Posted by Stephanie  10pm CST  from The Rawleys’  Pearland, TX

Well, we’re back in Houston.  Just arrived a few hours ago after a long two days of driving.  The past week and a half has been completely chaotic–fly home from Houston, head to school for one day to tie up loose ends before the long-term sub takes over, then turn right around and leave for Las Vegas to attend a conference, come home from that Friday only to leave again Sunday morning and head here!  I think I was home for about 72 hours in that week and a half.  Oof!

Let’s get to the most important stuff right away (and I’m sorry it took a week and half to get this up)–the results of my appointment on 1/13 with Dr. Benjamin.  As I posted that day after we saw him, the lymph node biopsy came back positive for osteosarcoma, which means chemo for sure.  When we met with Dr. B, he shared that was debating between two different chemo regiments, and the one he chose would depend largely on the information my thoracic surgeon, Dr. Swisher, gave him in the days following that meeting.  If Dr. Swisher said that the size of the lymph node was not a problem to remove, and that it just needed to not get any larger, then Dr. Benjamin said he would consider putting me on Gemcitabine.  That is a chemo agent I have had in the past (my most recent time through chemo, actually), but at the time it was combined with a drug called Taxotere.  This time, Dr. Benny said, he would up the dosage of Gemcitabine and maybe leave out the Taxotere all together.  However, if Dr. Swisher indicated that he would need the lymph node to be shrunk as much as possible, then I would be put back on Ifosfamide.  Now, for those of you long-time blog followers, you might recall that Ifosfamide (also known as Ifex) is my ‘wonder drug’.  It works better for me that anything else……but, it also does severe damage to my kidneys.  Years ago, they had to stop my Ifex treatments and search for something else that might work in order to keep my kidneys from being completely tanked.  At one point Dr. Benjamin even told me that should I ever have to go back on it again, I might wind up on dialysis for the rest of my life.  Oh joy.

After hearing that we might do Ifex again (and subsequently having my stomach drop down into my feet), he then went on to say he would give it to me in a different way to try to prevent damage.  Instead of doing it high dose inpatient, we would try it in a lower dose over a longer period of time (several days).  I’d get to have a chemo ‘backpack’ to lug around 24 hours a day during the infusion.  On a side note, this is the point at which Sammy made some horrible (but funny) joke about getting a backpack as a free gift for your fifth bout with cancer.  :)  Ah, a good sense of humor.  Never would’ve survived this long without one!

ANYWAY, both treatment options would be done outpatient (hooray!), and while he wants me to start in Houston for monitoring purposes, there is a chance one or both of them could be done at home, depending on dosage level and how I respond.  We’ll know which treatment plan he’s decided on when we meet with him tomorrow.  It’s been frustrating to have some info, but at the same time not really have all the info.  It has made it very difficult to map out any sort of plan for how long I’ll be on chemo, when surgery would be, who will stay with me, etc.  Once we meet with him and learn all the nitty-gritty details about whatever option he goes with, then we can start to map things out.  I’m supposed to be meeting with the surgeon soon as well, to chat preliminarily about the logistics of surgery, but that’s not on my schedule yet.  However, labs and an appointment for a CVC line insertion are, so that plus the appointment with Dr. Benjamin will keep us busy the next couple of days.  I expect that whatever chemo regiment he decides on, I’ll get started with it before the end of the week.

Alright, lots to share on other fronts about my Arbonne conference and things at home, but I’m headed to bed for the night.  Now that the whirlwind of travel is over for awhile, I should have plenty of time to post.  Nighty night.

-Steph

Posted by Stephanie  11:00pm PST  from the MGM Grand Hotel  Las Vegas, NV

I have been getting so much grief over the last couple of days about my lack of an update!  I’m sorry, I know I promised to get on here and give you the details from my appointment with Dr. Benjamin, but….it’s just been NUTS since the moment I left Houston–a whirlwind weekend at home with not a spare minute, and now I’m in Las Vegas for a conference before heading to Texas to start chemo.

