Birthday Presents

Everybody loves birthday presents. Kyle says his favorites have been the archery equipment (bow and arrows, quiver, arm guards, etc) and also his BB/Pellet gun. And of course his fishing pole. Josh always likes his baseball stuff; gloves, bats, etc. One of Dani's favorites was the BYU Basketball Camp she went to (which she won MVP at). Alexis favorite 'present' was actually her b-day party this past year. Marleigh remembers the ice skates. It's hard for me to remember all my previous birthday presents.I remember bikes and watches and things like that.
Well, tomorrow is my birthday and I'm spending it at DHMC. This is my Re-Staging day, the day we determine where my cancer is at. Last time we did this the news was good, very good. We determined that it was in remission. Unfortunately it came back very quickly. My medical team made some adjustments to my Chemo regime; putting me on Thalydomide and taking me off Revlimid. They also made adjustments my Velcade. And of course, they added Cytoxin to the list Chemo medication; this is the nasty bugger that took my hair, made me neutrapenic, wacked out my blood counts. However, the cancer had wacked out white, red, and platelets, as the bone marrow was compromised, and could not produce the blood cells it normally did. The Thalydomide had side effects that were hurting more than helping, so I'm back on Revlimid. So I'm not sure what to expect this time. I think it'll be remission again, we'll see. Either way, I will take all the results with me to Dana Farber Cancer Center in Boston on the 10th to meet with Dr. Richardson, who is a Myeloma only Oncologist. Then we'll go from there. We don't know what he will recommend, but we are assuming, contingent upon results from tomorrow, that the plan is still to get me into remission, then move to stem cell (bone marrow) transplant.
So my wish for a Birthday present is good results from the Re-Staging. That'll be a present I remember.

Blaine

Service for Rainee

Please be advised of Funeral Services for Lorraine Marie Currier Farrell, with a meal to follow. If you would like to bring something, desserts would be great.

Saturday, September 5th, 2:00 PM
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints
Route 5
Ascutney, Vermont

Goodbye

Today is a sad day. Yesterday evening, at about 7:30 PM, my brother Brian (the one who is waiting for a liver transplant), walked upstairs to tell his wife, Rainee, that supper was ready. He went in to find her very still, and realized that she had passed away in her sleep. She was 44 years old. This was very unexpected. Brian and Rainee - Lorraine Marie Currier Farrell - are the proud parents of a 19 year old daughter and a 16 year old son, as well as a 22 year old niece they raised from a young age. Please keep them in your prayers, as their burdens are heavy right now.

Thanks. Marleigh

Early Morning Update...

It's been a few days since I've updated the post, so I thought 3:45 am Saturday would be a nice time to do it (the Dextamethasome/Steroids make it tough to sleep sometimes).
It has been an 'On Week', so we've been to DHMC three times this week; twice for labs & infusions and once for an MRI (the dreaded MRI's are getting better thanks to Ativan). I go in for re-staging on the 31st of August (my b-day), but we wanted to get a jump on things by doing the MRI. Again, re-staging includes the other 'dreaded item'-bone marrow biopsy. But even then, the last biopsy I had seemed to be much better than the previous ones. So maybe I'm toughening up to them. Either way, the 31st is going to be the date that determines what we do next. It will be the first day on my next cylce, which will be the 3rd cylce of this round. With the first round of chemo, I had four cylces before we declared 'remission'. Maybe we can do it in 3 cycles this time and get right on with the bone marrow transplant.
We have an appointment with Dr. Richardson (who focuses primarily on Multiple Myeloma) at Dana Farber Hospital in Boston on the 10th of September. September 10th is also the day we send our lovely and talented eldest daughter off to France (how do you say yikes in French?). It has been good to have her home for the summer, she brightens our home-mostly :).
We changed one of the chemo drugs this week, from Thalidomide back to Revlimid. The Thalimide had some side effects that have been tough to deal with, primarily neuropothy. Neuropothy makes your legs and hands numb and for a guy who recently had a tumor removed from his spine, and who is already relatively numb from the rib cage down- I didn't need it. It also caused my feet and ankles to balloon, again... didn't need. So it's back on to Revlimid which is the drug that helped put me into remmission the first time. However, this time around once we determine when the Bone Marrow Transplant will be, I am going to stay on the Revlimid until it's transplant time.
So all things considered, it has been a pretty good week. I'm looking forward to having my 'Off Week' next week. I'll be down in Westford, Ma teaching a course to some of our new business partners from California. It'll be good to be feel productive.

