An unexpected phone call.....

I dont know how else to say it this so I'm just gonna come right out with it, but.........I've beaten cancer! I'm a cancer survivor! It was a struggle at times, but its done, its over with and I couldn't be happier!

For those who dont believe in God, listen to this quick story:

So faith has become a more intigral part of my life over the last 6 months. I mean, its always been a part of my life (former altar boy), but over the last 10 years I've really gotten away from it. I now pray almost daily.....location is never an issue. I'll pray before I go to bed, I'll pray during the commercial of a Cavs telecast, I'll even pray in the car. Today was no different, I was on my way to get my "hairz did" this afternoon (Susan, my fam and me have a nice afternoon planned with the Transiberian Orchestra tomorrow....gotta look good). I began my prayer, but this one seemed a little different. There was a TON of emotion behind it, I just kept talking and praying about EVERYTHING....most of all my health. I had my final scans taken yesterday and knew that I wasn't going to hear from my Doctor about the results until Christmas Eve, so I knew I had a good strong week of praying ahead of me. No more than 2 mins after I finished my prayer, my phone rang.......I recognized the number, it was my Doctors office. Usually when I see this number, I freak out. Not this time, there was a sense of calmness in me. Maybe it was the Hospital nutritionist calling to confirm our meeting on Monday, maybe it was my Endocronologist calling to confirm my appt in 2 weeks. Who knows, I've been dealing with so many people from the Hospital it could've been anyone. However, I wasn't expecting to hear my nurse on the other line. The good news came, he said "Mike, I have an early Christmas gift for you......you're all clear, no more cancer". My heart dropped, I was shocked and speechless. For someone who is as longwinded as me, I didn't know what to say except Thank you. I balled my eyes out for the next 20 mins. I called my mom (balled my eyes out), called my dad (balled my eyes out), called my girlfriend (she ignored my call....haha, just kidding babe, she was preoccupied at work), but I was prepared to ball my eyes out to her.

Praise the Lord, I'm healthy again, and I couldn't be happier.

For all the minutes in a day, for all the days in a week....why did my nurse call me RIGHT after one of my most heartfelt prayers? Coincidence? Hell no!

Thanks to EVERYONE for all your incredible support, I wish I could fly around the state/country/world and give you all a hug, handshake, or pat on the butt for all my former baseball teammates (Good game). You all have been my rock, without you guys I dont know where I'd be. I love you all!

Hopefully this is the last ever blog :)

Have a Merry Christmas! Always be thankful for friends, family and just as importantly......your health! Most of us take that for granted a little too often. It can all change in a heartbeat, and if it ever does (god willing it doesn't), please reach out to me. I want to be there for you they way you were there for me!

God Bless!

Hell yes.....I'm done with treatments!

Just a quick post here:

As of 11/18, I'm officially done with cancer treatments! The last 2 weeks have been the roughest I could've ever imagined, but I got through it and now its time to finally relax and take a fresh of breath air! The Dr's aren't going to take a final scan for another month, I still have some radiation flowing through my body. There's also still a bunch of inflammation and scar tissue from all the treatments, so they'd like to let that subside a bit before taking my final scans. Until then, I'm just going to assume the treatments have worked and I'm cancer-free. I know its a strong assumption, but I'm trying to be optimistic here.

Scans will be done on 12/17 and my oncologist set up an appt with her for 12/24 (yes, Christmas Eve) to discuss the results of the scans. That appt COULD be the most incredible gift God could offer......complete remission, I'm hoping and praying thats the case!

In the meantime, I'm slowly going to try and get myself back into my normal lifestyle. I've been waiting 6 months for this, can't wait!

Thanks to all of you for your amazing support through this entire process. I know we're not out of the woods yet, but I can see the clearing and I'm getting antsy!

Happy Thanksgiving!

1.5 weeks of Radiation left

Alright, its 6am on Monday morn and I've had a terrible nights sleep (thats been the theme over the last 1.5 weeks). Went to bed at 11:30, woke up at 1am, 2am, and 430am......been up since. I'm gonna be "realistic" during this entry, so dont get discouraged if I'm not the 100% positive cancer patient you've been used to hearing from.

This radiation process is REALLY starting to get to me, its definately much more difficult than chemo. My throat is completely ripped up from the treatment, its also affecting my lungs. I can barely swallow my own saliva as I cringe every time, I wake up in the middle of the night with my throat feeling like its completely swollen shut, I can't stop coughing and trying to clear my throat. Through this process doctors have been adament about me monitoring my body temperature, anything above 100.4 I need to report to them, especially with all this flu crap flying around. I've been taking my temperature over the last couple days, and unfortunately its been fluctuating from normal to 100, which is starting to raise some concern on my end. I'm going in today for my 16th radiation treatment, I'm going to mention this to the nurses/doctors and see what they recommend.

