Quarterly scans “all clear”

Just a quick update to let you know that I had scans this morning (MRI on my left thigh and a Chest CT-Scan) and both were clear.  Yeah!  It’s always such a relief to get that kind of good news, even though I typically don’t worry about it (except sometimes the night before a scan).  My next scans (CAP) have already been scheduled for August 12th.

Still to be arranged is a date for removing the rather large lipoma under my right armpit. Dr. Monson will be doing that surgery likely sometime mid to late June timeframe. I just need to sit down and look at my calendar, Holly’s calendar, the kid’s summer schedule, and then make that fit with Dr. Monson’s surgical schedule.  I’m told that the surgery will be done on an outpatient basis and that I will be out of commission for about a week recovering at home.  Holly’s axillary node dissection surgery was similar to this both in terms of complexity and location, and I know it took her a while to bounce back from that.  Dr. Monson also said that a full pathology would be ordered on what they remove (to rule out cancer).

The other thing I wanted to mention is our Gwinnett Relay for Life results this year.  Thanks to contributions from many generous friends and family members, Holly and I together raised around $3,500.  That is really awesome and it’s all for such a good cause too.  I would encourage each of you to participate in the Relay for Life event in your area.  It’s really quite an uplifting experience.

More updates in another month or so . . . once this lipoma-gone-wrong gets the hatchet treatment!

Kyle, Bryce, Holly, and Dave about to share their story at Gwinnett Relay for Life last Friday (click to enlarge).  


You might notice that I'm wearing last year's shirt.  I like purple better.  :)

Relay for Life

Holly and I had the privilege of attending Relay for Life this past Friday night up here in Gwinnett County, Georgia. Supposedly Gwinnett has either the largest or second largest “relay” in the country. This event, sponsored by the American Cancer Society, brought in nearly $2 million dollars from the Gwinnett event alone. I wanted to thank all of you who contributed to Holly’s goal of $1000. She was able to exceed her goal.

I think the most striking part of this event was just the sheer number of people participating in the “survivor lap”, which kicked off the event early in the evening. Seeing that many people, all wearing survivor t-shirts, makes it hard to ignore the epidemic nature of cancer. As recently as last year, both Holly and I were in that group of people who believed that cancer was something that other people get, but certainly not us. I honestly doubt we would have given “Relay for Life” any serious consideration as no one in our immediate family has even had cancer. All I can say is what a difference a year can make . . . and what a year it has been. Our attitudes have certainly been changed through the experience.

Please allow me to share some pictures from the event:

Holly and me (click to enlarge)

Note the caption: “My Chemo SUCKED. How was yours? :)” Irreverent? No -- just trying to be lighthearted (please note the smiley face). Most people laughed, some said “yeah, mine sucked too!” But one person actually told me “mine was fine!” Obviously that person just wasn’t getting enough chemo and should try the “intensive” chemo regime given to sarcoma patients! (click to enlarge)

Holly “deer in headlights” look :) (click to enlarge)

Thank you Nathan Horton for thinking of us when making your custom "Relay for Life" T-Shirts! Cool! (click to enlarge)

Though this was an excellent event (and one I plan to attend every year), the event near and dear to my heart is the “Team Sarcoma Initiative” taking place July 18 – 26, 2009. The Atlanta event for this will be the Walk for Sarcoma Awareness that Friday, July 24th, at 7:00pm. Sarcomas are rare, deadly, and don’t get nearly as much publicity or research funding as other “popular” cancers (such as breast cancer), so awareness is a big issue.

How you doing???

I know I haven’t written much about my status lately, but you can pretty much assume with me that no news is good news. I’ll be wrapping up my physical therapy within the next week or so and both strength and range-of-motion have returned to my leg. The only problem to speak of is that fluid keeps building up in my leg at the surgical site. The problem, as explained to me by Dr. Monson, is that the tumor left a cavity, which my body wants to keep filling. About 2 weeks ago he drained 140 CC’s from that area and since then it has filled up again. He said it’s something they might not be able to fix, but they will try staying on top of it by draining it every 2 weeks for the next month or so. But no guarantees that this will resolve the issue. The good news, though, is that the fluid is causing me no discomfort or real problems (from the best I can tell). It just sort of looks like I have a saline implant in my thigh. :)