On a side not... my seventeen year old son, Joshua is working on his Eagle Scout project and had the brilliant idea of helping out the cancer patients at the Norris Cotton Cancer Center (at DHMC) with a more comfortable waiting environment.


He's noticed that some of the furniture in the lobby area's are not very comfortable, especially for those who are sick and have traveled some distance. I certainly agree with the assessment. Chemo makes for a long day, and any amount of time sitting in a cramped chair makes it even more so. His project (pending BSA's approval) is to provide the lobby area's for both the infusion area and the radiology with recliner chairs. The goal is to speak with local furniture stores, business owners, and anyone else who would like to make a donation for these new recliners. Seems like a worthy undertaking. We hope he has success with it.

Have a great weekend.

Blaine

Surviving Mondays

Monday and Thursday are my infusion days. The first Monday of the cycle (which was yesterday) is the 'Big' day. I get loaded up on all sorts of 'stuff'; 2 or 3 anti-nausea medications, red blood boosters, steroids, velcade, cytoxin (this is the bugger that took my hair), bone strengthening medications, lots of fluids. I'm sure I'm forgetting something.

The good news is... I feel great. I took Kyle down to the boat harbor last night so he could fish a little and today I feel strong. I'm headed into Keene for another shot to help with the white blood count, so that hopefully I don't get nutripenic again. But so far so good.

I'm throwing on some pictures that were taken on Sunday.

Marleigh and the Bald Guy

Me and Paul Liberty

Blaine

My Job

OK, I'm no Vin Diesel or Bruce Willis. But I'm not Darth Vader either, that's a good thing. Actually, I'm starting to like it. Easy maintenance; faster showers, no shampoo, no combing. Easy. I need to work on the color a little- too white for the rest of my head. It'll get there.

I'm sitting in a hotel room in Westford, Ma- attending a training session for my company: ICS 8400 R6, learning fascinating stuff like XML, PRS, RSI, etc.

So, this is the kind of company I work for. I received an email the other day from my boss's boss (Senior Director of Enterprise for North America Region) telling me that he was riding in the Pan Mass Challenge, he has done so for the last few years. It raises money and awareness for cancer. Obviously it's a terrific cause, I just wanted to share his email with you;

"I just wanted to send a quick note of sincere thanks for your donation to the PMC charity ride. With your contributions, you are part of the PMC family and together we are united in making a difference in the on-going fight against cancer this weekend.

I am amazed at your generosity this year – despite the very unstable economic climate and our nation’s highest level of unemployment in decades, I was able to gain my highest number of sponsors this year and outpace my previous years high contribution mark, by raising over $4,200 in donations!

My ride this year is in honor of many people – some who have lost their battle (Russ, Tracey), some who are in the process of fighting the cancer (Blaine, Tom, Trish, Karen, Cecile) and some that are “Living Proof” survivors (Mike, Annmarie, Britany)

My brother John and I dedicate our ride this year to our Pedal Partner, Patrick (see photo attached) – A great little boy who is bravely and successfully fighting his fight ……

For those of you who are local to Massachusetts – NECN will be broadcasting the opening ceremonies live, starting tonight at 6:30pm and throughout the weekend – please take some time to watch this great event. God Bless."

The support from Alcatel-Lucent has been tremendous; not to mention the great insurance coverage, training schedules and locations have been completely reworked to line up with my chemo schedules. The class I'm attending now was originally schedule for California, but they rescheduled (in large part to accommodate me) for it to happen in Massachusetts; flying a least 5 people in from Texas, Illinois, and California. When I'm not attending or teaching a course, I have a home office. It has been such a boost to be able to have the flexibility to go to my appointments, all with A-L's blessing.

So, in a nutshell; I am grateful for good employment and for the good people I work with.

Blaine

Voila!

I think that just about says it all.