***PLEASE READ THIS ENTIRE MESSAGE***
Hi everyone, I have an exciting announcement to share with you. The annual Light the Night Walk at Angel Stadium is coming up again on August 22nd. The date this year is a little different from last so please make a note of it. But what I am very excited about is that this year we will be honoring one our best friends, Van Skoglund who passed away unexpectedly earlier this year. He captained our team the last time around and did an outstanding job, so we feel there is no better way to honor Van and carry on his hard work than to walk in his name.
I know from time to time I forward charitable opportunities to you guys and they are all for worthy causes. The idea has always been to throw it out to you all and let you decide what you want to do with it. This charity on the other hand is really the mothership of all blood cancer charities so if you are inclined to donate, this is a great place to do it. We are looking to get a bigger group together this year than last so as always everyone is invited. Topping last year is going to be tough but we can do it. If you were there then you know how great of a time it was and there is no doubt this year won’t be the same, but we can’t do it without you. Let’s do our best to make this a huge success. Below is a message from Cindy Skoglund, Van’s Mom who is going to captain this year’s walk, as well as a couple of easy links to either register as a team member or simply donate.
To register for 'Van's Walking Warriors', go to:
http://pages.lightthenight.org/ocie/OrangeCo09/VansWalkingWarriors
To enter and make a donation, go to:
http://pages.lightthenight.org/ocie/OrangeCo09/Floyd1
Cindy’s message:
Please join 'Van’s Walking Warriors' as we gather in support of our good friend, Kurt Thallmayer, and this very worthy fundraiser - Leukemia & Lymphoma Society Light the Night at Angel Stadium in Anaheim on Saturday, August 22, 2009.
We will walk as Van’s Warriors against Leukemia and Lymphoma and in honor of Van for the work he did for this very worthy group and the love he gave to all of us. As your team captain and Van’s mother, I am honored to lead our team.
So add this important date to your calendar and join us for some FUN as Van would want. There will be memories made this day as we honor my son, his best friend – Kurt Thallmayer and his family – and the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society as we seek donations to support the research being done against these dreadful diseases.
Plan to come early for food, fun, drinks and more fun! Additional information will be out soon....so pass the word and invite your family and friends and their family and friends, etc.
Thanks and I look forward to seeing you at Angel Stadium on Saturday, August 22, 2009.
Cynthia Skoglund
Manager, Investor Relations
Beckman Coulter, Inc.
714/773-8213
Cell 714/305-7962
Tuesday, May 12, 2009
Sunday, May 10, 2009
Day + 199
Happy Mother's Day Mom, Sonia, Josie, Paulina, Trina and anyone else I may have missed. Can't wait to get over to the Phoenix Club and celebrate in style.
Well I can't say a whole lot has happened since my last message except more soreness from my push back into the world of exercise. This time I decided it was time to get back out on the open road and take Floyd on the running trail I used to do before I got sick. It was an odd feeling knowing that I hadn't done that since my diagnosis. Those are the things you don't think will really resonate but they do. Just sitting there putting my running shoes back on, Floyd in one hand and iPod in the other and running in the open air again...I don't know, it just gave me a very weird feeling. You try not to think about it very often, but it's the little things like that that make you realize you lost a full year of your life to this illness. It's actually not fair to say lost because believe it or not, some very good things have come out of this, so lost probably isn't the right word, but I think you get the picture. Anyway, it was an unbelievable run with Floyd and again, I paid for it dearly for days. In fact I was hoping to try to get out again this morning for run number 2, but no can do. Floyd will have to settle for a walk. I'm still way too sore.
On the medical side of things my counts actually got better week over week which says a lot because my counts last week were the best they have been since this started. I can only hope that things continue to trend this way. My immune system is the strongest it has been since diagnosis and my hematocrit is slowly rising to the point where I am approaching the norm. I couldn't be happier with this as well as my doctors. I can't say that has translated over to how I actually feel, but I'd rather feel bad and have great counts than feel good and have my counts in the toilet. Mornings are definitely the worst to deal with then I can only hope things get better from there. Sometimes they do and sometimes I'm stuck with it all day. Those are the days that really get to me mentally, but that's when I have to try my hardest to stay on point and remember that things could be a hell of a lot worse in my world. I try to keep the mortality thoughts out of my mind as much as possible, but every now and then I have to remind myself that there are people dying every day from this disease, and I am one of the blessed, lucky, fortunate, whatever you want to call it, ones who has been given a second chance. You'd think that is enough to pull yourself out of it. Sometimes yes, sometimes no, but the bottom line is I am here, living, breathing and most of the time smiling...and things ARE getting better.
