C. J . B.R.U.T.O.N !!!!!

Chemo Round Three

This is the half-way mark…  Woohoooo.  Three shirts down and three to go - very excited.  All is going really well, saw the cardiologist last week who reported that not only was my Aorta no longer under any pressure (it was being compressed) but he could no longer see the tumor on the echo.  So all this chemo stuff must be working.  I go for another CAT scan in four or five weeks which should more formally establish progress.   Bring on the weekend and the return of normality.

The Great Tomato Fund Raiser

Our veggie garden has been working overtime this year… must be all the rain.  We planted around 10 tomato plants and they have gone off.  Impossible to count how many tomatoes that we have harvested but it must be getting close to 100kg if not more.

For some reason scooters are back in fashion and the young boys both want new ones.  Rather than cave into pressure we insisted they had to pay for these themselves.. so for the past two weeks I've been bombarded with money raising schemes - most of which involve us paying them for things which they should be doing anyway.

So as the mother load of tomato crops came in, I came up with the idea that they could sell these on Queen street.  James was super enthusiastic and straight away got stuck in to the project of cleaning, weighing and packing.  Henry finally came around to the idea once he saw the profit in it and was most put out by my suggestion that his share of the profits would only be 33.3%.

James setup shop yesterday after cricket and Henry joined him we he got home an hour later… I thought maybe it was yet another one of my schemes that would fail miserably - there wasn't  that much foot traffic and I didn't think anyone was going to stop.  I left James all on his own and checked on him every 10-15 mins or so. Sure enough the sales just ticked over and within two hours they sold all their stock.  The result two very excited budding entreprenuers actively planning how to spend their profits and planning their next venture. They are back out there this morning selling more bags that were harvested overnight.

What of Jack you ask?  Well he had his hands full this weekend - a couple of girls in his new high school class had invited him to the movies on the weekend.  He was a bit pre-occupied with this prospect, which as per "teenager" mode was very poorly planned, i.e. they agreed to go see a movie but didn't think to plan what movie, what time and what place.  Obviously the movie was secondary to the idea of catching up out of school..   It all worked out in the end. Phew.

Bowling Action

Cricket season's is back in full swing and Henry and James are both getting stuck in. Nice bowling action James - you must have inherited this from the Beeby side (or it has skipped a generation).

Henry's Fishing Expedition

While we partying up in Wellington our boys were staying with friends.  Henry got to go fishing with his friend Sam and dad Grant.  He landed his first snapper shortly after leaving Westhaven marina.  I think the smile says it all.

Wellington Anniversary Weekend

Well our anniversary at least…. number 18 ( I had to use a calculator to work this out once Ange reminded me of the year).  We headed down on Friday to the Capital smoke for a wedding and a well deserved break.  After almost a year and half of regular weekly visits it was great to finally have the chance to show Ange around the windy city.  It was a friggin fantastic…  every element (including the weather and even Ben's skirt) seem to click into place perfectly.

Our Agenda included:

• Friday Tapas at Havana Cafe.. a classic Wellington must do.
• Followed by desert and cocktails at The Library (bar)
• A dance or two at bogie wonderland
• Great complimetary breakfast to kick off Saturday at Rydges
• Obligatory coffee at Smith the Grocer
• Cable Car ride and walk around botanical gardens
• Shopping at Kilcardie and Stains (I survived thanks to the new Air New Zealand luggage restrictions)
• A great bike ride around waterfront
• THE BIG EVENT: Wedding of the lovely Kat to that mongrel Ben
• Sunday breakfast repeat
• Bike ride repeat to chill out on Oriental Bay Beach
• Post wedding gathering with the Irving clan
• Falling asleep on the flight home  - PRICELESS

It was fantastic..  Wellington is great most of the time but it is a world beater when the weather is good.   Wedding was really cool.. nothing like a boy getting married in dress (see pic below).

I had been a bit nervous about flying as I'm quite vulnerable to illness while my immunity is recovering from the last chemo round.. check out the in-flight mask (gangster - I know).

 

Jack: The High School Adventure Begins

Chemo Round Two

Tuesday 21 Jan..  Round Two begins.  It was a bit touch and go as the each round is dependent on blood results confirming that the white blood cells have recovered sufficiently.  Todays test were fine although my Neutrophil count was borderline.. reading about this R-CHOP treatment it is likely that future treatments will be around 21 days and not exactly every 21 days.

First cycle was a breeze, lets hope round two goes the same way.  One aspect of treatment is how much difference I feel from the pressure in my chest/ heart.  Prior to round one I was feeling dizzy, had breathing difficulties and not sleeping well… these symptoms disappeared almost overnight with treatment.  Heart rate has dropped from around 95 to 75… more like normal.