Its great to think that I only have another 1.5 weeks of this hell. To be accurate, they'll only be radiating my neck another 4 days (thru this Thursday), the last 4 days of treatment will concentrate solely on the active node they found in my chest from my last scan. Unfortunately, the current side effects will last for another 1-2 weeks after treatment has been completed.

In the meantime I'm staying positive, but again it hard to keep a high quality mindset when I can't ever get a good nights rest. If you guys have any suggestions on how to manage this, please let me know, I'll run it by the Dr's to see if they approve. This almost feels like the absolute WORST case of strep throat you could imagine.......throw in a chest cold and about 4 mouth sores. Oh yea, the salivary glands in my neck are completely disintegrated, so my mouth is dry as hell too. The list just keeps going and going........

Hope everyone is doing well and getting ready for the Holidays. I'm hoping I'll get a clean bill of health before Thanksgiving!

Fundraiser & Radiation

Sorry, I've been meaning to get back to the blog, my bad to those who check this from time to time. Just a quick catch up:

First and foremost, thank you so much to those who were able to either attend the fundraiser and/or make a generous donation. The fundraiser was a complete success!!! We were anticipating 200-220 people show, I was stunned to hear that 450 were in attendance, so much more than we could've asked for. I had an absolutely amazing time, but gotta say I was exhausted half way through. I lost my voice and actually ran to the bathroom to chill out and get away from all the madness from time to time! The manager told us that this was the biggest fundraiser they had ever had at the Blind Pig aside from a fundraiser that was put together a few years back; it was a day long event. So again, thanks to all those who came out to support. It couldn't have been done without all my close family and friends, and a special thanks to my girlfriend Susan :)

Now, back to the serious stuff. I began radiation last Monday 10/19. The week prior I went in to get myself fitted for my radiation mask. I laid down on the radiation table, the techs then proceeded to put some type of slime on my face, they spread it out over my neck and part of my chest, it was actually kind of cool, felt like I was on Nickelodeons "You can't do that on TV". The slime hardened over about a 5 min span to turn into a mold of my face. I was thinking, "hey, this is kind of cool, I got my Halloween costume (it kind of looks like a Hockey mask, like Jason from Friday the 13th). All was good, until they bolted the mask (with my face in it) down to the table. Talk about claustrophobia, never thought I had it until that moment. Wow, I was freakin out. The techs have to do it this way because any slight movement during radiation will throw off the entire treatment. I'm thinking there's NO way I'm going to be able to do this every day for 23 treatments! Luckily, each treatment only takes about 5 mins and I've gotten used to the mask now, so no worries these days!

I'm about 25% done with radiation, but I'm already starting to feel the side effects. Sore throat, slight difficulty swallowing, and the worst is probably the indigestion....all were expected. I can also expect fatigue, but that hasn't kicked in yet.

So, where's that leave us? Well, according to the Doctors, this radiation should take care of all the residual disease left on my neck and chest. If all goes well, 11/19 should be my last day of treatment!!!!! I'm prayin hard

Finally, I'm going to try and upload some pics of the radiation process, hopefully this works!

NO MORE CHEMO!

Yep, you heard right, I'm done with chemo! Had a follow up appt with my oncologist today and she told me that I've concluded my chemo treatments. I got the results back from the biopsy done this past Monday, and I'm excited to say they came back negative! Yes Yes, it sounds all fine and dandy, but these results aren't 100% accurate. The biopsy that was done was a fine needle aspiration, and similar to the needle aspiration originally done on my neck back in April, that came back negative too. If you can recall, it wasn't until the full removal of the nodes in my neck did the doctors confirm it to be positive for Hodgkins. Sooooooooo, what I'm trying to say is that its still possible that the node in my chest is still cancerous.

So, whats the next step? Well, for the time being I'm just soaking up the good news, its been awhile since I've gotten any!

