7-24-11

Yo this weekend was off the hook.  We have a lot to talk about so we should get right to it and refrain from any distractions.  This means that we must please ask you to place your seatbacks in the upright position and return your tray tables the their locked position.  Please remove all jewelry and any shiny objects should also be put away as I am easily distracted (might be too late…I might have already become distracted….focus….focus….almost there….five more seconds and then I’ve got him…..focus….focus….yee ha, Jester’s Dead….)

Saturday was a super fun day.  I took Logan to his swim lesson where he, very enthusiastically, showed his teacher that he can put his whole head under water.  He also showed his teacher that you are not going to tell him what to do, and he will kick when he is good and ready and not a second before.  Oh he will placate her with a weak leg movement that cannot really be called a kick, but we know his game. 

Later the Arizonians came over and we had a rockin good time.  There were many secret meetings and elaborate plans that all somehow seemed to end with some combination of children throwing balls and Auntie Julia.  She screamed out in pain, but I think that deep down she really enjoyed the attention. 

When Logan went down for his nap, and the older girls went shopping, we continued our D&D adventure.  The team (also known in some gladiatorial circles as “Alotta Butt and Some Fries) fought valiantly for justice and all that cool stuff.  We eradicated many unsavory foes, and rescued those in danger. 

After Logan woke up, the kids all played and had a grand old time.  Logan especially has really taken to Sophia (he now has stated on multiple occasions that “his” Sophie Bear now lives with us.), but given her cuteness factor, who could blame him? 

By the end of all that, Cole was pretty beat.  To be honest (funny for me to ever say that with a straight face) I am amazed that he has been able to operate at the level of energy that he has.  I mean if you look at it, he went in to UCSF on 6/28.  First few days he still felt good enough to bounce around and dance, but he was still confined to this small room.  He got out on 7/22.  That is 3 weeks and 3 days of little to no exertion.  He has now been out less than 72 hours and he has been running all around chasing the Arizonians. 

Today Grandpa and Grandma Rinde came over to destroy my front patio (they had permission, don’t get mad at them).  Grandpa had a sledge hammer and was having just a grand old time so I thought that I would jump in and lay some smack down, hammer style.  Of course, I made the classic mistake of forgetting that I don’t do physical things normally (and in fact usually go out of my way to avoid doing physical things (physical things is the grown up word for moving) during the ordinary course of my life), and started swinging that stupid hammer over and over again.  Of course I hurt my knee.  Of course I will not be able to lift my arms tomorrow (wow I am old and out of shape.).

After doing a little work, I left the rest of it to the professional (professional is the grown up word for someone else) and went back to what I know and do best….nerdy things.  More D&D.  More justice fighting.  More awesome fun. 

Cole decided he wanted some chicken wings (a little tear came to my eye when I heard this.  I have never been so proud) for dinner, and since Cole has gone through everything that he has gone through, Elisa had to relent, so (Cole, make sure you use this leverage while you still can.  Eventually Momma will find a way to counter this power with one of her own.) we had some chicken wings for dinner.  AWESOME (and they really weren’t that good of wings.  They came from a frozen package and I baked them instead of frying them, but they were wings and wings are like another activity that I will not say cuz this is a family show…but it is the one that makes beasts with two backs and/or babies…., bad wings are better than no wings.

So all of the above was pretty cool, and I cannot tell you how much I love having Cole back in the house; however, concurrently with all of the awesomeness of today, we had the Car Wash Fundraiser organized by the SMAFTOAA (for those of you out of the loop, San Miguel Awesome Fundraising Team Of Awesome Awesomeness which is the grown up word for the Kaisers and Rossis).  The event was an amazing success. 

You know prior to all of this I was not a very sentimental guy (getting married, having kids, and watching Hoosiers aside), and I never really gave much thought to the goodness of people.  I was always kind of a social libertarian.  You leave me alone, I will leave you alone.  So it has been awe inspiring and humbling to see the outpouring of support and generosity of so many people.  Humans kick ass.

I need to go recover from this super awesome weekend and will post again in the not too distant future, but for now please raise your glasses and toast Cole, demolition expert.

