Greetings dear friends and family from sunny, warm Edisto Island! The azaleas are in full bloom and absolutely magnificent this year here in South Carolina. Just perfect early spring weather with temps in the low to mid 80's,
relatively low humidity, just a few bugs so far and perfect "Carolina Blue" sky. Sure does lift one's spirits.
Just a quick update to share some good cancer battle news ... my 15-week CT scan (March 20th) revealed my cancer remains "stable", no growth, no new tumors ... yeah!!! My oncologist (Dr. Ellison) was in a wonderful, happy mood when he entered the exam room to share the CT scan results doing his "happy scan dance" which we hadn't experienced before! He remains pleased with my response to the maintenance chemo regimen we're on now. Given we had a big weekend coming up on Saturday, March 24th (Stefanie and Aaron's beach wedding and backyard reception), he advised we postpone chemo a week to permit me to enjoy the wedding celebration. Martha's blog shares the wonderful wedding and reception events we experienced this past weekend. Special thanks to Don and Marti Burdick who visited the week prior and helped with party preparations and a couple of electrical switch tasks, and also to Wendy and Rich Chappel who drove down from Geneseo for a visit and pitched in grilling some Cornell chicken and fantastic filet of beef along with other party tasks. Special thanks also to our Edisto Beach Baptist Church family who worked so hard in Martha's kitchen preparing for our candle-lit backyard reception. It was simply a wonderful event that Martha pulled together beautifully with just 3 weeks notice. The 1995 magnum of Taittinger's champagne we had carefully carried home from a vacation in France in 1999 from Taittenger's champagnery and then cellared in our Churchville home prior to transporting to Edisto, popped well, was very drinkable and simply excellent (versus having turned to vinegar as we had feared after all these years)! Congratulations to the new Mr. and Mrs. Aaron MacDonald!!!
Martha and I returned to Charleston this past Wednesday (March 28th) and chemotherapy round 17 was administered as re-scheduled. Just a few expected side effects (fatigue, flushing and a couple of bouts with hiccups) which were well managed with drugs. Based on a "not so good" response following my previous round of chemo, we asked to go back on all three anti-nausea drugs (versus dropping to one which a board of oncologists had studied and decided was sufficient!) and I've felt significantly better after this week's round. Dr. Ellison had no problem again ordering all three anti-nausea drugs. Also thankfully my "osteonecrosis of the jaw" issue, a known
negative side effect affecting just 3% of the population taking the bone enhancing drug XGEVA, has calmed down and is less painful this week as well. We're in a "watch and wait position" relative to my jaw bone issue ... no oral surgery planned at this juncture ... we're hopeful my body will heal itself relative to re-growing soft tissue over a small section of protruding jaw bone in the back of my mouth.
The annual Charleston 10k "Bridge Run/Walk" for charity will take place tomorrow morning (Saturday, March 31st). While I had planned to participate this year I've decided that having just had chemo on Wednesday I'm going to stay home and take it easy ... the risk of catching a "bug" within a crowd of 60,000 participants is just too great given my somewhat weakened immune system. Julie's boyfriend (Justin) will walk in my place along with Martha, Julie, Stefanie, Aaron, and Julie's former college roommate (Jennie) visiting from Wilmington this weekend ... so our "Spritter" clan will be well represented this year.
Since my oncologist has prescribed "lots of vacation" this year, Martha and I have planned a return trip in Mexico (Puerto Nuevo just north of Puerto Vallarta this trip ... a safe part of Mexico!) the end of April, followed by an Alaskan cruise in early June which has been on my bucket list for several years now. We'll also be returning to New York the weekend of May 12th to celebrate Lindsay's graduation from Brockport with her Master's Degree (congratulations Lindsay, you've worked so very hard to earn your Master's while working full-time at The
Mary Cariola Center)
A second trip north is planned the end of July to celebrate my Friendship Central School Class of '67's 45th class reunion! It should be a lot of fun. ... along with a "Rochester reception" for Stefanie and Aaron that weekend.
