I lost a good friend today. That friend has been with me around the clock for the last seven years. He has been a constant talisman, a guardian of sorts, protecting me in some way from a disease that is trying to take me. With the snip of a pair of scissors, I cut my [...] [...]
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We’re settled into our VERY tiny room on the 9th floor at Duke University Hospital. They have taken blood, toured us around the unit and counseled with us about the therapy we’re about to begin and what we can expect. Jill has gone out to buy us a small fan, as the temperature in the [...] [...] We are here in Durham, NC at a Springhill Suites hotel waiting to leave for our first Duke lab work and an appointment with medical oncologist and kidney cancer specialist, Dr. Dan George. One of our sons, Nicholas, is keeping the home fires burning. Callie Sprague (and, of course, Marquette McKnight) are taking care of [...] [...] Just when you thought it was safe to go back in the water…. I got a call from a physician’s assistant in Dr. Lance Pagliaro’s office today. She is part of the team that is responsible for my care at M. D. Anderson Cancer Center. She, along with Dr. Pagliaro and Dr. Christopher Wood as [...] [...] What I do know: • I don’t have tumors in my brain. • I don’t have tumors in my lungs. • I don’t have tumors in my chest, abdomen or pelvis. • I love my wife. What I don’t know: • I don’t know the outcome of my adrenal tumor biopsy. • I don’t know [...] [...] A few days ago I got a private Facebook message from a new friend. I have exchanged a couple of messages with her back in March of this year, when she told me that she was a fellow renal cell cancer warrior. She checked on me and I asked about her, brother and sister in [...] [...] Jill and I decided to make a road trip out of our upcoming journey out to Houston’s M. D. Anderson Cancer Center. We travel well together. Easy, like a Sunday morning. Amish grocery stores, funky shops, great local restaurants way off the beaten path and maybe an occasional casino might catch our attention for either [...] [...] We just returned to the office after our scan follow up with Dr. Pippas. As soon as he walked in and gave us that look, I knew it was on. I have another “lesion” to deal with, this time on the left adrenal gland, near the site of my total left nephrectomy in June of [...] [...] I wish you had been able to see what — hands down — the most painful moment I have experienced through all three of my bouts with renal cell carcinoma. I think this happened on Wednesday morning. My nurse, Kay Quattlebaum and Theresa, her hospital tech and Ellen Harden, a good friend of our family [...] [...] The only thing worse than the certainty of cancer is a pathology report that falls short of confirming that fact. So, I went into Hughston Hospital on Thursday, October 14 to have a spinal biopsy of my L-2 vertebral body, hoping for the best news but with both eyes open to the possibility that my [...] [...] |
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