I promise I’ll get on as soon as I have time to elaborate.  Just know that we’re doing well and so thankful for the good thoughts, vibes and prayers!

-Steph

Posted by Stephanie  11:00pm CST  from the Rawley’s  Pearland, TX

This’ll be a very brief post–it’s late, and I’m tired, but I wanted to let everyone know about my appointment with Dr. Benjamin this afternoon.

Unfortunately, the lymph node biopsy came back positive for osteosarcoma.  I’ll get into the details in a post tomorrow, but basically that signifies the need for more chemotherapy before surgery.  Dr. B is still deciding between two chemo regiments, which I’ll outline later, but both will require me to at least start treatment down here in Houston.

Mom and I are flying home tomorrow, and we’ll use the next few days to figure out the logistics for the start of Steph vs. Cancer Round #5.  I’ll get on here and elaborate tomorrow evening on what we know.  Thanks so much to all of you who have sent words of encouragement, prayers, etc.  You are appreciated more than you know!

-Steph

Posted by Stephanie  9:30pm CST  from the Rawley’s  Pearland, Tx

I love the title of this post.  It makes me giggle.  Wish I could take credit for it, but it was all Sammy’s idea.  He’s so much more clever than me about that sort of thing.

I digress–what I really got on to post about was today’s biopsy!  Mom and I reported to the hospital, got taken back for the prep (change into a gown, put an I.V line in, get the spot marked in purple marker, etc.), and I was whisked away for the procedure without incident.  Well, except for the ‘fellow’ (doctor on his fellowship training), who came in and made specific mention of this lymph node being right by my pulmonary artery, and therefore a tricky location.  Thanks, just thanks for bringing that up.  I already knew that, but when a doctor makes specific mention of it, like it might be problematic, it’s a little nerve-wracking.  ANYWAY, after being strapped onto the CT table and given a sedative, I was put through for a baseline CT that would help them identify the exact location of the lymph node.  Even though the node is just left of center in my chest, and right above the left breast, the radiologist doing the biopsy went in near my armpit and across my chest.  I’m sure there was a good reason for it, like getting the right angle for the best sample, but I wasn’t expecting that.  

The procedure itself only took about 45 minutes.  I didn’t feel any pain despite the giant needle, but I could feel it going through my chest.  I can’t even describe it as a ‘pressure’ feeling–it was just…uncomfortable.  And weird.  The sedative didn’t seem to do much for me.  I think if I had been anxious or upset, it might have taken the edge off, but I was really calm to start with, so all it did was make me the tiniest bit sleepy.  I still stayed awake during the procedure, and got to watch the monitor that showed the needle placement in my chest each time they zipped me through the CT machine.  Kinda cool.

Once they finished the procedure, even before I got off the CT table, I started to notice how painful it was to take a deep breath.  Within minutes, that worsened to the point where I could only take shallow breaths that still caused a lot of discomfort.  It’s typical protocol to do a chest x-ray immediately following the biopsy.  Let me tell you, having to sit up in bed, swing my legs around, press up against the x-ray machine and take a huge breath in=not fun.  When the doctor came out to speak to my mom about the procedure, she told her there was definitely at least a small pneumothorax (partially collapsed lung) that they were going to monitor for the next several hours.  I had another x-ray almost three hours later, and thought for sure that my painful breathing and extreme soreness was going to signify the need for a chest tube.  But, the nurse came back and said that I was okay to go.  Though he didn’t have specific details, that usually means that the pneumothorax is correcting itself (or at least not getting worse) and small enough to heal on it’s own.  So, mom helped me get dressed, loaded me up in the car, grabbed some food (I was ravenous!) and back to Joe and Sarah’s we went.

