Round 2 - %#@!&

Why does it always seem to be that I get sick when there is a major soccer tournament going on? I'm not complaining, but it's a great coincidence. The first time I was diagnosed with Leukemia, the European Championship was going on. When it comes to soccer tournaments, that would be second to the World Cup. So two years later, my relapse hits after 500 days of remission and the World Cup starts. Luckily for me I'm a huge soccer fan because it's giving me something to do every day. Trust me, when you're idol like I am and your productivity has come to a grinding halt, you need stuff like this to take your mind off of what's going on in the real world. Thanks to the World Cup, I can disconnect for 6-8 hours a day and not have to think about test results, Dr. visits, blood counts, "procedures", whatever...I even sometimes forget about my headaches. You can't argue with the power of sports. Having three teams to root for is a bit tough though. From the beginning I've been pulling for South Africa (Where I was born), Germany and last but not least, the US and A. Need a big day tomorrow to salvage this World Cup. All the marbles are on the table for both Germany and the US. It's going to be quite a day of soccer. Unfortunately, South Africa got knocked out, but they had a great World Cup and totally blew away their expectations. And how sweet was it to see them send the French packing with a loss? Sorry if you like the French team, but they are a huge mess.

So enough of the stuff that has absolutely nothing to do with my current condition. I've been heading down to San Diego once or twice a week. It depends on what's on the calendar as far as tests, labs, etc. Lab results have been solid since I was released but seem to have dipped a bit in the last week or so. My doctor says it's nothing to worry about so I'm not worried, but I'm very interested to see what they show tomorrow. White blood cells are in the 7,800 range which is good, but that number is about 5,000 lower than the prior week. That much of a dip always raises my eye bros, but again, if doc says don't worry, I'm good with that. All of my other counts are well within the "good" range as well, so from a blood work standpoint, no worries.

My energy levels and overall feeling changes from day to day, but my as long as my blood counts are good, I've got to believe that everything behind the curtain is good. I'm not going to lie to you...it sucks when one day you feel great and you've got a ton of energy, then the next day comes around and it's the complete opposite. Don't cry for me yet, when the bad days hit, I can just take it easy, relax and watch the World Cup. Not a bad way to deal with a rough day right? Luckily for me those days are far outnumbered by the good days. It's amazing though, a bad day can make a week of good days a distant memory. The fact still remains that even on my bad days, there are people out there having days that are much worse than mine, and that doesn't only apply to illness. Thinking about that knocks me back into alignment pretty quick.

For those of you who have been wondering what's next, my timeline of events is starting to get a little more clear. I have labs tomorrow which should hopefully show an increase in my WBC count. Then on Friday I'm back down in San Diego for a chest CT scan (Catscan). This is a test I am really looking forward to. It's pretty much the only way my doctors can tell how the Pneumonia is doing. I definitely still have it by the simple fact that I continue to cough up junk all day long. Another thing they can do is listen to my back with the stethascope while I take deep breaths, but it's not even close to as good as the CT scan. So that's on Friday with the results hopefully coming back that same day. I've been on this new medication using an IV which I'm taking specifically for the pneumonia, so I'm really hoping these results come back showing a lot of improvement. It's been a huge hassle for both Evey and Tommy to hook me up with the IV and then 90 minutes later, disconnect it. I can't do it myself so they are the lucky ones who get play Florence Nightingale and take care of me, which they are doing a great job of. I'm a lucky guy for sure. So back to upcoming stuff...a week from Friday I go back down to San Diego for a bone marrow biopsy. This is the one that will either give me the red light or green light for transplant. If I'm still in remission, I get readmitted to the hospital on July 8th, go through four days of light chemo and get my new bone marrow cells on July 15th. That would then become the new Day 0, and the count begins again from there. I'f I'm not still in remission and the leukemia cells decided to show their ugly faces, then it's back to the beginning and they hit me with some sledgehammer type of chemo. I'll leave that where it is for now, but the next couple of weeks are going to be very busy and very heavy. I'm just happy I have my wife, family and friends around me to help me get through it.


All of the above, from a timeline perspective hinge on the fact that they collect my donor's cells on July 14th. Actually, this is a great opportunity to thank all of you who sent him thank you cards. I am not kidding or exaggerating when I say the stack of cards was easily 7 inches high. the response from all of you was unbelieveable, but I shouldn't be surprised by that at all. You all have proven to be the best support system anyone could ever beg for, so when it comes to stuff like this, nothing surprises me anymore. With you all in my corner on the support side, and my donor in my corner for the medical part, I'll be able to get through anything. In fact, just when I thought the donor couldn't kinder or more amazing, I'm proven wrong. I was just told that he had a vacation planned on or around the transplant date. When he was told of the plans with the dates, he moved his vacation to accomodate the procedure. It's just crazy how cool he is. I can't wait to get my butt to Sweden, learn his name and buy him a beer. It may be a while, but if he is good with meeting up, Evey and I are on a plane with whoever else wants to join, and Sweden here we come. I just shake my head in disbelief every time I think about what he has done and sacrificed for me. It literally brings me to tears and I just hope that one day I'll be able to show him how much I appreciate what he has done. This is an amazing person, and once again, I must have an angel on my shoulder because nobody deserves this kind of luck.

I know I have no idea how many of you are out there pulling for me and supporting me, but if I could wrap my arms around you all and pull you in for a big bear hug, I would. And yes, that includes all of my friends out the in the Philippines. Sorry I forgot you guys on my last message but it goes without saying how much a love you all. As you can see, I have a pretty crazy few weeks coming up, but have no doubt that all will go well and you guys will be right there with me either physically or in spirit. We'll get through this and be on the road to transplant and recovery in no time. Thanks for reading everyone and I hope you are smiling that summer is here. Even though I have to be careful with the sun, I still love it and couldn't be happier that we've turned the corner and we're headed right into the sunny months. Take care everyone, enjoy the outside and stay tuned for more updates.