Dedication Ride #2 (Monica)

In keeping with the daily video blogs my coworker, Jeanette, has a sister that was diagnosed with Hodgkin's Lymphoma shortly after I was. Her treatments did not go as smoothly as mine did and she has recently been diagnosed with recurrent disease. She has a tough road ahead of her and today's ride was for her.

Dedication ride #1 (Evan Redden)

Having issues getting motivated to put in the required miles and time in order to get better on the bike. My end game is to purchase a new bike (next year), get up the west side of Snicker's Gap (1000 ft high roughly and this summer) and then ride in a half-century (50 mile ride this summer). After getting some inspiration from Lance Armstrong's Daily Video blogs where he dedicates a ride to someone, I though I would do the same. My dedications aren't specific to cancer survivors or victims, but hopefully by focusing on others and using their fights/heroism/etc, I can find the motivation to make the necessary sacrifices.

One Year Out and Pet Scans are still negative

Thought I would get that info out on the blog, since it has been a while. To those who may have found this, I hope the information is helpful. Posting it was cathartic.

Port issues all done

So my port developed some bleeding and clotting after I had it removed. This had to be removed and then left open to heal :(. So imagine a cigar width hole in you chest about half and inch or more deep open for approximately 2 weeks. Not joking. I had to pack it with gauze twice a day. In lay terms, "packing" involves PUSHING gauze into an open wound on one's chest. Weird feeling for sure. It has been healed now for some time, but the scar is probably a little more hardcore then it would have been.

All for now :)

Im-port-ant news

Man oh man. I am trying to close down this chapter of life, but not so fast. Over 2 1/2 weeks ago I had my port removed. Supposed to be business as usual, but afterward, I ended up getting a hematoma over the area (a big blueish/black golf ball size lump where my port used to be). I first went back to my general surgeon and he "let off" some pressure. He told me it would go away on it's own in a few weeks (WEEKS?). Then, after it "burst" on me, I went back and they removed (NOT FOR THE FAINT OF HEART)....3 raisin-sized clots and a bunch of old blood out of it. They packed it with gauze and gave me instructions for caring for it. After a couple of days, it started getting GREEN and now I go back today to hopefully get it all removed and restitched up.

Moral of the story: Don't take the port removal for granted.

GRRRRRRRRRRRR.

Pet scans all clear

Had my scan yesterday and I got the results today. All clear three months out. I think this is the scan that most people worry about. I get the feeling, the farther out you go, the less it worries you. I can't imagine never worrying about it coming back, but I will take this for sure.

I do want to continue to post information here, because I think it is helpful, but I am trying not to use it as a personal site...mostly because I am boring :)

Here's to more boring...

Back from the Puerto Rico. Had a blast, made some money at the casino and tortured the liver a bit. We missed the kids and spent the entire weekend back taking them all over NoVa. They had a good Easter today and didn't eat too much candy. Check the old lady's blog for more on that.

On my front, I am shooting for my Pet Scan in a couple of weeks and have a follow up Dr.'s Appt shortly thereafter. I'll get the results and pics out as soon as I get them. Here's to Spring getting here finally!