it. For starters, here's me dominating as I get my heart and lung screening to make sure I am healthy enough for my second transplant, which will happen on June 23, in exactly three weeks!

I'll admit, there isn't a day that goes by where I don't think about Multiple Myeloma. Fortunately, I was wired to be a glass is half overflowing type guy so I usually channel my energy on that topic to try to grow or benefit a cause. The most recent being these sweet shirts that my boy Zak Brannigan spearheaded (check them out here!).

As for this particular week, it has been extra tough because it seems after the dust begins to settle in our lives and we feel like we have some clarity for the path we are on and where it is leading us the dirt often gets kicked back up in our eyes. This week my family lost Grampa George (no, not graNDpa). The guy was the epitome of what it means to dominate life and losing him this week made me realize that genes go much further than hair color and chin dimples...and for this I am thankful. The funeral is set for Monday and I'll be heading down with my mask on with all my family to celebrate such a great life and mourn the end of our time with him here. Here's a picture of our last time together:

Amidst all of this time feeling sad for reasons other than cancer for once, I was given a bright shining ray of hope today. Test results came back from a young cancer patient (41) who had a very aggressive form of Myeloma. After Day 30+ post-transplant, he has no M-protein....HOORAY! The MM journey brought our two families together based on the likeness of our situation (young kids at home) and it's so great to see victory on their end. Their journey is not over, but oh how sweet the news was today!

Cassie and I hope to video blog very soon. Until then, keep dominating!