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I visited my oncologist, Dr. Andrew Pippas, yesterday for the final checkup for my 54-week ASSURE clinical trial. After having my CT scan on Wednesday, it was time for a follow up and time to find out what comes next since the clinical trial is over. I took the last two pills on Monday, August 30 after taking eight pills a day for 54 solid weeks. I have been sure for some time that the pills I’ve been taking are a placebo and not a therapeutic drug. The good news is I’ve had 54 weeks of normalcy without having to deal with potentially devastating side effects from a drug that might not have helped me at all.
Here’s my take from the trial: I had to spend out of my own pocket (and my insurance carrier’s pocket) several thousands of dollars for the MUGA scans, CT scans, office visits and drugs that were related to the trial. That’s the bad news. The good news is I’ve completed a clinical trial and have provided data points which will without a doubt offer researchers another glimpse into how people with kidney cancer react to treatments that could prevent the cancer from reoccurring. In that sense, I’ve done a good, although expensive, deed for mankind.
Other than that, I’m finished with cancer. I’ll have CT scans every six months for the next 18 months. I’ll have regular doctor’s visits along the way and I’ll absolutely set out to beat the odds I was given yesterday. Considering the surgery I had back in June 2009 and the stage/grade of my cancer, I have a 20%-30% chance of my cancer returning. And, if it comes back, it will likely be in my lungs, bones or brain. And, if it comes back, I’ll be going to Duke University Hospital for a treatment called HDIl-2, high-dose interleukin-2. Dr. Pippas has all bases covered and I’m comfortable with that and the diligence with which he’s attacked my cancer.
I have enjoyed the feedback from people who have seen the John B. Amos Cancer Center ads that have appeared in the newspaper, magazines and on television and billboards. I’ve been happy to be a spokesperson for the institution that has been so sorely needed in our region.
Don’t expect me to disappear. I found out a few days ago that I’ve been selected as the 2011 American Cancer Society Crystal Ball honoree! This is great news for me, my family and all the survivors out there whom I’ll be representing. My job is to help an extremely capable committee, led by uber-salesperson Debbie Seeley, raise a mountain of cash for a cause that has destroyed people, families and the pocketbook of our nation. When I come calling, please be prepared to help in any way you can. I hope we’ll see a big crowd at the celebration on March 19, 2011 at the RiverMill Event Center.
With this blog post, I’m testing a mechanism to notify an extensive and important email list. If you received a notification of this blob post via email, you are one of the faithful army of people who followed me for the past 15 months on my CarePage cancer blog. It is important to me to stay in touch with this awesome cadre of supporters. I hope you will stay with me as I move into a different phase of my efforts to stay healthy and beat cancer.
I’ve always known that I am weird. I have a bucketful of quirks, idiosyncrasies and compulsions. They range from the way others use our language, to the proper way to eject toothpaste from a toothpaste tube, to the proper spin orientation of toilet paper from the roll, to how I handle a simple itch on my back. Continue reading Welcome to My Weird World
Just a quick post to report that I just heard the “all clear” from Dr. Pippas’ office regarding my CT scan this past Wednesday. Still NED. Still getting ready for the big kayaking adventure this fall from Columbus to the Gulf of Mexico. Still eating right. Still happy to be able to put the medical issues on the back burner for a while. Continue reading All is well
This is so good! A family favorite for many years. My sister-in-law, Melly, loves this stuff. Every time I make it, I set aside some in the freezer for her. It is an all day affair but you get enough to freeze meal-sized portions for eight or ten meals. I hope you enjoy this recipe and I hope you’ll post here to tell me how it went in your kitchen.