My oncologist mentioned I have 2 options:

Option #1) We can head straight into radiation. 20 years ago Hodgkins was treated solely with radiation and the cure rate was pretty good with that plan of attack, so radiation to this node will hopefully knock it completely into remission. PET scan will be taken afterwards to hopefully confirm no cancer. However, IF radiation doesn't work and PET scan still comes back positive, I'll need to have another biopsy done, this time removing the ENTIRE node to figure out why its resulting in positive form on the scan. This procedure is called VATS (http://www.rush.edu/rumc/page-1160429783340.html). The problem in doing this procedure AFTER radiation - there will be A LOT of scar tissue from chemo and radiation, this will probably make it very difficult for my surgeon to grab the lymphnode from my chest, maybe even impossible. Another negative to this procudure is that again, they'll have to collapse my lung, so recovery will be a little tougher and will require at least one nights stay in the hospital.

Option #2) We can go right back to the Operating Room and have the surgeon do the VATS procedure ASAP. In doing this, we will get a definite diagnosis from the biopsy on the lymphnode and it will probably be much easier for the surgeon to get to the node. Whether the biopsy comes back positive or negative, radiation will be required.

So my next plan of action is to call my Thoracic surgeon and get an idea on what he's comfortable with, I'll be doing this tomorrow. In the meantime - physically, emotionally, mentally I feel great, its nice not having such a burden on my shoulders like I did this morning. My blood pressure reading prior to the oncologist meeting with me was 145/90.....for those with BP issues, you know thats not great! I was nervous as hell!!!!

Anyway, Im really looking forward to the fundraiser, I can finally "let my hair down" (though its not much) and enjoy a few beers with family and friends. If you plan on coming and have any questions, please dont hesitate to reach out ot me.

2nd round of scans

Lots to catch up with, so here goes:

Ok, I've been holding off on this post because I was hoping that it would be a little bit more positive, but it is what it is. I had my 2nd set of scans administered on 9/17. They did the typical CT scan and PET scan, along with a mugascan (heart test) and pulmonary test (lung capacity test). The 2 latter test are taken to make sure my body continues to handle the chemo well. Those 2 came back great! Unfortunately, the PET scan wasn't as positive. The good news: all of the cancer found in my neck and middle of my chest is gone! The bad news: there's a spot just under my right collar bone that continues to show up positive on the PET scan. This is not a new enlarged lymphnode; this has been there since my original diagnosis. Unfortunately, its not reacting to the current chemo treatment. Oncologist isn't sure if its Hodgkins disease or just an area thats coming up active on the scan for another reason. Aside from the cancer, she mentioned it could be an infection, a false positive from the scan, or something else...... Needless to say that when I got this news, I was a bit devastated. Most people (with 2A Hodgkins after 8 rounds of chemo) are typically cancer free, they just need to finish out the final 4 chemo treatments, then on to radiation.

So, where do we go from here you might ask? Well, my oncologist set up an appointment for me to meet with a Thoracic surgeon (which occured last Tuesday 9/22). We scheduled another biopsy which took place just yesterday (Monday 9/28) to have part of that lymphnode removed. I'm recovering at home right now, feeling pretty good, just a sore neck, feels like I just got off the Mean Streak at Cedar Point (that ride's waaaayy too bumpy!). Along with the biopsy, the doctors also did a bronchioscopy (I believe is how its spelled), just to make sure the cancer hasn't spread. From what I've been told, we're all clear there. Unfortunately I didn't get a chance to speak with the Thoracic surgeon post-op, but my parents did. He made a cut into the base of my neck (where the neck meets the chest) and navigated his way through my uppper chest to the lymphnode just under my right collar bone. It was tough for him to get a sufficient piece of the node due to all the scar tissue from the dead Hodgkins cells, but he got something. Hopefully its good enough to make a diagnosis. If not, then we gotta do it all over again :(. Next time they'll actually have to make a couple incisions under my right armpit and will then need to collapse a freakin lung to get to the node to have the entire thing removed.

Honestly, I'm not sure where we stand. Obviously I hope that the surgeon got more than enough of the lymphnode to make a diagnosis and I'm praying like crazy that it comes back negative for Hodgkins. However, if it does come back positive, the Oncologist will need to make some changes in my chemo, then head into radiation. Hopefully that does the trick!!

I've been doing great through all of this treatment, part of me actually felt that it was going TOO good, like there had to be a setback somewhere. Well, this is it, and I'm hoping thats all this is, just a minor set back. For those of you who might be praying out there, I'll need them the most in the next couple days. I have an appointment with my Oncologist this Thursday and she should have the results. I'll keep you all posted, thanks for checking in!

Oh yea, and hopefully I get to see most, if not all of you, at the fundraiser this weekend!