That's about it for today. If you guys have any time, check out the link below. It will take you to a team in training website where people are doing 200 mile + bike rides for the sake of finding a cure for blood diseases like mine. Pretty amazing stuff. Any help or support you can throw their way would be really appreciated by everyone involved.
Take care everyone and again, happy Mother's Day to all of you mothers out there.
http://pages.teamintraining.org/sf/ambbr09/jmagee
Well I can't say a whole lot has happened since my last message except more soreness from my push back into the world of exercise. This time I decided it was time to get back out on the open road and take Floyd on the running trail I used to do before I got sick. It was an odd feeling knowing that I hadn't done that since my diagnosis. Those are the things you don't think will really resonate but they do. Just sitting there putting my running shoes back on, Floyd in one hand and iPod in the other and running in the open air again...I don't know, it just gave me a very weird feeling. You try not to think about it very often, but it's the little things like that that make you realize you lost a full year of your life to this illness. It's actually not fair to say lost because believe it or not, some very good things have come out of this, so lost probably isn't the right word, but I think you get the picture. Anyway, it was an unbelievable run with Floyd and again, I paid for it dearly for days. In fact I was hoping to try to get out again this morning for run number 2, but no can do. Floyd will have to settle for a walk. I'm still way too sore.
On the medical side of things my counts actually got better week over week which says a lot because my counts last week were the best they have been since this started. I can only hope that things continue to trend this way. My immune system is the strongest it has been since diagnosis and my hematocrit is slowly rising to the point where I am approaching the norm. I couldn't be happier with this as well as my doctors. I can't say that has translated over to how I actually feel, but I'd rather feel bad and have great counts than feel good and have my counts in the toilet. Mornings are definitely the worst to deal with then I can only hope things get better from there. Sometimes they do and sometimes I'm stuck with it all day. Those are the days that really get to me mentally, but that's when I have to try my hardest to stay on point and remember that things could be a hell of a lot worse in my world. I try to keep the mortality thoughts out of my mind as much as possible, but every now and then I have to remind myself that there are people dying every day from this disease, and I am one of the blessed, lucky, fortunate, whatever you want to call it, ones who has been given a second chance. You'd think that is enough to pull yourself out of it. Sometimes yes, sometimes no, but the bottom line is I am here, living, breathing and most of the time smiling...and things ARE getting better.
That's about it for today. If you guys have any time, check out the link below. It will take you to a team in training website where people are doing 200 mile + bike rides for the sake of finding a cure for blood diseases like mine. Pretty amazing stuff. Any help or support you can throw their way would be really appreciated by everyone involved.
Take care everyone and again, happy Mother's Day to all of you mothers out there.
http://pages.teamintraining.org/sf/ambbr09/jmagee
Tuesday, May 5, 2009
Day + 195
And yet another week passes on this unreal, surreal, crazy, whatever you want to call it road, but the good news is it wasn’t that bad of a week. Given everything that has transpired over the last few weeks, I’m happy to say I didn’t get hit nearly as bad as expected by my new round of meds. The steroids on the other hand have taken a bit of a toll on me. Sleep is something I really enjoy which has been severely hampered over the past 10 days. Luckily I’ve got a bottle of Melatonin to help me through that which is a phenomenal natural pill which actually works. I’ve always been of the opinion that natural remedies are hocus pocus but after this I’m on board, especially given the fact that they are granting me precious hours of sleep. So that’s the sleep side of the coin. The flip side of that coin is how these meds have affected my moods and behavior. It’s funny, in an egotistical sort of way, I've always thought that there was no way a pill could affect my mental state, but it can…and it did, just ask Evey. Like the poor girl hasn’t already been through enough this year with having to live in a hospital fold out chair for 6 months, relocate to San Diego in a moments notice, rejuggle her work life, sacrifice family and friends time, the list goes on and on. You can now add having to navigate through my mood swings on top of all of that. Luckily they haven’t been all that bad, but there have been a few and those have been very difficult to control. Most of the time I can feel it sweeping over me and make a quick mental course correction to get through it, but as I said, a couple got a way from me. If the slow breathing, trying to talk myself out of it, rationalizing that this is only a pill, yada yada yada doesn’t work, I have to simply try my absolute hardest to keep a level head and get through it. I honestly don’t know what’s worse, having to actually deal with the sporadic physical pain I get hit with now and then, or the mental pain knowing I’m being a total jerk to the one person I should be treating with the most love, respect and affection. I can only hope that even my minimal frequency of these episodes goes down quickly and things can get back to normal…or whatever normal is.