ITALIAN GRAVY
3/4 cup olive oil, divided
4 beef short ribs, 1/2 to 3/4 pound,
6 oxtails, about 1/2 pound,
1/2 pound country style spare ribs,
1 prime rib or beef neck bone, about 1/2 pound,
Salt to taste,
Pepper to taste
2 1/2 teaspoons granulated onion, divided,
2 tablespoons garlic powder, divided;
2 links Italian sausage, 1 sweet and 1 hot, casings removed,
1 1/2 pounds unseasoned pork sausage;
1 pound ground beef,
3 large onions, finely chopped;
1 bunch Italian parsley, stems removed, finely chopped;
12 cloves of garlic, minced;
2 tablespoons minced shallot;
2 jalapeno peppers, stems and seeds removed, minced;
1/2 cup pesto, made without cheese or pine nuts (available frozen);
2 cups of good red wine;
10 crimini mushrooms, sliced;
10 button mushrooms, sliced;
2 portobello mushrooms, sliced;
2 tablespoons plus 1/2 teaspoon sugar, divided;
16 ounces tomato puree;
16 ounces tomato sauce;
6 cups chicken stock;
3 1/2 cups tomatoes, peeled, chopped and stewed, can use canned;
1 (6-ounce) can tomato paste;
Water to cover;
2 whole allspice berries;
1 tablespoon Italian seasoning;
1 tablespoon fresh basil, minced;
3 tablespoons cream sherry
Cover the bottom of a 10 quart pot with olive oil and set over medium heat. Add short ribs, oxtails, country style spare ribs and beef neck bone and brown them with 1/2 teaspoon salt, 1/4 teaspoon pepper, 1 teaspoon granulated onion, and 1 teaspoon garlic powder. Cook until both sides of meat are browned. Remove meat to a bowl and set aside. In the same pan add the sausage and ground beef. When ground meats are cooked through, drain grease and oil from pan. If there are any large pieces of the ground meats, break them up or pulse in a food processor. Add to bowl with other meats, set aside. Pour 1/4 cup olive oil into pot and saute onions, Italian parsley, garlic, shallots, jalapeno peppers, and pesto. Add 1/4 teaspoon salt, 1/8 teaspoon pepper, 1/2 teaspoon granulated garlic and 1/2 teaspoon granulated onion. When onions are limp, add all of the reserved meats. Over medium heat, add 2 cups red wine. While this mixture is cooking, in a separate saute pan, add 1/4 cup olive oil and over medium heat saute mushrooms. Raise heat to medium high and add 1/4 teaspoon salt, 1/2 granulated garlic, 1/2 teaspoon sugar. When mushrooms are browned add them to meats along with the tomato puree, tomato sauce and stock. In a food processor pulse stewed tomatoes with tomato paste until smooth and add them to the pot. Add allspice, Italian seasoning, 2 tablespoons sugar, 1 tablespoon salt, 1 teaspoon granulated garlic, 1 teaspoon granulated onion. The gravy must cover the meat and come close to the top of the pot. Reduce heat to the lowest simmer and cook uncovered for approximately 4 to 5 hours. Stir occasionally to keep from sticking to the bottom of the pan. When meat on oxtail is tender, take all of the whole meats out of the pot, leaving the ground meats in. To complete gravy, add 1 tablespoon granulated garlic, fresh basil and cream sherry. Serve the meat with gravy and pasta. Remove the rest of the gravy from the heat and let cool for 2 hours at room temperature then divide into pint containers and freeze.
October 23 is an important day for me. Firstly, it is my fantastic father’s birthday, and it is a big one. Although I’ve said it before — he’s still a 35-year-old in my mind’s eye. But I told my mom that if she’s planning a birthday party for dad, she better plan to have it before his birthday, because on that day, I’ll be embarking on the most physical challenge of my life. A big bunch of us will be shoving off from Rotary Park on the morning of the 23rd of October in kayaks on a mission to paddle our way to the Gulf of Mexico. More about that later…
I got into a kayak for the first time on the evening of April 28th, 2010. Keep in mind, this is after I had committed to do this two-week kayak expedition in October. I am not a great swimmer (I could save myself in a pinch), I’m epically claustrophobic and I don’t have great balance (probably because I’m a little top-heavy). These three liabilities would seem to fly in the face of reason for choosing kayaking as an activity. I’ve chosen to do this as an visible, physical symbol of my intentions of beating cancer. I’m paddling, Jill and I are regulars at the new John Thayer YMCA, I’m eating right and I’ve learned how to safely execute a wet exit from a overturned kayak.
