Off to Kansas City with the boys

Im off to Kansas City today to stay the night up there and go an NFL game (KC Chiefs V Oakland Raiders). Going with Al Cragg, Ryan Botha and meeting another mate up there. Jennifer is heading to Fort Smith with Lachlan. I will catch up with them on Saturday night. Then its Christmas Day! Merry Christmas everyone.

Jennifer not feeling good today

Jennifer woke up feeling sick and it just never got any better. She came home early and rested. I hope she feels better tomorrow. We were planning on going to Fort Smith tomorrow, but that is not happening now. I had a big day in school today, 8:20-4:30. Non stop. Think I sat down and 'relaxed' for about 10 minutes. Other than that it was teaching, grading, and organizing the track team. Of course, I didnt get it all done and can keep working to catch up to where I want to be tomorrow. There is only 4 more days of school this semester. Yippee!

Some Fall pictures

Well I thought that I would add in some pictures from our beautiful Fall here in Arkansas. Lachlan is growing fast, as you can see in the pictures to the left. He had a blast looking at all the pumpkins and playing in the straw. The days started driving about 30mins and going down some very shady bumpy roads. We had a a picnic and the sun was out. Such a nice day. Michelle and Tracey came along and met us there. After a few hours in the sun, Lachie was tired and it was showing. Talk about grizzly.
All in all it was a fantastic day.

Back at school

Ok, so after a 5 day break I'm back at school. Easy few days with a guest speaker. We only have about 3 weeks left in the school year. Happy about that.
We have our Christmas tree up. Looks great and ill post a picture in the coming days.
Lachlan loves our tree. Last year he was too young to really appreciate this time of the year, but he is good to go this year.  Here is a picture of class today.

Thanksgiving

Long time since I posted so I thought id start back up again. Last year is a long time ago and I feel a million times better 365 days down the rode. Today is Thanksgiving. I give thanks to all the blessings I have had to be here today. My family, my wife, my friends, and my doctors & nurses all made it happen. I guess my belief in myself had something to do with it. Thanks to my running background for making me physically & mentally tough.
@MikeGregPower on Twitter.
@BHS_Track_XC on Twitter regarding my track team.

So much has happened since surgery

So much has happened since I wrote the last post on this blog. Crazy how time flies. My surgery went well and my scar is healing. I put Vitamin E on it every 2-3 days to ty and help the scar, but not sure it will help. Worth a try though. I have placed a few photos into this post to fill you in with the time that has past.

About 3 weeks after surgery. Lachlan and I and on a swing and my sister in law's (Tara) place. Her husband has a swing hooked up to a tree and lachie loved it. I couldn't go to high because I still hurt. The jeans were the wrong choice this day as the buckle was sticking into my midsection. Started to eat better during this time though.

On a swing down at the creek! We sometimes go to this property that borders a small creek in Missouri. They have some play equipment there which is always fun. Lately, because of all the rain and floods we have had, this has all been swept away down river. I am anxious to go back and see the damage. My assistant coach, Todd, is in the background.

Jennifer and Lachlan down at the creek.

We did the Walk For Life cancer challenge. It was down at the BHS track and Jennifer got the team all set up with head gear and bibs. It was a great night and we helped raise over $10k for cancer!

Family pic at Walk For Life.

Easter eggs didn't have a chance when Lachie was released from our grips this Easter. He was searching and found a lot. I have posted some videos on youtube. Just search under mikegregpower.

Wow, what a girlie day!

