Time for those resolutions!

Hey everyone! Before I talked too much today, I really wanted to take a moment and thank everyone again. It is just unbelievable to me, Eric a regular guy having so many different people help us. I want to thank those that provided dinners for us, gave us some money from the classroom, gave us a boot award for the fire department, helped us watch and be in control of Hunter, drive me to and from the City of Hope to get various things done or checked, people to take me out to lunch, and everyone who placed a wonderful message on the blog. Thank you to everyone. I know that without all of your help my family would have had a few horrible issues to overcome. Thank you again. I was trying to think of what to say today since I am finally almost ready to be a human again without that incredible facial stuff. (On a side note that stuff is horrible, horrible, and definitely horrible! )

I was thinking about how it is sometimes very hard for us to have a seat and prepare to close the 2008 and get ready to open a 2009. It is sometimes hard to take some time and see how close we came to having accomplished all those things we were going to want done as well as what is the chance of getting things done in 2009. Did you finish the year the way you had planned the year? Did you do what you wanted? Are you going to take time to evaluate your year? Are you going to look at 2009 and make a plan for what is important whether the house needs repairs, spending time with family, the all important losing weight and getting healthy or whatever is important to you. Everyone is happy to have 2009 here but with out a plan we will look back at 2009 and think what happened! Know is the time to take a few minutes to sit down write your goals and look to the year ahead, life is always throwing unexpected twist but with a plan those twist may not be to surprising. Then at the end of next year you can look back and say WOW I did just what I wanted to do and you can fill good about the year. It is always easier said than done so take a few minutes and write it down so you can make your 2009 dreams come true.

Have a Happy and safe New Year and I talk to you next year!

Maerry Christmas & Happy New Year

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to everyone. We hope you all had a wonderful day and a great New Years day to come. We had a nice Christmas and spent the day with family, Eric was feeling better and this was all the gift we needed. Anyhow about Eric he stopped taking that study drug last Saturday becasue the side effects were sooooo bad. The rash was terrible and it was just not worth all the pain. Today all the white bumps are gone, that have scabed over and are really really itchy. He is feeling much better and looks much better, he just can't stop itching, so maybe a few more day and the itching may stop.

It was a wonderful surprise on Monday when the RFD showed up with a boot tied with a big red bow. The department did a fund raiser and filled the boot for us. it was so nice and it could not have come at a better time. They helped Christmas happen at the Botkin house. We are so thankful and there are no words that can express our thanks. So THANK YOU RDF for making our Christmas a special day for us.

We hope everyone had a great day filled with family and friends and we wish you all a wonderful New Year!

Love and God Bless,
Hallie

What A Drag!

Hey everyone. I hope everyone is doing well able to work very hard getting all the families and friends gifts. I know that sometimes this can be such a huge challenge to get all those special items found, taken home and hid somewhere and only to be opened in a cool short 6 seconds. Oh well, I hope it is all going awesome for you. Now it is my turn. I so really wanted to be in a place where I could sit here and tell you all how great the testing of this special drug called BIWB 2992, but there is a little challenge. I haven't got that yet. I keep waiting for the people to tell me about some type of greatness or hell even some type of goodness, and I haven't seen it yet. I'm sorry for just letting all of this off for everyone but it is as though somewhere there should be that place for me to feel great that I am on this drug and the fact is I am very unhappy. You see two of these things have become a huge challenge for me, the diarrhea as well as the rash on my face and head. Now honestly the diarrhea is not that big of deal. I mean it is not fun but it is pretty easy. You feel like you have to go potty so you do. Some days you go none other days you go 6 times. Now is this fun, again hell no, but is it something that will take me out of the study, not really. Then there is the evil rash on my face and head. This is truly something that has brought me some incredible challenges. It was funny that this stuff started all the way back on Saturday, but I didn't realize what was going to be coming. Saturday through Friday has reached a point which has given me unbelievable white zits all over the area between my nose and facial hair, with it now moving up into the area of my eye brows and is something that I have a hard time with. Not only is it not pretty to look at it hurts and itches really badly. I can't get my hair wet and I can barely chew any food.I even told the Doctor today that I might be done because I can't take any more of this. Well we talked for a lot and she has until Monday to try and make some of this rash go away. I told her that I would try until Monday but otherwise I was going to be out of this study. It is very funny how I think it has been so different between each of the two surgeries on my brain over the last bits of time. I know that almost anything done a particular way after the first surgery must now be a total different way after doing the third surgery. Kind of interesting that I just wanted to be the same guy as before and yet I am having so many different issues that I am not like that guy at all. It sometimes makes me wonder what God wants from me since now I have so many other little things that are needing to be taken care of.
I am sorry to unload a bit, I know everyone wants to hear all the good but the good is just not here right now. Hallie told me it would be OK to vent on the blog so I guess sometimes I will be inspirational and other times I might just be venting. Like I said things are just different after the 3rd surgery.

New Info

OK, It seem as if Eric had some sort bug and all is well with the fluid from his head. No infection, although they will continue testing for 24 hours. Eric is feeling better no fever, chills or throwing up. So it looks like we are going home in a while and will spend the weekend celebrating Christmas with his mom and step-dad. Sorry for the scare!

Have a great weekend,
Hallie

Boys and Girls, Ladies and Gentelmen! Welcome to the circus.