Let me tell what I have learned about kayaking. First of all, it is a blast! Imagine floating along under the light of a full moon with a group of friends. It is quiet, except for the sounds of wildlife and the sultry slurp of paddle strokes. The best way to see nature is in a kayak. The other thing you need to know is that there are many, many decisions to make if you want to take up the hobby. Here are a few: sit-on-top or sit-in kayak, length of the kayak, type of personal flotation device, what kind of paddling you’ll be doing, types of paddling clothing to consider and ways to transport your boat to the ramp — just to name a few. The one big decision I didn’t mention here is your choice of paddle. On a trip like the one I’ll be going on this fall, the choice of a paddle will likely be my most critical decision. Here’s why: An active sea kayaker will execute between 2,000 and 4,000 strokes per hour. If a paddler puts in an 8-hour paddling day, those numbers will yield a total of 16,000 – 32,000 strokes.
There are paddles make with wood, aluminum or fiberglass that can weigh up to 40 ounces. Then, there are those gorgeous, sleek, perfectly weighted paddles made out of carbon fiber. The Epic Relaxed Touring paddle weighs in at an incredible 22 ounces. Imagine the difference between swinging 22 ounces and hefting 40 ounces over the course of an 8-hour paddling day in the midst of a two-week, 265-mile river adventure! The paddle, which I don’t yet own, will be the subject of future posts to this blog. By the way, there are even more decisions to be made just concerning the paddle. Straight shaft or bent, what weight, what material and what length?
My point here is to do your research. Access the Chattahoochee Paddling Club’s Yahoo Group page: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ChattahoocheePaddlingClub/ and request to join so you can see the high level at which local paddlers communicate and recreate with each other. There is a lot more coming on this blog at we approach our departure date in October. Come back often!
 Our great parenting magazine, Valley Parent, is a monthly digest for parents and grandparents of children from the ages of birth to the “tweener” years. In our most recent issue, a mistake happened (not our fault) that kept a very important advertising message from inclusion in the issue.
As a magazine publisher, it validates our existence when we know that including a client’s advertising makes a difference to them. And, in this case, it makes a big difference. The Growing Room Child Development Center and Christian Academy intended to use our July Valley Parent issue to launch their 2010-2011 school year theme, entitled “Our Schools Rock.”
The good people at Growing Room have realized like many others that children learn better and are happier with their learning when they’re surrounded by the arts — dance, visual arts, music and theater.
The “Our Schools Rock” theme will surround your children with the best of the arts as they develop relationships with their teachers and learn self-help skills and language skills. Parents will even be able to get into the game with “Rocking at Home” homework.
Every classroom from toddlers through K-4 will present a Growing Room Rocking Musical during the last two weeks of April 2011. Growing Room believes that their advertising message is even more important now that new people are moving to our area relating to the Maneuver Center of Excellence boom that is coming to our region as a result of Base Realignment and Closure legislation. The company offers military discounts at all their locations. Growing Room launched its business in 1989 and in 2004, the company was named the United States Small Business Administration’s Small Business of the Year.
Even though this error occurred outside our control at Valley Parent, we have joined hands with Growing Room and their excellent local advertising agency, Image By Design, to make something good happen from this. That something good is for our readership to get the full advantage of Growing Room’s advertising message in our vibrant marketplace. Click here to see the ad that was to have been placed in our July issue.
We think their commitment to Valley Parent is pretty special and we think that we can also be a perfect marketing partner for your business.
Contact our advertising account executives Aleta Brant at aleta@columbusandthevalley.com or Beth Martin at beth@columbusandthevalley.com to initiate your own partnership with Valley Parent.
Sorry this is such a short post, but I just had to get this said. Jill and I went to the movie tonight at The Screening Room at the Peachtree Carmike Theater. If you want to laugh your ass off for a couple of hours go to see “City Island.” Here’s a link for you to see the trailer. It will be gone after Thursday, so go, soon. It is one of the funniest films I’ve seen in a very long time.
http://www.cityislandmovie.com/
Exactly one year ago this very minute I was blissfully ignorant of what was about to happen to me. I had narcotics flowing warmly through my veins. My senses were dulled and I was chemically prepared for a long, long surgery. My family members who were standing beside my bed at Emory University Hospital — probably getting a good laugh at my high ass — were having to deal with my situation without the benefits of drugs. That day changed me forever. Cancer has made me stronger.
