Situation Report #15

So sorry this update has been a long time coming. You can rest assured that no news is good news. We are all just trying to take a deep breath and enjoy dads remarkable ability to push through this. Dad had a big appointment with the Stanford bone marrow specialist (Dr. Laport) on 9/28. We were waiting on a schedule of events from the nurse before updating everyone. The schedule came today! Its a relief to know whats ahead but has also put crazy butterflys in my stomach for the same reason. So here's the game plan:

Dad will be getting a stem cell transplant of his own stem cells the beginning of January. He is scheduled to be admitted to the hospital on the 5th. We are told that this procedure has a 90% success rate...we'll take it!! Dads new "day one", or birthday as they call it will be January 11th. The aftermath will be the tricky part with the concern of infections. Dad will be in lock down for 6 months until he gets a thumbs up from the doctors. This 6 months will be spent 1 month in the hospital, 2 weeks staying nearby the hospital in a hotel and finally back to Santa Cruz for the duration. The time spent outside of the hospital comes with a binder full of do's and don'ts which would make your head spin. We may just want to get a little Darth Vadar action going just to be on the safe side! I think it would suit dad just fine.


The preparations for the transplant will be starting the middle of November with the Oncologist performing restaging tests. We are hoping for a free Thanksgiving week so the family can go up to the cabin for one last hurrah. The entire month of December starting on the 6th is devoted to getting those stem cells ready for harvesting. He will be in the hospital on the 10th, but out in time to celebrate his 65th birthday on the 12th. Every day of December until those babies are out of there is scheduled with one thing or another. Its going to be a busy month. Looks like the stem cell collection will be a few days before Christmas. Hopefully the collection will only be a couple days which will offer Dad a relaxing Christmas, New Years and welcoming the newest grandchild due on the 23rd (Analicia & Dexter's #2) :-)

As we all know a schedule is a guideline that will most likely need revisions along the way. Especially when there are two months of scheduling! Regardless, it feels good to have a plan to wrap our minds around and get mentally prepared for the challenges ahead.

I hope you all enjoy the upcoming holiday season and count your blessings daily.

Aloha,
Heather

AAR Chemo 3 by Ed

Folks

I am still exceeding expectations when it comes to the anticipated side effects of chemo therapy. This is a good thing. That said, this stuff really tires you out, and if my sentences are not complete, I will blame a phenomena called "chemo brain".

I was able to spend some time at the cabin last weekend. I had some time to spend with my family. It was centered around a box of T-shirts that said "fishing with hubba". I appreciate my children's concern (unsaid) that I may not be able to have this time in the future. Sooooo, lets make memories for my grandchildren and me while I am able. There is a little lake nearby, soooo fishing we went.

What did I learn?

I spent most of my life sharing with Marines small techniques that might save their lives or make them more effective. It was usually something that I had learned from those WW II or Korean Veterans that populated the Corps when I enlisted in the Marine Corps. This sharing was always important because we never knew if they were going to be in combat the next day.

Teaching my grandchildren to fish is a survival skill. As a little guy in Oregon, my cousins Nick and Wink, taught me how to fish. Nick and Wink taught me how to catch grasshoppers for bait on our way to Monger Creek. Well sure enough, on our way to the lake with the grand kids, I noticed that there were grasshoppers in the tall grass. So we had a class on how to catch grasshoppers and how to put them on your hook. In short order Nate (Carabine to me), was catching hoppers like a pro. Ben, 2 1/2 yrs, demonstrated how to bait a hook. Savannah was swing on the end of a rope over the lake. They were demonstrating the kind of self reliance that we wanted our Marines to have in unfamiliar environments.

I was just as proud of them as my Marines. I still have some techniques to teach them, and it is important that I survive in order to do it. So Hubba is going to stick around.

Semper Fi

Ed

Situation Report #14

Hi All...Heather here :-) I feel the need to preface this update with my name so you will all understand why this update will not be filled with pictures, stories and witty comments...just the facts man. I went to the Stanford appointment with dad and mom yesterday, so I have been tasked on this update.

Overall it was good news. The doctor had a shit eating grin on her face when she told us that ALL of dads lymph nodes have shrunk to under a size they would consider abnormal. His spleen has also reduced in size. Basically dad has already beaten the odds in that 30-40% of patients do not respond to Chemo. He is responding and not feeling to bad to boot. The chemo is CHOP-E, the E is another component they have taken from a German study and they are pleased with the outcome. He will not be entering into a clinical trial through Stanford. They have one starting in a month that they would consider him for but the timing is not right. Dr. Advani feels like the plan they have in place is his best option.