Appt with Radiologist

Hope all is well with everyone! Last Wednesday I had my first appointment (or consultation) with my soon to be Radiology Oncologist. Real cool guy, about 60 years old and a huge OSU football fan.....that took a bit of the edge off!

We discussed some of the very simple things of Radiation (short/long term side effects, how long each radiation session takes, etc....). A lot of the side effects are similar to my chemotherapy, its really the long term side effects that I need to be concerned with. Those are mainly another malignancy and possible lung problems, but the radiologist said that these dont typically arise for another 15-25 years later and the chances are still slim (about 10%).

One thing that really threw me off is that radiation is going to be administered EVERY DAY for 3-4 weeks. The sessions will only take about 30 mins, but the frequency is still a little suprising. Radiation is used on every part of my body where the lymph nodes were cancerous.....for me that means neck and chest.

Radiation will begin about 4 weeks after my last chemo treatment, so the sooner I can get done with chemo the quicker I can get myself into radiation.

I'm heading back into the Cancer Center this Thursday for my 8th treatment. I'll have scans done next Thursday to see how I'm coming along.....fingers crossed!

One final thing......most of you are aware, but some may not be. My beautiful girlfriend, wonderful mom, a number of my family members and a few of my very good friends are organizing a fundraising event. I've included a link to the Evite below, please take a minute to read. It would be great to see you all there, if possible!

http://www.evite.com/pages/invite/viewInvite.jsp?inviteId=GRRVCAEPTSXUYJRWEHLC&li=iq&src=email&trk=aei6

Catching up

Wow, think its been almost 4 weeks since I last posted, sorry about that, got a lot goin on!

Just to catch everyone up to speed. I'm officially over 50% done with treatments. Scans were taken 3-4 weeks ago to check on my improvement. Doctor told me that all signs of cancer in my neck have completely disappeared, thats great news! I still have cancerous cells in my chest, but those have condensed.

My last treatment was the roughest of the first six. Not sure if it was due to a new nurse administering the chemo, but I had to battle a bout of dry heaves after the first few chemicals were pumped into my system. Its just a really weird feeling not only seeing these drugs being "pushed" into my body, but also feeling it......thats what really creeps me out. And the first drug looks EXACTLY like Fruit Punch Gatorade, yea I've completely cut that out of my hydration schedule for the near short term.

My attitude is still strong and positive, trying to laugh and have as much fun as possible through this. Had a great time at Mitch's bachelor party a few weeks back, then just as much fun this past weekend at his wedding (which turned out great!). Didn't realize how much fun being sober around as many drunks as I was can truly be, haha......thanks for the entertainment guys! For those of you who haven't seen, I decided to trim the hairs on my head. I feel like Andre Agassi with a bald head and HUGE black eyebrows, its a good look, so I've been told! My Susan is so much hotter than his Steffi Graf though, I must pull the look off better.

Treatment #7 is just 3 days away, wish me luck!

Scans & Results

Last week (Thursday) I went in for my first set of scans. My oncologist schedules these scans after every 2 months of chemo to see how the treatments are affecting the cancerous cells. The scans took probably a matter of 3-4 hours. I took both a PET scan and a CT scan. Again, the PET scan consists of a glucose matter injected into my system which then travels the the cancerous areas of my body and are highlighted on the scan. The CT scan is just a quick process that detects enlarged or swollen areas of the body.

Didn't think I was going to get results back until my next round of treatments when I meet with my Oncologist, but I received a call from my Doctors nurse the following day (Friday) with results. I was told that both scans showed "significant improvement" on the nodes in my chest!!! They also showed no signs of cancer or swollen nodes in the neck!! Now, personally I have a feeling the nurse may have misinterpreted the results because I can't believe that the nodes in my neck are gone already, I'll make sure to verify this when I meet with Dr Kindwall-Keller this Thursday. Either way, it was a great relief. I catch myself continually asking "is this working?" Its just great to know that the rough days are worth it

Hope everyone's enjoying the summer so far!

4th Treatment and CTCA

Had treatment #4 today, actually went smoother than those in the past, no real hold ups. Susan and I were out of there in exactly 3 hours! Thanks for comin along hun! Nothing but old people at the clinic today, kinda sucked, but thats how it goes sometimes.

No new news up to this point, I have a few scans set up for next Thursday (7/23). 2 weeks from today (7/30) we should have an idea of the hopeful progress. I'll obviously keep you all posted.