So Jennifer told me the other day the she planned a few things to do today. I like that. I like doing things. Lachie was in daycare for the few hours and we could do these planned things. Firstly, massages, 1 hour. Very nice and relaxed, although both of our masseurs talked the whole hour we were getting 'treatment'. Next we moved to a very large sporting goods store called Academy Sports. It was the first time either of us had been there, so we had fun looking at all the sporting stuff. I browsed the golf, fishing and even peeked at the guns they sold. I felt bad even looking at the actually as it's not normal to see guns freely sold in big chain stores. Little did I know that this would be the last manly place we went to. I was in a girls day out without even knowing it. Jennifer did mention it on our way to the next stop, Target. Now, hang on a second. A girls day out. Me? I was losing 'man-points' rapidly. After I escaped the women's clothing section fill with bras and panties, I moved my way to the electronics section. Every man knows that this is the only manly area in target. So I joined the other men who were in Target with their wives who were lucky enough to venture out on their own. Gaining...ever so slowly, my man points back. They were about to get a serious, life jolting hit. Jennifer made a 2:30 appointment to get our nails done. Yep, said OURS! No way was I getting my fingers done, but my feet are horrible, dry and I never look after them....so I was up for that as I was on a girlie day. I can do this for my wife. I watched Jen get it all done first. Looked good and she was relaxed. All I could think about was the scene on Dumb & Dumber. I was next and ready. The lady was an Asian, of course, as they are the best at this and was very nice. Her husband did nails, so I wasn't the only bloke in there. Well the experience was fun and my feet have never looked better. They needed it as they have been desert dry since the surgery.
I successfully passed a girlie day.
We picked Lachie up from daycare after the feet experience. He was so happy to see us as usual.

What a day!

Wow, just went for a 55 minute walk and it is a day to remember. When it's this nice there is nothing more than getting outside and walking or playing with your kids.
I emailed Dr. Foster today because its been over 2 weeks since my surgery. Everything is going well and I am getting back to normal quicker than what I thought. I am limiting myself of the pain medications and just trying to stick with over the counter meds. I don't want to become dependent on the prescription ones. I feel a little numb in my right foot and I hope that Dr. Foster gets back to me on what that is. Might just go away over time... I hope so anyway.
Loving the NCAA basketball tournament on the TV these days. This is the most I have ever watched that sport. Did enjoy some soccer this morning and some World XC on the computer stream first thing.
A great day.

At home with a sick boy

At home today with Lachlan for a few hours. Lachlan is having white poop last few days, supposedly due to a virus. He's acting alright, but just white poop and tired. Weird. I'm feeling good after staples got removed yesterday by Dr. Saez. Moving a little more freely. But still have bouts of drowsiness, especially when I take the pain pills. Going to ween off of them this week.

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Parents left today

After being here for the successful surgery and about a week recovery, my parents left our house this morning. We traveled to NWA airport early to get them on the plane. It was tearful and sad to see them go, but we loved every second that they were here. 

Lachlan wasn't feeling great this morning and he was cuddly as ever. Mum and Dad really saw a big difference from a year ago and Lachie will know know who they are when we talk on skype.

Mum and Dad are in Denver for a few days to relax and see another US city before flying to LAX and then back to Melbourne on Thursday.

The week after surgery

A week after surgery and I am still very sore. I have enjoyed times where I don't hardly feel it (thanks largely to the Percocet I am taking ever 3-4 hrs), but there are other times that I feel so much in pain that I have to lay on the couch and just not move. Sometimes feeling cold. Yesterday my right side, leg, foot and arm felt kind of different. Slightly numb. Today it isn't so bad, but maybe after todays walk it will get some blood flow. The showering has become so much easier and I dont feel as though I need help getting up and around the house anymore. Its always nice to get though :-)
My staples were oozing yesterday quite a bit and not too sure if its because that the healing process or if its because Mum and Dad got me laughing a lot over the past few days. Laugher is the best medicine! but, whoo, does it hurt. I found a way I can hold me stomach together when I get into laughing and it doesn't hurt so much. I kind of squeeze my staples together! haha. short, temporary relief to a good joke or laughing moment.
Great to have mum and dad here, but they leave Tuesday morning out of Bentonville airport. Jen, Lachie and I will get them to their plane as they head over to Denver, CO for a few nights.
Glad they are not stopping in Hawaii this time after they might be hit by the tsunami today resulting from the japan Earthquake. I pray for everyone effected. It seems the world is not liking something happening to it.
I'm going to walk for an hour today. Its such a great day we gotta get outside and enjoy it. Ciao.