Here is the plan of attack:
He will have four more chemo treatments for a total of six. The chemo treatments should be completed by the beginning of November. In the meantime Dad will be meeting with the Bone Marrow transplant doctors. They want to be up and at'em right when the chemo is completed so he can start the transplant. The transplant will be of his own stem cells which is good news. We thought he may need a donor which can be a challenge to find. We will have more info on the transplant after we have that appointment but they did say he will be hospitalized for 7-10 days during the procedure of taking out the bone marrow. The replacement of the stem cells can be an outpatient appointment. That too is good news as we thought he would be hospitalized at Stanford for the entire time.

We are told that without the transplant he has a 33% chance of survival but with the transplant it increases to 66%. We like those odds much better and in fact are the best odds we have heard to date! So dad left the appointment with a smile on his face and hopped in the truck with Mom to spend the next week up at the cabin before his next treatment.

So those are the facts and I'm sure Analicia will come in here and edit something or put in a picture because she won't be able to stand it!! have at it girl.


OK-Picture added by demand of Bonnie. She's the picture person! I couldn't pass up the opportunity to post this great picture of dad from 1976. Thanks Bonnie.

Situation Report #13

We are finally GOING to DISNEY WORLD! 

Does that mouse have a doctorate?

Well, not really.  Dad has his first offical appointment with Stanford Medical tomorrow.  Kind of feels like we are going to Disney World minus the whole happiest place on Earth part.  It might be the smartest place on Earth.   Six in one hand half a dozen in the other, both are awesome.

Dad had a CT Scan yesterday.  The two rounds of Kimo has knocked the cancer down quite a bit.  The reality is this cancer is known to get knocked down and then just comes back with more attitude in 90% of patients.  How ya like them odds?  Hence the "rare aggressive cancer" verbiage.   The reason Stanford has waited for dad to finish a few rounds of Kimo is because:

1.  If you have been following along they were not so sure dad would be "available" for further treatment.  That's when we pulled the rabbit out of our...hats.

2.  Now they will have to start getting creative.  Ideas we have heard are taking healthy stem cells and/or bone marrow while the cancer is down then truly going full big wave surfer Mavericks-style Kimo on dad. Then they put the healthy stuff back into dad to give him the good guys he needs to win.

There are also possible clinical trials.  Hopefully, all this will be discussed tomorrow and I will have a full report with all kinds of cool things.  I promise to wear my "house of the mouse" ears during the report.  I would wear them to Stanford but we don't want them to realize the Lesnowicz family is crazier than hell.  We did however promise our local doctor to act our usual selves because we need to be "accepted" and he thinks our shiny attitudes might win us a seat on the cancer cure tram.  Look alive people, Toot Toot!!

Speaking of shiny attitudes there is a quote I like to live by "Perception Creates Reality".  I've had time to pause, reflect and ask myself what does that really mean and how did I come by living by such a concept.

When I was little we moved from Quantico, VA (my dad had just finished TBS) to Lawton, OK for a few months of artillery training.  We moved into a trailer park packed with young families.  Dad went off to work only to come home a few nights in a row to my sister and I moping around the tiny trailer, "None of the kids want to play with us."  Oklahoma seemed to have a tornado of little kids and we just couldn't get sucked in.  The next night dad arrived home but this time with a BRAND NEW Fisher-Price boat.  That's right, it was still IN the box and it wasn't anyone's birthday.  A rare sight.

He excitedly sat my sister and I down and said, "Okay girls, you are going to go out front with this boat and act like you are having the time of your life."   He walked us out there on that little piece of cement, held up that box and shouted  "OH WHAT DO WE HAVE HERE? WOW".  You could feel the sides of the tornado take pause.  They must of thought the Queen of England had sent us something straight from Buckingham Palace.  I know I was convinced.  My sister and I jumped with glee.  We took that boat out of the box and played with dad.  Man, that was one awesome boat.  It had avocado green sides, diving board and even a captains chair.  When we looked up dad was gone, replaced by a gust or two of that tornado.  One by one the kids came over.  We had our friends and before we knew it we were an accepted part of mother nature's weather patterns.

I imagine now that dad was looking through the small glass window.  Smiling to himself about the fact that he had just won over a pack of 4-7 year old's, no small feat.  He probably turned to mom and asked "What's for dinner Mar, I'm starved."  Mom, I am sure, was thrilled just to have those two mopey kids out of the trailer.

You see, the gift wasn't the little green boat, as I had thought for so many years.  The gift, was the idea that I could win people over, even crowds for that matter, with the right tools and attitude.  If you go in with the right perception you can create reality with it.

So, what came of the little green boat you ask?  Well, she traveled to a dozen duty stations all over the world.  Floated the high seas of more night time baths then can be counted.  Maybe she isn't the exact same boat the Queen had sent but in my eyes she looks as good as the day she arrived from the palace 35 years ago. 

The "Manipulator of the Seas"

My two year old was playing with her today.  He lifted her up and said  "Mommy, a boat."  I paused, knelt down and smiled at her.  I lightly coughed out the sudden lump in my throat "Yes darlin' a boat, just a little green boat." 