Well everyone, it is great to say hello to everyone this evening. I know that once I share some interesting info you will say, "Oh my God". I assume that some will say, "Oh My God" and a few of you will even unleash a quiet," Oh Shit", but I want you all to know that however it turns out for me everything will be ok. Let me start with some of the information from our meeting on Tuesday with the doctors to discuss and ask questions about starting this new study and learning about the rules and what it means to me. We got together with two different doctors , the neruo surgeon who looked at the swelling to the side of my head and the oncologist who was giving me info on the new medication and what to expect. To make it easy, the doctor told me to wrap some gauze stuff around my head to keep pressure on the side and that should help the fluid go away. I said ok and wore it for 2 days and 2 nights before returning today, Thursday. The interesting part of all of this is when he asked if I was vomiting, pain, fever, chills, or anything on Tuesday the answer was easy, it was NO. The other doctor went over the two new medications one I am very familiar with, Temador, and the super new unknown med called BIBW 2992 or something like that. So we went home and waited to get ready for our Thursday start of these great medicines. We arrived at 8:00 this morning, had to get my blood tested to see if it was good for me to be in the program, even though I had just had the same testing two days ago, but still doing what needs to be done. We officially started at 10, I took the pill and had my blood drawn at 10:30, 11, 11:30, 12, 1, 2, 4, and 6. The next events are just when things went wrong. First I couldn't eat anything until 11:00, I finally got some food and ate. I complained of a head pain so they gave me some Tylenol. I was just waiting my time until the next blood draw and I had chills and then around 2pm I threw up multiple times, I was very cold as I laid in the bed, I needed another Tylenol because now I had a fever! Well we thought it was either the medicine or maybe the flu because we have all been feeling a little under the weather this week. At 4pm we decided to go eat some dinner. I was hungry and we did have 2 hours until the next blood draw. While we sat at the worlds most exclusive McDonald's Hallie said that she could see the swollen side moving as my powerful jaw was chewing. While I thought that was pretty funny, when we thought back to Tuesday and the questions about fever, chills and throwing up. Well now the answer is yes!! When we came back and asked the people to contact our doctor just to give him some new information. He thought through many opportunities and decide that he would drain the extra fluid and run some special test to see if it is an infection. If it is bad, then we have a whole lot of things to do (surgery), or maybe it is ok and I get to keep going with the new miracle stuff. Let me just tell you that as he sticks a needle into your head, it hurt!. He was successful at pulling out 40cc from my head and while it was very painful, I am glad that I had the opportunity to get it eliminated. Anyhow we should know some info by 10am on Friday. If you would like to call you may on my phone but don't try Hallie as her phone is dead. Oh did I mention that we are getting to spend the night at the hospital. Hallie and I were hoping for a date night but this was not what we had planned! Anyhow this is the new and exciting info on me. FUN STUFF!!

Ah Christmas is Comming

Hey everyone! I hope that everyone is doing well as the first weekend of December is coming to a wonderful end. Also, and more importantly, I hope that everyone has made some starts to get their home ready. It is really funny because in our old world we would wait until around the 15th and go get the tree, let it stay in some water until the weekend would arrive and at that point we would work like crazy to get, and make sure, that everything, inside and outside, was perfect. Whew, life is changed this year. Well I am exited and happy to tell you that everything is done. Let me again say that that EVERYTHING is done. Now I know that since our life has changed a little bit since all those previous Christmas moments, I am happy that it is done to give us some time to enjoy the real glory of Christmas. I know that sometimes we talk about the great presents or the card to be given, but there are so many things we should be excited about. We should be excited that we can sit together as a family long before Christmas Morning, that we can share in each an every moment that God has given us. As I have been sitting here recovering and thinking about all of those previous years and to realize that being busy was so not OK and that by just hurrying through everything because that was all the time that we were going to give to the event was the way of life. So it is important especially during this time of our hurried lives to remember the importance of family and to spend each and every moment possible with the ones we love. I hope everyone is able to enjoy as many moments until Christmas with their family as possible.

Oh, on a side note I am going into the hospital on Tuesday to go through a bunch of big test to see if one clinical oncology study will be an option for me. If it is I will fill in all the details next week. I still have some issues since returning from the hospital. I guess missing 4 days and having a bigger issue has caused my recovery to take a bit longer. I mostly just want to return to normal. Have a great night and hopefully a great week.

Happy Thanksgiving

Well everyone I must initially say that I hope yesterday, being Thanksgiving Day, was a wonderful family event where you were able to enjoy some time with family and friends as you found happiness moments. Then you came home tried to sleep and then wake up and get that shopping going. You know, waking up at 4am for Kohls, 5am for Sears and Walgreens, 6am for Lowes and the Home Depot. Amazing to see so many people "shopping" at these incredible timesas they are there to get that "thing". It is still really hard to imaging someone who is there at an unbelievable time to shop for that one iten and save an extra 5 dollars. It is like I can't believe that an individual went through all this extra stuff to save a 5 dollar bill. Simply incredible! As for me, I'm doing ok. It is still taking a little longer than I would like to keep working on becoming normal, but honestly there is no way to have an issue. I just need to keep working on all my little areas that could use a little help and eventually I will be back to normal. I hope all had a great Thanksgiving Day and a few great days spent with their family.

A week at home!

Well everyone, it is so good to be home. I know that can sound strange, but getting away from the hospital to exist in your home is just awesome. I know that since it took me quite a while to be ready to come home and I have had to work on speaking, hand moving and trying to be stay awake. Every day I get to grow a little bit and over time I will be back to normal, but let me say again, It is so exciting to be home. I just wanted to take a moment and give thanks everyone. It is so awsome to have families give us dinner, my fire department men taking me to lunch and others with prayers asking God to make me better is just unbelievable. It is hard sometimes for me but I am so happy and overwhelmed to have everyones amazing help. I usually just think of myself as a regular old dude, but then this comes and makes me want to cry, just incredible. So thanks to everyone, I wish I had more to give but I just wnated to tell everyone thank you.

Hey I'm Here!!!

Hey, I'm Here! I know that sounds a little strange, but i am very happy to be able to speak to anybody. I wanted to just give you guys some history but I'm sure that you read some of Hallies info and are awawe of the feelings. I know that I went in for some surgery on the 30th, then I have a hungry moment so I at some food, and then I woke up on the 4th. Pretty weird to have missed some things. The other thing that is different is talking a little time. It is pretty weird to not be able to move or to move and have back pain. I know that I want to get better so it is just keep doing the best I can and know that time will start fixing slowly. Anyway this is just a little pain and I am very glad to be here again. Thank you for all looking at the blog and I am very happy to be on my feet to achieve something.

Going Home!!

Hello,

Eric is going to be heading home on Friday if things continue the way they are going. Eric's vitals are good and he his doing very well. His improvment has been great over this last week and he probably was ready to go home today but just to make sure all is well they wanted keep him one more night. Of course everyone who knows Eric knows that he is not one to sit around and watch T.V. except for sports so laying in the hopspital is just not exciting for him. So hopefully we will get home early and get settled. Eric is looking forward to sleeping in his own bed and laying flat. Of course he is also ready to see Hunter and the girls (CoCo and CeCe) he should also be ready to write on the blog.

So again thanks for all your prayers and please keep us in our prayers since our battle against this cancer is not over.

Love and God Bless,
Hallie

Day 5-All Things Good

Good evening everyone,

A quick note about Eric. He is still progressing in a positive directions. He is walking around more, using his right hand more and doing more for himself. This is such great news for all of us. He also had the drain removed today, it hurt a bit but he is doing much better tonight. His spirits are also much better today and he is almost ready to do his own blog again, he said he would like to write on Thursday.

Thanks again for all the support we are thankful for everything.

Love and God Bless,
Hallie

Day 4-Another Good Day!!

Just a quick note to let everybody know that Eric was able to move out of ICU today, he ate real food, enjoyed ice cream and walked the halls. He has improved so much each day, getting stronger mind body and spirit. We continue to pray for a speedy recovery and we look forward to going home some day this week.