Hair is falling out at great rate, the number one from last week has served its purpose.  Its a novel experience rubbing suntan lotion on top (Thanks Allan for the tip) if only I remembered my lower back and I wouldn't be sunburnt at all.

So back chillin… in ward as the drugs go it.  Ange has leant me her Steve Jobs book which I plan to get into shortly.

Ahhh.. Post of the new shirt will be added shortly.

Long Weekend

We had a great long weekend at Whitianga or the Coromandel..

We rented a cabin/flat at the campground in Whitianga, most of the units were very basic but being lucky first to arrive (it was not busy) we got to pick the best of the bunch which was really cool.  Had a great time visiting heaps of cool beaches in the area, including Hot Water Beach..  Hot Water Beach is a thermal phenominon which sees hot water seep through the beach sand at low tide.. aka beach spa.  Its a bit of a tourist trap but always worth the effort..  It has a special meaning as it was sitting in a hot beach pool back in 1991 that I decided that NZ would be my new home.. look no further.

We were shocked to realize that the last time we were in the Coromandel was when James was 10 months old.. I think bad memories of holiday traffic jams had conspired to keep us away.  However this time the new bridge at Kopu mean that these were worries of the past.  Except of course on state highway 2 which was a parking lot on Monday afternoon, we crawled along at snails pace for half-an-hour before taking a sneaky detour at Maramarua (thanks Liane) which saved us enduring a very frustrating crawl back to the southern motorway.

We all live in a yellow submarine

Arrive home a short while ago..  it was long day but surprisingly stress-free.  The nursing staff were fantastic and the day just flew past.  I had no reactions to rituximab or any of the chemo drugs which bodes well for ongoing treatment.  Other than that I don't feel any different - no nausea yet.  Next treatment in 21 days.. with a couple of blood tests and doctors visits in-between.  One down five to go.

I now feel properly qualified to listen to some Beetles tunes in the hope to uncover hidden meanings in the lyrics. Plugging in now…..

 

Day One - Take 2

Tuesday is a new day.. it was good to put Monday behind me.  I was first to arrive in the ward today - got here just before all the oldies were wheeled in.  Sharing ward today with All Black Captain and coach - Fred Allen. He's pushing 92 and is still very sharp and Fred appears to be running the show, he knows all the team by name and they are taking good care of him.

I've seen the team and everything is all setup, drugs loaded.  First up is rituximab which is an artificially produced antibody, I think it has rodent origins but thats no worry as I enjoy a good soft cheese as much as the next rat. That is then followed by the heavy hitters of cyclophosphamide, doxorubicin, vincristine… along with the prednisone.  The course is based around a 21 day cycle and is called R-CHOP - I'll probably go through 6 cycles.

Ange should be arriving with my coffee shortly - caffeine is as you all know the critical drug that holds everything together. I'm about to get started so I'll get this posted.

cyclophosphamide, doxorubicin, vincristine

Day One - Fail

Today ended up being a dry-run.  Arrived spot on time. Had line put in. Popped Pre-meds. Then was informed there had been a mix-up between ward and pharmacy - Chemo drugs weren't ready.  I successfully revisited the impulsion to go all Rambo and burn the place down while confronting the armed defenders squad welding a blood pressure monitor as a mallet.   It was 50-50 call… decided to opt for a "I'm very disappointed" tone especially since I will be seeing quite a bit of these people over the next year.

So back home now - back into hospital tomorrow.  I'm sure this is only a one off.. rest assured if it happens again you hear about it on One News.

Friday Check Up (Health Update)

Fuck its Friday already.   Got some good news today - CAT scan results from yesterday showed all other lymph nodes were clean so at this stage the cancer is located only in the chest (mediastinal).  Also found out yesterday that I start treatment first thing Monday morning.  I'm still waiting for the results back from Wednesday's bone marrow biopsy - should hear back early next week.

Its been a wild ride these last two weeks and I'm still pretty amazed at the speed and momentum that has built up since discovery on 21st December.  While some of the speed has to be attributed to having scans done privately, I certainly can't fault the public system which has been fantastic.  I like to think that they are trying to make up for missing the tumor when I was admitted back in November but the reality is that (this time around) they seem to be really onto it.

My treatment is being handled by the Haematology department of North Shore Hospital and starts Monday at 9am.. drugs go in intravenously over a six hour period.  Go home and chill watching for any reactions.. followup with blood tests over the next two weeks.  Check up in third week.  The cycle repeats every 21 days, at this stage the plan is to go for 6-8 cycles before a full reassessment.  We will get a good sense of the effectiveness of the treatment during the third cycle, probably through another CT scan.  The goal initially is to eradicate the tumor completely and then monitor the situation closely.  Its all about taking one step at a time.

