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.

After Action Report - by Ed

This has been an initial engagement with AITL, clots, and "plankton". It has taught me a lot. So, if you all don't mind, I would like to share a lesson learned or two.

Forty Four years ago, 1967, I was in Khe Sahn and we were in trouble. A lot of us were wounded, dieing, or dead, and if it had not been for the 26th Marines showing up, we were goners. I walked away from that without a scratch, but death would remain my companion, and I would never fear death again. I was a Marine and sharing the risk with other Marines meant, worst case, you were going to die in good company. The priority was train hard, accomplish the mission, and bring as many Marines back from the clutches of the dragon as you could.

Well, you can imagine ten days ago when I was smelling the dragon, and there were no Marines on my left or right. This was going to be a solo event? I felt alone. Then Fire Team Lesnowicz showed up in force. Then you all showed up on the blog with prayers and the confidence that I was up to the task. It will be your prayers and your faith in my tenacity that will pull me through.

We have a long way to go.

Lesson Learned: I am not alone. As I walked my path in this life I didn't realize I was building my team along the way that would come to my aide. Thank You!

Semper Fi

Ed

Situation Report #10

A new morning with much to report.

Let's start with Mathew making it home from Afghanistan.

Two Marines and A Pink Blankie

Yes, God is good!  We have our brother back from the trenches and dad's stress of not getting a chance to see Mathew has left us behind.  We were worried when Matt told us someone "gave him clothes" in Kyrgyzstan. I thought he might show up in a cool out fit.  No, it just turns out Big Bird was on an international vaca in the "Stans".

Cool Kyrgies

Okay, BIG NEWS....

1. Platelets were UP to 30,000 last night.  
2. The bone marrow biopsy showed they WERE NOT blocked with an insane amount of cancer.  Some but enough for doctors to feel good about marching forward.
3. Since we can't do anything about the blood clot in dads lung the doctors started Chemotherapy anyway.  

They started a drip last night of chemotherapy and dad tolerated it nicely.  He has to stay in the hospital still because of the "fragile state" he is in.

Could of FOOLED me!  Last night I went into his room:

"Hi dad, how are you feeling." (In a sweet whispering voice)
"SNICKERS BAR!  No. 3 snickers bars, a coke and 2 bags of chips!"
"Umm, I donno..."
"Let's go, MOVE, HUBBA HUBBA!  If your MOM didn't take my wallet I'd be down the hall."

So, I'm standing in the hall way.  Fighting with my inner Dietitian.  You know the one I sat through one to many science classes for.  The one that I used to half nelson family members of patients bringing them crap when I worked in the hospitals.  Then my culinary self popped up and the voice of a French teacher I had arose.  "Food is happiness".  Yeah, I bought the goods but not the chips.  The slightest abrasion and dad can bleed to death.  Yeah know, I thought better not.  


As it stands right now dad will definitely be in the hospital until Saturday.  He is coming home hopefully after that but his immunity is so low that he CAN NOT get sick.  So, no breathing your germs all over him.  


As all of us were praying for PLATELETS.  It turns out dad has been praying for PLANKTON.  

"Plankton" of Sponge Bob Square Pants fame.

I'm sure every star of a show needs prayers...Hollywood, it's a killer. Really dad can we focus on the task at hand here.  I keep correcting him but then finally just decided to change his behavior via public humiliation.  Works best with this family anyway.

Your comments keep us going.  I read all of them to dad.  Through tears, laughter and gratefulness.
Adapt, Improvise and Overcome. 
     

Situation Report #9

Let me just start by saying that Stanford doctors, who wrote the book on this rare blood cancer, met this morning and have stated that they are doing something never tried before due to the fact that they have never seen this situation before. They are literally....

Going. Where. No. Man. Has. Gone. Before.

We have A plan which is better then this past weekend which was NO plan

The IVIG has WORKED! If you were praying for platelets, they have arrived. We went from numerous blood transfusions with no movement to going from 4,000 to 12,000.

WELL HELLO THERE BEAUTIFUL! PLEASE STICK AROUND.

Us: "YEAH! 12,000."
Doctor: "That is ridiculously low. I guess it's all relative." **eye roll**
Us: "Hey, we'll take it."

So they DID the bone marrow biopsy this morning. Dad survived it! Stanford and Santa Cruz have the test and should get back to us tomorrow. How much cancer is in the bones? That I should have for you tomorrow and THAT will determine the CHOP (chemotherapy) treatment plan. Finally that last staging piece we needed from Sit Rep #1. WE NEED THOSE PLATELETS TO STAY PUT TO START CHEMO! Of course not to many because of the blood clot in the lungs....right.

Honestly, It just feels good to all of us that we are not just sitting around waiting for nothing. We know that making a move means that trouble may find us. If you know this family then I don't have to tell you we are movers. We would rather charge forward with the best support staff possible knowing we are in harms way then sit back in fear.

No regrets! Just Jump.

That reminds me of when dad went to Army jump school at the ripe ole age of 41, a good 20 years older then the next guy. He was taking the job of Marine Corp liaison to the 18th Airborne Corp. He was injured in the first week. He REFUSED to quit as much as they tried to get him to. Even though he always said "Marine's arn't supposed to jump out of airplanes. We float on the water." So dad it's time to jump one last time. Be ready to PLF your ass off. In my dads words....

YEAHH HOOOOOT EEEEEEEE!

P.S. Mathew is in the air on the final leg from Afghanistan. He left there with no change of clothes. He had already been in his gear 5 days. Some friendly human being GAVE him clothes to change into somewhere in Kyrgyzstan or possibly the stop in Turkey. Thank you whoever you are from us and every person on the flights home.