Ups and Downs...A December to Remember

December 2010...it was the best of times, it was the worst of times. December started off tough for the Behler clan. Laela caught a cold and I was just generally run down from my treatments. Miranda finally got over her pneumonia and that was the good news.

Santa Steve sent me a new (to me) transmission for Wheezy, so now all I have to do is find someone to help me install it to I can continue with some motorcycling adventures this spring.

December 16-19, Dan, Kevin, Tim, and I met up with Isaac at Anthony's house in New York for a four day "Mancation" in the big apple. It's always good to get out of town with the fellas for some bonding time. We did lots of stuff while we we were there, but honestly most of it involved drinking. We went to a bunch of skateshops and record stores. There were trips to different restaurants most notably the New York Ninja. The patrons at the Ninja were totally bummed on us. A bunch of loud obnoxious guys, hellbent on maximizing our Ninja experience did not make for friendly confines. I think that we were REALLY close to being escorted out by the end of our meal. Sight seeing wise, there were only two things that I hadn't gotten to do in July that I had wanted to: see the Ground Zero site and see Time's Square at night. Since Ground Zero is now a giant construction site, there was not a lot to be able to see there other than fences and ads for the Ground Zero memorial. Time's Square at night was absolute mayhem since it was the weekend before Christmas. It was shoulder to shoulder people as far as the eye could see and I couldn't get out of there fast enough. There was also souvenir and Christmas shopping to be had while we were there as well which required two separate trips to Tiffany's on Wall St. Saturday the 18th was our last night there and it was decided that we'd amp up the evening by starting it off with Four Loko. We went to a bodega that is close to Anthony's and bought two 24oz cans a piece. Let me tell you, it was absolutely vile. I finished about 1/4 of one of my cans and I was done. They were terrible. After everyone had their fill of the Four Lokos we ventured out to a bar. It got to be about midnight and I was just too tuckered out. Three days of traipsing through New York had taken it's toll on me and I decided to head back to Anthony's to turn in early about midnight. I'm glad that I did, I needed the rest. The rest of the trip was pretty uneventful and we were back at LaGuardia by 4:00PM on Sunday for our 6:00PM flight.

So we got home and everything seemed alright until Tuesday December 21st. I came down with a raging fever, body chills and was coughing up copious amounts of blood. Laela called the oncologist and he suggested that I go to the emergency room at Riverside. That's exactly what we did. So they admitted me to the hospital with a diagnosis of pneumonia and I ended up staying until the 26th on a steady diet of IV antibiotics. What a lousy way to spend Christmas. I was; however, adamant with the staff that they not rush me out of the hospital just because the calendar said December 25th. I'd have rather been in the hospital on Christmas than have to go be re-admitted because we messed around with the it just to get me home by a certain date.

Laela, Miranda, and I decided to postpone our Christmas gift exchange until I got home so that we could continue our Christmas morning traditions. Laela got me an "Adventure of my choosing to be redeemed prior to June 12, 2011." and Miranda got me an AWESOME Simpson's World Episode Guide Seasons 1-20 book.

Here it is two weeks later and I'm back on my therapy regiment and feeling pretty good. I'm trying to avoid public places and being exposed to children as much as possible just to give myself the benefit of the doubt. Hopefully we'll have some more ups in 2011 than we did in 2010 but as for now, we'll just take it one day at a time.

I hope that you and yours have a happy and prosperous 2011.

Post Thanksgiving Update

The first cycle of the new chemotherapy drug has completed and I have a doctor's appointment later this morning. I've got to say I'm tolerating the Alimta really well. A couple of days of fatigue but no body aches is a huge differece from cycle 4 of carboplaitin/taxol/avastin. My appetite decreased quite a bit during the first two weeks but it wasn't from nausea, it was just that I wasn't ever hungry. I made sure to eat three meals a day but didn't really want any of them.

We hosted a fantastic Thanksgiving celebration this year. We had about thirteen people over and it was really nice. We roasted a turkey, fried a turkey, made mashed potatoes and everyone else brought over side dishes. We also pulled off a big Thanksgiving surprise. Laela's twin brother Nick flew up from Jacksonville, FL for our Thanksgiving celebration. Only Laela, Miranda, Samantha, and me knew that he was coming up so it was a huge surprise for everyone and made an already good get together great.

With all of the friends, family, and coworkers who have come out of the woodwork to support us this year we have a TON of things to be thankful for and it was nice to take some time to reflect on that and acknowledge it. We couldn't be more thankful for everything that everyone has done for us. We're also really thankful for being able to do all of the travelling that we've done this year. It's been awesome being able to visit all of the places we've never been before.