It was nearly 4pm by the time we got back, and I’ve spent most of the rest of the day parked in a big oversized chair with an elaborate system of pillows to keep me comfortable.  Had some Tylenol too, which has helped with the soreness a little.  I’m just hoping I can prop myself up tonight and stay there–accidentally rolling over on my left side would not be a good thing.  

Tomorrow afternoon we meet with Dr. Benjamin.  He may only have preliminary results, but I’m hoping we’ll know which direction we need to head in this after we see him.  In the meantime, I’m off to bed, happy that this is done with, and hoping for easier breathing and less soreness in the morning. 

-Steph

Posted by Stephanie  9:15 CT  from my temporary abode (aka Joe and Sarah’s house)  Pearland, TX

So when I logged onto Xanga tonight to make this post, something in the upper left corner of the computer screen caught my eye.  It said, “Minge 411, you have been on Xanga for 1860 days”.  1860 days.  Seeing as how we started this blog right after I was diagnosed, then that just about sums up how long we’ve been on this journey.  1860 days.  Wow.

It’s only been a few days since I was last on to post, but a whole lot has happened since then.  Let’s see if I can remember the chain of events.  When I last posted, we were stuck without an answer on when I could see Dr. B for the post-biopsy followup.  After fretting about it the rest of Thursday evening, I decided I would e-mail Dr. Benjamin directly.  I’ve only done it once before, and I hated to do it because I know he’s a busy man, but I really felt like my wishes about getting the results as soon as possible needed to be heard before this week started.  I explained the situation, and asked to be seen either Wednesday or Thursday (they’re not in clinic Fridays) so that we could get these results while I was still here and avoid a separate trip.

Dr. Benjamin got back to me early Friday with a three sentence response.  ”We are ridiculously overbooked on Thursday and I am not in clinic on Wednesday.”  Oh no.  I read on, “I can see you unofficially on Wednesday 1/12 at 3:45 to go over preliminary results and come up with a plan for where to go next with treatment.”  Whew, thank goodness.  Then the last sentence, “That will probably be more chemo before surgery.”  Now why on earth would he say that without knowing what we’re dealing with?  The only reason I can think of is that he showed the scans to his thoracic colleagues, and they speculate that it’s tumor activity.  Ugh.  I’m not gonna even start to go down that path until we know for sure what this is.  I’m going to stay positive.

So, we had a biopsy date and a Dr. Benny appointment.  All that was left to do was figure out who was coming down for the biopsy (mom or Sammy) and how they were getting down here (driving or flying).  After much discussion, Sammy and I decided it would be best for him to stay home this time, so that he could minimize his time away from work and save it for things like my surgery, etc.  Mom made plans to get someone to stay with grandpa, and we started looking at travel options for her.  Flying, though slightly more expensive, turned out to be the best option schedule-wise.

I sat down late Saturday night to book mom’s flight for Monday using frequent flier points I had saved up on Airtran, but I kept getting stuck partway through the booking process on the website–it just kicked me back to the same page over and over again.  I tried calling the airline, but the office that deals with rewards flights was closed, so I gave up and went to bed.  Sunday morning I woke up and hopped online first thing to try booking again.  This time, their website didn’t even show any available flights to book with frequent flier points.  Confused, I called the airline and was informed via a recorded message that they were experiencing heavy call volumes due to travel being affected by major weather systems in certain areas of the nation.  I settled in for a lengthy wait, and decided to see what it would cost if we had to pay for that leg of the flight and use the points another time.  When I went back to do a new search, it showed that nothing, NOTHING was available on Sunday or Monday, when just hours before there had been loads of available flights.  What on earth?!  I hung up the call so I could try to figure out what was going on, and after a few minutes of conferring with Sammy and mom, we realized that all the people who had been displaced because of the weather were probably being rebooked on those Sunday and Monday flights, and that they had most likely all been booked up.  Just a guess, but it made sense to me.  Anyway, I got back on the phone to try them again, see what I could do, but this time I got a message about how their system was so overloaded it couldn’t even take any more callers.

