Weekly Update

It definitely feels good to keep typing "Weekly Update" as the header for each blog post.  Although boring, I much prefer it to "Back in the Hospital" or "Oh Sh*t".

Last week was the first week of a new chemo cycle.  Week one is the tougher of the two weeks of each cycle's treatment because day 4 falls in week one (not sure if I've mentioned this before, but I get chemo on Day 1, Day 4, Day 8 and Day 11 of each 21-day cycle).  Day 4 is the one day each cycle that I get my heaviest chemo drug, Doxil (aka Doxorubicin).  I'm usually pretty wiped out the day I get Doxil and the following day.  Kinda funny that the medicine itself is a non-threatening pink color and seems relatively harmless as it flows out of the IV bag.  Perhaps they tint it pink on purpose because its original purpose was to fight ovarian cancer and it was only later discovered to be effective against multiple myeloma.  These are the kinds of things you think about when you're bored in the chemo room.  ANYWAY...I'm looking forward to knocking out my last 2 treatments of the cycle this week and getting to a rest week next week.

Meanwhile, in more entertaining news:

-  The Beaird family had a great time at Universal last week. Harry Potter World was a lot of fun...we drank butter beer (I like to call it cream soda on steroids...and that's a good thing) and bought magic wands.  We also really enjoyed Jurassic Park...especially Shannon who attempted to set a record for most rides in one day on the Pteranodon Flyers.  We stayed at the Hard Rock Hotel and that allowed us to get into the park an hour ahead of the regular crowd...a strategy that worked very well for us.  It also worked well for Universal as we decided to upgrade to annual passes.  How do the theme parks continue to make us spend money?!?!  I'm convinced they pump medium-grade narcotics into the air to disorient us while making us happy and freeing us of our inhibitions.  Pixie dust my rump...it's a gaseous form of cocaine!

-  Speaking of the Hard Rock hotel, it just so happened that there was a concert held in the hotel lobby on Thursday night while we were there.  Wait for it....Bret Michaels (former lead singer of Poison).  Yes, ladies, he's still flashig those dreamy blue eyes (or contact lenses).  We popped in for some of the sound check and even a small bit of the concert...it was pretty cool.  However, it was unbelievable how many 50+ year old women AND MEN!! there were with huge teased hair and tight 80's jeans.  Who are these people?  Where are they when the sun is shining?  Do they have jobs?  Who told them it was acceptable to be seen in public that way?  It was bad enough in the 80's when my high school peers all dressed that way...I certainly don't need to see people with wrinkles looking like that.

-  Kona, our new puppy, continues to provide us with much joy.  That said, if anyone has access to a pill that magically housebreaks puppies, I'm willing to pay a large sum of money.  Name your price.

-  Big day in Gainesville this coming Saturday...LSU comes to town at 3:30.  I think all reasonable Gator fans (some would say that there are no reasonable Gator fans...I'm looking at you Barati family) are more optimistic about this year's team than last year's team.  Count me in that group and count me as someone who thinks we have a good chance to beat LSU this year.  It will come down to the trenches though.  Our offensive line needs to let our running game succeed and give our young QB time to throw.  Our defensive line needs to make sure LSU's offense gets neither of those things.

If you managed to stay awake long enough to make it this far, thanks for reading.  Thanks also for the continued prayers and support...it is very much felt and appreciated.  Let's hope next week's blog post has the same boring title.

Weekly Update

It was a good week away from chemo.  My counts held up pretty well and I didn't need any transfusions of whole blood.  I only had to get 1 bag of platelets (down from 2 bags last week).  All in all, I can't complain.  Chemo starts up again this wek with infusions on Tuesday and Friday.

In non-medical news, there were a few highlights:

-  Our dog search has ended successfully.  See photo below of Kona, our two-and-a-half-month old golden retriever mix that we adopted from a local rescue organization.  She is a sweetie and we're not sure what else besides golden she has in her to make her a "mix".  I guess time will tell.  We'll be glad when she's housebroken.

-  Thanks for all your prayers and good wishes for my stepmother, Kathy.  She is now back home after her knee surgery and doing well.

-  The Gators are 4-0 with a bye week before taking on LSU at The Swamp.  We'll see what the Gators are made of on Oct 6.  Meanwhile, FSU looks like they might be the real deal this year.

Thanks again to everyone for your thoughts and prayers.  A special thanks to everyone who brought us food.  There are some amazing cooks in our circle of friends and we really enjoyed all the variety of great meals.

I'll have more to report next week including a recap of our visit to the Wizarding World of Harry Pottter at Universal Studios.

Weekly Update

Another week and another week outside of the hospital...yippee!!  I finished up my chemo cyle yesterday and am looking forward to an upcoming rest week with no chemo.  I had to get a couple of bags of platelets during the week, but didn't need to get any blood transfused.  My counts are still pretty low, so I may need to get some more blood during the off week...we'll see how things progress.  All in all...good news on the medical front.

In this week's other headlines:

-  A big shout out to my relatives in Massachussetts who participated in the Race for Research in support of the Multiple Myeloma Research Foundation.  See the photo of the members of the Fortney, Tambascio, Duplessis, Walker and Burns clans who braved rainy weather and raised over $1,600 for Myeloma reseach.  Thanks to you all!!

-  My Dad's household is attempting to set a knee surgery world record.  My Dad had both his knees replaced this summer and his wife, Kathy, went under the knife on Thursday.  Our thoughts and prayers are with Kathy as she begins recovery and rehab.