Day of surgery

I just woke up and have had my pre-operation shower. Today is the day of surgery. I leave in 35 min for the hospital via the hotel shuttle bus. I am a little nervous, but with mum, dad, and Jennifer here it sooths the nerves. No food this morning, but after the huge Mexican burrito last night I am still full. Brian, my uncle, showed us El Rodeo, an authentic Mexican place right near Indianapolis Speedway. Really was yummy.
Gotta get my bag packed for my days in the hospital. I will hopefully post something from there in a few days.

Getting ready for surgery

Well I have been stressed a little lately because of all the things I have had to do. With Track season is full swing that has been been demanding on me. I am trying to do my best, but things always go on and fires have to be put out. Lachlan is growing up so fast and I cannot believe that he is 13.5 months already. He will be 2 years before I know it and truly a 'big boy'. Too quick, too quick. Teaching has been crazy. You never seem to catch up with things. I come home from work and know I have plenty of work to do. Family time comes first of course, but the stress of thinking about all of that school work just drains me. My mind has been racing. The only way I can sleep any good is if I take my natural sleeping tablets. And now on top of that I have my surgery next week. I feel as though I am not prepared for it at all. Maybe thats a good thing. I wont be thinking about the surgery because I have so many other things going on. I do need to get a blood test tomorrow and the results sent up to IU. I might just get it done at Highlands. They get the results very quick and are good about faxing the results quickly. Just need the time to get my butt down there. I should have that tomorrow......then again.. who knows.
I am glad that my parents are going to be there for the surgery and afterwards. I think afterwards it is going to be really nice to have them by my side. We can go walking together which I will love and a very important part of my recovery. Total recovery should take about 3 months, but I am hoping to be at work after 4 weeks and working without any heavy lifting. My parents are here for 2 weeks.
I will be typing up posts from IU and the recovery room. It should be very exciting and I might actually get some much needed rest!

Indianapolis visit & Surgery Date

Jennifer and I drive 9 hours to Indianapolis, spent the night, up early to meet
with Dr. Foster and Dr Einhorn, then on the road again for another 9 hours back to Bentonville. It was a quick, busy trip but it was very worth it. The drive there was easy. Nice roads and minimal problems. Hotel check in was a breeze. My Insanity workout that night in the hotel room was not a breeze! I found myself stopping to many times and just not able to keep up the pace. The good thing for me is that many of the guys and girls on the video were also stopping. Maybe this is not so good for Insanity as you'd expect their 'athletes' to complete the workout without stopping. putting us mere mortals to shame. Anyway.. getting off the topic aren't I. Back to it.
Dr. Foster was first up and he was very relaxed and seemed very confident. He answered all of our questions, and we had a lot! He told us he does about 170 of these RPLND's a year and done about 2000 in his career so far. Amazing. Compare that to one about 6 years ago, which was the stat of my first urologist that wanted to do the surgery on me! So I felt very confident that if I was to get the surgery done, then Dr. Foster is the man to do it. Next was Dr. Einhorn. We went down the elevator to his office to check in. While we were waiting, I noticed the walls were covered with Lance Armstrong pictures and signed magazine covers. I'm sure he has his own private collection of signed gear. Dr. Einhorn's RN first came in to see me and talk to me about my case. Dr. Einhorn then followed in which he basically told me I have two options. Do the surgery, which he strongly suggests, or surveillance, which he strongly opposes. So, with this Dr. of so many years experience telling me I needed the surgery. I simply told myself that I have to bit the bullet and get this done. So I walked out of there a happier, more knowledgeable person. I'm happy I found IU and happy that this will be the place of my surgery with Dr. Foster. My parents are coming over a few days before which will be really helpful with my recovery.
Time to prepare for it all.

On our way to Indianapolis.

Jen and I are traveling all day, over 550 miles, up to Indianapolis to meet with Dr. Foster, surgeon, and Dr. Einhorn, oncologist, tomorrow. We have just passed the arch in St. Louis. Sorry, this was the best picture I could take from the care. Don't stress, I wasn't driving!
Hoping tomorrow is as good as I hope and that I get all my questions answered by these two very renowned Doctors.