I'm going to have some fun with this.. watch this space for some interesting hair styles. It will all fall out eventually and then you won't be able to tell me and my brother apart).  In the second week of each treatment, I'll have to take extra care to stay away from all sorts of luggies as my immunity will be lower than normal.  Otherwise I should be fine to carry on as per normal..

I'm really looking forward to getting the OK to start back into a fitness regime and there is also some really exciting stuff happening at work that I'm keen to contribute to.  I'll have to find a replacement to cover my work down in Wellington as I'm not going to be able travel down to the capital every week like last year.  Other than that - life continues as normal - I'm feeling Uber positive and looking forward to some new/ challenging/ interesting life experiences.

Indentations

A bit of a heath update.. in case you missed the news I've had a fairly interesting christmas break (check out my last post for more details).  Late last week I got the results back of the biopsy which was taken on 23rd December. This confirmed a lymphoma non-hoskins type tumor.

Things are still moving pretty quickly and I went back into North Shore Hospital yesterday for a bone marrow biopsy and I'm going for a further CAT Scan this afternoon….  these last two procedures are primarily to help plan best course of treatment.   I expecting treatment to sometime next week - This will involve an initial phase of six, three week courses of chemotherapy.

I still pretty upbeat… things are moving along quickly and its good to that we've getting onto this problem. Thanks for all messages of support, much appreciated, sorry that I haven't responded or got in touch but will get around to this once I get my feet back on solid ground.

New Years Eve 2011

Sharing some great tunes on New Years Eve at the Walker batch - Mangawhai Heads

An Unplanned Adventure

Its been an interesting few days. At the start of November I ran the Auckland Marathon for 5th time. Despite some good training prep it was really tough, probably tougher than it should have been. The following week I was admitted to North Shore Hospital with chest pain.. diagnosis was a viral infection affecting the lining of the heart.

There was something about this diagnosis that didn't stack up and in a follow-up meeting with my own Doc, I persuaded him to send me to a specialist for more tests.

This test finally happened yesterday. He found a problem: something was putting pressure on my Pulmonary Artery constricting flow. The specialist (cardiologist) was a real star and arranged for CAT scan first thing this morning and then after we had discussed results he rang around his network to find an appropriate specialist to pass me onto to. Its Christmas time and most are on are leave but he arranged for me to be admitted to North Shore Hospital.

So here I am.. getting quite use to this place. All three boys were born here and both my mum and dad have had their share of visits. Stuck with needles - waiting for next test.. scheduled for biopsy tomorrow.

I'm pretty good spirits - Que sera sera. Whatever happens next I'll be up for some radiotherapy for quite some time... Only 10 checkins before I become Foursquare mayor of North Shore Hospital.

Tuesday Tuneup

Its been awhile - but something recently reminded of why I'm are doing this and I have to make an effort to catch-up on the 'ol blog front.

Today was the first day of term 4, which incidentally is Jack's last term before heading to high school at Takapuna.

The RWC has been all consuming and we are all looking forward to a break from test rugby. Boys are spending every spare moment kicking balls and playing touch or tackle.  They all want to play rugby next year - so be it!

Cricket season starts this week, boys play their first game this weekend.

Well - I'm pretty unimpressed with my first Tuesday tuneup since Dec 2008 but I'll do better next week.

Rugby World Cup Final

Sunday 23 October:  The French turned up to play and fortunately the AB didn't quite manage the old choke maneuver. 

The Biscuit Bunch went on an adventure into town.  Which was incidentally packed to rafters and rocking.  We arrived and scored a sneaky park at the good 'ol Fish Markets. PERFECT.  Tripped around the Viaduct crowd watching. PERFECT.  Then called into our fav. restaurant Moonsoon Poon. seated. food. PERFECT.  


Finally headed around viaduct passed all the sad 'Nigel no Friends' on their massive yachts back to fish market to watch the game. Great Venue. PERFECT.  Game On. NOT PERFECT. Very scary in fact.  We Won. MIRACLE.  


After the win we shot out to presentation and watch fire works and then back into town to join in the party. PERFECT.  


Verdict. PRICELESS.

Cell Phone Laundry

Henry's cellphone, his first from a recent birthday, is now cleaner than ever.  It has just been through the washing machine.... 
This was just over a week ago: I opened the case and the 'water damaged' sticker was bright red.  Left it to dry out for a week, thinking that I was just postponing the inevitable throw away... However miraculously I've put it back together and its now working.  It must have turned off at the time.

A Very Clean Phone

Sky Tower Visit

James and dad had an outing to the Sky Tower on Saturday thanks to GrabOne vouchers.  The last time James had visited the tower he was still in a capsule seat so it was somewhat overdue.   We had good the two of us especially sitting in the cafe watching the sky jump people while drinking hot chocolate!