Jill and I were invited to Louise Tennent Smith’s five-year cancer-free celebration. The party, held last week at the Wynn House, was a delightful mixture of good drink, good food and a big roomful of people who love Weezie. She invited herself to a similar party which will be held four years from now to celebrate my five years of cancer “free-ness.” I’m planning on that happening, but I’ve got to make it one year at a time.
My cancer struck at a bad time. When is a good time, you may ask. My cancer hit me at a time when we were struggling mightily trying to continue to both work in a small family publishing business in a brutal business economy. The jury is still out on that one. Medical bills, the loss of our largest tenant, people paying more slowly and overall fear of the economy made this past year a painful one. All of those things and a few more were challenges we’ve had to try to conquer.
Here’s the good news: I’m a better person today than I was on June 11, 2009. I’m thinner by 25 pounds. This alone is making my life easier. I’m surrounded by a loving family and friends who have been there in every way for me. Oddly, my temperature (the way I feel in my skin) is much more normal today than it was a year ago. I’ve told this to a few people and every time I tell it I’m more amazed by how strange it feels not to be so incredibly hot all the time. I think my body was trying to burn my cancer away when I didn’t even know that I had it. I’m comfortable with the thermostat a full five degrees warmer than I could have stood it last year. Out of all the things that have happened to me physically, I think this is the most astounding. Some of this change may also be attributed to my weight loss.
I think I’m a more patient person, although I know someone who might argue with this one. Patience has never been one of my virtues, but I feel it developing in me, it just may not be apparent to those around me. I’m making an effort to round off my edges and not be so abrasive to the people around me. When you’ve been as blunt as I have been for most of my life, it is difficult to stop and mentally check off a few beats before you speak. I’m really working on this.
Cancer makes your appreciate your friends and family. I still have a hard time coming to grips with the outpouring of love for me and for my family that we’ve received from every corner. That people would do and say the things they’ve said and done for us will always fill me up. I’ve got specific things that I recall on a daily basis about this past year that remind me how lucky I am to live here among the good people of this valley.
I’m so thankful for Jill, our sons, our parents and other members of our family, our extended family, our church family and our neighbors and friends. The cards, letters, spiritual and physical sustenance, phone calls, emails and visits are still so much a part of my daily thoughts. They’ve changed me forever for the better.
I saw Dr. Pippas on Tuesday of this week and received another good report. The last two times I’ve seen him, he’s reported that all is well, but he also has remarked that if something does reappear, he’ll know it and that he has a plan to deal with it. I know that I have to be vigilant right now and for the rest of my life. I’m glad I’ve got Dr. Pippas and all the other great caregivers at the John B. Amos Cancer Center on my team. They’ve made me a much more visible person over this past year with the cancer center ad campaign. It feels strange to see yourself looming so large on billboards, television and in print. My feedback has been very positive on all this. I know I’m helping others by putting myself out there like I have done.
Sorry for rambling, but I’m feeling a great sense of accomplishment in the betterment of my physical condition. Now if this economy will just swing on around, we’ll all rest a little easier. Thank you for staying with me during this past year. I’m looking forward to many, many more!
If you’re a regular reader of this blog, you know that I’ve passed up on a couple of great life experiences because I’m extremely claustrophobic. You also know that I’ve used an occasional dose of one of the “‘zepam” type drugs to chemically thwart a panic attack when I’ve had to submit to an MRI tube to help keep my cancer from sneaking back up on me. Nevertheless, I live each day with a lurking sense of dread about any situation I get in that might constrict, hem up or crowd me in any way.
