Long Overdue Update

First, let me apologize to everyone for not keeping up with the updates. At the end of September, I moved to a new apartment, and couldn't get internet for almost a month. Now that I have it, I will try to keep the updates coming more regularly.

Well, a lot has happened since last time. I had my last chemo-therapy treatment on Oct 31! Thank God that's over with. I have my next PET scan on Nov 26, but the doctors are 99.9% sure it's going to be clear, seeing as how the last scan was clean. That means the cancer is officially in remission! Although I am very fortunate that it wasn't worse than it was, it wasn't a walk in the park. All that time of being sick, upset stomach, being extremely tired, and the little bit of hair loss. Feels like it's been going on for a lot longer than 6 months. But here I am, getting over the last little bit of nausea and fatigue, and looking forward to getting on with my life. Things sure have changed for me though. I definitely have a different outlook on life, which I think is a standard for almost anyone who has survived cancer. I'll go in to details about that later. But when you hear those words "you have cancer", that's one of the most fearful things there is. And it will change your life, whether you like it or not. Lord knows the millions of thoughts that ran through my head. I was scared beyond anything I'd ever felt before. Sure I've been to Kuwait and Saudi Arabia when I was in the military, but there was always some measure of security and safety in that. But with the cancer, you feel completely helpless. Sure there are good doctors and medicine, but that stuff doesn't always work. It was the first time in my life that I ever felt completely defenseless, and it scared the hell out of me. One of those thoughts was that "this is it. My time is up. I guess I've had a good life. Wish it could have been longer though." But that was one of those thoughts that I HAD to get rid of, or else the cancer would have won. And I eventually did. Now looking back, I know that with the grace of God, I have overcome a tremendous hurdle, and that I DO have more life to live. Now's my chance to really make a difference, really make something meaningful of my life. I'm still trying to figure out the details of it all though. What exactly do I do now? What do I strive for? I know a lot of "good" answers, but not the one that's for me. For now, my new goal is to do a charity bicycle ride for the "LiveStrong" foundation. There's going to be a few charity rides in 2008, and that's what I'm focusing on starting now. I know I have a long ways to go, fitness wise, but my goal right now is to do one of those rides. I'll update everyone on the details when I get a better idea of exactly when and where that will be.

Thank you from the bottom of my heart to all of you who have prayed and supported me through all of this. I know I haven't been in contact with everyone as much as I would like, but please know that I continually think of all of you, and give thanks for you being my friends and providing support. It all really means more than you could imagine. I will make a conscious effort in the next few weeks to get in touch with all of you. God bless every one of you.

Great Test Results

Well, I got the results from the PET scan today. As far as the scan shows, all of the cancer is gone! I couldn't believe it. Not one single spot of cancer, anywhere. But the doctors want me to continue the chemo-therapy to get all of the cancer cells that the scan may not show. Just a "better safe than sorry" type thing. Which is fine with me, I don't want to go through this again. So, thanks to everyone that was saying a prayer for me. Things are going ok, had chemo today, and the nausea is already hitting. It use to take a couple of days, but this time and the last time it hit only a few hours later. The doc gave me a new nausea medicine, so hopefully it works good. I'm just happy the cancer is gone, seems pretty amazing to me that only 3 months ago things were looking not-too-good. Thank God things went/are going as good as they are. Thanks again to everyone that has kept me in you prayers and memories.

Chad

Chemo is boring

Well, it kinda is. The actual process of getting the chemo. All you do is sit there while they inject the chemo in. It doesn't hurt or anything, don't even feel it. The only thing I don't like is the saline flushes they have to do between each drug. For some odd reason, a lot of people taste or smell the saline. I smell it. It's nasty, like getting a big shot of sea water up the nose. But the actual process of chemo is pretty much just sitting there. I have a portable dvd player which helps, but I feel rude when the nurse is doing something, and I'm just sitting there watching my movie. So, I'll pause it and speak to them. Sometimes they talk back, sometimes they don't. Whatever.

It seems like this last chemo, I got sick right away. It usually takes a few days for the nausea to come on, but this time was different. It may be because I didn't eat anything before hand. Who knows. I was suppose to get my PET scan tomorrow, but the machine broke down. Now it's going to be another week until they can get it done. I want to get it done and over with just to see what progress I'm making. I was suppose to have it done last week, but the hospital visit canceled that. O'well, I can be patient for another week.