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It's been One Week since you looked a me...

Blogging Tunes: PHI@BOS (NHL)

As I sit here composing my first blog entry in nearly a week, the kids are finally asleep, Heather and her mom are sitting on the couch playing with my iPad, and I'm sitting here pecking away on my lappie, watching the Flyers in HD on delay.  Obviously, a hockey game isn't "Tunes" - but, in case you hadn't noticed, I start all my entries with "Blogging Tunes".  Heather just busted out the chocolate covered strawberries that Yu Tian sent us (Thanks, Yu!) and the Flyers just scored!  Life is good.  Very very good.

Today I had my bone marrow biopsy at USCF.  We don't have the full results, but based on my labs (the normal blood draw they do every time) it's pretty clear that (as expected) I'm in remission.  My doctor was happy with my counts, my energy level, everything.  So we're on track for the next steps.  Here's what it looks like over the next couple months:

  • Next week - another week at home - working part time, enjoying the family, eating, building strength, etc.
  • Week of 1/24/11: begin three weeks back at UCSF for a consolidation round of chemo
    • Should be able to work most of the first week
    • Will likely start feeling like sh*t by the end of the week
    • Will hopefully start feeling better by the third week
  • Week of 2/14/11 (if all goes well): three weeks at home
  • Beginning of March: begin the transplant (we don't have the exactly donor yet, but it's just a matter of time)
Heather will likely need some help during my chemo round, and we will definitely need some help during the transplant process (both in-patient phase and greater out-patient recovery phases).  We'll be reaching out to friends and family on this. For now, don't worry about it.

Now, let's talk about this incredible week.  Last Friday was Heather's and my first "date day" in I-don't-know-how-long.  Floyd was in day-care and Heather's mom had Orion all day, so we went into the city for a noon matinĂ©e of TRON in 3D on the IMAX.  Thin story but amazing effects -- I'm glad we went. Afterwards, we went out for a steak.  Not a cheesesteak, a real, honest-to-goodness New York strip, medium rare, with creamed spinach.  My first steak in over two months.  Oh yeah, the taste buds are back.



After the steak, I surprised the hell out of my team by attending our 4pm team meeting in person.  I wish I'd gotten a picture of this. I also got to see a bunch of co-workers after our meeting -- people were pretty freaked out to see skinny jg in person.  I loved seeing all the surprised/happy faces and receiving all the hugs :)   Afterwards, Heather and I drove back to San Rafael with Rob "don't call me Bobby" Woollen, who got me up to speed on some of the recent goings-on in the technical world of Salesforce.

The weekend was all about football of course, and even though the Eagles laid a big fat (how fat? As fat as Andy Reid) egg against the Packers, I had a great time.  A bunch of my good friends came up to San Rafael to see the new pad and watch with me.  Again, no pictures.  Talk about living in the moment.

Back in the day, the Eagles' getting bounced from the playoffs used to put me in a funk for several days.  No longer.  This illness, not to mention having two young kids, has really put things into perspective.  I'm finally getting to the point where I'm able to do what Heather always wanted me to do: be really happy when they win, but not all that bummed when they lose.  I was over it by Monday morning -- a first for me.  Besides, the Saturday games were absolutely incredible.  Congrats to the 8-9 Seahawks and Jets.  AFC matchups this coming weekend are amazing.  More football more football.  Wheeeee.

[Hockey update: Zherdev just scored. 2-2]

Most of this week was kinda "normal".  I worked from home for most of the day on Mon, Tue, and Wed.  I've gotten through about 500 emails and re-plugged in to a bunch of stuff. My WFH setup is pretty solid, though I need to do one final tweak to my monitor situation so that I can drive both monitors with both my computers.  Sorry, I'll stop with the geek stuff.

[Hockey update: Carter just scored. 3-2 Flyers]

In case anyone didn't see, I may have the best Carter jersey ever -- courtesy of Doug Simon:


The days may be normal, but the nights are anything but.  Floyd and Orion have been sleeping in the same room for a little over a week.  The getting to sleep routine is crazy.  Just when you think everything is good, Orion cries, and Floyd yells, "Oh-why-an not kwhy!!" which only makes Orion cry more.  Wash, rinse, repeat.

The nights are a toss up.  Floyd sleeps soundly through anything (which is great) but Orion gets up once, twice, three times, or not at all.  We prefer the not at all but it's only happened twice.

On Tuesday, Heather got Floyd a present -- his very own fish, which he promptly named, "Phillies" -- that's my boy:


[Wow, just like that the Bruins scored two quick goals.  Back and forth they go.  4-3 bad guys. Never out of it against Boston though.  Remember the playoffs last year?  C'mon, Flyers.]


Phillies is a male beta.  It's unclear how he's adjusting to life at our house.  It usually takes fish a couple days to adjust, but he's not too spunky yet -- we'll see how he's doing tomorrow.  Speaking of adjusting, Elvis (our stupid yet lovable, fat, orange cat) has not adjusted well at all.  He stays in the garage all the time and won't come in the house. Not sure what we're going to do with him.  Sorona, our semi-feral ball of fire is still in San Francisco.  Our neighbors have been trying to catch her to no avail.  Let's face it, we're bad cat parents.

[Woo!  Briere!  4-4.  Crazy game]

Fast forward to this afternoon.  After the UCSF appointment, we went to the Kezar Pub pub for lunch.  For those of you who have never been, allow me to give 'em a plug.  The Kezar Pub is not only the best place to watch your favorite team, they also have a ton of beers on draft, and great food, including the best wings in the city.


I cannot tell you how good they tasted today.  Whooooo doggie.  Do we look happy or what?  Great to see you Mo and Cyril!


[Flyers just killed off a dumb Briere penalty but the Bruins just tied it 5-5 on a BS goal.  Ugh!]

Gonna sign off and watch the last 7 minutes of this game.  We better get a point out of this.

I will kick its ass,

-jg

Comments

  1. So glad to hear things are going well! Hopefully we get to see you on 2/3 when we are in SF.

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  2. Great to see you looking so happy and healthy!! I'll be out in a few days to finally hug you in person. :-)

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  3. great post, happy to hear you feeling good now! Let us know how we can help during next chemo and during BMT.

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  4. Hugs. HUGE hugs. Be the Match Bone Marrow Drive at Emanu El was a big success tonight. Added more than 40 Jews to the registry. Hopefully the SFDC and Emanu El drive will bring more happy endings. Seeing what this means for real, is fully inspiring. Thank you for sharing your story.

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  5. Tell me when to put ejsphilly on a plane to help. He's got a little too much time on his hands these days!

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  6. Some fantastic news....I wish you continued great progress towards kicking its ass.

    You have a great support team surrounding you there.

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  7. Hi.
    I happened to run across your story on facebook. I have a 12 year old cousin who was diagnosed with AML in June. It has been a long process, but somehow she always keeps a smile on her face! Anyway, I want you to know that you are in my thoughts and prayers!

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