I got back online and started looking for other Monday flight options, and was horrified when I starting seeing $500 price tags for one-way flights.  At the same time, mom was checking the weather to see what all the fuss was about, and that’s when we realized what was converging down the midwest and across the south.  They were calling for snow in Atlanta (where Airtran goes through), and were talking of some airlines that had already cancelled flights for Sunday evening into Monday.  The idea of driving came back into the picture, but my dad thought the ice and snow along the driving route would prevent anyone from getting here safely.  Having found a decently priced flight in the meantime on US Airways, we made the last minute decision to fly mom out later that same day, hopefully staying ahead of the storm.  Her layover would be in Charlotte, which was also supposed to get hit with snow, but not until the overnight hours.  She scrambled to pack and get to the airport, but managed to get here just after midnight with only a slight delay, even flying straight through the storm covering the south.

Quite the travel saga, if I do say so myself.  Fretting over decisions, scrambling to make things happen, but it worked out, and mom is safely down here.  We had tex-mex for lunch today, we’ll get a good night’s sleep, and tomorrow we’ll head to the hospital for the biopsy.  I can’t eat or drink anything after midnight, so I’m guessing I’ll be starving by the time they start the procedure at 10:15 (that’s 11:15 for all you EST folk).  When I get back to the house late afternoon and feel up to it, I’ll get on here and post how it went.  

Nighty night.

-Steph

Posted by Stephanie   6:00pm CST  From Joe and Sarah’s   Pearland, TX

So, the past couple of days (as Sammy mentioned in his last post) have been full of nothing but waiting.  Waiting for a call from the Sarcoma Center scheduler, who was waiting for a call from the radiology people, who were waiting for a cancellation, and so on.  Yesterday we were informed that the biopsy was able to be moved up from next Friday, but only to next Tuesday.  Still not ideal, but definitely better in terms of travel and timing for myself and whoever is going to be with me for the biopsy and followup appointment to get results.

After we got the final, sealed-in-stone word about the biopsy yesterday, we spent a good chunk of time thinking up every possible travel scenario to figure out what made the most sense timeline-wise and with finances, etc.  Sammy’s already home at the moment, and conducting a concert later this evening, but we needed to decide what I was going to do between now and the biopsy next Tuesday.  Do I go home for a couple of days or stay down here?  I mean, there’s a couple loose ends at school that I could take care of, and of course it’d be nice to sleep in my own bed, see the cat, etc.  But, on the other hand, we’d pay a couple hundred dollars for me to fly home for literally 48 hours (and then have the cost of getting back down here).  It’s hard to justify that cost for such a s short time, especially when there’s nothing I absolutely had to do at home.  I struggled with it back and forth all day, but finally decided that I should just stay down here.  That’s the least stressful scenario.  People keep telling me that what I want to do right now should be the most important factor, but I can’t lie in saying that I’m freaking a bit about the financial side of things with the potential of missing so much work looming in my future.  Ugh.  I hate that this disease has made that a ruling factor in our lives for so many years!

Okay, so that part was decided.  Next we had to figure out who was going to come down for this biopsy (Sammy or my mom), when they were coming, and how they were getting down here.  Do they drive?  Fly?  Driving is cheaper, but more time consuming, and with Sammy needing to work and my mom needing to take care of my grandfather, it makes it tricky.  We even toyed with the idea of Sammy driving down, then flying home after the biopsy and being replaced by mom for the results followup, then she and I would drive the car back.  Sound confusing?  Yeah, it’s like playing musical chairs only with plane flights and people.  The other factor to consider in all this is when that followup appointment would be with Dr. Benjamin.  We should get preliminary results in 24 hours, but it could take 2-5 days for full results.  If we wait to get into the week after the biopsy (the week of the 17th) for the appointment, then we run into a conference that I had already made plans to attend.  Long story short, all this is one giant logistical mess.