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Surgery Date is set

So I spoke to Dr. Foster's assistant today and we have set the date for the RPLND surgery. March 2nd. My parents will be coming over (yippee!) for support and to help me through those first 2 weeks after surgery. Jennifer and I will most likely take a day to venture up to Indianapolis to meet with Dr. Foster and Dr. Einhorn next week sometime. We aim to discuss many questions regarding the RPLND. Again, this will be a great educational experience for us and I think that the more I know about the surgery the better I will deal with it.

My hair is coming back really thick now and everyone I see, especially after a few days of not seeing them, always mention how fast it is growing. When I walked into the classroom today, all the kids even noticed it!

Update

Snow and ice cancelled my flights. So Einhorn & Foster are going to review my CT scans when they receive the CD's Monday.
Feel so good they are on my team. Its like a new found confidence to beat this.

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Such a big day today: Dr. Einhorn

Yesterday I wrote an email to Dr. Einhorn who lead the team that saved Lance Armstrong's life. I didn't expect much a response back as he gets so many emails per day. He wrote back this morning and even tried to call! I was in the shower so missed it. I called him back and we spoke for about 20 minutes about my treatment. Well I found out that my treatment timeline has been pretty much wrong this whole time. I should of had 4 cycles of chemotherapy, should of had them 3 weeks apart, should of had my RPLND surgery about 6 weeks after my last course of chemo. I have a 12% less survival rate now that I took 3 cycles instead of 4. Dr. Travis and I will be discussing this next week.
Now I am focused in on working with Dr. Einhorn, oncologist, and Dr. Foster, the surgeon. This team is the best in the country. I am getting a CT scan tomorrow morning and my bloody tumor markers drawn as well. This information and all of my previous scans I will take to Indianapolis Friday. I am spending the day up at the hospital in Indy talking to Dr. Einhorn and, hopefully depending on his schedule, Dr. Foster.

This is where I start doing this treatment thing right.

Like Dr. Einhorn said, " This is still going to have a happy ending"

My brain is racing all the time

After the visit to Dr. Katz my mind is all over the place. It is all I can think about. When I wake up, when I go to sleep and numerous times throughout the day is thinking about my cancer and what my next step should be.
I am very worried because I am starting to feel something in my right lower back again. It was the same, to a lesser extent, as what I had in August 2010....when all of this started.
Dr. Katz told me I have 2 options. RPLND surgery or monitor. As the tumor is 4.3 cm then the urologist all think that I need the RPLND. If it was smaller than 3cm then it would be better to monitor it. So I have told myself I need this surgery and I will get it done. Now the question is, who does it? I have done a lot of reading on the web and have got on a great website, thanks for finding it Jennifer!, called tc-cancer.com which wraps my head around RPLND surgery and who does it. Dr. Foster in Indianapolis is my number 1 guy. He works with Dr. Einhorn who worked very closely to Lance Armstrong. Dr. Foster has been doing this type of surgery for many years and, from what I have read, knows his stuff. Dr. Katz suggested I talk to an excellent Dr. in St. Louis, Dr. Kibel. This doctor hasn't been doing it as long and I he is my 2nd pick right now. St. Louis is closer and easier for Jen's family and added cost, but I'm not going to let logistics make my mind up. I simply want the best of the best.... and in my mind that is Dr. Foster.
I see Dr. Travis on Tuesday (there is a storm coming through that is supposed to hit Monday night. I hope this doesn't cancel Dr. Travis appointment) and will make sure I get a referral to go see Dr. Foster ASAP. With my back hurting, I feel I need to work quickly on this.

News & my hair is coming back!

So I got a call today that I am to see Dr. Katz in Little Rock on Friday 28th. I have to go an pick up the images from Dr. Travis' office this Friday when I have a checkup from him.

