Part Twelve – Mini-Blog

Hello, fans.  Sorry to follow up with a new blog so close on the heels of the last one, but I received the results of my latest MRI scans last week, so I thought I would share them with you.  This, after all, is supposed to be the point of the blog, right?  So this one is just a quickie to give you the latest news of my little dark passenger.

The news is less than stellar, but there is a chance that it may be less dire than it might immediately appear.  The new scans provide evidence that there may be new growth in the tumor.  My oncologist is not certain, and feels the images might be showing what he calls “pseudo-progression.”  The attached images are before and after shots from my most recent scans on 11/4/13 and 1/7/14.  The first set of scans is of the top of my head and the second set is of the back of my head.  You can pretty easily see the growth to the right in both “after” images.  Quoting the radiology report:

“New finger-like area of enhancement dorsal to the dominant residual tumor as well as increasing T2 abnormality in the left parietal lobe superiorly.  Overall findings worrisome for progression of disease.”

Here’s the plan of attack: I resumed the increased dosage of the drug Temodar this week as originally scheduled, for five days.  I will have new scans in four weeks instead of the planned eight weeks.  These scans should confirm whether this is tumor growth or “pseudo-progression.”  If the former, I will switch to an infusion treatment immediately – meaning that same day.  I will continue these treatments every two weeks for I don’t know how long.  The drug I will get is called Avastin.  Here’s how the drug manufacturer’s web site describes it:

Avastin is a tumor-starving (or anti-angiogenic) therapy. The purpose of Avastin is to block a protein called vascular endothelial growth factor, or VEGF. Normal cells produce VEGF, but some cancer cells overproduce VEGF. Blocking VEGF may prevent the growth of new blood vessels that feed tumors.

AVASTIN (click for more info)

My new scans will be on Wed 2/7 and I meet with the doctor to discuss the results on Fri 2/9.  So I have no other choice but to chill until then and hope for the most favorable news.  In the meantime, I'm continuing my efforts to battle the little bastard with diet, exercise, a positive attitude, and the continued support of all my homies and homettes.

Hey, I have always been a pseudo-intellectual, so it's not at all unreasonable that I should have pseudo-cancer.

GOODBYE AMIGOS!  SEE YOU SOON!  HAHA!!

Top of head 11/4/13

Top of head 1/7/14

Back of head 11/4/13

Back of head 1/7/14

His Majesty Maddux

(Editor’s Note:  While in the process of composing this latest missive, I received the results of my latest MRI scans.  I thought to abandon this topic in favor of discussing these, which is, after all, the main function of this blog.  However, I decided to finish this and address my latest cancer news in another edition of the blog.)

Major League Baseball made official a foregone conclusion this week when it elected former Cubs pitcher Greg Maddux to its Hall of Fame in a near-unanimous vote.  (Kept from being unanimous by a few all-about-me nerds who will fade into oblivion soon enough.)  It’s a bittersweet day for Cubs fans, who found the most brilliant symbol of their perennial loser status right in their faces once again.  Greg Maddux is the personification of the stupidity, arrogance, and amateurishness that has fueled the longest championship drought in the history of professional sports.

I don’t have to (and if I had any charity in my heart for Cubs fans, wouldn’t) repeat how everyone in the world – with the exception of Cubs senior management – knew exactly what the Cubs had in Maddux.  Or how the Cubs had Maddux signed in the spring of 1992 but opted to show the world their poker skills by pulling the offer off the table until after the ’92 season.  Or how that gamble by the Cubs power brokers paid off when Maddux won his first Cy Young Award at the end of that season.  Or how Maddux gave the Cubs one more chance to recover from this colossal screw-up by setting a deadline for their final offer, and how clueless old white man arrogance prevailed still once more when the Cubs decided to tender their offer to Maddux one hour beyond his deadline, and were somehow shocked when Maddux stuck to his guns and was already walking out the door when the offer came.  No, I’ll spare you the pain of remembering all of that.

Maddux’s amazing career includes four straight Cy Young Awards, 17 straight years winning 15 or more games, and 18 Gold Gloves.  He was also typically the among the top hitting pitchers in the league, sporting batting averages in the mid-.200’s while most hurlers never even saw triple digits.  So on top of being the best pitcher in the league, he was also the best hitting pitcher and fielded his position better than anyone else.  In other words, he was a BALLPLAYER.  But Maddux had an additional quality that set him apart from the rest.  He was cool.

Cool is a quality has all but vanished from the chest-thumping, in-your-face, arrested adolescent world of celebrity of today.  Miles Davis composed The Birth of the Cool, but nobody in today’s world would dig it.  Robert Mitchum or Steve McQueen would have no place in today’s world.  But Maddux had it – the cool of the assassin.