As I’ve posted recently, I’ve been looking for some kind of post-cancer challenge that would require me to get physically fit through a several-months-long training regimen. I’ve already dramatically altered my diet and after 4 months as a full-blown vegan, I’ve settled into a 90% vegetarian and 10% flexatarian diet that has helped me drop 25 pounds. Jill and I joined the YMCA and we’ve been taking full advantage of the new John P. Thayer YMCA downtown facility by attending every exercise class they have to offer. We’re sore much of the time, but we’re both seeing positive changes in our middle-aged bodies.
The challenge that I’ve taken up is a 265-mile kayak paddling trip from Columbus to Apalachicola down the Chattahoochee and Apalachicola rivers to the Gulf of Mexico. I’ve got until late October to be physically ready and mentally prepared to tent camp for 14 nights. One of my biggest fears about kayaking was conquered yesterday on the river at Blanton Creek Landing in Harris County. Since I don’t own my own kayak yet, I have been borrowing one from my new kayaking friend Shane Jones. It is a Necky Manitou 14, a blue 14-foot plastic boat of the sit-in variety.
Several weeks ago, when I began this adventure, I started with a sit-on boat thinking that my claustrophobia would stop me from getting down inside of one of the sit-in boats. I learned after only one short 5-mile paddle that a sit-on boat is not acceptable for a touring situation. They are not efficient to paddle because they’re too beamy and wide. They are quite stable, but ponderous. My friend Gary Bayer, who is planning to conquer the Columbus to Apalachicola adventure and who is also just getting into kayaking, says that paddling the sit-on-top boat is like paddling a large log. He’s right.
So, my second time out I borrowed Shane’s Manitou and have been doing well on the several outings I’ve had over the past several weeks. Yesterday was one of the most nerve-wracking days I’ve had on the river. I attended, along with eleven other fellow paddlers, a Safety/Rescue Class. We are so fortunate to have Atlantan, John Traendly, involved with our Chattahoochee Paddling Club. John T’s credentials as a paddling teacher are too numerous to mention here. He is an accomplished paddler, but he’s an even better teacher. Yesterday, he submitted himself to all sorts of situations to simulate a paddler in trouble. He was “rescued” by at least 7 different styles of rescue and required those of us in the class to be flipped upside down in our boats multiple times to experience the terror and ultimate satisfaction of knowing we can not only survive capsizing but also get ourselves back into our boats.
The first hour of our training happened on dry land at the landing. Just before the class started, Shane walked up to me and said, “I have a spray skirt that fits that Manitou if you want it.” I thought, “Oh God, please tell me he didn’t just say that.” This was a safety class, the one class where I should take chances. The one place where I should challenge my fear because I would be in the presence of numerous people who could pull me out of danger. I declined the use of the skirt. Rethought it. And, then asked Shane for the keys to his truck so I could get it, put it on and really ramp up my anxiety level.
So I got the spray skirt, slid into it, put on my pfd (personal flotation device) and stood there in the grass watching John T. give us the lowdown on gear and techniques for rescuing and being rescued in a kayak. Once the dry part of the class was over, I decided to get into the kayak and engaged the spray skirt to see how I would feel. I slid in, placed the elastic edge of the skirt over the cockpit coaming and wiggled until I got comfortable. Not bad, so far.
John T. paired us up for the wet part of the day’s training. I was paired, thankfully, with Todd Hyatt. I will never forget this guy. First of all, he’s a ruggedly handsome fellow. A muscular body and a chiseled face that sported a couple of days worth of facial hair. He was wearing paddling shoes and his sleek, long Kevlar kayak let me know that he probably knew what he was doing out there. I had to show that I could master a “wet exit” before I could continue in class. Everyone who was wearing a spray skirt had to prove that they could extract themselves from the boat after going upside-down.
It was time. I practiced popping my spray skirt a few times on land and it was time to get wet. Just before we picked up the boat to put it in the water. Todd said to me, “Just wanted you to know that I can’t bend my left leg.” “That’s cool,” I said, “I can’t lift my left arm above my head from a skiing accident. Between us, we’ve got one whole person.”