Think I had my first real bout with "fatigue" this past Friday and wow, it was not fun. 7 days after treatments is when my cell counts will be the lowest (meaning I'm more prone to infection and fatigue), last Friday being the 8th day post treatment. I met up with a few former co-workers (Ern and Rini), had just a couple drinks, came home and went to bed. I woke up at 2am and COULD NOT MOVE MY BODY, it was actually kind of scary. My bro was out and about and Susan was in NY, so I had my mommy come over and take care of me :)......Thanks Mom!! Doctor has been tellin me everyone reacts differently and you'll learn your limitations. Ha, tell ya this much, no more alcohol for this guy, not fun!!! Doc did give me the "go" to play golf though, so after recouperating from Friday night I got out to the course with a few of the guys on Sunday.....it was great finally being somewhat active again! Takin sports from me is like taking losing from Cleveland teams......its almost like a loss of identity!!!!!!!! Hahaha

One final thing I want to make you all aware of. I was watching the Price is Right the other day (honestly, the best part about being sick is being able to watch this show) and a commercial came on about Cancer Treatment Centers of America, (http://www.cancercenter.com/). It peaked my interest so I checked it out.......I was thoroughly impressed!!! If things dont go the way I hope them to at University Hospitals, I'm seriously going to consider heading to one of CTCA's facilities (closest one is in Chicago). Nice part about them is that they will take care of travel arrangements; no airfare costs!!! They also offer different types of consultation like nutrition therapy, naturopathic medicine (no clue what that is, but sounds important), mind-body medicine and spirtual support. I spoke with a representative and he was the coolest, most understanding customer service rep I've ever been in contact with. He's not even a Doctor and he only wanted what was best for me, I was impressed!!! Someone like myself is lucky to be in this region of the country with UH and Cleveland Clinic, but if you or a loved one are in a region where medicine may not be as highly regarded and have been stricken with this setback, PLEASE check out CTCA. They have a handful of facilities throughout the entire nation.

Alright, I just found out today I have the MLB package free on my cable setup, so I'm gonna be a complete recluse for awhile and watch some baseball. Hope everyone has a great weekend!!

25%!

Just thought about this, but I'm 1/4 of the way done with my chemo treatments, pretty sweet to think about in that sense. Had round #3 yesterday afternoon, unfortunately things got off to a slow start. There was a minor set back with my port and it not allowing blood to flow so they could test it prior to administering chemo. No worries, they shot me up with some more random stuff (sorry I can't remember the names of everything they put in my body, too many to remember, too technical of names anyway!). Oncologist said the nodes should be starting to decrease in size, she felt my neck and mentioned that if felt "softer"......which is certainly a positive! The nurses were awesome yesterday, like usual. I made another 2 friends while in treatment.......a 45 yr-old Oberlin college professor with Non-Hodgkins, and a 75-yr old lady whose had Hodgkins for 2.5 years. Kind of a sad story with her because she has the same type disease I have, but its not supposed to affect old people. Its been a pretty rough go for her, but she's a little fireball, gotta love her for havin such a positive attidue! Her middle-aged daughter called me cute too.....I told her she's welcome back to visit anytime! Haha

Just a quick random story from last weekend too. I was at a Big Fat Greek Wedding downtown, it was just my family invited (no Susan...sorry babe, you know I missed ya). Anyway, I walked over to my table and sat down next to a kid who was completely unfamiliar to me. We got to chatting, he's an Engineer (I recruit Engineers). He's a huge basketball player (I love basketball). He's looking to move to the westside (I'm a westsider for life). And the kicker......he had Hodgkins in 2008!!!! What the hell are the chances, honestly!!!??? Only 8,000 people were diagnosed with this last year, there's less than a .05% chance of me running into another Hodgkins patient!!! He had the same biopsy on his neck and he was on the same chemo treatments I'm currently on. You shoulda seen me, I was as giddy as a Greek in a pastry store. Anyway, I made a new friend and he's healthy as can be. Oh yea, he's 6'6'' and played basketball at Cleveland Hts Highschool......so yea, I recruited him for our bball team, priorities priorities priorities!!!

Also, biopsy on my Thyroid came back negative too, so no cancer there, nice-a!

So right now, I'm just chill-axin (heard that term the other day, thought Id throw that in here). I picked up the guitar for the first time yesterday, think my fingers are too fat, I can't even strum the easiest of chords, ha! Treatments haven't been too bad just yet, hairs are still in tact (somewhat). Susan mentioned my arms are getting big, I assume thats the steroids kickin in. Cool with me, just wish I knew about these back in HS! Hiram College baseball, please......I woulda gone big time baby, you'd see me at the Jake (or Progressive field) every night. Grady's Ladies? Ha, more like Diamond's Dame's!

