May 2012 Update

May 11, 2012 - It's been a pretty action packed 2012 so far.  I've had a lot of stuff happen in the first half of the year.  The first week of February, I visited my uncle in Boulder, Colorado.  I had an amazing time.  We went snowmobiling twice, took a trip to Vail, I got to enjoy a huge snowstorm while I was there, and I ate like a king the whole time.  My uncle Dick is an amazing host and always has great things planned for us to do.  If you are ever in Idaho Springs, CO you must check out Flipper McGill's Pinball Parlor and have a pie at Beau Jo's Pizza.

February also had Miranda getting her Ohio Temporary Instruction Permit Card.  Nothing makes you feel old quite like your child getting their first driver's license.  She's doing a great job driving so far.  Miranda also played softball for the Bishop Watterson Junior Varsity team.  I can't believe the season is over already.  She improved all season and had a couple of breakout games during tournament play.  Her bat got really hot, once my mom visited to watch her play ball.  The team ended up with an even 9 and 9 record for the year.

Little miss Laela celebrated her 40th birthday on March 23rd.  We got a crew of her closest friends together to meet at the party room of the local AMC theater.  We had a fantastic mockingjay themed birthday cake provided by Sauer Cakes and then we all watched the film The Hunger Games.  It happened to be the opening weekend for the movie and that was all that Laela had said she wanted to do.

In April we visited Nick and Sam in Jacksonville Beach for spring break.  That's two years in a row now, only Laela was able to go this time.  We drove down and we split the driving duties between the three of us.  Actually on the way to Jacksonville Miranda drove 450 of the 900 miles.  We took the scenic route by driving half of the Blue Ridge Parkway.  The BRP is a motorcycle trip that I wanted to do but don't think I'll get a chance to, so I talked Laela and Miranda into driving half of it so that I could see it.  I got the idea after riding on the Natchez Trace Parkway in November on my way back from New Orleans.  The BRP is a beautiful scenic drive and I was glad to get a chance to do it.  While we were in Jacksonville, we did the usual:  we went to the beach, rode bicycles, saw a Jacksonville Suns game, some mini-golf/batting cages, had great food and were able to have a nice visit with Nick and Sam.


On the health front, I had a bout with pneumonia in March that was pretty gnarly.  It kept me out of commission for about two weeks.  Since the beginning of the year, that had been the only bad news regarding my lungs.  That lucky streak came to and end last Tuesday when I visited the oncologist.  I had had a CT scan the previous Friday and it showed that the tumors are growing again.  It was only a matter of time until that happened, but as always I was hoping I'd get that bad news on the next visit.  I'm always hoping for my bad news on the next visit.  We discussed treatment options (which really haven't changed since I was first diagnosed with the cancer). Here are they are:


- Go back on a previously tried chemotherapy
- Try a new chemotherapy
- Try a drug that isn't chemotherapy designed cell mutation for which I tested negative but a few patients respond to
- Do nothing


I am electing the do nothing option.  I've tried three different chemotherapy treatments and they've all ultimately made me awful and whose efficacy eventually ceased. We know there will be unpleasant side effects from the chemo that will limit my activity.  I would prefer to carry on as I am and be able to live as normal of a life as possible for as long as I can.  I don't want to artificially make myself sick or more susceptible to other bugs.


All of this boils down to the question of quality of life.  I'm not going to get a better quality of life outcome by going on any of these treatments.  The disease is going to get me at some point there's nothing that can be done about that.  What I can control is how my time is spent between now and then and I'm opting for (please excuse my hyperbole) a less miserable existence.


For the most part I'm still not feeling terrible.  My cough gets a little worse and I can progressively do fewer things but it's a slow progression.  Whatever happens, it's just a matter of taking each day as it comes and try to do my best with it.