Every once in a while, something happens that stops me dead in my tracks. Today, when I got home from the last of my last minute shopping, and finished up my wrapping, I decided to lay down for a nap. I've been running pretty hard lately and can feel myself wearing out. However, before crawling into bed, I decided to check my email. And that's when it happened.
I received an email from someone I didn't know with the subject line, "fellow cancer survivor...." I won't disclose her name because I don't have permission to, but the email blew me away. She told me she was diagnosed with Hodgkin's Lymphoma at the end of the summer and underwent chemotherapy. In her November followup, she had already relapsed and is preparing to undergo an autologus stem cell transplant. She was looking up BEAM chemotherapy on the internet and ran across this blog.
After reading the blog, she wrote to say thank you for sharing as I went through the process and could I answer a few questions for her about the treatment. I responded with my best answers and told her she was in my prayers.
What blew me away was that, for just a moment, I realized that although my fight is over for the time being, for so many it continues regardless of the holiday season. Cancer doesn't care about Christmas or Haunnaka(I think that's spelled wrong, I apologize), it doesn't care about glad tidings or caroling in the snow. But the patients who face it do, and because of the cancer I would venture to say most are probably like me and know that the carolling, the good wishes, the glad tidings are more valuable gifts than any under any tree.
For that reminder, I will always be grateful for the fellow cancer survivor who reached out to me on the eve of her treatment to ask a few simple questions. She's got a great chance. She's young, strong and full of hope, and this Christmas, she's in at least my prayers as well.
So in the midst of all the pagentry and regalia that go on during this wonderful season of love and forgiveness, pause for a moment and see what the true value of the season is to you. To me, it's a simple, wonderful opportunity to share the preciousness of life with those who are closest to me, and to be grateful for the opportunity to be alive.
Best of luck to you Fellow Cancer Survivor, and Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays and Happy, Healthy New Year to all.
Much love,
Travis
Tuesday, December 23, 2008
Tuesday, December 16, 2008
Leukemia Cup Regatta Fantasy Sail
This past weekend, Honore and I attended the 2008 Leukemia Cup Regatta Fantasy Sail with Gary Jobson in Ft. Myers Beach, Fl. We had a BLAST! We got to race Colgate 26s(Which the Colgate Offshore Sailing School provided 10 of for us) in two sessions. A morning session of four races, and an afternoon session of three races.
Our crew raced in the afternoon session, and with me at the helm , we raced our way into 2nd place out of 9 boats. Gary Jobson came aboard and raced the final race with us, which was AWESOME. Talk about a truly amazing opportunity, to get to have a Hall of Fame Sailor come on board a 26' sailboat and race with us was unbelieveable.
It was great to see our friends from around the country. This was our fourth Fantasy Sail, and we have gotten to meet so many other sailor fundraisers from around the country it has been an amazing experience. What we have found is many of the same people return year after year, so it has become an annual reunion of sorts. (To qualify, one must simply raise $8,500 for the Leukemia Cup Regatta, its that easy.)
We also received information about the fundraising. This year, there were 38 LCRs around the country which combined to raise a record $3,675,000 for blood cancer research. The best part, to me anyway, is that 85% of that will directly fund research. The top fundraising chapter was Greater San Francisco Bay Yacht Club, which raised over $660,000. Incredible. My hats off to Ian Charles, Bill Nolan, Bill Elliott, and Kyle(I'm so sorry I can't remember his last name, but he's the incoming Commodore of the club). Anyway, Ian had a stem cell transplant in October and was scheduled to attend the Fantasy Sail, but fell ill on the Wednesday before and was unable to travel. They had the Maltese Falcon, the new $200M square rigged ship that is one of the largest private sailing ships in the world for their event, and from the sounds of it, it was incredible.
Houston chapter finished second this year and Chicago finished third. We did TERRIFIC. In a down year, we still managed to set a new record and raised $285,000. I am very proud of the committee, the LLS Staff and Columbia Yacht Club, as well as all of our sponsors and the other area clubs and participants who come together every August to make the event happen here in Chicago. It takes a year of effort, but it is one of the most rewarding things I participate in.
Yesterday, I had lunch with the outgoing Executive Director of the Illinois Chapter of the Society and the incoming event manager for the 2009 Leukemia Cup Regatta. I did commit to running the organizing committee one more time, although I made noise that this will be my last at chairperson. Having chaired the previous two years, I feel its becoming time for me to step aside and let someone else run it, however, due to so many unforeseen changes in the committee and the Society's leadership, I committed to one more year to maintain some continuity.