   

AAR on Kimo 2 by Ed

Bottom Line: I am feeling way better than I should be, and there are a few in the "Kimo" chain expecting the a cumlative effects to engage. That may be the case, but like a good Marine, I will take what I can get for rest and relaxation, defined as a hot cup of coffee, before the shootin starts.

So, what have I learned during this rd of Kimo??

It's about leadership, I have put a lot of stress on the team and they are doing their best to keep it together. My job is to cooperate. It is REALLY hard to get in the back seat. A wise person once told me that good leadership begins with good followership.

I got doctors at the wheel, Mary running the logistics, Analicia is the CommO, Heather is the Adjutant, and Matt is intelligence. Then I have you all that have faith in me and I cannot disappoint you. So there it is. This is going to be a bit like watching paint dry while the Kimo gets me ready for the main event. The CommO will keep it interesting.

My lesson: When you have assemble a good staff, stand back and let them do what they do best. Reserve guidance for when requested.

Glad you liked the hats.

Semper Fi

Ed

Situation Report #12

 Dad has just finished his second round of Chemo today.  Should I be capitalizing that?  Gives it a life of it's own, let's go with chemo.  Mom caught dad spelling it Kimo on his calendar.  Right, well at least the planktons are up over 400,000!  I am seeing a water theme here.  Planktons are swimming and Kimo is riding da' waves island style. 

KIMO!  Try chance'um bra!!

 He gets the BIG SHOT tomorrow.  When I asked the name of it  "I donno, it's BIG".  After three days in the hospital with Kimo, they don't want to put a port in dad so they do a drip, dad gets the shot on the fourth day which is tomorrow.  The shot will trick his body into thinking it should make more white blood cells right away.  Last time the shot landed dad on his arse.  So, for the next 2 weeks we expect low immunity and some pain.  No nausea just yet but we are talking about a guy that ate roaches in Nam.  Kimo meet my buddy Agent Orange. 

Dad ordered a custom cowboy hat months ago, before he knew of his diagnosis.  It came in the same day a clump of hair fell out. 
My brother told my dad:   
         "Your hair needs to tell cancer I'm not fired, I quit."  
So, mom shaved dads head and he looks pretty darn good in his new cowboy hat. 

"My Wanna Be Hat" - Wanna be at the cabin!

Other available looks are also ones I grew up with:

  


Hey, has anyone seen my "Johnny go to hell" hat.

I still to this day have no idea what that means.

Also, the "I had a team before there were any to choose from west of the Mississippi" hat.

 This one has been explained to me more then a 1,000 times and I am sure I will hear it 1,000 more.  Yes dad, Yogi Berra was the greatest player of all time.



 Notice: 
A few readers are unsure of the language rules of order.  So here they are.

When I was little I remember the first time I over heard someone say "Don't swear like a sailor."  I thought geez lady if you thought that was bad you should hear someone swear like a U.S. Marine.  I had more one liners in my arsenal by the age of 10 then the girl next to me had Barbie dolls.  Of course, I dare not repeat them until I was 18.  Then dad promptly asks, "Where'd you hear that?".  Really?

Some who wander by the blog might be shocked that you can pray and swear in the same paragraph or sentence for that matter.  I don't know much but I'm pretty sure they never lived on a base.  So the rule of this blog is survival.   Those of you that have seen a dragon or two can teach readers something about how we survive.  We laugh, we cry, we believe in each other and we call it like we see it.  Those are our rules, in no particular order.  Oh and my mom will act shocked for about 2 seconds, that's her job.

I will leave you with something The Yogi once said, 

" When you come to a fork in the road....Take it "

Thanks Mr. Berra, we will my friend, we will.

Situation Report #11

Update!  Get your update here!

1. Planktons are WAY up -  273,000....umm stop the prayers.  Dad is now on a blood thinner!  When you guys all jumped in with your positive attitudes I knew the doctors better STAND BACK.  
2. Dad withstood the first round of chemotherapy nicely.
3. The blood clot....well as far as we know it's still there but we would love another scan to see.  Dad has been breathing better.  In my world of rainbows and unicorns it is gone but then when was the last time you saw a horse, while sober, with a horn and wings? 
4. Already his AITL symptoms are down.  Such as the night sweats that kept him up ALL NIGHT.  Enjoy the slumber Daddio

Dad has been resting, sort of.  I guess if you call sitting by the door asking if he can go outside and play every 5 seconds "resting".  Mom of course is guarding the door.  Not so fast there Eddie.

How proud I am of the new generation of bloggers we have created or should I say old generation now blogging? 

Me: "Now click the comments button, toward the bottom, in the middle, go back, right, click the box...."

I jest.  We love it and keep it coming.