Quick Update

Alas - the Alf reversal is now tentatively scheduled for April 11 - final go/no-go decision to be made once the test results are reviewed following the March 30 and April 2 baseline testing followed up by additional meetings on April 4 and April 5 with the Oncologist and Surgeon......i now at least have a date to look forward to ......

After a few more back spasm episodes it was determined that this beat up body had secretly decided to celebrate the conclusion of the chemotherapy by passing a kidney stone.....been a rough few days but i am hoping it has passed and this is not just the calm before the storm (which would be my luck)..........someday i would like to try an illness that does not involve alot of pain............

I was treated to a celebratory cake at Opsis this week for finishing my chemotherapy - it was a nice tasty surprise.........

Connor is starting to hear from the schools he applied to so there should be lots of news (hopefully good) in the next few weeks - this week he was wait listed at Providence College (they received 10,000 applications for 900 freshman spots) and was accepted to University of New Hampshire so you know mom is pretty excited.

Off to Sunriver next week for spring break...........

Stay Healthy - 

Best

C-

The Finale is Final.

12 Down and 0 to go!!!!!!!!!!!!

Wednesday we completed number 12..........also known to us as the final chemo.  Can't believe it has been 26 weeks already of this crazy ride.  I was treated to a surprise celebration at home with a homemade lemon cake since i still cannot eat chocolate......actually i can eat it i just can't taste it.  We had a little sad taste of irony to complete number 12 - thought we were headed back to the ER.... had some sharp debilitating side pains early Wednesday morning but they have since disappeared fortunately.....always interesting.  It is now time to focus all energy on getting rid of Alf - should have something positive to report next Thursday.

Aidan and I decided to continue the celebration on Thursday - playing a little hooky and going to March Madness (his favorite thing in the world) at the Rose Garden....needless to say it inspired him for his basketball game later that evening........although his school lost to their cross town rival 41 - 27.....Aidan had 22 of the points.  I just prayed i didn't fall asleep on him at the games but he was so excited he kept me up the whole time talking.......sounds like his mother.

Lastly, Connor's Mock Trial team heads to the State Championship this weekend.....very exciting.  They have been practicing before school and on weekends so at this point as a senior I think he may be more excited to have it over with so he can have his weekends and early mornings back.

Jesuit High School Mock Trial Team (Connor is 3rd from left last row)

Good luck to Sandy Mangine who began her chemo ride on Monday - stay positive it will be behind you quicker than than you think.

Stay healthy - 

Best

C-

Finally.................the Finale

Started Folfox-12 yesterday....can't believe the final one is finally upon me.  The completion of this brings good news and bad news - the chemo is almost completed so we'll now find out if it worked... they are treating this as colon cancer because it is so unusual to have carcinoma in the small intestine there is not much literature on it so there will be lots of follow-ups ..........and it is now time to bring back in the rest of the team....Surgeon, Gastroenterologist and Internal Medicine....how i've missed them....not.

Meeting with the surgeon next week to discuss strategy on reversing ALF - Oncologist wants to wait at least two weeks so it is looking like the first week of April ( I cannot wait,.................) - have lots of testing to do in the meantime to get my baseline moving forward and confirm south of ALF (i.e. the surgery site, colon, large intestine) which has been dormant since August 19, 2011 is hooked up properly and ready to start working.

Other news fit to print -

Amy returned from a week in Hong Kong with two ear infections, strep throat and bronchitis - not a great housemate for Chemo Chris - she has been relegated back to the basement - should be on the mend soon we hope.

Connor was accepted to Hofstra last week with a pretty substantial Academic and Achievement Scholarship - while it wasn't in his top choices it now is in our's :).  He should start hearing in the next few weeks from the rest of the schools he applied to.

Connor and Sebby both made their Varsity Lacrosse teams - unfortunately they don't meet up during the season so we'll have to hope for a head to head during the State Tournament at the end of the season.

Sebby was invited to his first College Recruitment camp for lacrosse in July at the University of Colorado.  It is an invitational camp for the top 200 rising seniors in the country and elite juniors... run by the University of Denver coach - it has over 100 college coaches in attendance.  Needless to say it has sparked some confidence in our Scrappy Doo,

Aidan - who lives for March Madness - is especially excited since his team won their March Madness tournament last week end - they had no subs and had to play two games a day so needless to say they were completely exhausted but quite excited to take home hardware.

Stay Healthy -
Best
C-

FOLFOX - 11 COMPLETED

11 Down - 1 to go !!!!!!!!!!

(92% Complete)

You cannot mention number 11 without remembering Captain Marvelous "the Moose" (i have forgiven him for retiring in New Yahk) - the greatest skater i ever had the privilege to see "live".  Unfortunately it came at the expense of my beloved Bruins in game 4 of the 1988 Stanley Cup at the Gahden.  Amy and i were at the game - called in sick to work and spent all day on the phone trying to get us tickets...... finally procured some obstructed views ( a beautiful yellow beam in our sightline) as we enjoyed our first Stanley Cup game in the dense fog of death from all the cigarette smoke billowing up to our stadium top obstructed view seats..............ahhh the memories..............and than the lights went out!!!!!!!!!  Needless to say - I also had tickets to game 5 as well - but they would not return to the Gahden.........

.......With Game 4 slated for Boston Garden, it looked like the Oilers would get the chance to celebrate a Cup win away from home. However, with the score tied 3-3 in the second period, the players, coaches, officials and standing-room-only crowd were plunged into darkness. The rickety wiring and breakers at the old Garden had finally failed, and everyone was in the dark. After a short delay, NHL president John Ziegler announced that he was canceling the game and would invoke an old never-before-used rule to have game four played in Edmonton.

It was the first time since 1919—when the final between the Montréal Canadiens and Seattle Metropolitans was called due to the Influenza epidemic—that a Cup game had to be scrubbed.

 And  since it is March 1 today - it is time to briefly reflect back on the crazy year that was - it was a year ago March that this journey began for Amy, the boys and I - the first of what would eventually become 6 hospital stays that lead us to the infamous August 18, 2011 experience at Sippewissett Beach.  A lot of days we've spent in various hospitals over those many months - oh the stories we can tell (blown up IV's, abandoned in the ER, crazy nurses, crazier roomates, trying to escape district 9, 2 a.m. ambulance rides, NG tubes into the lungs (oops), amy riding the nurses, vernon riding the doctors and trying to unhook the IV etc........) ........alot of painful but also alot of funny memories and stories as well.  Here's to a better health and better memories for the next year.

Stay Healthy

Best

C-