David’s Blog

Happy Birthday, sort of!

Black Rock, chemotherapy, David Emerson, O.A.R., PCa -

If you look at the header of my blog you might notice a subtle change, today I turned forty six!
Four years ago, in the midst of testing and diagnosis, I seriously could never imagine myself in this position. Additionally, yesterday was my 12th and final chemo treatment!
However, the meeting with Dr. V didn’t go all that well, my PSA was back up again. On the 5th of January it had dropped to 29 and now it has climbed back to 37.

We still have one more follow up in three weeks to validate the impact of this last chemo treatment. After that, we’ll choose our next path. There are several directions we may take, decisions will happen in a few weeks.

It was somewhat appropriate that the music I chose in the treatment room yesterday included this song from a band my niece turned my on to, O.A.R.

O.A.R. – Black Rock
When you are on your own
not speaking out is like fighting alone
and that is the worst damn way to fight
and when you are scared no more
you reach your hand out and just open the door
and thats just what I’m doing tonight
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Finally, Andrew, thanks for the card!!!
That’s the way aha, aha
I like it, aha aha
That’s the way aha, aha
I like it, aha aha
That’s the way aha, aha
I like it, aha aha
…….

The end is near, the end of chemo!

chemotherapy, David Emerson, disc golf, Ice Bowl, PCa -

It’s been a long road, not too terribly difficult of a road, but long and arduous.
With today’s events, this post is a milestone. It is also the first of many significant posts in the upcoming days.

There are birthdays, anniversaries, and a number of key markers in this journey that are to be recognized. I hope you check back to live and re-live the events with me.

What a long, strange trip it’s been……and will certainly continue to be!

P.S. – It was 17 degrees when we started the Ice Bowl yesterday and 20 degrees when we finished at 12:15. We chose not to play the second round because they were running so far behind that it would have been after 3:00pm. The good news is they were running behind because they had an estimated 300 brave souls out to play Disc Golf!! Great news for this year’s benefactor!

The Dirty Dozen

chemotherapy, David Emerson, disc golf, Ice Bowl, St Peregrine -

On Monday I will undergo my 12th, and let’s pray, final chemo treatment. I am really looking forward to it’s conclusion.

The past 7+ months have flown by quickly. As my overall PCa experience over the last four years, the chemo experience has been full of ups and downs. I must say, that as I sit here tonight and write this, I feel great.

After slacking off my exercise regime over the holidays, I worked out four days both last week and this week. This week I even got back on the exercise bike three times. Though I only rode 10-12 minutes, it felt good to once again get my heart racing. However, even after 10 minutes or so, I can rarely get my heart rate over 130 beats per minute. This has always been a problem for me, I guess I’m just too laid back!

It’s that time of year again for the Ice Bowl (here are some previous posts about the Ice Bowl)
pain-in-neck

ice-bowl-video

i-am-such-wii-knee

The forecast this year is calling for a high of 26, but it looks like it will be 18 degrees when we get started on Sunday morning! Remember the motto of the Ice Bowl “No wimps, no whiners”!

Monday will be here before you know it and with that thought, I ask for your thoughts and prayers as I end one stage and enter another.

Prayer to Saint Peregrine ~ Patron Saint to cancer patients
O great St. Peregrine,
you have been called “The Mighty,”
“The Wonder-Worker,”
because of the numerous miracles
which you have obtained from God
for those who have had recourse to you.

For so many years
you bore in your own flesh
this cancerous disease
that destroys the very fiber of our being,
and who had recourse
to the source of all grace
when the power of man could do no more.

You were favored with the vision of Jesus
coming down from His Cross
to heal your affliction.

Ask of God and Our Lady,
the cure of the sick whom we entrust to you.
(Pause here and silently recall the names of the sick for whom you are praying)

Aided in this way by your powerful intercession,
we shall sing to God,
now and for all eternity,
a song of gratitude
for His great goodness and mercy.
Amen.

Ramblings

Brotherhood, Charity Disc Golf, chemotherapy, Darius Rucker, David Emerson, PSA, texas Hold 'em -

I have nothing specific to report today, so here are some random things that come to mind.

Have you heard the new Darrius Rucker CD, “Learn to Live“? In case you don’t know, he is the lead singer of Hootie and the Blowfish. The genre is supposedly country, but I would consider most of the songs more rock. Regardless, I still like the CD overall.

I started a new TV series via the iPod. Last week on Monday night after treatment I needed something new while I was awake all night. The show is “Brotherhood” and is currently in season three on Showtime. Since I can never start a new series in the middle I got season one from NetFlix. After four episodes it’s better than average but I’m still not sure. It’s really the story of Cain and Able. The good brother is the city councilman and bad brother a small time gangster, with a conscious.

We are deep in the throws of winter this week in Kansas City, overnight temperatures tonight well below zero. It is supposed to be short lived and rumor has it we might see the fifties by the weekend. Hmmmm, can you say disc golf?