On the bummer front, Miranda had started running a 100 degree fever the day after Thanksgiving. We took her to the doctor on the following Monday and it was decided that it was probably viral. By Wednesday her symptoms had still not broken so we took her to have an x-ray. Lo and behold she was diagnosed with pneumonia. She started feeling better on Friday but being the jerk that I am, I limited her activity all weekend and to day is her first day back to school since Thanksgiving break. Although the circumstances sucked, it was awesome for me to have a whole extra week to hang out with Miranda but I'm really glad things are getting back to normal.

My friends Tim, Kevin, Dan, and Isaac are going to New York December 16-19 to visit our friend Anthony. It's been quite a while since our last "Mancation" which was to Oregon in 2006. It's our first "Mancation" with Dan so we're sure to end up in prison at some point. Good times await.

Pardon the Interruption

To be blunt about it, the second half of October and the first half of November kind of sucked. I started my fourth cycle of chemotherapy on October 18 and by October 20th I was pretty miserable. I experienced fatigue on an order of magnitude that I'd not experienced previously plus I had to contend with the usual body aches. Couple that with the fact that the side effect symptoms which usually go away in a couple of days before my next infusion didn't. On October 25 I went in for my 2nd infusion of the cycle and I hadn't even bounced back from my the 18th's yet. The week of the November 1st was even worse because by the end of the week I had contracted a pretty severe cold/flu. Thursday November 4th I had a fever that was about .5 degrees away from putting me in the hospital and I had a CT scan scheduled for that morning. I decided to go ahead with the CT scan despite me not feeling well.

And now for the bad news. November 8th found us back in the doctors office for the usual pre-cycle doctor's appointment. He also had the results of the previous week's CT scan. Unfortunately the results of the CT scan were not what anyone had hoped for. The tumors that had previously been shrinking had stopped shrinking and in fact a couple of them had started growing again (albeit minuscule growth). There were also new "areas of interest" in the same general vicinity as the largest cluster of the original tumors. The long and the short of it is that the first line chemotherapy drugs have stopped working. To continue their use would be futile. Couple that with the fact that first-line drugs cumulative effect on my overall physical well being had me reduced to watching TV on the sofa for 12 hours a day for the previous 3 weeks. All of this being taken into consideration we opted to go try second line of chemotherapy drug called Alimta (Pemetrexed).

Today is November 15 and I had my first infusion of the new drug regiment. The doctor and nurses have all told me that the new drug is much better tolerated than my old regiment, but only time will tell. Their effectiveness is what is important. Another upside to the new drug is that I only have to have it administered once every 21 days.

My lack of writing has been due to the fact that I did not want my physical state of being to transfer into my posting. I try to be as upbeat as possible but the last three weeks had really put me in a bad place. Now that I've had an extra week off and have started something new, I'm feeling positive and my energy levels seem to be back up. I had noticed that I had started to receive messages from people for not updating in a while, so please pardon the interruption. I certainly wasn't trying to hide it or make anyone worry. I just didn't want the words to come out wrong. I'll try to be a little better about keeping this updated in the future, but I didn't want to come off as "Donny Downer." I always hate being the bearer of bad news, but I'm trying to keep this as honest as possible and wanted to be in a better place before I wrote about it. It is what it is and you can only play the hand that you're dealt. As always, thanks to everyone for their support and here's to turning a new page and starting a new chapter.

Ride On Wrap Up

I really didn't expect my motorcycle trip to end up the way it did. Having the transmission blow out with approximately 900 miles to go wasn't really part of my plan. I was really fortunate that Progressive Insurance's road side assistance covered the tow from Morrison to Tulsa, Oklahoma.

I've had lot's of people ask me if I thought my trip was a failure because it ended up having the bike carted home in the back of a Budget box truck. I answer that question with a resounding no. My only regret is that I didn't get an opportunity to ride through the Ozark mountains on back roads on my way home. The view was still gorgeous from the cab of the truck but it would have been nice to get the full sensory experience of riding Wheezy through them.

Ultimately I thought it was a huge success. I achieved the solitude I was looking for. I had lots of time to think. Overall, the weather was fantastic but even when it was bad I was right out in it and didn't let it deter me. I got to ride 2000 miles of the United States that I'd never seen before and really get a flavor for the states I rode through because I was on back roads. I had to overcome some obstacles on the road with no assistance. I got to visit dear friends and family. It was awesome to be able to go half way across the country and visit them at their homes. The trip was the experience of a lifetime and I was fortunate to be able to do it. I also need to say for the record that my Uncle Dick is the greatest tour guide known to man. We squeezed all of the quality time that we could out of my time in Colorado and I wish I could have spent more time there. It is beautiful country and I was fortunate to have such a fantastic insider to be able to show me around. He and Jan showed me hospitality second to none. Also a big shout out needs to go to Stephen and Nat for putting me up for longer than expected and dragging me around while my bike was in the shop. I don't know what I'd have done if my breakdown hadn't occurred so close to good friends.

