Rangers 11, Angels 7

Rangers 11, Angels 7, and Daryl was there, along with Carol and bunch of other friends and 38,000+ other Ranger fans.

This is an update

I am ashamed that I have had so many fine adventures the last few months, and have done so little blogging other than cancer updates. In May, we went to Louisville and saw my son receive his doctorate from Southern Baptist Seminary. In June, I went on a mission trip to teach in Kenya for a couple of weeks. Next month, we take grandkids on an adventure trip to a cabin on Michigan's upper peninsula. Plus, I have started a new job with the same employer, managing materials testing technicians in our company's Dallas (rather than Arlington) office. Someday, I hope to blog about a lot of this and post some neat pictures, but until then, perhaps you can see them on facebook.

It seems hard to call it an update when it is the same news. Once again, the cancer-indicating M-spike increased by 0.1 over the past 2 months. It is now 1.1, up from 0.3 in May of 2010. What is news is that the cancer doc, Carol and I have set a number limit of 2.0 to 2.5, barring any sudden increases, before I resume chemotherapy. At the rate I am going, it could be 1.5 to 2.5 years before I resume chemo. This is consistent with advice Carol and I received in private conversations with leading myeloma experts at a conference we attended a few weekends ago, although it runs somewhat counter with conventional means of treating this disease. This is (hopefully) a marathon, and not a sprint.

As the cancer doc began yesterday to once again discuss the pros and cons of various treatment options, and how it all depended on your goals in treatment, I interrupted him and told him plainly, "My goal is to stay on my feet and working for as long as possible." He paused, then said quietly, "That is exactly what I would do," and we went on with the course set.

Thanks to all for the love, prayers and concern.

Cancer Update 6/6/11

Hard to believe it has been 4/30 since I wrote a blog. It's certainly not due to a dearth of things about which to write; probably due to life being so busy there's been no time to write! Among the fun things going on was a week in Louisville, Kentucky, with Daniel and his family, culminating in watching Daniel receive his doctorate from Southern Seminary. Lots of fun times and lots of good pictures and maybe someday I can write some blogs about it, but until then, the Facebook postings will have to suffice.

Anyway, I went to see the cancer doctor today, and the news is the same as the last few postings (kind of like a Dallas weather forecast in the summertime - almost always the same). The cancer is slowly increasing, and the doctor anguishes over when to resume chemotherapy - a little increase doesn't warrant resumption, but have many little increases does it take...? Regardless, we will not resume chemotherapy now, particularly with the tirp to Kenya coming up, and will check everything again in two months.

By the way, this is pretty cool and high tech. I am sitting here in the infusion room, wirelessly connected to the internet via my new netbook, getting to redeem some of this infusion time with writing and other work. Now, if they can only come up with a wireless IV, maybe even one I could download over the internet...

Thanks, as always, for the love, prayers and concern.

Saturday Morning at the Zoo.

Saturday morning at the Fort Worth zoo with Carol, Emily, Alyssa and Brooke, 4/30/2011.

Easter Egg Hunt 2011

Okay, Easter eggs have nothing to do with the resurection of Jesus Christ, but we had a fun time with the local grand daugthers after church and before lunch on Sunday.

Anniversary Passed

Three days ago, on Good Friday, marked a milestone for me of being one year off of chemotherapy. On 4/22/2010, I completed cycle # 14 of Revlimid, which essentially marked 2 1/2 years of chemotherapy. Yay-rah!

Passport, Received

On Saturday, 4/16, the mailman delivered to me my passport. Two and a half weeks ago, I applied for it, thinking Carol and I would take some of our grandchildren on a brief excursion to Canada this summer. Then, the opportunity came for the trip to Kenya, and the Canada trip got re-scheduled to later in the year, perhaps when it will be cooler.

Anyway, if you received your passport by mail, did you have to again swear your allegiance to the United States, and run around the mail truck with your shirt off, flapping your arms and making a sound like an eagle, and singing"My Country, 'Tis of Thee," (all four verses), or did my postman take me for a ride?