An incident I witnessed at Wrigley Field early in Maddux’s career made an indelible impression.  Maddux walked a veteran player with a high inside pitch.  This player squawked loudly at Maddux all the way down the first base line; I think perhaps he even strayed toward the mound but was intercepted by the first base coach.  Maddux stood with his back to home plate ignoring this entire demonstration.  The next batter dug into the batter’s box as Maddux settled into the set position to face him.  Suddenly, Maddux whirled and hurled a pickoff throw to first base – except that his throw went straight as a rifle shot to the head of the base runner, who escaped a certain skull fracture by diving into the dirt.  Whatever combativeness this player formerly displayed was gone as he picked himself off the ground, dusted himself off, and stared out in amazement at this brash young kid, who by now had his back to him again as he readied for his next pitch.  I guess the guy had never before had to escape a brush-back pitch while standing on first base.  I just watched this and thought, damn, this kid is bad-ass.

Cool remains a quality that is difficult to define.  Attempting to define it is decidedly un-cool.  It is no longer even an attractive quality in our narcissistic world of excessive introspection and self-obsession (he says, as he writes a blog that is mostly about himself).  Face it, you either got it or you don’t, and few have it.  Maddux always had it and always will.  I’ll bet he made the Hall of Fame leave a message while he finished his golf game.

Until next time, enjoy this scan of my autographed Greg Maddux rookie card, obtained and signed in person after an evening of boozing (and smoking) with Tom Glavine, David Justice, and several other Braves in a hotel bar many years ago.  OK, Maddux didn’t actually join the party, but he was kind enough to sign and return this card after I left it with the desk clerk for him.  Admittedly un-cool, but I’m glad to have the card.

GOODBYE AMIGOS!  SEE YOU SOON!  HAHA!!

Happy New Year!

Just a quick note to wish everyone I know a happy 2014!

The passing of the great British actor Peter O’Toole brought to mind one of his most popular films, My Favorite Year, released in 1982.  I wish that film title could describe my 2013, but my reasons for assigning this particular year a lower ranking than that are pretty obvious, at least to me.  Good riddance to it!

It’s great having Caroline home from her sophomore year at Wesleyan University for Christmas, and she’ll be here for another few weeks.  Had a great Christmas dinner with cousin Nick, his lovely wife Andrea and their beautiful daughter Miranda, who is very busy weighing her choices for college next year.  Tried to coordinate holiday get-togethers with Russ and Melody, but dog injuries and new jobs (good and bad) got in the way of that.

Enough already; this is starting to sound like those letters you get with Christmas cards.  The ones I set aside to read but then Pam has to warn me a week after New Year’s that she’s tossing them so I can say wait, I haven’t read those yet!  Just kidding; I love getting those letters, and they make great Presidents Day reading.  Kind of like certain “blogs.”

The holidays were not without their share of weirdness.  I was anticipating a visit from an old friend and his newest soul mate, with whom he had purchased a two-flat on Chicago’s northwest side within the past year. (Names have been withheld to protect the innocent.)   I was looking forward to the visit when I learned that plans had changed and that my friend would now be accompanied by another old friend instead of the soul mate.  These new plans then took a bizarre and tragic turn when I learned that the first friend would now be unable to make the trip due to the death of his older brother in an auto accident up in the deepest wilds of Alaska.  This is another story altogether that I may re-visit in a future edition of MBFGC.

Fortunately, my other friend Dave (not innocent so in no need of protection) was still able to make the trip.  Dave is an old, old friend I have not seen in many years.  He is recovering from a bad marriage that nonetheless produced two very nice kids, a daughter in her twenties and a son, 16.  He is also dealing with health issues and has taken some dramatic steps in recent years to address both physical and emotional issues in his life.

Dave was diagnosed with MS several years ago and embarked on a mission to take over his own health care.  He quit his job and enrolled at one of the better known schools for integrative medicine, with branches in San Diego, Chicago, and New York.  Now he’s a licensed acupuncturist and herbalist and I think does some massage stuff as well.  All pretty surprising, considering Dave is an old softball buddy with whom I shared many a late night of heavy boozing and other “alternative treatments” back in the day.  But what he’s doing now works great for him; he seems in the peak of health and is managing the MS quite well, thank you kindly.  It was good to have Dave around last week to reinforce the good behavior that I’m known to slack off from more frequently than is good for me.  The free acupuncture for the entire family was great, too!  But just in case you think that Dr. Andrew Weil moved in with us for the weekend, be advised that Dave also celebrated his visit by consuming half the supply of red wine in New Mexico, tho Pam and I helped a little.

Well, that’s all for now, as I’m heading out for some MRI fun this afternoon.  These will be my first scans in about eight weeks, so I’ll soon know how my little dark passenger has been celebrating the holidays.  I’ll update you in the next edition of MBFGC.  I hope all of you are imbued with the hope and positive energy that the New Year brings.  At least those of you who haven’t already felt the hard slap of reality in Chicago and other frozen outposts east of the Land of Enchantment.

GOODBYE AMIGOS!  SEE YOU SOON!  HAHA!!