Yesterday I emailed Mara, my nurse, to see if she had any thoughts on the timeline of the results followup.  I heard nothing until just about 20 minutes ago, when she got back to me and said Dr. Benjamin wanted to know the dates of my conference, and could see me after I got back from that.  Um, hello, NO!  No way I’m waiting nearly two weeks after this biopsy is done to get the results.  I immediately called and left a message, and sent an email back, but they’re out of the clinic tomorrow, so sadly it looks like it’ll be next week before I know anything, and we’ll have to go ahead and make travel plans, at least to get someone down here, without all the info.  Frustrating.  Don’t get me wrong, I know from years of experience that in a major hospital setting like this it takes time to get things scheduled and moved around and all that, and they can’t cater extra to me just because I happen to be an out-of-towner.  I just wish it were working out to be a little less stressful than it is.  Make sense?

This morning, I had bloodwork and the pre-biopsy evaluation at the hospital.  Basically, it was just so a PA (Physician’s Assistant) could come in the room and walk me through the biopsy procedure and have me sign consent forms.  There isn’t much she told me that I didn’t already know from having a CT-guided biopsy five years ago when we were working to get me initially diagnosed.  The biopsy should last about an hour.  They’ll sedate me (though I’ll be conscious) and do a preliminary chest CT so they can pinpoint the exact area for the biopsy.  Then they’ll numb my skin and insert the needle.  For each small increment they go further, I’ll be run through the CT machine again, just to make sure they’re on track.  A pathologist will be in the room so that once they reach the lymph node and get a sample, he will be able to decide if it’s viable/enough, etc.  That’s it!  I’ll be kept in observation for 3-4 hours after that, so that they can monitor me for any problems.  They will also do a chest x-ray immediately following the biopsy, and then again before I leave so they can check for a pnuemothorax (collapsed lung).  If I do have one, they’ll insert a tube to help reinflate it.  On rare occasions they have patients stay overnight in that case, but normally they go home with the tube in for 24 hours then return to have it removed.

I think that catches you up on everything that’s been going on medically.  In other news, I’m fretting a bit over stuff at school (though all my colleagues are telling me not to).  We’re having a hard time finding a musically experienced sub for the next week or so, and in the meantime, they’re juggling to get my classes covered with just the staff that are there.  Bless them for that, it’s got to be tedious.  I just feel awful that although this obviously isn’t my fault, it’s having such a domino effect back home.  Honestly, that’s one of the things I feared most about going back to school (second to physically working myself to the point of exhaustion or beyond)–having to go back on treatment mid-year and leave a giant mess that everyone is scrambling to get covered.  

I guess I should go for now and scrounge up some dinner.  I started coming down with a cold yesterday (like I needed that on top of everything else), and I’m so plugged up I can’t taste anything.  That’s super sad.  I’ll be back on here tomorrow with more.  Nighty night.

-Steph

Posted by Sammy

January 4 2011

9:15pm cst from la casa de rawley

Well this sucks. Pretty much all there is to say. People often tell me when we have cancer show back up they dont really know what to say. I understand that. You want to say something…anything. People want to help. As cynical as many of us can be from time to time deep down I believe there is good in people, and I know many good people. But you struggle to find words…something that is meaningful, helpful, but doesnt sound trite, assuming, or condescending. Something heartfelt or real that doesnt sound like it came of a Hallmark card or motivational poster. I get it. Its cool. But really its simple. You can say “this sucks”. That covers it….because cancer sucks. And we get to deal with it again. And that sucks. And that is what you can say. 