Thank you again for all your prayers,
God Bless,
Hallie

Day 3-Prayers are Answered!!!!

God has been watching over us the last few days and today he answered many prayers. Eric is off the ventilator and doing well. Movement in his right side is returning and he is awake!!!!! He even laughed and made us laugh today. Same old Eric!!!! So today good news!!!

Please continue to pray for Eric's speedy recovery and the strength for him to continue his fight with the positive attitude that has made all of us look at life a bit differently.

Thank you and God Bless,

Hallie

Compliations-Day 2

Well today was another day full of surprises! First we arrived at the hospital thinking great today he will get the tube out and breathe on his own. Then the lung Dr. came in and said no such luck Eric has pneumonia!!!! Great just what he needed. So they gave him some medication and will do another x-ray in the morning. Well Eric is doing much better in all other areas! Yea! He can respond to yes and no questions, move his left side with no problems and can move his right leg and foot and squeeze his right hand with a little grip. Although he can move his right arm if he gets upset with something they are doing to him. I know he is ready to be back to normal so hopefully tomorrow will be a better x-ray day for him. He shook his head no when we said he only needed to have the tube for 1 more day and he shook his head no that he was not going to be a good patient anymore. So hopefully Monday he will get the tube out or I think it may be a long day! Finally in regards to Eric he has very little pain and has not needed any pain medicine so this is also a good sign that things are going well in regards to the brain surgery.

I also wanted to thank Chaplin Steve and his wife for stopping by to pray with Eric and the family. It was very moving and it was after the prayer that he started to move his right side. As we all know prayer can be very powerful! So please keep us in your prayers.

Thank you all for all your support and God Bless,

Hallie

Complications-Update Day 1

Dear Family & Friends,

I wanted to give you the current info on Eric. As of now he is moving his left side with no problems, the right side still needs some work but it looks like it will be fine. The tube will be coming out tomorrow and he will be awake if all goes as planed tonight. He was responsive to myself and his family squeezing our hands, he even waved goodbye tonight. The CAT scan came back looking fine and I am not sure if they will be doing it again. I know not on Sunday but maybe on Monday the Dr will order another CAT scan. So things are looking good right now and we will just keep praying!

Thank you for all your support we are lucky to have such a wonderful support group.
Hallie

Update About Complications

Dear Friends and Family,

I wanted to let everyone know about Eric's current situation. Unfortunately yesterday was a tough day for him and he was in a lot of pain. So the Dr's made sure that he was medicated and not feeling any pain, this made him very sleepy and not very responsive. Around 8pm last night the nurse came to check on him and his right side was not moving and he was not talking. The rushed him into the CAT scan and saw blood. He had a small leak from something and there was a clot. So at 10pm they took him back to surgery and removed the blood and clot. They are not sure what caused the leak but the surgeon said he was cautiously optimistic that everything would be fine. So far today his has movement in his left foot and hand, his right foot reacts to touch and his right hand is still not working. He is sedated and has a tube for breathing to keep his blood pressure down and his the CAT scan comes back ok today they will ween him from the tube and wake him up. I know this is a surprise for everyone but Eric is a fighter and I know he will pull out of this just fine. Please continue the prayers and I will try to update as often as possible I know he has a lot of people who care about him and we both want everyone to know whats going on with his current fight.

Thank you for all your prayers,

Hallie

Official Update

Family and Friends,

Thank you for being with us today and keeping us in your prayers, all the prayers helped as Eric is recovering well, talking and seems as he will continue to be the Eric we all know and love. The surgery took 5 hours and was intense as the Dr. put it. They had to go a bit deeper than before and remove a tumor that was bigger than the 1st one. The Dr. said that he thinks that he was able to get about 90-95% of the tumor. Even though this is not as exciting as 100% we are happy just the same. Eric will get another MRI by Friday and we will know more than. As for now he will be at the City of Hope recovering and I sure by the end of tomorrow making jokes and giving the nurses a hard time. I will try and update a little each day so that everyone can stay informed.

Again thank you all for everything! Prayers, support, offers of help we are so thankful to know such wonderful people. Everyone should be as blessed as we are!

Love and God Bless,
The Botkn's

Update

Hello everyone,

Just a quick update.....Eric is in ICU recovering and doing well. He is in a bit of pain and resting. I will give a complete update later this evening. Thank you for all your prayers and please keep praying!

God Bless,
Hallie

Third Times a Charm!

Whew! Life is funny. I wanted to take a moment and bring everyone up to speed. Almost exactly one year ago I was having headaches, pretty funny how that could occur again one year later. Anyway, over this month I was starting to have some things occur that were new to my current health. We all get headaches through our regular busy lives it was hard to beleive that it was happening again. I have also had amazing sinus problems over my life so that must be the challenge for me, not my brain cancer. Now forward to the night before the trip to Florida, I started having dizziness and loss of balance which kind of concerned me but hey, I'm traveling over the US, that must be my anxiety creator. Well my sinus problems increased over the amazing family moments and on Monday, two days into our vacation, I spend the day with the Emergency Room Staff due to my incredible head pain. While they were awsome individuals, all of us know that they are unbelievable for immediate action and decisions for patients, exactly opposite of brain cancer which was myself. The project ended with some exceptional communication between my current doctors and the staff in Florida to determine that another look should be done immediately. So as soon as we returned it as back to the City of Hope. I spoke at length today with my neurosurgeon who I really respect and the decision to do another surgery is the best answer. Having another surgery in a similar location could have a few more challenges for me, but I really believe that this is God's plan. While I don't know my future, all I know how to do is to work to overcome challenges. I know that Hallie will post an update for everyone as my surgery is scheduled for very early on Wednesday morning. The neurosurgeon believes that this second attempt it will take about seven hours to due because it is a more intense procedure.

Lastly after spending a day at the hospital (in Florida) and then being overwhelmed by all this new stress and unknowns we went to another Disney park to have some great family time and while standing in the park a plane posted these words. "God Loves U". There I was standing crying in the park. How stupid I felt to cry. What are the odds that after all my issues, challenges and stresses that someone I will never know or even be able to thank posted something so important. Well I just wanted to share with everyone a thanks for taking care of me and my family. Also a great thanks to all that have taken a moment and asked God to help me. You never know what you are going to accomplish in life and who you might affect, but to have people that you have never met asking God to give me and my family help is just something I can't even describe.

Specific surgery information:

City of Hope (Duarte, CA)

Wednesday, 29th- 6am or so

6 hour surgery or so

2-5 days in hospital based on Eric and his recovery

Thanks again to everyone and God Bless you all.

Well How About This!

