Update Long Overdue

OK, OK. I know it's been way too long since I have updated my blog, and some of you were probably wondering if I was still alive. You can rest assured I am. A lot has happened in the last few months, so this might be a bit long. So let's get started.

In March of this year, we found that my tumor markers continued to rise, and the CT scans showed some tumor growth, albeit slow growing. So I decided to follow the advice of a PMP specialist, and my oncologist to go back on chemo. The chemo I took was called Xeloda, which is taken orally. During the treatments, I took it for 2 weeks on, and had one week off. The main side effect was fatigue. The last few days, I had little to no energy and spent most of the day on the couch watching TV. I decided to start taking it on March 24th, so that the "off" week of the third round would be during our last week of vacation in Israel.

After two rounds, I had a set of tumor markers taken (April 28th), but we didn't get the results until April 30th.The day of the Accident.

For those of you who hadn't heard about that, here's the story. On the morning of April 30th, I was on my way to West Point Military Academy on my Harley Davidson, where I was to meet my boss, and where we were going to get a briefing on how they handle some of the Business Continuity testing. I have a friend who works there, so we were looking forward to seeing how the military would handle emergency situations, and even get a tour of WPMA. It was a few days after I stopped taking chemo, so I wasn't feeling too bad, but I have to admit, I wasn't quite 100%.

When I was about 15 miles away, I came to a "circle" or "round about" for my Aussie and English friends, when I started slowing down. I saw a car in front of me, and kept thinking that it was going to go into the circle. That was my first mistake. When riding a motorcyle, you should always assume the car in front of you is going to do something stupid. By the time I realized the car was stopped, and wasn't going to enter the traffic circle, I was too close to it to stop safely. I hit the brakes, slid, and finally was dumped on the left side. When everything had stopped, I was on the ground with the bike pinning my foot so I couldn't get up. I also realized I wasn't able to use my left arm.

Eventually someone came by, lifted the bike up and helped me up. I went and sat on a traffic gaurd at the side of the road and waited for an ambulance. I realized that I had messed up my arm, but didn't know to what extent. An ambulance took me to a nearby ER, and a state trooper assured me my bike would be towed to a safe location. On the way to the ER I called my boss, who was already at West Point and told him what happened. he quickly met me at the ER.

I eventually found that I had broken and dislocated my elbow and broke my little finger. the put the bone back in place, but because it was broken, it still hurt like the dickens. They put me in a splint, and Roni, who had rented a car and came to get me, took me home. And for those wondering, yes she was upset and also glad that it wasn't any worse.

The next day we went to see an ortapedic surgeon who said he would be able to operate the next day (Friday), which was a blessing because he usually only operates on Monday. So on Friday, we went to Mt. Sinai where he replaced the cap of my radial bone with a titanium cap, and put two pins in my little finger and I went home again with my entire arm in a splint that went from my shoulder to my hand. I had that splint on for two weeks.

The bad part of all of this (besides the broken bones and smashed up bike) was that there was a good chance I might not have been able to go to Israel, and the doctor wouldn't know for sure until a day or two before we were to leave.

Now for the good thing that happened during the day of the accident. We got a call from my oncologist who got the results back from the tumor marker test. After two rounds of chemo, my markers had started to go down. My CEA went from 8.2 to 5.9. Still slightly high, but the drop was significant.

A couple of weeks after the accident, I had the splint removed, and the doctor replaced it with some guaze and an ace bandage for the elbow. He also put a more permanent cast on my hand to keep my finger in place. And although he was slightly hesitant, he did give me the OK to go to Israel for our vacation. What a relief. So the next day we were off to Israel, with my arm in a sling, and a cast on my hand. A week later I was able to take the bandage off my elbow, and even started going without the cast so I could start moving the arm.

We had a great time in Israel, despite my having to take chemo during the first few days of the trip.

Shortly after our return, the hand cast came off, and I started physical therapy to get everything working again. I have been at physical therapy for about 4 weeks now, and have much more use of my arm than I did just a couple of weeks ago. I am expecting to have full use of my arm, but it might take another 3 or 4 weeks. My arm, wrist and fingers still hurt, but that is to be expected.

As for the bike, I have not seen it, but it was towed to a Harley Davidson dealership close to where the accident happened, and it is currently being repaired. Since I wasn't going that fast when the accident happened, I believe most of the damage was cosmetic in nature, and fortunately, the insurance it paying for the majority of the repairs. All I have to do is pay the deductible. I am hoping in another month or so, I will be able to ride it again.

Which brings us to the present.

Two weeks ago, I had another round of tumor markers taken, which was after my 4th round of chemo. We got more good news when the results came back and the CEA had dropped from 5.9 to 5.0. The normal range is 0 - 2.5, but 5 is not horrible, and much better than 8.2. Also the fact that it had dropped that much showed that the chemo was doing its job. My CA 19-9 also dropped from 82 to 79. That marker is still high, but again, the fact that it did not go up, but down was a good sign.

Yesterday I had a CT scan, and in the afternoon we got even more good news. While the scan showed that something was still there, the best part of the report is the line that said, "Comparison was made with a previous examination of December 14th, 2007. There has been no significant interval change." So, I'm not completely out of the woods, but at least it looks like things are under control, and I can take a break from chemo. We will be meeting with my oncologist next week to go over the scan in more detail, but he said he was happy with the results, and that is something that Roni and I are very thankful for.

So, in the last couple of months, we have had some bad things happen, and some good things happen. One thing we have learned is, that's all part of life.

We would like to continue to thank you all for your support and your prayers during this time in our lives. Your love, kindness and caring are all part of what keeps us going and gives me and Roni the courgae to keep fighting.

We are now looking foward to family reunion with my family which will start July 6th, in Wisconsin Dells, WI. My family will be driving from Oregon, while Roni and I will be renting a car and driving from NYC. I'll let you all know how that goes in my next post.

For now, even recovering from a broken elbow and finger, and from the effects of chemo, I feel very blessed to have a beautiful, wonderful wife and all of you in our lives.

Thank you all again.

Kevin