We placed the Manitou 14 into the water and after more time than, I’m sure, Todd thought was worth spending, I flipped myself over and after about three seconds that seemed like 3 hours, I popped up to the surface and proved that I could get myself out. I got back into the boat, hooked up the spray skirt and paddled around the corner out of the wind where we would be training for the next three hours.
Here’s my favorite part of the day. I asked Todd to tell me about his leg. He told an incredible story about the life-threatening injuries he received in a South American bus crash. He was sitting in the seat behind the driver when the bus in which they were traveling drifted into the wrong lane on a mountain switchback. In the head-on collision that ensued, the driver in front of him and a woman who was sitting behind him died. He survived with multiple scars and a left leg that won’t bend. Todd and I talked about adversity, about his injuries, about my cancer and about his brother who suffers mightily with cystic fibrosis. We talked about the human spirit and how people rise to the challenges they’re given. About the ones who fold up and the ones who meet their challenges head-on and make the best of the time they’re given on this earth. I don’t know how many more times I’ll see Todd Hyatt. I’m sure we’ll be on some future paddling trips. He is one of the great people I’ve had the opportunity to meet in my life. He was there when I got to put to rest one of the demons I’ve been able to conquer. Rolling out of a kayak doesn’t scare me any more. I know I can do it and I know what to do when it happens again.
We ended the day with a Chattahoochee Paddling Club themed party. The dozens of campers below us must have heard a spirited rendition of the theme song from “Gilligan’s Island.” We had a costume contest and some good food and drink. I’ll post a link to some pictures in another post.
Yesterday was a good day. Jill, aka Mary Ann, joined me for the party and I finally got to prove to all my fellow paddlers that I do have a wife. She doesn’t know it (she will now) that I’m hoping she will be convinced to come out and enjoy this great outdoor sport of paddling. We have such a great resource in our river. And, I have found that one of the very best ways to see many of the good things the river has to offer is from the quiet, comfortable seat of a sea kayak.
Here’s the scenario: You’re sitting at a ta ble with some great people. Some of them you know and others you’re getting a chance to know. Big flat screen monitors are broadcasting a crystal clear picture of what’s going on at the hands of a very creative chef and the smells — ahh, the smell of garlic, tomatoes, onions and herbs are making me feel like I’m some place I’ve never been. Somewhere in Europe — sadly, a place I’ve never been.
But back to my scenario: Standing right in front of me with a cute smile and a denim chef’s coat is none other than Virginia Willis, the Atlanta culinary phenom. She’s taught cooking all over the world, she ran Martha Stewart’s kitchen for a few years. She produced the TV show, Epicurious, and she’s whipping out 5 heavenly “Mother Sauces” right before my eyes.
This is what I experienced night before last at The Village Kitchen in Midtown, Columbus. The small culinary education venue is a great place to go to learn those skills you’ve been thinking about but just don’t quite have in your cooking quiver. At my table were Molly and Ritchie White (shown in the picture with Virginia Willis), Celia Page, Carolyn Hutcheson, of Suwanee, Ga. and Jenny Holder. We had a very nice time sipping wine provided by Sommelier Faye Simmons of Meritage Cafe and we got to taste some bodacious food.
These 5 mother sauces are the basis of nearly every sauce that comes from a traditional French kitchen. They are sauce tomate, hollandaise, brown, veloute and bechamel. Some are more difficult than others. In fact, our incredible guest chef’s blender Hollandaise sauce broke. The Hollandaise recipe is an emulsion of egg yolks and fat that can be difficult to prepare even for a professional chef. But, I’m happy to report that she reloaded and produced a mouth-watering second batch that we tasted spooned over roasted asparagus.
Here’s the point of all this: The Village Kitchen has Food Network-level guest chefs in town all the time. If you are a Food Network junkie like I know many of you are, check out this website to see all the great culinary instruction that is available right here at home: http://thevillagekitchencom.blogspot.com/
I left there with a couple of new friends, with whom I immediately hooked up on Facebook, and a stack of great recipes to try at home. Thanks to The Village Kitchen Director Susan Gilliam, Executive Chef Maurice Martin and Pastry Chef Tara Van Etten who assisted Virginia Willis in making our evening informative and very special.
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