7-22-11 Superman is Back in The Building

He’s back.  He is back.  He has come home.  He is home.  Yes, Yes, Yes, Yes, Yes, Yes, Yes, Yes, Yes, Yes (and for the record I wrote all of those out, no cutting and pasting). 

You know, I knew that the UCSF thing would be tough.  My kid gone for a month.  Seriously?  It’s almost funny how stressed out I get over each phase of this whole thing and then Cole seems to just glide through it.

When we first met with the UCSF doctors, I jokingly asked what the record time was that anyone recovered from this procedure.  The answer was 15 days post transplant by some construction worker.  Cole did 16. 

Cole seemed to have a pretty good day at home.  He played a little Wii with his uncle and cousins and then just hung out at the house.  He had good spirits, and ate a decent amount of dinner.  Around 8 or so he started to run out of gas.

Elisa hooked him up to his hydration IV and we started reading Mouse and the Motorcycle, but only got through one chapter.

I want to remind everyone that this Sunday we are having the Wash Your Car for Cole event at the self service carwash over by our house (Hillsdale and Saratoga in front of BevMo), being put on by Joe et al and Jaci et al.  The flyer is below.

We hope to see you out there on Sunday, but for now, please raise your glasses and toast Cole, badass.

Car Wash Flyer

CAR WASH FOR COLE

Wash your car and help Cole fight cancer!

Wash your car, grab a bite to eat, and help one of San Mateo Village’s bravest children beat this terrible disease. Every dollar you spend will go directly to Cole’s family and help them pay for hospital expenses.

WHEN:

Sunday, July 24

(Food and drinks available from 11 a.m. – 3 p.m.)

WHERE:

Clearwater Car Wash (directly across from BevMo)

Self-Serve Car Wash

341 East Hillsdale Boulevard

San Mateo, CA 94403

7-19-11

The badassery of Cole appears to know no bounds.  In my last post I described Cole as getting better a little bit each day.  This past weekend Cole decided that enough was enough, and a little bit each day was no longer acceptable.  His counts jumped exponentially over the weekend.  Specifically his ANC count (basically his white blood cells which fight infection, etc) went from 60 on Friday to 360 on Saturday to 1330 on Sunday to 1900 on Monday to 3000 on Tuesday morning.  Now I am not an ANCologist, but I now that that is some kick ass recovery.  The doctors are talking about the possibility of going home as early as this Friday.  That’s right.  That’s how we roll. 

I am ecstatic that Cole will be coming home, and that we are now done with phase 2 of this insane process; however, I have to temper my enthusiasm a little because we still have a long road ahead of us. 

After Cole gets out, he will have about 4 weeks off before we start with the radiation therapy.  My understanding of this therapy is that the side effects are very minor (at least compared to Chemo, but then again the effects of falling off a 3 mile high cliff are minor compared to what Cole has gone through), and he will be medically cleared to go to school.  It really freaks me out to talk about him going back to school (afraid to jinx anything), but it is a very real possibility.  The radiation will be a logistical nightmare as Cole will be going to school in San Bruno, but the treatments are going to be in Santa Clara.  The treatments are every weekday for 3-4 weeks.  The gas alone is going to case a million dollars, not to mention that we will need to figure out how to get him there and back each day.  I will probably invoke the right of prima nocta….wait that is something else….. I mean the right of FLMA (if you don’t know what FLMA is, look it up.  It will be a good research project for you), and work ½ or ¾ days. 

While this will be tough financially, it will not be anywhere near as tough as when I was only working 3 days per week.  As always, with the help and support (which is still staggeringly amazing) of our friends and family, we will make it through.

On that note, please be aware that the date of the car wash fundraiser has changed.  In my last post, I said it would be on Saturday.  That is no longer correct.  It will now be held on Sunday, July 24^th.  If you are interested in helping, or if you want more information, drop me an email and I will put you in touch with Joe and/or Jaci.  Thanks again to them for setting this up.

In other news, Logan, in his capacity as the ruler and absolute center of the universe, has made a one time exception to the ban on human slavery.  He has decreed that Sophia now belongs to him.  Sorry Chris and Tina for the loss of possession of your daughter.  If only your knees did not hurt so much, I would suggest that you try for another daughter, but this time try for one less awesome.  Oh well.