I'm exhausted. The sailing really took it out of me. It was great to go and have so much fun and see so many friends, but my strength is not what I had hoped it would be, so today's a major rest day for me. Then its time to dive into Christmas decorating and wrapping and playing with Hope, who's now 10 months and fascinated by all the lights.
Happy Holidays to you all. I'll write again soon.
Love,
Travis
PS - I do need to correct one thing from a previous post. Jeff Abbott has been nominated for three Edgar Allen Poe awards, but has yet to win one. He has however won the Agatha Christie, which is the best first mystery novel award. His latest is Collision and his next will be Trust Me out sometime this summer.
Our crew raced in the afternoon session, and with me at the helm , we raced our way into 2nd place out of 9 boats. Gary Jobson came aboard and raced the final race with us, which was AWESOME. Talk about a truly amazing opportunity, to get to have a Hall of Fame Sailor come on board a 26' sailboat and race with us was unbelieveable.
It was great to see our friends from around the country. This was our fourth Fantasy Sail, and we have gotten to meet so many other sailor fundraisers from around the country it has been an amazing experience. What we have found is many of the same people return year after year, so it has become an annual reunion of sorts. (To qualify, one must simply raise $8,500 for the Leukemia Cup Regatta, its that easy.)
We also received information about the fundraising. This year, there were 38 LCRs around the country which combined to raise a record $3,675,000 for blood cancer research. The best part, to me anyway, is that 85% of that will directly fund research. The top fundraising chapter was Greater San Francisco Bay Yacht Club, which raised over $660,000. Incredible. My hats off to Ian Charles, Bill Nolan, Bill Elliott, and Kyle(I'm so sorry I can't remember his last name, but he's the incoming Commodore of the club). Anyway, Ian had a stem cell transplant in October and was scheduled to attend the Fantasy Sail, but fell ill on the Wednesday before and was unable to travel. They had the Maltese Falcon, the new $200M square rigged ship that is one of the largest private sailing ships in the world for their event, and from the sounds of it, it was incredible.
Houston chapter finished second this year and Chicago finished third. We did TERRIFIC. In a down year, we still managed to set a new record and raised $285,000. I am very proud of the committee, the LLS Staff and Columbia Yacht Club, as well as all of our sponsors and the other area clubs and participants who come together every August to make the event happen here in Chicago. It takes a year of effort, but it is one of the most rewarding things I participate in.
Yesterday, I had lunch with the outgoing Executive Director of the Illinois Chapter of the Society and the incoming event manager for the 2009 Leukemia Cup Regatta. I did commit to running the organizing committee one more time, although I made noise that this will be my last at chairperson. Having chaired the previous two years, I feel its becoming time for me to step aside and let someone else run it, however, due to so many unforeseen changes in the committee and the Society's leadership, I committed to one more year to maintain some continuity.
I'm exhausted. The sailing really took it out of me. It was great to go and have so much fun and see so many friends, but my strength is not what I had hoped it would be, so today's a major rest day for me. Then its time to dive into Christmas decorating and wrapping and playing with Hope, who's now 10 months and fascinated by all the lights.
Happy Holidays to you all. I'll write again soon.
Love,
Travis
PS - I do need to correct one thing from a previous post. Jeff Abbott has been nominated for three Edgar Allen Poe awards, but has yet to win one. He has however won the Agatha Christie, which is the best first mystery novel award. His latest is Collision and his next will be Trust Me out sometime this summer.
Monday, December 8, 2008
A wonderful gift.....
Last May, on the day I was due to get my PET scan results back(which is when I would definatively know if the cancer was back and I needed chemotherapy), a dear friend of mine, Jeff Abbott came to Chicago. Jeff's an accomplished mystery/thriller writer whom I have known for 12 or 15 years. He's written several National and International best sellers and has won the Edgar Allen Poe Award for mystery writing.
Since I moved to Chicago in 2000, I hadn't seen Jeff and we wrote/spoke infrequently. Then last spring, I got a note from him that he was going to be in Chicago scouting neighborhoods for his next novel and could we get together. I said that would be terrific and we arranged to go see the city on that day in May. We saddled Hope up in the truck with us, and toured all over Chicago. It was terrific to get to catch up with him and to see him at work in his craft.