Well good morning everyone. I just wanted to take a moment and tell everyone a wonderful and fantastic hello. I am taking a little moment and having a great little vacation in Florida at the Disney parks. The most important part of this unbelievable trip is that I have had able to spend some time with my mom, my sister and my amazing neice having no vacations before as well as my own awsome Hallie and Hunter. A pretty awsome level of fun that was great for us all to spend some time together and get to see what everyone is really about, in addition to us almost being mostly free. It has been really nice for me to spend many moments holding, hugging and kissing everyone.

Well I just wanted to take a moment and give my big news. After meeting with possibly two great doctors who have been keeping me at my best, we discussed what I am going to do about returning to work. The short answer is that after 10.462 years of serving the City of Riverside Fire Department the time has come for me to retire. It's a pretty amazing story how I got hired with the City and became part of another family, after all it only took about 5 years to get onto any fire department. I started at about 25 years old and went every where that I was able to get my car or by airplane to try to get my opportunity. California, Oregon, Washington, Arizona, and Colorado and took many trips. I mostly didnt know how this application process worked and how it was totally different than getting other jobs and having just one meeting. There was a mental test, a physical test, an oral and then if you did fantastic you got to another oral with the Chief. Most often you were number 57 out of 4,500 which was awsome, but they were hiring number 1 -12. Yea! Nothing but money on the airline flights got to be your memory of that department. And then it was my local Riverside City who offered me an amazing opportunity. Well, The doctors and I discussed many things as I thought this was totally silly to leave that place that I really enjoy, my dream and taking moments helping people I thought why quit I just got to be a certified driver. The doctors found my concern funny and shared some things about my type of brain cancer. I have to share what was the thing that was going to be the toughest thing for me. The biggest fun dream for most of us is to be the one holding the nozzle at a great fire and since I have never pushed myself to that 110% since going off on the workers comp. no one knew how my brain would handle that system. Now knowing that if in this most amazing fun time God would have called me home , which is alright with me even though strange for others, I would have been alright, but knowing how my fire department would send people to help and rescue me which could be harmful or dangerous to them and that would be something that I could never allow to happen. So I believed that this was the best thing for me. On October 30th, 2008 will be my offical ast day. My last day with my best brothers and sisters, the well decisive captains in charge of us all, and the whole City of Riverside who has made this overwhelming thing run so completely smoothly to you I say thank you. I know that if all of these people were somewhere else as retail, mechanics are just parents would be those that are the ones who as knows as leaders, yet instead we all joined together and to the things that are important. While I feel silly after seeing all the others who placed a wonderful statement about how they have reached a time to leave and allow their moments to come to the others they are leaving behind, I still don't feel ready to go. I still wanted to be the one who laughed with my family, helped the families and pulled the nozzle off first. While I know that my situation is different than all those previous retirements I know that this is the best place for me. I know that God has something to do or complete so I won't get that moment to write that same wonderful statement of all those I would be priveledged to follow.

Life is Funny

Hello Everyone! I first want to tell all of you who have been checking for that new and hopefully interesting post, I am totally sorry. This post is totally overdue! Well there is a funny little story called "Life is Funny."

To remind everyone what is currently going on, let's start with the basics. My chemo pills are started on a Monday and taken for 5 days. They get taken at night so most of the immediate challenges are able to occur while I am asleep which has been working pretty great. The pills taken on Thursday and Friday night are usually the ones that start to make the days feel like crud. I loose energy, food interest, a various set of internal problems, and a whole lot of general nausea. Then, the pills are completed and following Saturday and Sunday are the worst days of the month. Those move up from cruddy to worse than cruddy. Life keeps on moving and Wednesday and Thursday my body starts shifting back to normal. This keeps up until about Saturday or Sunday of that following week, giving me two great weeks before we start it all over.

Well this delay from the blog just happened to be the start of my two great weeks and Hallie's onset of horrible flu. She is able to keep most of her kids sickness away but this one totally kicked her butt! For a week she was useless and I was both the Dad and the Mom. Whewwwwwwww. So many things to get completed and done that was totally wearing me out. I was taking care of the totally sick dream woman and completing both parents jobs, assistance and practices. Whew again I thought. Well, another issue hit Hallie and after a visit with her awsome "woman only" doctor and the emergency room doctor, I have had a few more days of being the one who was in great health to do, help and complete MANY different items. She has almost returned to normality and I just got started thinking about this whole series of events had been dealt with by me, the "sick guy".

It is a pretty wonderful and unique situation that after so many months of ups and downs, I got to be the one that was given the honor of being the caretaker. We in the fire service as either a paramedic or firefighter love to be in a position to give some needed help to a stranger, but to be the one who gets to deliver that joy and love to a close family member is amazing. She has worked so hard in many different areas to assist me since this all started and I finally got to spend a little time and be her helper and caregiver. I believe that she is one her way to being normal again and I am sure that as life goes on I will be the patient who needs more help and support but I just want everyone to know how I am very happy to have given a great woman a few moments of special love.

Finally Summer ENDS!

Whew! What an unbelievable summer that has been truly enjoyed by the entire Botkin family this year. Now it is finally over! Thank goodness we can get back to normal! We spent the whole summer focusing on having complete family moments through unbelievable events and escapades. I am so happy to have had so many special memories with Hallie and Hunter. We got to enjoy things that we had never enjoyed before. The result was great laughs, awesome pictures and simply unbelievable memories. I also wanted to take a little moment and give a wonderful thank you to those specific individuals who helped our dream of family memories become a reality, and to know that they too became a part of those fantastic memories that will forever be a part of our lives. Thank you from the bottom of our hearts.

Next, today was another one of those continuing MRI assessment of that little thing located in the safety of my skull. My doctor was busy consulting with several other people to try and get the true meaning of that little growing white spot and the official conclusion is we don't know yet. Brilliant! I'm, sorry for my silliness, but I seem to believe even more than before, that every moment of my time left here on the planet is totally controlled by God. I am here to complete that thing and will enjoy life for five minutes of fifty years. Only God has this strange thing totally under control. I am happy to wake each day and enjoy that I have been given another wonderful breath of loving and fantastic life.

As this unknown thing still continues over every thirty day window I have taken a moment to think about many things. I was having a conversation with a girl starting her new classes. She was telling me all about the new changes with having to change classrooms, having many different teachers and difficult class locations. Interesting, I thought to myself. She had stated that there were many different problems that she had never before had to fix or avoid. As we sat I was thinking that so many people of all ages can see their difficult moment as either a problem or a challenge. It is very simple that every one of the unwanted and unforeseen events can be a problem to some and a challenge to others. Many look at their problems as that moment which forever negativly changes their future and creates a new outlook for them, while others see that as a challenge which is simple a bump in the road. The challenge is nothing more than that thing which makes the individual concentrate, focus and create a new way of thinking and feeling. Such hard work helps you to realize that there is truly nothing waiting to stop you in your tracks, just something to allow yourself to adapt. Funny how such a simple thing can be so difficult.