Alright, I'm out! Got 3 treatments in July, after those I'll officially be halfway through with this crap, wish me luck!! Happy 4th of July to everyone, have a beer for me!!

Round 2

Treatment #2 went really well today. Had a great friend, Mitchell Mann (who most of you probably know), pick me up at 8am. We got to the Ireland Center around 830 and treatments started around 930ish. Honestly, we laughed probably more than we should've in a room where other people were receiving chemo, but it definately didn't feel like I was a patient. Mitch, can't thank you enough bro! We took a sports trivia book to pass the time....Mitch was inferior to me on any ball field (now that I think about it, all of you were, hahahah, JUST KIDDING!). Sorry bud, things aren't any different when it comes to sports knowledge. Thats alright, you make me feel good in down times, thats what friends are for!

*Picture included of the mediport

So, quick catch up, I had ANOTHER biopsy done yesterday (its never ending). Doctors found a couple nodules on my thyroid from a SCAN done 2 weeks ago, both Endocronologist and Oncologist said its completely unrelated to the Lymphoma. Right now this doesn't raise too much concern, thyroid issues run in the family, some of my family members dont even have the body part anymore. We're just doing this for precautionary purposes, keep your fingers crossed. As I've said before, I got enough goin on right now!!

At home right now, waiting for the effects to kick in watchin some Grandma's Boy. After tellin the doctors my reactions to the first round were minimal (aside from the mouth sores), they were pretty shocked. Blood cell count is still normal, but they should be fallin soon. Now begins the "Monk" stage of my life.....consistently washing hands, using hand sanitizers, and wearing those hospital masks around.

Oh yea, on a side note, and Jay I hope you dont mind. Today I get a call from one of my strong crutches throughout this process. Old friend from college, Jay, was diagnosed with Hodgkins about 3 years ago. He beat this bad boy in a matter of 6 months and has been healthy for the last 2 years. Well, as I'm receiving the red drug (yea, orange pee producer), he calls me out of the blue to tell me his radiologist thinks his Lymphoma has come back. For those of you who may know Jay, should you decide to pray, please keep him in mind. Should he need treatment, he and I will be like "chemo kin". He's a strong SOB, I'm gonna need him through this.

Final thing, did stop up at the Greek Fest today, had to get me one of them infamous Gyrrrros!! Not sure how much longer I'm gonna have my taste buds, gotta utilize 'em while I got 'em!

Hope I didnt bore too much this time, have a great Father's Day weekend!

Port Installation & 1st round of chemo

Last Monday I spent the morning in the OR having a mediport (or port) surgically placed into my chest. The port is used to administer the chemo, instead of having IV's shoved into my arms and completely destroying my veins. Last thing I need are my arms to look vericose like my old mans legs, pretty gross (still love ya though dad)! Procedure went well, was in and out before noon. Took a couple days for me to get used to an implantable device just sitting in my chest, especially when its completely noticeable! Doctor totally downplayed this piece of the process, but I have bigger concerns on my hands.

Had my first round of chemotherapy last Thursday 6/4. It was really weird seeing all those chemicals being pumped into my body. My dad went with me, we were at the Ireland Cancer Center (man, still weird saying the C word) for almost 5 hours! Thankfully the rest of my chemo treatments are only gonna last 2-2.5 hrs. The first chemical the nurse "pumped" into me was a red liquid called adriamycin. Not 20 mins passed after this was completed that I needed to run to the bathroom and "relieve" myself. Yea, my pee was orange! Kinda freaked me out, but they told me that was gonna happen......so I stared at it with complete awe; it had my 100% undivided attention for a good 2 mins (gimme a break, it was kinda cool).

So, 5 days have passed since my first treatment, and aside from some minor fatigue I've held up fairly well! I've been into work, taken a few walks, eaten everything in sight and even swore up a storm at the Cavs and Indians (healthy or not, that'll never change). Doctor told me that everyone reacts differenlty to chemo. Sometimes the effects begin immediately, other times it might have a delayed effect and for some people it never really hits them; I'm pullin for the latter.

Stay tuned, next treatment is 6/18. I'll try to start gettin some pics up too, I'm sure all of you are just as anxious as I am to see what I'll look like with no hair. Someone call Guiness Book of World records because I guarantee there wont be another Greek with as little hair as me on the entire globe (well aside from Stevie Giallourakis).

Bone Marrow Results and ...............