So we spent most of today sitting. At the computer. Waiting. See they scheduled the biopsy stuff for late next week and that creates problems on multiple levels. It also bothers Dr. B who wants it done ASAP so we have the evaluation moved to this week…just waiting on the biopsy which will hopefully be moved as well. Meanwhile I hit the road (or air I suppose) for Ohio tomorrow. Heading back for a whirlwind trip of bringing stuff home and back, conducting our concert which has already been postponed twice. Besides who doesnt love Christmas music in January? (hey Epiphany isnt until this weekend…that means we’re still in the 12 days of Christmas! yeah they come after, not before). Then back here for the biopsy at some point. Woooo. Actually Im glad to be able to do the concert. Im blessed to be surrounded by a super supportive group of administrators, teachers, parents and students at my school so it will be good to be able to see everyone and make some music before we get down to business here. I guess that points me toward where we are so fortunate…so many friends and family at home calling, emailing and whatnot offering support and prayers and some absolutely wonderful friends down here who do more than they realize or have to to make this more bearable. 

Guess I should go pack. Need to bring some stuff home and such. Wonder if Ill get to go through the awesome new TSA machines tomorrow. Would it be inappropriate for me to ask for a framed copy of my scan if I do? I really think its only a matter of time before someone runs through security stark naked in protest. It wont be me though. Im sure it would be frowned upon if not a valid statement. Maybe I could have my scan turned into one of those big cardboard cutouts and could put it in the garage???? Ok Ill stop. Night all. 

Sammy

Posted by Stephanie  11:10pm CST  from the Rawley’s house  Pearland, TX

I wanted to be able to pop on here, say hi for the first time in for-evar, and give you all the great report of another clear scan.  But, sadly, today I must be the bearer of bad news and rain on everyone’s parade.  Really, it’s my stupid cancer that’s the party pooper.  Yep, that’s right, after a slew of clean checkups and nearly 15 months in remission, my cancer has reared it’s ugly head again.  Here’s the lowdown:

The CT scan showed two spots of interest.  First, a small nodule in my right lung.  It’s actually been there quite awhile, just hanging out, unchanged on the last year and a half worth of scans, so there was no need to mess with it.  I guess it decided that it was tired of staying quiet, and has started making it’s presence known–nothing crazy yet, still tiny at 7mm, but growing.  The more alarming spot discovered on the CT scan was actually an enlarged lymph node.  A hilar lymph node, more specifically, which is located in the empty space between your lungs, smack dab in the middle of your chest.  Lymph node involvement is almost unheard of with sarcomas, and hilar lymph nodes, well, that’s even stranger.  The fact that I have a one-inch mass of a lymph node that’s suddenly shown up on a scan has thoroughly confuzzled Dr. Benjamin.  Leave it to me to continuously perplex the #1 sarcoma specialist in the world!  Apparently, hilar lymph nodes are usually only connected to a couple of things.  1) They can become enlarged as a result of primary lung cancer (which he very adamantly said I do not have), or 2) They can be a symptom of a totally unrelated condition called sarcoidosis.  Sarcoidosis usually presents in both the right and left hilar lymph nodes simultaneously, but only one of my left hilar lymph nodes is enlarged, so that doesn’t fit either.  Dr. Benny honestly doesn’t know what it is, or what it means.  He’s checking with his thoracic colleagues first thing tomorrow, and we’re setting up a CT-guided needle biopsy.  Getting a piece of this thing will be the best way to find out exactly what we’re dealing with, and whether it’s related to my cancer at all.  If it’s not related, and is just some ill-timed freak occurrence, then we’ll do surgery to remove the lung nodule and be on our merry way.  However, if it turns out the lymph node is somehow linked to my sarcoma, then that means I have two active spots at the same time.  That means spreading cancer activity, and that means going back on chemo.  Joy.  But, no need to jump the gun or try to speculate at all until we have a more definitive idea of what we’re dealing with here.