This Just In........

Well can you believe that it has been a month since Eric's last Dr's appointment! He went to see the Dr. on Friday and he had another MRI. He has had so many he thinks he may have broken some kind of record. Anyhow the MRI basically showed the same things as last month. The area they are watching has had a little growth but nothing to be alarmed with. He also had a PET scan in July which showed no cancer. With this information they want to continue watching Eric on a monthly basis but they are feeling that it might just be the dead cells. So you are asking what does this mean? Well it means we live another 30 days knowing that everything is all right and we redo this again next month. Some of you are probably wondering how we live in 30 day increments, well it is easier when we keep busy and enjoy family time. This summer has been a very busy one for us and I know that Eric is looking forward to school starting so that we can slow down from all the activities. I guess I forgot to tell him it just means that fall ball, soccer and Cub Scouts are ready to begin! Oh yeah and Hunter starts 4th grade so the homework will be more interesting and time consuming. Well I guess it is just another way for us to keep busy and live life to the fullest. We hope that you all have enjoyed your summer and are living life to the fullest.

Love to all,
Hallie

How Important Is Your Heart?

Hey everyone! As some of you know, Hunter is a true baseball fan. We were discussing the majors and then started talking about his future in the little league levels. He was wondering if he was going to stay at the current level or get moved up to play at the next upper level. We discussed it at length and then there was a moment. He had gotten up from the table and as he was walking away he said "oh great, I'm gonna be in the outfield." Amazing. The future star of the major leagues had predicted his future in just a millisecond. We called back little Jeeter to the couch. It was a short story but he forgot that so often your heart and your brain aren't working together like they should be. He was reminded that what ever statement comes from your brain, it then works hard to make that statement come true. So often we want something with our heart and then let our brain make another alternative decision. The result is less than what was wanted from the heart. We have to remember that regardless of how smart our brain is, the true desires of the heart can always outweigh the negative of our brain. We reminded him that if his heart wanted to be in the infield, then his brain had to successfully place him there.
I struggle often when people tell me what their heart is crying out for and then in the same sentence give a negative and less desirable thought from the brain. So amazingly sad that right there almost instantly they made their heart's desires fail, and the brain was now going to work to make that negative statement become reality. It is so hard for some people to remember that unless they allow their heart's dreams so run their brain, they will not achieve that wonderful success. God has made our fantastic bodies and has given out heart so much power. The heart has the only cells that can restart by themselves, can electrically reroute for heart attacks and have the true power to achieve all those things that will bring happiness. All this being said I just wanted to take a moment and remind people to listen to their heart and put the negative self talk out to pasture.

God's Gifts

Happy early 4th, please be safe and enjoy the family and friends.

Well Eric had his MRI on Monday this one was going to give us the information that was lacking from the last MRI. Well that would be to easy. After waiting 2 hours to see the Dr. so that he could read the MRI all he was able to say was the the shadow was about 1 millimeter bigger and he was not convinced that it was a tumor. He thought maybe it was cells that were still dying from the radiation. He said that surgery was not something he thought was needed yet and he wants Eric to return in Aug for another MRI (the super duper MRI) and see if there is any changes. With a BIG sigh of relief we hurried out of the office, I did not want him to change his mind. So we take a month and enjoy our summer.

I saw a movie today, Kung Fu Panda, and one of the characters said " yesterday is history, tomorrow is a mystery and today is a gift". As I was watching this movie I realized that I have not been living my life by those words. I thought it was so profound, today is a gift and I need to live each day as if they are a gift from God. This last week has been difficult and I have spend a bit to much time thinking about the future. You know it is always funny when you need to hear something God has a funny way of getting the message to you. This week at church he also gave me a message, it was like the sermon was just for me. I guess he knows that I am having trouble with this whole situation.

Eric wanted me to write today so that I could have the opportunity to vent and maybe to help me get though this difficult time I seem to be having. Eric has such a great attitude and he amazes me everyday. I am so thankful to be married to a man who is as strong and wise as he is during this time. After writing today I will take the message from church and the message from the movie and know that God has a plan and that today is a gift and tomorrow is a mystery.

I hope everyone else can also live today and each day to the fullest as it is a gift from God.

Hallie

The Bad and the Amazing

I had just laid down to go to sleep and finished a wonderful intimate prayer with God. I laid there feeling so good in my heart and I started wondering why I suddenly, after a totally long day, was feeling great. I was stunned and unsure why my heart felt good. I mean really, I have brain cancer. That thing which is known and respected as bad. I then thought that some brain cancers patients still remain around on a blessing and miracle of God, keeping them here. They must be here for a special reason, completing that special role given to them by God himself. And then it hit me, something amazing yet ridiculous. My role that thing for me was simply to change my outlook on life and all of those life events. Silly, yet unbelievable. The biggest miracle in my life has simply been to change how I see the important things. For example before this horrific thing attached itself to me I was a "B" father. Working hard to complete the important activities and yet not working to give emotions and energy to help my family grow. I am amazed that the relationship between Hunter and I has totally changed over this last seven months. To grab that boy and tightly hug him with love and emotion every single time has been the best thing that has ever happened. To hold him in my arms and let that joy transfer ever single time is fantastic. And what is so great and horrific is that this would have never happened to me without accepting the limitations of the cancer. I look at the comparison of the two lifestyles and realize that the boy raised by me in my previous endeavor without any changes would have fallen short. Hunter is now a boy that is allowed to have several few amazing years with my new gift. My potentially shortened time years are here to work with him on the most important compared to the many years of being with him before. I raised in bed to realize that over the course of this whole thing I have been given a potential curse of brain cancer and got the miracle of realizing how to become an "A" father. I know this sound ridiculous, but I am so thankful to have been give such a miracle. I recognized that this might be hard for others to have that moment, that event, or that life changing thing to help then realize the benefits of that shift. The shift from the old to the new. I can only tell you how great is has been to enjoy what that shift has given to Hunter, me and to Hallie. Again thank you God for such a wonderful miracle.

