Support

As you can imagine when the doctor says you have a life threatening disease it is pretty powerful. It took a couple days for it to totally sink in. I have had a good life, great wife and loving children and a job I very much enjoyed. We have lived in the same home for 40 years and we have our creature comforts. Material goods, trinket, doodads, gadgets have never been very important in my life. My closet is ridiculously small. Friend ship is what has given quality and depth to our life. Through trips to Tahoe, Iowa, Washington D.C., Hawaii, Monterey and Europe we have developed and enjoyed many good friends. Now in my emotional time the support from our friends and relatives has been very sincerely appreciated and a touching lift.

Thursdaze

Well I'm not really in a daze but this afternoon is the beginning of 7 days of chemo. This means being attached to a drip system 24/7. According to the doc and one of the nurses the really tough part begins next week. Basically the chemo will wipe out my bone marrow which includes my immune system and that is when things get dicey. According to the doc and the nurse everyone reacts differently to the drugs. I can only hope I'm one of the fortunate ones. There are 3 or 4 other people here on the same track with the same diseae. They had talked about my being in clinical trial but evidently the genetic material they were looking for wasn't there. The drug cocktail I am on is an older system which they haven't been able to improve on. I was afraid to ask what the success rate was.

Stanford

This the second day at Stanford and I'll be here for a month or so. I had another bone marrow test today and they have been drawing so much blood I'm surprised I have any left. I have a PICC which is a tube in my arm that runs through a vein to my heart. It sounds worse than it is. I was apprehensive about getting this but it was a very nice guy who did the procedure and I really didn't feel a thing. They will use this to take blood and administer the chemo. Hopefully I will find out about my chemo tomorrow as they need some results from my bone marrow. I might not get started until Thursday. I can be on the traditional 7 days a week plan or I might be on a 3 day, 1 day on 1 day off, clinical trial. Last night was tough probably more anxiety than anything else. Having my wife show up this morning was a big emotional lift.

Leukemia

Looking at the glass as half full I have to say I am fortunate that we found this disease early enough to do something about it. What about the person who couldn't or wouldn't go get a checkup? A general physical is where we found the low blood cell counts which led to more blood tests, and two bone marrow tests and finally the diagnosis of leukemia. As I write this I feel fine but the doctors say that won't last long. What about the person who didn't go to the doctor and said he was feeling just fine and had no knowledge of their blood composition. People do die from this disease when the blood becomes clogged with cancer cells and eventually they have a heart attack or stroke. How many people have died who had no knowledge of the underlying issue? We will never know but having health insurance and getting regular checkups are obviously important.

Health

I have recently been diagnosed with acute myeloid leukemia. This is a very aggressive blood cancer that left untreated will be fatal in a short time. I met with a doctor at Stanford on Wednesday and discussed the treatment. Monday I will be checking in to Stanford Hospital for chemotherapy and an extended stay of approximately 5 weeks. There is a chance that I might not survive the chemo process at Stanford. Of course I am hoping for nothing but the best outcome. This is the beginning, I will continue next week to post my progress.

West Cliff

Saturday I was riding my bike on West Cliff Drive and saw thousands of birds in the water close to the cliffs. I had been told there has been a feeding frenzy of birds, dolphins, sea lions and whales and to my pleasure it was still happening. Hanging out for about an hour there were arctic terns, brown pelicans, gulls and cormorants in the water, on the beach in the air and diving for food. It was quite a spectacle. There were dolphins cruising by and out to sea whales were blowing and breaching. Sunday they closed off West Cliff to traffic and the results was a huge seaside fair with bands, booths, drummers, cyclist, walkers and gawkers. I have long been an advocate of closing streets and roads, especially for cyclist. I am hoping this idea spreads to other streets and other communities. It was a fun time to live in Santa Cruz County.

Maui

Here we are in Kihei on Maui. We have a condo next to the beach but on the 5th floor with our friends the McAweeneys. The condo isn't real big but it does have two bedrooms with separate baths. The beach is just down the hall and stairs or elevator and around the corner. Here in Hawaii you can go to the beach any time of the day. I was walking on the beach at 7am and in the water before 8am today. So far we have just been hanging out at the condo and on the beach. Last night we cheered the 9ers to victory at Moose Millicuddy's which is within stumbling distance or the condo. Snorkeling and kayaking are on the agenda for tomorrow or the near future. The weather is in the high 80's, it was very windy the first day but that has died down to light breezes. We just finished lunch on the balcony which is where we had dinner the last two nights. Life is good.