Hair is coming in thick and fast

So as you can see from the picture I just took, my hair is coming in fairly well. It is so soft, I can't believe it. haha. So funny considering my hair is usually so course. I am looking forward to see how it looks in another month.
My rash is still around, after 6 weeks. So I decided I was going to try and get rid of it. I went to see Dr. Travis yesterday and they referred my to Dr. Hull, a local dermatologist. Yes, yet another doctor. The list continues to grow. They took a biopsy of it to send to UAMS (University of Arkansas Medical School) in Little Rock. They are thinking that is it folliculitis which is an inflammation of the hair follicles. The lab tests should show which bacteria or fungus is causing the infection. I hope to get it all done soon.
We are expecting snow overnight, so maybe I get that much needed rest..... we will see.

Waiting.....

It was a holiday for me today. No school. Which was great. Needed it because with the first indoor track & field meet all day Saturday it just felt like I didn't get much of a weekend.
I did get a call from Dr. Travis' nurse & she said she will Chase up a response from Dr. Katz as they hadn't heard anything from him in a week. I'm hoping I get the chance to talk to him. I'll definitely hear something tomorrow.

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No news is good news.... I guess.

I have only heard back from the nurse @ Dr. Travis's office to tell me she sent a note to Dr. Katz (UAMS, Little Rock, AR) and Dr. Greene (Lakeland Regional Cancer Center).Nothing back as of yet, but I hope one gets back with some positive news on surgery. Dr. Katz is a urologic oncologist specializing in laparoscopic and robotic surgery. So he might be able to do the surgery without cutting me from tip to toe. I'll be excited to speak to him personally about the surgery. Supposedly Dr. Travis nurse told me that he reviews all the notes on the patient and then makes an assessment as to whether it is a viable surgical procedure. Then he asks to speak to the patient. He does surgery Mon-Thurs, then takes patients Fridays. Maybe I'll hear something tomorrow.

Some latest pictures while I wait for surgery date

While I wait for a surgery date I am simply happy to be here and am able to play around with my son. Here are a few of the pictures we have taken over the past few weeks (the bottom two are from tonight). Lachlan makes all the worry disappear. Tonight when I was giving him a bath he started to say "uh oh" when I dropped his plastic peas in a pod in the bath. When he picked them up & put them in his mouth, I grabbed them with my teeth and he thought it was hilarious. Then I'd drop them in the water again and the cycle would continue. You could see he was learning how to speak and learn the game. Amazing!

 This picture to the left is funny, not only because  of Lachlan crushing my chest, but because he has a diaper full for poo, his 3rd for the afternoon. And it smelled horrible. Luckily this was BEFORE the bath :-)
The last picture is of my hair growing back! Not sure if it will be the same curly think hair I am accustomed to, or if it will be something different. I guess we will wait and see.

Tomorrow I am hoping to hear back from Dr. Travis' nurse with an appointment to see Dr. Katz in Little Rock, AR. I am eager to hear what he has to say about my future surgery.

Another Chapter is starting

The image on the right is one of a series of pictures from the last CAT scan I had. I went through it with my urologist Friday. You can see the spine and then the white round object is the aorta, to the left of that, round gray object, is the vena cava. I outlined the tumor in red. It is about just under 3cm across and it starts just under then right renal artery and continues to the split into the Iliac artery (see image below scan). The urologist wants to operate to get the tumor out, kind of the next step after all the chemo. It will be a very extensive surgery that may last up to 8 hours. It involves a cut from the sternum to about 3in below the belly button. Removing the intestines to clearly work on extracting the tumor. Then it's a long road to recovery. I am getting a 2nd opinion this week from a Dr. in Little Rock, Ar. Should be interesting what he says.

I will be continuing the progress of the Dr. meetings and surgery through this blog. I'm looking at it as Round 2. Chemo being Round 1.
Never knew that surgery would be a part of the process but I guess with cancer you can never know and it can always change. I have learnt a lot from this experience and will be a better person for it.
Thanks for the continued prayers and positive energy you are all giving me.
I WILL beat this.