Fast....and Slow

To all my blog visitors...welcome. To bring everyone up to speed on my current status, you must be told that last week was the chemo pill ingestion, while week this is the return to normal. For the week of ingestion, Thurs, Fri, and Sat begins to really grow the nausea and general poor feelings. Then as I get off the pills, the return to normal starts slowly on Mon and Tues so that I'm feeling pretty good by the end of the week. So things are doing pretty good as the end of that week is right around the corner.
As I am trying to get through this month of June it was really interesting what I was able to observe. I'm sure that most others are enjoying the flury of items and events that are scheduled to occur over June because there is so much found on the calendar. A total family overload goes on, meaning that almost every second is accounted for until you pass out to go to sleep. To demonstrate what I'm talking about let see the Botkins. First there is the child. Hunter finished school, had his first communion, enjoyed some other family events, went camping with the boyscouts and loved that his baseball team went to the final playoff game with three games in the week. Hallie, on the other hand, had her special education students at the prom, working hard to get everyone out as a graduate (and trying to keep her emotions at bay since she is losing 7 students), and had to enjoy meetings and starting the papers for all those incoming next year. Of course there is me, with all my chores and watching over MY puppy so that she does not get into trouble (Hallie's puppy is always an Angel) HA HA! Other than that things are so easy. While this totally crazy scheduling can hit all families over this two week period, it is important to still invest your time and energy into your family relationships. Give up that needed TV for 15 minutes to share feelings and love with your family members. It is so amazing how giving up just 10 - 15 minutes to sit and share moments, thoughts, and time with a family member help to reinforce the relationship. It makes it very easy for all family members to see that while life pulls so hard at your time and focus, disconnecting to reconnect with a loved one will have a huge filling of your hearts.

As the end of the school year is here and the beginning of summer is upon us I just remind everyone to be safe, have fun and make memories!

This just in.....

As many of you know the first MRI after all the radiation and CHEMO treatment was to be completed in May. Well I had the first test a few weeks ago and the 1st doctor thought it looked good but we had to wait for the official report. We waited almost 2 week and saw the neurosurgeon and got the official report. We should have known somthing was wrong when he came in asking "so what did the 1st Dr. tell you?"..... that can't ever be good. Well he thought that there was something that needed further investigation. So back to the MRI machine for some super duper tests.....I only had to stay still for 2 hours this time! Well that test was on Friday at 6am yeah that's right 6am, yikes! Then we had to wait over the holiday weekend for the results. To make matters worse our Friday's Dr. appt. got moved up to Tuesday (today), the same day we meet with the neurosurgeon, so we thought for sure it was bad news and they both wanted to be there. So all weekend we worried and discussed the big life issues contemplating what our future had in store for us and the family. Well it turns out all that worrying was because our CHEMO Dr. has jury duty and was not going to be there on Friday! Anyhow we meet with both Dr.'s and they both said that the radiology report came back stating that the spot they see most likely is not a tumor but they can not definitely rule that possible out. So basically they don't know if it is or isn't anything! Well you are asking so what does that mean? It means that we all wait another month and see what the next MRI comes back as and they monitor me a little closer for a while. As far as Hallie and I are concerned this news is just fine considering what the alternative could have been.

I hope everyone had a great holiday weekend and got to spend some time with the family.

Happy Mothers's Day.

Hey Everyone! Happy Mother's Day. Hope all had a wonderful and exciting day, and had an opportunity to speak to those important females and took a minute to say thank you. Thank you for dreams, hope, discipline, and most important love. The mother has helped us learn, grow, experiment and succeed in all of these wonderful areas. Again to all mothers, young and old, thank you for all your hard work. I especially want to thank my mom for all her love and support over the years and to my mother-in-law who raise a wonderful daughter whom I love dearly.

As for me I am so glad that Friday night was my last chemo pill for this month. The increase in my milligrams has had much more negativity than all the other previous chemo pills. As I described to Hallie, it just makes me feel "blah". The more I felt this it seemed as though a better description is just constant nausea. As all the previously pregnant women know once you feel nauseous you struggle to eat. Well, with no eating your body reminds you that you are hungry with headaches, growling tummies, and basic hunger pains. So the patterns repeats, nausea, hunger, headache......AHHHHH. Anyway I'm looking forward to this next week to get back to normal hopefully really quickly so I can return to the great eater that all my fire department brothers know that I am deep inside.

Our Family Addition!!

Well everyone has been waiting to see our new addition since our announcement. As you can see she is a very cute Chocolate Lab named CeCe. I fell in love with her and convinced Hallie that Hunter would love to have a dog and he has wanted one for a while. Since Easter was right around the corner we decided to get her. Well little did I know that the dog would actually be Hallie's and not Hunter's. She listens to everything Hallie says.....nothing that I say. Hallie can yell at her from another room....she will stop whatever she is doing........and go find her. If I yell at her to stop chewing on.... oh any number of things....she just looks at me and well......laughs..... This is would be fine but after the 1st two weeks Hallie went back to work so my days have been....well very long!!! Of course once Hallie comes home she is just a perfect Angel. I know that Hallie thinks I must be having issues again because she never misbehaves for her and Hallie can't understand what I am taking about. (ps. check out those PAWS......huge!)

As for me I have started my 3rd round of Chemo, I did so well with the first two rounds (Ha, Ha) the doctor decided to increase my dose. Well in a few days I will let you know how that goes. I am not feeling that great already so I am sure it will be a long week or weeks. Well, at least I can just rest and feel better in between rounds with CeCe.

Finally don't forget Mothers Day is on Sunday and whether it's your mom or some other fantastic women remember to take a moment and say "I Love you" or "Thanks for all you do". Its the little things in life that go a long way and you will have made someones day!

Time Keeps Moving!

Hey everyone Happy Saturday! Well I am very excited to say that I am feeling pretty good today. This is the second month of the newer treatment and it is better than the previous first month. If you remember, the first month took two weeks after the chemo week to get better. Then I started the second month of chemo pill, which last 5 days. I finished on April 11th and it took just one week before I started to feel a little better. Today I feel pretty good and am excited that during this second month I got better quicker. It was also nice to have an idea of what body changes could be coming. Month number 3 is just around the corner and maybe that will be even quicker to return to normal. We 'll have to wait and see just what happens.

I am also excited that today I got to be involved with some of my extended fire family as the City of Riverside participates in a cancer walk that will last for 24 hours. What is cool is that the fire department will have people walk around the track for the whole 24 hours. My name got put in as a survivor which was really nice. It was really wonderful to see some of the extended family, which I miss by not showing up at my station and running calls. Thanks to those that included me and thanks to those that organized the event for the department.

As a small bit of interesting info last Saturday Hallie and I were featured in the Press Enterprise newspaper on the front of the Local section. Pretty incredible to get to be interviewed and share my story with the reporter. They also did video so that video section is on their site. If you want to see us on video then use this link, http://www.pe.com/video/riverside-index.html?nvid=237362&shu=1, or you could just use this link to see the article. (www.pe.com/localnews/rivcounty/stories/PE_News_Local_S_firefighter19.429bb83.html) It was very nice having some people who I have never met see the blog. It has been a great way for God to allow some others to see and hear some of HIS words. This seems like a great way to share some of my thoughts and feeling with many different people.