Having never been around a writer, I had no idea how they worked or what went into writing a book. It was really cool to hear about how he could make the neighborhoods work in the book, when in reality they might be miles apart. It was also really interesting to hear what he thought of his characters and who he liked and disliked, it was almost as if they were real people. We had a terrific day.
After I left, I found out that the cancer had returned and I would be in chemotherapy and stem cell transplant land. I told him, and we have stayed in touch ever since, he's been a terrific support and, as always, has a good line to make me laugh. He's also been keeping track of my progress by reading the blog, and sharing it with his readers on his blog, www.jeffabbott.com/blog
He called me this morning to tell me he has dedicated his next book to me. Trust Me is due out in the US in July, and in a quirk of the publishing world that I cannot explain, in airports in Great Britain in February. Who knew....
Anyway, I am honored and priviledged to have Jeff as a friend and grateful for his generosity in dedicating the book to me. Thank you Jeff.
More later, gotta run. Life now feels like there's just not enough time in it.
Love to you all, Happy Holidays,
Travis
Since I moved to Chicago in 2000, I hadn't seen Jeff and we wrote/spoke infrequently. Then last spring, I got a note from him that he was going to be in Chicago scouting neighborhoods for his next novel and could we get together. I said that would be terrific and we arranged to go see the city on that day in May. We saddled Hope up in the truck with us, and toured all over Chicago. It was terrific to get to catch up with him and to see him at work in his craft.
Having never been around a writer, I had no idea how they worked or what went into writing a book. It was really cool to hear about how he could make the neighborhoods work in the book, when in reality they might be miles apart. It was also really interesting to hear what he thought of his characters and who he liked and disliked, it was almost as if they were real people. We had a terrific day.
After I left, I found out that the cancer had returned and I would be in chemotherapy and stem cell transplant land. I told him, and we have stayed in touch ever since, he's been a terrific support and, as always, has a good line to make me laugh. He's also been keeping track of my progress by reading the blog, and sharing it with his readers on his blog, www.jeffabbott.com/blog
He called me this morning to tell me he has dedicated his next book to me. Trust Me is due out in the US in July, and in a quirk of the publishing world that I cannot explain, in airports in Great Britain in February. Who knew....
Anyway, I am honored and priviledged to have Jeff as a friend and grateful for his generosity in dedicating the book to me. Thank you Jeff.
More later, gotta run. Life now feels like there's just not enough time in it.
Love to you all, Happy Holidays,
Travis
Tuesday, December 2, 2008
Happy Holidays
Having been through the trial of my life this past year, I cry at the thought of how much I have to be thankful for this year. Truly, it has been an incredible year. From the birth of my daughter, through my chemotherapy and my transplant, to the love and support of my family and friends, I feel like I have more to be thankful now than ever before. I am humbled at the beauty of life, it is AWESOME.
I have been remiss in not writing sooner, and I have received many notes and messages about not posting which I have all heard, thank you. All I can say is I'm sorry for not posting sooner. Having spent quite a bit of time pondering why I wouldn't post, I have come to the conclusion that a big piece of not posting was simply to create space between myself and the treatment. I needed some room to grow and heal. I'm doing much better now, and will work to post more regularly again. I feel posting is incredibly healthy and supportive for me, I just needed a little break.
For my update, I am doing amazingly well. I saw my oncologist last week and he was amazed at how strong I was and how good I looked. I have regained 10 lbs and my hair has been growing back steadily. My blood counts were still excellent, although I was slightly anemic(sp?), so he told me to eat a little more red meat. I have managed to catch a cold that has lasted almost a month now, but he said its really a series of colds as my immune system re-learns its resistances, which also explained why my allergies seem to suddenly be much worse than before. The best explanation my oncologist could give was that the destruction wiped out all of my antibodies, and they have to be re-built from scratch, which can take up to a year.
The only side effect that has been troublesome is my memory. I have developed memory issues again. My short term memory doesn't record things properly, and I have alot of trouble recalling events, dates and names. For example, if you asked me what I did on Thanksgiving day, I could tell you we drove to our lakehouse in Northern Wisconsin, but that would be it. I couldn't tell you where we ate lunch or dinner, how long the trip was, how many stops we made, or any other details of the trip. Needless to say, this is an EXTREMELY frustrating side effect, because I feel like a really smart man who woke up one day stupid. And, its incredibly hard because life is now full of land mines. I forget appointments or tasks that need to be done unless they are written down on a list that I am carrying with me. And, there are tons of lists that get set down places and forgotten about, which makes me feel like I'm living perpetually behind in getting anything done.
