Tuesday, April 01, 2008
A Dream Come True!
Our family ski vacation at Sunday River was a dream come true for Mark who thrived enduring two full days of challenging skiing with Gary, Mike and Kevin. Kristina, Steph, Barbara and Nick came too and we all had lots of fun and laughs. It was the final destination/vacation goal Mark had on his agenda and his new goal is simply to enjoy a summer of boating, fishing and golfing on Cape Cod after missing most of the past two summers due to illness.
Mark had his first new Alimta chemo treatment the day after returning from the ski weekend and was sick, weak, and bed ridden for almost a week. Then he finished off his radiation treatments the following week and rallied again. He has now had more than 90 radiation treatments in 18 months. The latest tumor is shrinking and there are no signs of new ones. He had his second Alimta chemo treatment yesterday, three weeks after the first one. This time, they increased the dosage from a half dosage to three quarters. He is fine at the moment but the effects will probably knock him down starting tomorrow for a number of days. He still sleeps quite a bit but, nevertheless, his stamina has been stronger than it has been in a few years. He is eager for the good weather and been keeping very busy preparing for summer activities. He has even been out kayaking and fishing in lakes, despite the chill, a few times already.
Kevin was on break and we had a nice Easter at home with the whole family. Kevin's girlfriend, Katie Hitchcock had some great results at the national races in the east recently. Gary's follow up tests on his bout with cancer have been fantastic. And, Mike is starting a new Young Professionals group in the Plymouth area with a friend with whom he attended Tabor. My parents are still recovering from their health problems and my father is still very weak but there haven't been any more hospitalizations and they have great support services along with my sister and family nearby for inspiration and chauffering services.
After almost two years on this roller coaster, I have been dipping into slight periods of depression but my weekly writing group helps as do family, friends and exercise and I have just started a class on how to get published which should help motivate me as well. For the past few weeks, Mark has been more motivated than I am with his new kayak obsession occupying all his waking hours!! This weekend, we have a company bus trip planned to see the Bruins play their final home game in a suite at whatever they call the Boston Garden this week. More than 40 of us are going. Then Sunday, we have five teams of staff members participating in a fund raising bowling tournament.
Mark will have the Alimta treatments every three weeks, four more times, if he continues to do well with it. His blood test results have been fantastic so that's a good sign. Unless something unforseen happens, we expect Mark to continue chemo treatments for the next few months and we intend to stick close to home. I will update you on Mark's condition by the end of May unless something earth shattering happens in the interim.
We've now had more than 8,000 hits on this blog since we started it in the summer of 2006.
Thanks as always for your love, support, encouragement and prayers. As we go about our lives, the number of people who we encounter who have followed Mark's cancer fight via the blog never ceases to amaze us. Thanks for "listening", caring and for rooting for us! As always, it is best to contact us through my (Nancy's) e-mail: sheehan@cape.com
Mark had his first new Alimta chemo treatment the day after returning from the ski weekend and was sick, weak, and bed ridden for almost a week. Then he finished off his radiation treatments the following week and rallied again. He has now had more than 90 radiation treatments in 18 months. The latest tumor is shrinking and there are no signs of new ones. He had his second Alimta chemo treatment yesterday, three weeks after the first one. This time, they increased the dosage from a half dosage to three quarters. He is fine at the moment but the effects will probably knock him down starting tomorrow for a number of days. He still sleeps quite a bit but, nevertheless, his stamina has been stronger than it has been in a few years. He is eager for the good weather and been keeping very busy preparing for summer activities. He has even been out kayaking and fishing in lakes, despite the chill, a few times already.
Kevin was on break and we had a nice Easter at home with the whole family. Kevin's girlfriend, Katie Hitchcock had some great results at the national races in the east recently. Gary's follow up tests on his bout with cancer have been fantastic. And, Mike is starting a new Young Professionals group in the Plymouth area with a friend with whom he attended Tabor. My parents are still recovering from their health problems and my father is still very weak but there haven't been any more hospitalizations and they have great support services along with my sister and family nearby for inspiration and chauffering services.
After almost two years on this roller coaster, I have been dipping into slight periods of depression but my weekly writing group helps as do family, friends and exercise and I have just started a class on how to get published which should help motivate me as well. For the past few weeks, Mark has been more motivated than I am with his new kayak obsession occupying all his waking hours!! This weekend, we have a company bus trip planned to see the Bruins play their final home game in a suite at whatever they call the Boston Garden this week. More than 40 of us are going. Then Sunday, we have five teams of staff members participating in a fund raising bowling tournament.
Mark will have the Alimta treatments every three weeks, four more times, if he continues to do well with it. His blood test results have been fantastic so that's a good sign. Unless something unforseen happens, we expect Mark to continue chemo treatments for the next few months and we intend to stick close to home. I will update you on Mark's condition by the end of May unless something earth shattering happens in the interim.
We've now had more than 8,000 hits on this blog since we started it in the summer of 2006.
Thanks as always for your love, support, encouragement and prayers. As we go about our lives, the number of people who we encounter who have followed Mark's cancer fight via the blog never ceases to amaze us. Thanks for "listening", caring and for rooting for us! As always, it is best to contact us through my (Nancy's) e-mail: sheehan@cape.com