Lastly I previously spoke of our family addition. Well, we have added CeCe, a wonderful chocolate lab puppy. She is almost exactly opposite of the 7 year old chocolate lab, but a wonderful growing addition to our fantastic family. We got her on the Saturday before Easter and it was a nice surprise for Hunter. She was 7 pounds and after only three weeks she was 16 pounds. Whew, growing faster than we were ready for, but she is awesome. I hope that everyone is great and continues to take time to share moments, events and thoughts with their families as truly that is the most important thing that God has for each of our lives. Take care everyone!

Sorry I Have Been Gone...

Hey everyone! Sorry that I have not posted anything new in a month...Who knew Chemo would be so crappy.... Anyhow I started the second round of chemo in March and all was well during the week of Chemo and then well things went down hill from there. I guess the biggest thing is I have lost my taste buds and have no appetite. Of course those of you who know me know I was always good to eat.....So I have lost a few LBS and well Hallie, making up for my lack of food consumption, has added a few. Anyhow I had three weeks off and started to feel normal again and guess what it was time for more Chemo! So here we go again I did my April Chemo and now back to feeling crappy.....I am not sure how long this is going to last hopefully I can get used to the Chemo so that I can enjoy my food again.

Anyhow all is well with the family including our new four legged addition (more to come later).....Spring break has come and gone...Hallie is back at work trying to make it to the end and Hunter is back to baseball and when he is not playing he is watching any number of games (thanks direct T.V.). Now that I am home alone again I should have the opportunity to update my blog on a more regular basis. Just know that I am still fighting the fight and looking forward to many more posts in the future.

Round 2!!

Whew! Well I have completed another exciting chemo treatment last Friday. The start of the second treatment wave has ended for the first time and I am happy to say that I have had no new issues. Again Whew! The second part of this treatment is taking double of the previous chemo pills. Double the mg, yes that is correct. I am happy to report that, even though it is five consecutive days for the pills, I am able to bypass most of the bad issues by taking it just before I go to bed. Now it is still wise to have an empty belly, and that is a bit easier to accomplish at night instead of during the busy day. Having completed the second round of chemo, I get a 23 day break until the next round starts. Taking this pill is set for the next six months and will possibly have some changes as the first MRI is around the corner in April or May.

As I continue to treat myself and to work hard in hopes to be here for along time, I have had the opportunity to chat with many different people. The other day I was talking to someone and we were chatting about how sometimes it is very difficult to see the pattern that God is laying out for your life. We endure all these things in our life and try to change this and that. We make the happy face for some and then don the sad face for other challenges that we question. It is just unbelievable as we look back and see that each of these events, regardless of how awesome or horrible are exactly as God had wanted us to experience life and grow as humans. It is sometimes so difficult to sit and think that these things are exactly the role that God wants for us. Regardless of how good or bad each of these things is they are all part of His plan. Now I know that we usually keep forgetting that the plan is already laid out and we are just moving along, but we must always take a moment and enjoy the fact that we are still part of the plan, working to complete something that will lead into something else either for ourselves or for others. I still want you all to know that as much as I wish there was someone else enjoying this part of God's plan, I realize that this is bigger than me and for whatever the reason I am the one who has to go though this and in doing so I am just living God's plan. That being said I am still me and still happy that I am here to spend time with my family, my friends and my supporters. Thanks again to everyone.

Thanks to Everyone!!

Well today I have not had to go get any radiation to my head for almost 21 days. Whew! It is amazing to me that the last three weeks have very slowly allowed some of my regular human functions to return, as some of the important things had been on vacation since December 19th. I wanted to first say thank you to everyone who was helping me over these last months. Your attitude, your help and especially your prayers have been a beacon in the midst of a very foggy and unknown future. It is really amazing how this event has changed the thinking of life. I went for a brief walk this morning and it was unbelievable to me as I was looking all around. To see my life as the thing that God has still allowed to exist is pretty incredible. Being aware that I am the individual who is involved with events so that I can be the person to give and help create memories for others is wild. The job, your daily lives and the pressure from all the time filled events are somehow able to make us all forget this little thing. That little thing is God has wanted us to enjoy every moment we are still here, and be able to share our lives with our family and be thankful that we are here another day. While all those other things that fill up our daily lives are important I just wanted to remind everyone to push back the things that take up time and make room for the real priorities in our lives.

Treatment Finished! Healing Started!

Well Eric has been finished with his treatment for about a week. All is well and his system is getting back to normal, with the exception of some missing hair. We still are not sure about the white cells, which of course makes life interesting when everyone keeps getting sick. First I was down for about 4 days and we thought we were out of the woods until yesterday when Hunter decided to sit on the couch all day. Well anyone who knows Hunter knows this is just not right! Well sure enough today he has a fever between 101-103 and he now has to be quarantined. We have him set up with the walkie- talkies and needless to say I am getting my exercise. As I mentioned earlier I am not sure if Eric has the immune system needed to fight off another illness. Well only time will tell.

Other than regular life stuff, which I am sure everyone is going though there is really no exciting news. Well maybe some are excited to see that Spring Training has started and that means baseball is just around the corner. In our house America's past time is almost as important as eating and sleeping.

Please keep us in your prayers and thoughts over the next few months as we wait for the next MRI and get back to the chemo. I know that we are stronger because of your prayers and God's strength.

Love,
Hallie

4 More Days!

Well the radiation and chemo has taken it's toll on Eric and we are counting down the days till it's done. The radiation was kicked up a notch or two last Thursday and this has just zapped all the energy out of Eric and the chemo has played havoc on his intestinal system. Hopefully after Friday his body can start to get back to normal. Eric has had such a wonderful attitude during this whole ordeal with his positive thoughts, sense of humor and faith in God it has made it easier for everyone to deal with the situation. For me the hardest time is when Eric is not feeling well, his attitude has been the strength that everyone has needed especially me. When he is not feeling well it reminds me of the situation and the fight that he is fighting. It is the hardest time to be strong. I continue to look to God for his strength and hope that I can be strong enough for the both of us at least for a while.