Hope and Honore are terrific. Hope is my pride and joy. She's a little bundle of joy, and absolutely has Daddy wrapped around her little finger. The worst part is, she's now old enough to know it and take advantage of it. She's standing on her own, and taking a few steps when holding on. She's really close to walking, but we're in no hurry for her to get there. Also, she's making lots of different noises, and lately has taken to shrieking, I think just to see how loud she can make a noise, although Honore says its because her deaf father speaks so loud all the time.
Honi's finally starting to recover from my ordeal. Having to keep running her dental practice, raise Hope, deal with family and friends, and worry about me, was about as much as anyone can got through. I am amazed by her strength and poise in getting through this crucible, so to me she has a lot of lattitude in coming back to normal. Stress wreaks havoc on the strongest of souls.
I want to extend a special thanks to everyone who has helped and supported us through this, in your cards and emails, letters, dinners, and phone calls to check in, you have all been AMAZING. The love and support we have felt has really kept us going. Coming home from the hospital was only the beginning, and the support we got after getting home has been incredible. So thank you all for everything you have done. We love you very much.
I hope everyone has a very Happy Holiday season. Merry Christmas to you all.
Love,
Travis
I have been remiss in not writing sooner, and I have received many notes and messages about not posting which I have all heard, thank you. All I can say is I'm sorry for not posting sooner. Having spent quite a bit of time pondering why I wouldn't post, I have come to the conclusion that a big piece of not posting was simply to create space between myself and the treatment. I needed some room to grow and heal. I'm doing much better now, and will work to post more regularly again. I feel posting is incredibly healthy and supportive for me, I just needed a little break.
For my update, I am doing amazingly well. I saw my oncologist last week and he was amazed at how strong I was and how good I looked. I have regained 10 lbs and my hair has been growing back steadily. My blood counts were still excellent, although I was slightly anemic(sp?), so he told me to eat a little more red meat. I have managed to catch a cold that has lasted almost a month now, but he said its really a series of colds as my immune system re-learns its resistances, which also explained why my allergies seem to suddenly be much worse than before. The best explanation my oncologist could give was that the destruction wiped out all of my antibodies, and they have to be re-built from scratch, which can take up to a year.
The only side effect that has been troublesome is my memory. I have developed memory issues again. My short term memory doesn't record things properly, and I have alot of trouble recalling events, dates and names. For example, if you asked me what I did on Thanksgiving day, I could tell you we drove to our lakehouse in Northern Wisconsin, but that would be it. I couldn't tell you where we ate lunch or dinner, how long the trip was, how many stops we made, or any other details of the trip. Needless to say, this is an EXTREMELY frustrating side effect, because I feel like a really smart man who woke up one day stupid. And, its incredibly hard because life is now full of land mines. I forget appointments or tasks that need to be done unless they are written down on a list that I am carrying with me. And, there are tons of lists that get set down places and forgotten about, which makes me feel like I'm living perpetually behind in getting anything done.
Hope and Honore are terrific. Hope is my pride and joy. She's a little bundle of joy, and absolutely has Daddy wrapped around her little finger. The worst part is, she's now old enough to know it and take advantage of it. She's standing on her own, and taking a few steps when holding on. She's really close to walking, but we're in no hurry for her to get there. Also, she's making lots of different noises, and lately has taken to shrieking, I think just to see how loud she can make a noise, although Honore says its because her deaf father speaks so loud all the time.
Honi's finally starting to recover from my ordeal. Having to keep running her dental practice, raise Hope, deal with family and friends, and worry about me, was about as much as anyone can got through. I am amazed by her strength and poise in getting through this crucible, so to me she has a lot of lattitude in coming back to normal. Stress wreaks havoc on the strongest of souls.
I want to extend a special thanks to everyone who has helped and supported us through this, in your cards and emails, letters, dinners, and phone calls to check in, you have all been AMAZING. The love and support we have felt has really kept us going. Coming home from the hospital was only the beginning, and the support we got after getting home has been incredible. So thank you all for everything you have done. We love you very much.
I hope everyone has a very Happy Holiday season. Merry Christmas to you all.
Love,
Travis
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