Dr. Benjamin did say that the location of this hilar lymph node is especially tricky to get at–almost directly in the center of my chest front to back, and just below and to the left of my chest hole positioning-wise.  I’ll be sedated, but conscious for the procedure.  They’ll have to go between two ribs and through a section of lung to reach it, which, according to him, will probably result in a collapsed lung.  Eek!  No big deal, he says.  Riiight.  It’s not his lung they’re talking about.  Apparently, they’ll just re-inflate it and leave a chest tube in for 2-3 days until I can maintain it on my own.  Sad how that doesn’t sound like anything major comparatively, now that I think about it.  :)  The biopsy should appear on my schedule by tomorrow, but no telling how quickly they can get me in.  Dr. B seemed to want to get it done quickly, and told us to not bother going home, since we’d just have to turn right around and come back.  I’m hoping it can be performed this week so that we can get home to our own bed and the cat.  Not that I don’t love Houston, but, well, I had hoped to be driving home tonight, not hanging out here for another week!

Lots of thoughts swimming around in my head.  I definitely feel the need to get them out on paper……er, computer screen, very soon.  But for now, it’s nothing but the facts ma’am, and I’m off to bed.

Nighty night.

-Steph

Posted by Sammy

1pm

Christmas Eve 

From Home

So I was wandering around this building the other day. It seemed like a nice place. Comfy too. There was a cat running around loose and lots of gadgets laying around. Then I realized I live here. There is a big difference between days of for someone like me. A free Saturday morning is cool. Relaxing, maybe a movie or something, but youre always on your toes and playing catchup, wondering what the week will bring. Snow days are, well snow days. I really love what I do so its not like I want to not go to work. I actually want to go. Then there is momentary joy over getting to sleep in…always nice, which is immediately replaced with horror at the thought of lost rehearsal time and the onset of snow-brain amongst students who want nothing more than to be spared another day of OGT preparation. But extended break days….oooooh those are speical. Christmas, Spring and Summer break time. Its the feeling that even for juts one or two days….sometimes a few more you have NOTHING to do. In the words of the cinematic giant Office Space: I did nothing. And it was everything I thought it could be and more. Everyone deserves a day to do nothing every now and then. To just stop and be a blob. I think you have to earn it, but if you do it is joyous.

Two things tend to jerk me out of my posting slackerhood: Christmas and road trips. Both are food for writing and the next two weeks bring both of those things. Obviously Christmas is tomorrow (hooray) then were off to Texas for warm(er) weather, a checkup and new years with some great friends. Should be quite the whirlwind day at MD Anderson: scans in the am, Dr Benny in the pm and all on the first day he is back after a break. Yeah thats gonna run on time. So here’s hoping for yet another clean scan (jan 3 if youd like to pencil it into ye ol’ prayer calendar) 

Speaking of Christmas…I hear tell we are now pretty much letting anyone make a Christmas music album. Evidence? Bieber. Blarg. Id rather listen to the jingle bells dogs. On loop. From the Clockwork Orange chair. If ever we needed the Krampus to follow Santa to someone’s house….yeah. What is Krampus you may ask? Leave it to Europe, the home of Vikings, trolls and liederhosen to come up with such an, um, interesting idea:

From Wikipedia: The word Krampus originates from the Old High German word for claw (Krampen). In the Alpine regions, the Krampus is represented by an incubus demon accompanying Saint Nicholas. Krampus acts as an anti–Saint Nicholas, who, instead of giving gifts to good children, gives warnings and punishments to the bad children. Traditionally, young men dress up as the Krampus in the first two weeks of December, particularly in the evening of December 5, and roam the streets frightening children and women with rusty chains and bells. In some rural areas the tradition also includes birching by the Krampus, especially of young females. (thanks to our buddy Flint for the Wikipedia info)

Im pretty sure our little crooner fits the criteria for a visit from Ol Krampy. Oh well…voices deepen, hair styles go out….those 15 minutes will be over soon enough. Want proof? Anyone remember Jonathan Taylor Thomas? Little Simba? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jonathan_Taylor_Thomas? Yep didn’t think so. Our Christmas record collection will be safe once again….at least until Wham! makes a reunion

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO! 