-  Speaking of world records, I'm writing this at halftime of the Florida vs Tennessee football game as the Gators attempt to set a new record for pass interference penalties.

-  The Beairds are officially in the market for a dog.  We've spent a lot of time searching Orlando-area rescue organizations, SPCA, etc for a nice lab mix or retriever mix (or something similar), but have come up empty so far.  If you know of a nice dog looking for a good home...let us know.

Thanks again to everyone for all your support and prayers.  Enjoy your time with family and friends.

A Couple of Updates

It has been a week since I last posted, and although there are no monumental events to share, I thought I would give everyone a recap of some things that have happened over the last 7 days.

On the medical front, on Tuesday, I started another cycle of chemo.  This means that I'll visit the docotor's office four times over 14 days for infusions of several different drugs.  I'll then go for 7 days with no treatment and that will conclude the 21-day cycle of treatment.  The next 21-day cycle will start at the end of my 7-day rest period.  My blood counts are still pretty low, so I got a blood transfusion yesterday (2 bags of whole blood and 1 bag of platelets) to boost those levels back up (don't forget to donate blood and platelets if you can...people actually use them!).  This pattern of chemo followed by transfusion might continue for awhile until the chemo takes hold and knocks back the myeloma far enough to allow my counts to rise.  The photo below shows me at the end of a bag of blood...you can see that the bag on the rack  looks pink instead of red as it gets to the end.

Now that the boring stuff is out of the way, here are some other things that happened this past week:

My smart, beautiful and all-around awesome wife celebrated a birthday.  You'll have to ask her how old she is...I'm not dumb enough to spill that information.

The Gators (once again) looked shaky in their season opener against Bowling Green.  This Saturday they travel to College Station to take on Texas A&M.  They'll have to play a lot better to win this week.

I shaved off my beard.  It seems like a shame since it took 3 weeks to grow it out, but the novelty had worn off.  No way was I going to take the time and effort to keep it trimmed.  Plus, it was getting harder and harder to get any kisses from Jen and Shannon.  For the record, Aaron was the only who noticed that I had shaved.

That's it for now.  As always, thanks to everyone for your prayers, your visits, your gifts, your food and all of your support (thanks Uncle Jim for helping out during the transfusion).  I can't tell you how much easier it is to deal with all of this with such a great group of family and friends.  I feel extremely blessed to be so lucky.

Best Time of the Year!

I don't have anything new to report on the medical front (no news is good news!).  Next week should be more active as my chemotheray will resume on Tuesday.

So, let's talk about college football instead.  I love the start of college football season.  I love it even more when I get to watch opening night from my own couch instead of a hospital bed.  It will be fun to watch my Gators kick off the season on Saturday against the mighty Falcons of Bowling Green State University.  The last few years haven't been kind to the UF football program, but, despite what many experts are saying, I think we're in for a good season in 2012. 

Win or lose, it will be fun to watch.  Plus, it's now a lot easier for me to remember that football is just a game and not a matter of national security.  I'm pretty sure that the world will continue to spin on its axis whether or not the Gators win or lose each week.

Out of Hospital!

Most people like to end their summers with a stay at a nice beach resort.  This year, I broke tradition and opted for a stay at a luxurious hospital instead.  As much fun as it was to be constantly poked, prodded and awakened at all hours of the night, I'm happy to report that my hospital vacation ended last night after a 3-week visit.

As nice as it is to be home with my family and sleeping in my own bed, I still have a lot of medical "fun" ahead of me.  I'll continue to spend a lot of time at the hospital getting my blood tested, getting chemotherapy and continuing to beat back the cancer.

I'll continue to use the blog to keep folks up to speed on my progress. Thanks again to all those who stopped by the hospital, phoned, texted, sent cards, said prayers, delivered meals and otherwise helped me and my family.  While in the hospital, I had a lot of contemplation time and one thing that became clear is that it's much easier to attack a problem when you know there is a great support system behind you and your family.  We are truly blessed to have such great family and friends.

I'm Back!!!

When I last left you, I was finishing up my recovery from a stem cell transplant that I went through to treat the multiple myeloma that I was diagnosed with in May 2007.  The good news is that I got about a year of remission out of the transplant.

The bad news is that the remission is now over and I'm fighting the myeloma again.  As part of the fight, we're concentrating on two things: (1) we're using chemotherapy to treat the multiple myeloma (2) the effects of the chemotherapy are very damaging to my kidney (I was born with only one kidney), so we're closely monitoring the impact of the chemo on my kidney.

I'll use this blog to keep you posted on the progress of the two-pronged fight.  Currently, the fight is being launched from Florida Hospital in Orlando (near Princenton Street and I-4).  I expect to be in the hopsital for a few more weeks, but will keep you posted as things develop.  I've already been in 5 different rooms in the two weeks that I've been in the hospital, so I should have plenty of interesting things to report.

Until then, please make sure you enjoy your  family and friends...there is no better way to spend your time.  Thanks very much to the representatives of the Beairds, Terios, Hayes, Shavemakers, Riches, Duxburys, Wilkes, Coopers, Chans, Myers, Kruckemyers, Thomsons, Knights, Josephs, Williams, Flaskeys, Alfanos, Baratis (3 generations), Morriss-Websters, Tyndalls, Bramuchis, Morrisseys, and Desforges who have already been by to visit.  I'm sure I'm missing some folks...so my aplogies for doing so.