On another note, I had a great week from an exercise standpoint. Stepped foot in the gym for the first time in a year and it felt great. I had to be very careful about what I touched and what I used, but it was a great workout. I ran for a mile on the treadmill and then was able to squeeze in about 15 minutes of weights which just felt amazing. It left me with a feeling I hadn’t felt in quite some time and quite honestly missed much more than I thought. I’m really looking forward to getting back in there. The next day I went on a 2 ½ hour hike through the hills off of Ortega Hwy with Evey and my family which just about killed me, but again, loved every minute of it. To close out the exercise trifecta, I took part in a 5k walk on Sunday morning for the Pediatric Cancer Research Foundation. As odd as it sounds, I felt alright that day. I figured I would start to feel it by then, but I didn’t. I felt great but definitely needed the rest of the day to relax and recover. Now Monday on the other hand…that is a different story. I woke up Monday morning and could barley walk. From my hips down to my toes, utter pain and agony throughout, but it’s the good pain and agony. The kind that says you had a hell of a workout but now it’s time to chill. These three days of exercise gave me a great taste of what life used to be. One that I had forgotten completely but don’t intend on forgetting again. It’s a great step for me mentally knowing that the time is right and I can start the process of taking back the valuable pieces of my life that were stripped away this time last year. I can’t wait to get going, and yes, moderation is my best friend.
On the blood counts front, things couldn’t be better. In fact they are the best they have been since my diagnosis. My white blood cell count jumped back up to 7.6 which is right where it needs to be to maintain a strong immune system My hemoglobin is sitting at 13.8 which is the highest it has been in a while and my hematocrit is at 41.8. I haven’t been over 40 since I was diagnosed so it is great to see those numbers. Hematocrit is a good way to measure my potential for endurance, so given those three days of exercise, timing really couldn’t be better. Hopefully it turns into a trend and not just a one week spike. Time will tell.
That’s about all I have. There is a lot going on, some positive and some not so positive, but for the most part things are good. I’ve got the best fiancé, family and friends anyone could ever ask for. Once you know that, it gets that much easier. As always, take care, thanks for reading and we'll catch up again soon.
On another note, I had a great week from an exercise standpoint. Stepped foot in the gym for the first time in a year and it felt great. I had to be very careful about what I touched and what I used, but it was a great workout. I ran for a mile on the treadmill and then was able to squeeze in about 15 minutes of weights which just felt amazing. It left me with a feeling I hadn’t felt in quite some time and quite honestly missed much more than I thought. I’m really looking forward to getting back in there. The next day I went on a 2 ½ hour hike through the hills off of Ortega Hwy with Evey and my family which just about killed me, but again, loved every minute of it. To close out the exercise trifecta, I took part in a 5k walk on Sunday morning for the Pediatric Cancer Research Foundation. As odd as it sounds, I felt alright that day. I figured I would start to feel it by then, but I didn’t. I felt great but definitely needed the rest of the day to relax and recover. Now Monday on the other hand…that is a different story. I woke up Monday morning and could barley walk. From my hips down to my toes, utter pain and agony throughout, but it’s the good pain and agony. The kind that says you had a hell of a workout but now it’s time to chill. These three days of exercise gave me a great taste of what life used to be. One that I had forgotten completely but don’t intend on forgetting again. It’s a great step for me mentally knowing that the time is right and I can start the process of taking back the valuable pieces of my life that were stripped away this time last year. I can’t wait to get going, and yes, moderation is my best friend.
On the blood counts front, things couldn’t be better. In fact they are the best they have been since my diagnosis. My white blood cell count jumped back up to 7.6 which is right where it needs to be to maintain a strong immune system My hemoglobin is sitting at 13.8 which is the highest it has been in a while and my hematocrit is at 41.8. I haven’t been over 40 since I was diagnosed so it is great to see those numbers. Hematocrit is a good way to measure my potential for endurance, so given those three days of exercise, timing really couldn’t be better. Hopefully it turns into a trend and not just a one week spike. Time will tell.
That’s about all I have. There is a lot going on, some positive and some not so positive, but for the most part things are good. I’ve got the best fiancé, family and friends anyone could ever ask for. Once you know that, it gets that much easier. As always, take care, thanks for reading and we'll catch up again soon.
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