Once again Martha and I are sending our best and may God continue to bless you and yours ...
Dan
relatively low humidity, just a few bugs so far and perfect "Carolina Blue" sky. Sure does lift one's spirits.
Just a quick update to share some good cancer battle news ... my 15-week CT scan (March 20th) revealed my cancer remains "stable", no growth, no new tumors ... yeah!!! My oncologist (Dr. Ellison) was in a wonderful, happy mood when he entered the exam room to share the CT scan results doing his "happy scan dance" which we hadn't experienced before! He remains pleased with my response to the maintenance chemo regimen we're on now. Given we had a big weekend coming up on Saturday, March 24th (Stefanie and Aaron's beach wedding and backyard reception), he advised we postpone chemo a week to permit me to enjoy the wedding celebration. Martha's blog shares the wonderful wedding and reception events we experienced this past weekend. Special thanks to Don and Marti Burdick who visited the week prior and helped with party preparations and a couple of electrical switch tasks, and also to Wendy and Rich Chappel who drove down from Geneseo for a visit and pitched in grilling some Cornell chicken and fantastic filet of beef along with other party tasks. Special thanks also to our Edisto Beach Baptist Church family who worked so hard in Martha's kitchen preparing for our candle-lit backyard reception. It was simply a wonderful event that Martha pulled together beautifully with just 3 weeks notice. The 1995 magnum of Taittinger's champagne we had carefully carried home from a vacation in France in 1999 from Taittenger's champagnery and then cellared in our Churchville home prior to transporting to Edisto, popped well, was very drinkable and simply excellent (versus having turned to vinegar as we had feared after all these years)! Congratulations to the new Mr. and Mrs. Aaron MacDonald!!!
Martha and I returned to Charleston this past Wednesday (March 28th) and chemotherapy round 17 was administered as re-scheduled. Just a few expected side effects (fatigue, flushing and a couple of bouts with hiccups) which were well managed with drugs. Based on a "not so good" response following my previous round of chemo, we asked to go back on all three anti-nausea drugs (versus dropping to one which a board of oncologists had studied and decided was sufficient!) and I've felt significantly better after this week's round. Dr. Ellison had no problem again ordering all three anti-nausea drugs. Also thankfully my "osteonecrosis of the jaw" issue, a known
negative side effect affecting just 3% of the population taking the bone enhancing drug XGEVA, has calmed down and is less painful this week as well. We're in a "watch and wait position" relative to my jaw bone issue ... no oral surgery planned at this juncture ... we're hopeful my body will heal itself relative to re-growing soft tissue over a small section of protruding jaw bone in the back of my mouth.
The annual Charleston 10k "Bridge Run/Walk" for charity will take place tomorrow morning (Saturday, March 31st). While I had planned to participate this year I've decided that having just had chemo on Wednesday I'm going to stay home and take it easy ... the risk of catching a "bug" within a crowd of 60,000 participants is just too great given my somewhat weakened immune system. Julie's boyfriend (Justin) will walk in my place along with Martha, Julie, Stefanie, Aaron, and Julie's former college roommate (Jennie) visiting from Wilmington this weekend ... so our "Spritter" clan will be well represented this year.
Since my oncologist has prescribed "lots of vacation" this year, Martha and I have planned a return trip in Mexico (Puerto Nuevo just north of Puerto Vallarta this trip ... a safe part of Mexico!) the end of April, followed by an Alaskan cruise in early June which has been on my bucket list for several years now. We'll also be returning to New York the weekend of May 12th to celebrate Lindsay's graduation from Brockport with her Master's Degree (congratulations Lindsay, you've worked so very hard to earn your Master's while working full-time at The
Mary Cariola Center)
A second trip north is planned the end of July to celebrate my Friendship Central School Class of '67's 45th class reunion! It should be a lot of fun. ... along with a "Rochester reception" for Stefanie and Aaron that weekend.
Once again Martha and I are sending our best and may God continue to bless you and yours ...
Dan