While we sort out the logistics of transferring possession of Sophie Bear to Logan, please raise your glasses and toast Cole, newscaster.

7-13-11

Let me tell you about something that I hate (besides Cancer).  I hate awards shows.  I truly do.

Let me tell you about something that I love (besides my family).  I love sports highlights.  I truly do.

So that is how I found myself watching the ESPY’S this evening.  I turned the channel and saw VCU win their award (gotta love scrappers), so I kept the show on.  The next award was the Arthur Ashe Award for Courage.  It was given to a guy who spent over 30 years in prison for a crime he didn’t commit.  He did all the stuff that you would expect of this type of award recipient (learned to box, obtained college degrees, finally was exonerated, etc.).  The only reason that I bring this up is that he was not pissed about the fact that he lost 32 years.

One of the, among the many, shitty things about this whole cancer experience, and the one that I have been having the hardest time reconciling in my mind is the feeling that Cole, and my entire family (extended), has lost, so far, six months of his life.  There were so many things that he did not get to do.  Playing with friends, going to school, you know all that stuff.  Every time I think about it, it makes me mad. 

So when Dewy (the prison guy, great name huh) did not seem pissed about the loss of time, and in fact simply said that each day he woke up in the joint he just worked to make himself happy.  Thanks Dewy.

Now on to other stuff.  First the everworking Neighbor Joe has arranged for a new fundraiser event later this month.  He has convinced the owner of the self service car wash near our house to donate all his earnings for one day to Cole.  In addition, Emily (Joe’s wife) convinced Costco to donate some food.  More details will follow, but basically we are going to ask people to come wash their cars for Cole.  We will also be cooking some food to sell as well.  Should be a good time.  Tell your friends.  Right now we are looking at July 23^rd, but I don’t know if that date is certain. 

Cole is maintaining his stoic badassness as his body recovers from the crazy chemo that he was given.  He has had some ups and downs, but seems to be improving ever so slightly each day.  I say that of course just based on conversations and reading the daily shift log because I only get to see Cole on the weekends.  I know that it is a blessing having Chris’ family out here to take the burden off of me, but I sometimes feel guilty for not carrying the burden.  I think I just miss my son.

On a separate not, why do I watch Criminal minds?  I know it is going to jack my brain up, and cause me to lose sleep.  It is not the dead bodies that messes with me.  It is the destruction of the families that comes from the loss of a loved one.  I know that, and yet when it is on, I can’t turn it off.  Oh well.

I am going to bed now, and hopefully will get some sleep.  In the meantime, please raise your glasses and toast Cole, playwright.

7-12-11

So I know that it has been a while but I have been lodging a silent protest in the hopes that if the American People realize that the only way that they will get their favorite form of entertainment back (this blog), then they need to force the NFL lockout to end.  I mean come on, I know way too much about baseball right now. 

So to, I am sure, everyone’s great delight, it appears that the NFL lockout is nearing an end, and you get your blog back.  It’s a win win.

When we last spoke Cole had been admitted to UCSF to begin his stem cell transfusion.  Since then he has been dosed with the insane amount of Chemo, and then last Wednesday he received his own stem cells back.  The Stem Cell transfusion was Day 0, in the parlance of BMT (which is Bone Marrow Transplant, not a Subway sandwich) talk.

With each passing day, his blood counts dropped, and he felt worse and worse accordingly.  His immune system is now, and has been for a few days now, basically 100% compromised (even to the point that his immunizations are gone).  He picked up a little bug that would normally not affect anyone, but with him, he was pretty sick the last 3 days.  They finally figured out what kind of bacteria it was, and gave him antibiotics accordingly and I am happy to report that he is doing much better today.

This phase has already been, to me at least, about one million time more stressful than the last phase.  I think that the main difference is that during the last phase Cole would come home.  We were always living with this damn cancer but at least he was home.  Now; however, he has been gone for 2 weeks.  And with every passing moment the pressure gets more and more.  I just want him home.  I just want this over.  Fuck you cancer.

Please raise your glasses and toast Cole, Psycologist.