Posted by Sammy

9/27/2010

10pm from Home

Ok so I lied. I slacked off and stopped posting. Go team lazy guy. Actually its more like go team busy guy. Its been an absolute whirlwind since the last time I put anything up on here. In an attempt to catch things up and get back to making something out of this and chronicle life without cancer and the new-new normal (had a couple new normals now…hoping this one sticks) here I go. 

There have been a couple of big events. The first was the 2010 Philly Challenge. I base a lot of my year around this event now. It is important for me to do a good job and represent all those who contribute to the fight against cancer. Id like to try to do more rides like this in the future. It was a great experience this year. Having Steph there at the finish line was a big deal. Coming across the line last year and seeing everyone greeted by friends and family and just sitting there on my bike alone was like wind sucked right out of the sails. So to have here well and able to attend was a big boost. I also knew where things were in the course this year which is valuable knowledge to have. In the fun sense, I knew where the professional photographers were this year at the end so I managed to stay out of groups the last 500 feet or so and hit a turn on the drops with the bike banked at about 22mph and got a great picture out of it. On the downside….I knew where the hill was. Everyone knew there were hills, but I got the pleasure if informing another rider about one particularly nasty climb. 

This exchange occurred going up Carl’s Hill Road….which incidentally is a lie. Carl’s Wall is more appropriate. Im going to find Carl and beat him with a tire pump. 

Random Dude: “So is this how the whole course is or is this the worst of it?”

*laughter*

Random Dude: “What?”

Me: “Well we havent gotten to THE hill yet.”

Random Dude: “Wait, there’s a THE hill?”

Me: “Yup”

Random Dude: “expletive deleted”

Me: “Oh and its way worse than this.”

I didnt see him again. 

“Ok, who’s idea was this? Don’t hills eventually have to go down?”

Also I re-discovered the joys of riding in rain. And I dont mean a light drizzle. I mean big ol’ fat rain Lieutenant Dan. And rain that came in sideways. See weather was an issue all day and they were talking about closing the 100 mile course and routing all riders to the 70 mile course in the interest of safety. Well they did just that about an hour before the cutoff time to pass the 70 mile diversion. Now I had said that a lot of my year focuses on this. That is to mean that the bulk of my riding was centered on climbing and dealing with headwinds to be ready for the nastiest Livestrong Challenge course which is Philly. (Even Lance says the course is difficult and this is the guy who climbs Alpe du Huez and rides the Leadville 100 for fun). Well guess who trained harder and ended up in a nice drafting line and He-Manned his way across the cutoff line long before they ever closed it? And guess who got to “enjoy” mother nature’s version of a water park and find out first hand why they closed it. Did you guess me? Ooohh you win! Here is what I learned:

1. I have learned the human body can become far more wet than I ever thought. I literally watched water drain out of my shoes when I peddled. 

2. Rain at 35mph hurts; rain at 35mph on tires 1 inch wide going downhill with no visibility is terrifying…and oddly fun. Like Ricky Bobby on a bike. 

3. Bike brakes do not deal with water as well as car brakes. Stopping can become an issue. And by become an issue I mean NOT POSSIBLE. 

In all it was a pretty incredible day. I made it back safe and it was a fantastic and rewarding experience. I really do hope to do two next year. Or this and some other big event. 

Oh and that other big event? Yeah Im old. Finally hit 30. Doesnt really feel like that big of a deal. Though now my students seem to think ive become legitimately old. Thats probably a good thing though. Maybe if im old Im scarier. Or I can just be grizzled. Or get flamed with lots of angry emails from 40, 50, and 60 somethings who think Im being a turd for calling myself old at 30. Really though Im thankful to be here, to be doing what I do for a living and have the chance to do things like this ride. Im thankful for the experiences I have had and look forward to more. We’re off this weekend for a checkup in our home-away-from-home. Looking forward to everything in Houston except the wait to hear the results. Go go team clean scans!

LiveSTRONG

Sammy