Ok, I'm gonna make this post short and sweet. Heard back from the doctor earlier this week regarding the Bone Marrow results.........it came back negative. hallelluljah, thank tha lawd! Doctor said my bone marrow looked "clean as a whistle"!

So, we go from one interesting experience (bone marrow biopsy) to another........my first visit to the Sperm Bank, or as immature children like myself tend to call it, the "Spank Bank". (Yea, most of you dudes are on the same page with me too, we're all children at heart!). You might be asking why I need to go to the "bank".......during chemo treatments, there's a strong chance that my boys might lose their potency. If I plan to keep the Diamond tradition alive and well, this is what I gotta do. I promise, I'm not gonna get descriptive. However, it was a real awkward environment with a lot of awkward "material". Needless to say, I got what I needed to get done, and those bad boys are frozen until its time to reproduce.

Oh yea, I'm actually heading back there this afternoon.......I can't get enough!! Hahaha, no, in all seriousness though, they recommend patients go a max of 3 times. I'm heading out to Relay of Life in Westlake later on to support Stevie Giallourakis and all the other cancer patients, survivors and supporters. Please, dont be shy, would love to see you guys there.

Later.

First visit to Oncologist....AND THE WORST PAIN OF MY LIFE!

Had my first appointment with the Oncologist (Dr Kindwall-Keller) on Tuesday 5/19. Very sweet lady, obviously seems to be very knowledgeable. She told me that based upon my PET Scan and CAT Scan that she only sees cancerous lymph nodes above the sternum, which is what we were hoping for. There are a few on the left side of my neck (where the biopsy was taken), a few in the front part of my neck and a few in my chest. Because all the cancer is above the sternum and my Hodgkins symptoms are very minor right now, Dr. Kindwall Keller has staged my cancer at 2A. She did however still need to take a bone marrow biopsy to make sure that hasn't been affected....she told me based upon how Hodgkins travels, my symptoms and my blood cell count, there's less than a 1% chance of my bone marrow being affected. She needed to do it because its standard procedure, and she mentioned some technical stuff about stem cell for future reference if needed. Still, I'm prayin daily that these tests come back negative!

It was now time for the bone marrow biopsy, I had heard that this wasn't the most pleasant procedure in the world, but wasn't expecting what was to come! Susan mentioned that she wanted to be in the room with me.......needless to say, I had my doubts about how she was going to handle it! First step - Dr gave me valium (this was the first time I ever took this drug.....psh, it sucked! No effect whatsoever!). Second step - she applied a local anaesthetic (talk about a complete waste). Mind you, I was laying on my stomach so she could inject the "needle" into the lower part of my back, just above my butt. Third step - "needle" injection. Yea right, the needle was more like an industrial corkscrew....felt like an elephant was sitting on my back pounding his foot into my back. During this process the Dr told me "Mike you have some of the strongest bones I've ever seen". Thanks Doc, so this means you can't get into my bone to get the marrow......I thought this was never gonna happen. She eventually got in and literally sucked out the marrow (weirdest feeling ever).

Oh yea, can't forget to mention that as all this was going on, my dear, sweet girlfriend was holding my hand and rubbing my head to try and relax and comfort me (while not looking at the procedure). Halfway through this process I hear Susan say "um, I dont feel well". The Doc then says, "sweetheart, you're as white as a ghost". I'm thinking, "great, my girlfriends gonna pass out on me!" She almost did, luckily the Dr assistant grabbed a chair for Susan to sit in. Now its me, with this damn "corkscrew" in my back, rubbing my girlfriends head asking if she's OK! Atleast it brought some light to the situation!

Reassurance

After learning about my diagnosis, the doctor immediately supplied some reassurance. First he mentioned that this form of cancer is actually very common in males between 18-35 years old. Secondly, he mentioned that not only is this disease very treatable, but is also the most CURABLE behind testicular cancer.


I left work immediately, made a few important phone calls and quickly remembered a very brief email conversation with a friend from college three months earlier. Jay Ensminger (some of you Hiram alum may remember this frizzy-haired saxophonist/baseball player/amateur philosopher.......what a hell of a combo) had informed me that he was diagnosed with the same disease a couple years back. We exchanged another couple emails and I had the good fortune of actually speaking with him that day. I know the days ahead are going to be tough but Jay eased a lot of tension running through my mind. I can't thank you enough Jay-- thanks so much!