We are all excited for this Friday which will be Eric's last radiation appt. I know some needed R&R is just around the corner. Eric will have about 30 days to recover from the chemo before he has to take it again. He is most excited to get the metallic taste out of his mouth so that he can have a beer and I am sure he will be having more than one. After the 30 days he will take the chemo for 5 days and be off for 23 days. The chemo will be a higher dose so I am sure he will not be feeling well. This will last for a while and the doctor will decide what happens next based on the MRI's. Most everyone wants to know when he will get another MRI. Well they won't take another one until around the 1st of April. He has to heal from the radiation before they take a picture this way they don't get a bad reading and we have to worry for a month until the next MRI. I hope that this gives everyone a general idea of what is happening and what the future has in store.

I also what to thank all of the drivers who have given of their time to help Eric get to his appt's. It has made it possible for me to go to work and Eric has had a chance to socialize with his fellow fire fighters. So THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU!

Hallie

Sunday is the Couch Day.

Hey everyone. I'm sorry it has been so long since I have posted some exciting info to the blog. Sometimes things are just overwhelming and by the end of the day I'm exhausted. It is really funny how the week starts out normally, full of strength and activity and over the course of the week my body gets tired and I run out of energy. I'm glad that the radiation group gives me the weekend to recharge my batteries. It is funny though how many life activities are weekend focused and how hard it is to still complete them when in my mind the perfect weekend is full of wonderful couch time. Ah the couch, my favorite do nothing and rest location. While it is funny it has taken me almost all of my treatment time to get this figured out, it is great to pass this bit of info along to anyone who is getting this same treatment or just anyone who has a long and exhausting week. I'm looking forward to completing the treatment soon and to be given a break from the chemo pills, since they wrote the book on nausea. Having some fantastic time to have all my body parts return to normal or to the point at which they were before this whole thing started. Whew! Anyway thanks to everyone that is still helping, praying or thinking of this whole situation. I know that Hallie, Hunter and I are so thankful to have such a wonderful group of family, friends, and strangers who are helping to make some of these things right. Thanks again and God Bless.

Germs = Bad News!

Well I'm happy to have returned to feeling normal and able to make a blog entry and share some new information. If you all remember from the last one, Hallie had just returned to normal following some bad feelings and germ conservation. Well as Saturday was going I felt a little funny for a while but that seemed to quickly pass. Nothing bad was what I was thinking. Sunday arrived and I found myself at the Pinewood Derby for most of the afternoon. Fortunately for Hunter he was able to finish first among his Bear group and was lucky enough to get third overall from the whole pack. Pretty incredible or amazingly lucky. Anyway while I was there I started to get the chills and found myself shaking. Some also thought that I looked what was called "not the best". I'm fine I thought. Well once we arrived home I had the worst chills and was so hot. So there I was under the bed covers sweating and having the chills. Well Hallie was able to contact the City of Hope who gave her some info and after the OK, Tylenol was consumed. I was feeling much better. It is funny how that very non-overwhelming germ was able to keep me from less than 100% until yesterday. On Monday they did some extensive blood work to make sure that nothing bad was deep or hidden in my veins. Well fortunately all was good or otherwise they would have kept me at their facility until I was all better. A comforting feeling to know that I am well taken care of, but I really feel at home in just one place, my house.

Hair Loss & Germs!

I just wanted to apologize to everyone who has checked over the last few days and noticed that I have not put in an update! Sometimes many things happen all at once. On Tuesday I finally noticed that I was losing some hair. It was interesting that I started to lose the part that is under the surgery seam and over the left ear. Well now it is almost totally clean. A little funny that I have a bald triangle on my head and the rest is totally fine. Personally I don't care that the hair is missing as I know that somehow bald men are everywhere. I know that this would be much more overwhelming for a woman to show the bald triangle to everyone. While some would be upset I know that this is a wonderfully small and tiny gift from my treatment. Secondly on Thursday Hallie started to feel some throat discomfort around noon. The day went on and in as few as six hours she was looking and feeling horrible. Suddenly a potential germ manufacturer was living at the house. I have to say that she was so overwhelmed with the potential of giving me her new germs that she called City of Hope to get the answers. While I did not like the new plan I have to say that she has done incredibly well to sleep in a different room for two days as well as work so hard to take some OTC meds and sleep to get better. I know that she is really close to being back to normal. Even though my last white blood cells were in the normal range they were a little smaller than my first test so she was really concerned about the ability I had to stop the new germ collection. A great and fantastic woman, though those of you that know her will know this is not a new statement or a surprise. Anyway things are going well as I am almost at the halfway spot. I have had a fantastic time with my extended family at the RFD continuing to come and get me for the transport to the City of hope. I am also amazed at how crazy traffic has been. Some days we are early and some we are right on time. Incredible. Fortunately if we are early I have found a great place to get a morning burrito. It totally stinks that I can't get one, but I am happy to know that their stomachs will be full for the ride home which will probably put me to sleep.

The Routine Returns

Hooray! The old pre-Chirstmas routine is coming back. Some get school, work for others and a regular radiation routine and schedule are just around the corner. I have had 10 days of the radiation with many misses due to the various holidays and I'm really looking forward to getting on a regular routine of Monday through Friday so I can continue to stop the bad cells that still remaining in the super brain. I have been taking the chemo pill everyday since this whole procedure started on December 19th. I am excited to tell everyone that so far I have no onset of bad stuff. All of the things that the doctors must encounter routinely have not set themselves inside of me. I can only say that I have just a very little redness on the scalp near the healing which is possibly from the radiation procedures. I am looking to the next 23 procedures to complete this healing procedure. I mostly feel badly for all the really sick and ill people that I see who are also attending the City of Hope. Other than my big healing scar I don't act with the same losses as most of the people that I encounter.

Lastly I would like to thank everyone for checking the blog to see how I'm doing. It has been wonderful for me that so many of my friends and extended family are keeping my health and success in their heart. I know that soon the regular schedules get busy but I will still continue to post my story so that all will be able to see what is new whenever it is a quiet moment in their schedule. Thanks again and happy new year.

Finally 2008 is Here!

Well happy New Year to everyone! The year of 2007 which was either tremendous or less than exciting is finally over. A brand new year is just starting to evolve. As we all look to the future this 2008 year is hopefully that fantastic year which is loaded with success, accomplishments and the completion of all those potentially positive events we are hoping to complete. I had some great events in 2007 and some surprisingly bad events so I am ready to put all of that behind me and work hard to keep the positives coming this new year. I wish everyone good luck at all of those important events that may arise this year. Anyway it was great to be here at home with my family last night as we watched the ball come down and Dick Clark on the television. It was amazing to see a guy who was struck with a stroke still sitting in his chair on the most significant evening to complete those things he wanted to be included in. It was one of those things that lets me believe that regardless of the injury you are in total control of your position in life. I hope that everyone had a great day watching the parade or football. As we all get back to the routine known as regular life I wish each of you a great year filled with joy, success, and your family.

Happy New Year!