The foundation, www.flhw.org has a few events that are coming up in the first half of 2009. On Fat Tuesday, February 24th, we will be having another Texas Hold ‘Em event. Details will be available soon. On Saturday May 9th we will be having our second annual disc golf tournament, again details will be available soon. We are also contemplating a dinner/wine tasting but have a long way to go with this possible event.

Finally, I am looking forward to Monday January 26th with trepidation. On one hand, it will be the end of chemo. On the other hand the ominous ‘what next’ lies ahead. God will guide us in our decision, but all decisions from this point on are compounded in their significance. We’ll see what happens when we get there…..

Ace times three

chemotherapy, David Emerson, disc golf, PCa -

That’s this morning, January 11, 2009 after getting a hole-in-one on the 5th hole!

After a long tiring, post chemo week, I was feeling great this morning so I decided to join a few of the guys at a new disc golf course. The baskets aren’t in yet so we aimed for trees marked like the one next to me. The object was to hit the tree below the ribbon. My shot was 300+ feet from the tee pad and hit the tree right smack in the middle.

Better than my accomplishment, my brother in law Rich got two!! He started the day with one on the first hole and finished the round with another on the 18th! It was only 24 degrees when we started but with no wind it quickly reached 40 degrees.

This afternoon we took down the Christmas tree and put the decorations away. Now football has ended and it’s time to finish the book I started yesterday and get a good night sleep before I start working out again tomorrow morning.

Peaking ahead

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As 2009 begins, a portion of my PCa journey is coming to a close. Today is chemo treatment #11, my 12th and final (for the time being) is January 26th. Today’s meeting with Dr. V will include discussion about what next? The options are dwindling, that is not to say we don’t have options, it’s just the number of them are lessening.

The current front runner is DES or Estrogen supplements. This has been shown to work over 50% of the time and lowered PSA up to 75% in some men (stats are from memory so don’t quote me). The side effects are breast enlargement but this can be alleviated by one pre-treatment of radiation to the breast bone. If we go down this path, I will certainly get the radiation treatment to avoid the use of the “manssiere” / “Bro” (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iR_zHBTU2ic&feature=related) watch the whole clip!
Beyond that, there are a few clinical trials we may pursue including Provenge, and a few that are in early stages. It seems most other trials involve further use of chemo and trial drugs. No decisions have been made yet…we have a lot to discuss, think over and pray about over the next several weeks.
So here’s to 2009, may it bring good news to us and prosperity and good health to all of you!

Another year closes

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So here we are at the end of another year, anticipating the beginning of a new year. I’d like to tell you that I am looking forward to 2009, but as always, I try not to look too far ahead. At this point, looking or planning beyond January is difficult.
Where some of you may be planning Spring Break or a big summer vacation, Mary and I cannot look that far ahead. I’d love to do something special with Brad this year, but we have no idea where we are headed, treatment wise, after the end of January. We have several options to consider, but we have not made any decisions. That decision will dictate a lot.  
Monday is treatment #11. It has been a fairly easy journey to date. I still have my hair, and the side effects are very manageable. After my last treatment on the 15th, the fatigue was a little worse than after previous treatments. Work was busy on Tues-Fri and I even attended several after work Christmas parties.  However, by Friday night and Saturday I was wiped out. I spent Saturday in the house, enjoying the Christmas decorations and reading a book. I’m not a particularly fast reader but I flew through all 359 pages of James Patterson’s ‘3rd Degree’ in just over one day.  I have since completed Sue Grafton’s ‘P is for Peril’, and am about to embark on 
‘Q is for Quarry’.
Christmas in the Emerson house was wonderfully relaxing. We had nineteen over to the house for Christmas and ten more last Saturday. A quick trip to St. Louis lies ahead and then life returns to normal.
The weather has warmed slightly in the last week and I have played a lot of disc golf. So much that Mary reeled me in this morning! I was pretty willing, as I needed a break. I’ll try to get in a few more rounds before returning to work next week, but we will see!
So what lies ahead for 2009? I think I’ll use the following mantra as the year begins; LBC – Life Beyond Chemo. A week after my last chemo treatment I will complete year four and begin year five. My how time has flown. The future is somewhat limited but we remain hopeful and confident we will find the right path and God will guide us appropriately. The number of options continue to lessen but we march onward and I therefore ask for your continued support and prayers.

And so it goes….

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It seems treatment number ten is being tolerated as well as those that I have previously received.
I have been tired in the afternoon and evening the past few days and am able to fall asleep soundly by 9:30pm. Metallic mouth is reeking havoc again, I could really use a grande, skinny, vanilla latte, the caffeine would do me good, but the taste would not be so good!
I am about 30 minutes away from being off work for the rest of the year! Mary and I are headed to lunch, then I have to run a few errands. One of those is a trip to the post office, ewww!
Winter has fully engulfed Kansas City. With the temperature for tomorrow morning’s forecast at 21 degrees, I’m going to pass on disc golf. However, don’t doubt there will be a number of the regular gang out there tomorrow!
Updates over the next two weeks might be sporadic at best, we’ll just have to wait and see.
Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to all of you and may the new year bring you much happiness and joy!
Peace be with you!

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