Catching up and sharing thoughts!

Back again, and hopefully well be dropping in to say hi more regularly than I have been. For all those who have been so caring and supportive of me and my family I wish to extend a very heartfelt thank you and God Bless You (if you happen to be Muslim, Buddhist, agnostic, wiccan, Atheist, or whatever, please accept my gratitude and well wishes toward whatever belief you follow). You get the idea. So let's get on with it.

First off I am very happy to announce that it is June 3, 2011 and I am still relatively healthy and hanging in there, 9 months after my initial diagnoses. Not saying it has been easy or without event and hardship, but my initial diagnosis gave me 3-6 months, and I have already passed that milestone. I also reached my 10 year anniversary in the army on May 15, Hooah! Since my last update I have been through quite a bit, so here is the health stuff that everyone always asks me about.

During the month of February and March I experienced a lot of changes in my health and condition. It started with my immune system dropping to unsafe levels every couple weeks resulting in my treatment being repeatedly delayed. During that time I began to experience some neurological issues, hands trembling involuntarily, legs trembling, vertigo and balance issues, and light sensitivity. I also began to experience headaches more frequently. I finally spoke with my Oncologist and requested a follow up MRI early to monitor the development of my Glioblastoma. So a second scan was done in March which revealed that not only had my Tumor become Malignant again, but that the growth and development was fairly rapid. I was also informed that with the results the team unblinded the clinical trial I was in and revealed that I was in the placebo group. This renewed my hope because I was becoming very concerned that My cancer was going to get the better of me sooner than expected. The light at the end of the tunnel, that since I had not been on the actual drug, Avastin, I had a pretty good chance of responding to the actual medication and possibly do better. Since I was going off study, mt care was transferred back to the Oncology Department at Wilford Hall, instead of me making the trip out to Houston every couple weeks by myself. I have now been on the actual Avastin off study for 5 treatments and have been doing much better. My balance is about 85% better most days, sometimes more, sometimes less. Trembling in hands is usually pretty mild and usually only affects me when writing or typing alot. I had an MRI done last Friday and will be meeting with my oncologist next week to discuss those results, nervous but very optimistic.

Lot of other exciting things have happened as well. In March we took a trip back to California and stayed in Monterey to see some of my old stomping grounds and some family. It rained almost the entire time we were there but we made the most of it. We got to see the Monterey Bay Aquarium, Pebble Beach, Moss Landing, Capitola and Santa Cruz. Even took Susanna out for a date at Shadowbrook, the place we went to for our 1 year anniversary. Took Destiny out for mazes and laser tag for her 4th birthday. And ate lots of clam chowder from "The Fishhopper" (my favorite clam chowder ever). In april my best friend since high school Sean came out to visit and we met up at Sea World San Antonio. Got to see his wife and 2 boys. Was a little hot out and I got drained so was a short visit. But the big news is that the "Dream Foundation" fulfilled my lifelong dream of going to Hawaii in May and we spent 7 days there on Maui. That will be the focus of my next blog. I had to have 2 surgeries since my return, one to have a tooth removed and abscess drained and another to remove a mass on the sclera of my right eye, not sure if cancerous or not but awaiting results of biopsy. Had 5th infusion and MRI, so follow up next week will be exciting. Antibiotics upset my stomach something fierce and gave me vertigo like you would not believe, but have been off of them for a few days and balance and vision seems to be stabilizing. So hoping for the best.

Carol also just had a birthday and is graduating from 5th grade, so very excited about that. So that should bring everyone up to speed for now.

I just want to thank all of those who have been there and showed so much care and support for me and my family, We wholeheartedly appreciate it and there have been some rough times that I didn't thing I could get through, but still here. I hope you have all been well and look forward to catching up when I can. Later.