I'd say that the worst outcome of the trip was that it did absolutely nothing to quell my wanderlust and may have just made it worse. Within a week of coming back I was already trying to figure out when and where I'd like to go next; although, it doesn't look like that is going to occur any time soon. Wheezy is parked in the garage attached to the Battery Tender and waiting for a decision to be made as to his fate.

Thanks to everyone who took the time to read my musings while I was on the road. A little part of me felt like I got to bring you all with me.

Agony of Defeat

Late afternoon on October 14th continued to bring me bad news from Route 66. At about 4:00PM, after getting Wheezy put back together, the service tech at Route 66 HD was getting ready to test it out. As he moved the bike, he heard a horrible clunk with every revolution of the rear wheel (even before the engine was started). Starting Wheezy is fine as long as the clutch is engaged. As soon as an attempt is made at putting the bike in gear and releasing the clutch it begins to emit horrible chattering, clicking, and grinding sounds. It has been deduced that the transmission is shot, most likely due to the drive shaft being bent. So as far as I can tell, here is the chain reaction of events that has ultimately disabled Wheezy:

1. October 5 - Vibrations start, most likely due to the engine motor mounts breaking off.
2. Engine settles against frame, offset 2-4 inches from where it should be
3. Secondary drive belt now cockeyed and pulling on the rear wheel at an angle rather than in a straight line
4. Uneven torque on rear wheel causes rear wheel bearings to fail
5. Uneven torque on the secondary's drive pulley bends the gradually bends drive shaft resulting in the destruction of transmission

So the long and the short of it is that Route 66 Harley Davidson in Tulsa now wants an additional$750-$1000 to replace the transmission. The general manager, Eric did offer to help me finish my ride back to Ohio by "allowing" me to trade in Wheezy on a new bike. He was willing to give me credit towards the purchase price based on what I'd already put in to it. At this point I explained to him my "situation" and what my ride to Oklahoma was about and that I wasn't going to put my family on the hook for a motorcycle payment that I wouldn't even be able to use into next spring.

At this point, with everything that has gone wrong with the motorcycle, I have lost confidence in it's ability to get me safely home. Even if they were able to fix it free of charge, I'd be dubious about riding it back to Ohio. It looked like I was down to my last option, which was rent a truck, load it up, and drive it home. My motorcycle journey was officially over. So I got online, reserved a 10 foot budget rent-a-truck one way from Tulsa to Columbus for Friday morning, and went on about my business.

Friday morning, Stephen took me to the Budget truck rental location and we picked up my truck. It was only a couple of miles from Route 66 HD. We arrived at the shop and they showed me everything they'd done to it and let me roll it myself so that I could feel the clunk that occurs during the revolution of the rear wheel. Here is a picture of the clip they replaced on the clutch (on the right), the middle pieces are what was left of the right rear wheel bearing, and the bolts on the right are the engine mounting bolts that had to be tapped out of the head.

They have a motorcycle lift available, so we rolled it onto the lift and then put it in the truck. Matt was kind enough to load it in the truck and secure it with the ratchet straps which I had brought on the trip with me. Now that I was loaded up, Stephen and I said our goodbyes because he had to get to the studio for work. I then hopped up into the cab, rolled over to the gas station for some coffee and provisions, and prepared myself for the fourteen hour drive home.

The drive home was long, but it seemed to pass quickly. I made two fuel/food stops and three bio breaks. Aside from that, the truck didn't stop moving from 10:30am central time on Friday until 2:45am eastern time Saturday morning. It was a gorgeous day and even though I was looking out from the window of a truck, the scenery was beautiful. The Ozark Mountains were especially picturesque. My only regret was that I didn't get to take back roads through the Ozarks on Wheezy. Interesting things to note about the drive home: my middle finger got sore from pressing the scan button on the radio so often, I was able to listen to the Yankees/Rangers game on WCBS 880 AM out of New York as long as I wasn't in a metropolitan area, there was a bad ass country music program on NPR around midnight which was all 1930's-1960's country artists, and Ohio is the most boring state to drive through.

The drive Columbus was on pure adrenaline. I just wanted to get home and get on with things. I was so happy to finally be in my driveway once I got there. It had been a really long day. Miranda and Indy were still awake and ready to greet me. It was really nice to see them.