I also had the plessure of talking to a good family/church friend who was diagnosed with cancer three years ago at the age of 16. Seriously, this kid is only 19 years old now, but he's the toughest SOB I've ever meet. He's beaten cancer twice already, had a bone marrow transplant and his attitude now is just as strong, if not stronger than it was 5 years ago. Stevie Giallourakis, you truly are an inspiration my man.....keep goin' strong, I'm right there with ya bud. Talk about reassurance....not one negative term/phrase/sentence came out of his mouth when we spoke! I mean, our society was basically predicated on the strength and knowledge of the Greek culture (haha), Steve is just following in his/our ancestors footsteps.

What the hell is that thing?

(Sometime in February)



Some of you know the story, most of you probably dont....so let me just quickly give you a recap as to how all of this went down. And before I forget, trust me, if you notice ANYTHING weird on yourself (lump, mole, long-term aches, etc...) talk to a Doctor!!! Yea, my bro busts my balls cause I whine about every little ache/pain, but it paid off this time.

From late February - So...I'm at work, in the bathroom (go figure) admiring my fine self in the mirror as I'm washing my hands. As I turn my head to the right to make sure all my hairs are nicely placed, I notice a lump on left side of my neck. Thought nothin' of it at the time, figured it was just a cist. If it weren't for a follow up Doctor's appointment I had later in the week, honestly, this would've gone untreated. I show up to my Dr's appt, do the normal thing.....ya know, voluntary hernia checks (cough, cough), haha. Right at the end of the appt I have my Dr check my neck. He quickly prescribes an antibiotic and sends me on my way.

10 days go by and the antibiotic Rx has been completed. I noticed the swelling in my neck had gone down, but not completely. I call my doctor, tell him the situation.....he then orders that I see an ENT specialist. The next week I meet with Dr. Rezzae (definately an ENT specialist I recommend) who informs me that this is a swollen lymph node.....he then simply mentions the term Lymphoma (at this point, I've already soiled my jeans and can feel the sweat pouring from my armpits - not good for a Greek male, or female for that matter!.....sorry mom, aunt sandy, aunt helen, sof, stacie, etc....). Dr Rezzae orders a CAT scan as I leave. I soon rush to my car, get on the phone with my mom and cried like I used to when mom took me grocery shopping as a kid (seriously mom, those Saturday mornings were torture).....I truly thought I had cancer at that point, but I always over analyze, so there was still hope.

A week goes by, the CAT scan is done, I've rescheduled another appt with Dr Rezzae to review the results. I make my way to his office Downtown, we discuss the CAT scan to where he informs me that I have a few lymph nodes swollen in the neck, and one in the chest (which was larger than those in the neck). This was cause for concern, so he administered a Fine Needle Aspiration to extract some cells from the lymph node in my neck. Waiting for those results was undoubtly the longest week of my life......everytime that phone rang I felt like it was my "Seven Days" call from the movie "The Ring". Lone behold, the results came back NEGATIVE.......oh, what a huge weight off my shoulders. "However", the doctor says, "since we found another node in your chest....we'll need to take a full biopsy on the nodes in your neck". I'm thinking "Oh, come on man....are you serious? Get me outta this mess! When does it end?"

The following Monday was the date of my full biopsy. I was actually pretty calm, especially for the first time for me being admitted into a Hospital. Woke up at 445am for the first surgery of the day, wasn't admitted until 645, hit the OR at 715 and I guess the procedure started at 8am and took roughly an hour. Tell ya this much, I thought I woulda been able to fight off the anesthetic......I mean, I've always been able to control myself under other types of drugs (just kidding mom), but seriously, I was AMAZED how quickly that put me out! I woke up to a random nurse playin with my neck in post-op. I was rolled to a new area in post-op and was taken care of by Rose Bushko......a middle aged nurse who graduated from St Joes, currently lives in Westlake and has no kids (I think the drugs turned me into McCann......I had the need to make random small talk with random people. Well, I'm sure she was amused).

Again, I needed to play the waiting game.......I wasn't going to hear back from the Doc until Friday with "real" results, so I now had a new Longest Week of my life. Friday morning came, I heard from the Dr just after my training meeting at work and frankly I could tell in his voice right off the bat that this wasn't going to be a good call. Lone behold, the Ms Cleo in me took over......Doc told me the lymph nodes he extracted had tested positive for Hodgkins Lymphoma.

Needless to say, I was in shock. However, through this entire process I was preparing for the worst, so I wasn't completely suprised. It didnt really hit me until I got off the phone with my Doctor, called my mom and told her "Mom, I have cancer". Talk about a reality check! 28 yr olds in the prime of their life aren't supposed to have CANCER!