Oliver's First Day Skiing

Superbowl Sunday is a great day to go skiing. It usually means lift lines are short. Not only was that true this year, but it was an absolutely beautiful day. It was sunny and warm (for a ski resort). You try to have your kid's first day at anything be a good experience and that starts with the weather when you're skiing. We decided to do what my folks did for me when I was learning. A half day of ski school followed by skiing with parents, so that's what we did. We put Ollie in school then Lindsey and I went off to ski. When the class was nearing an end we went back to the school area to see how Ollie was doing. He was doing well, able to go down the bunny slope all by himself controlling his speed with his 'pizza'. We were standing by the 'magic carpet' as he was going up it when he saw us he said, "I'm already really good," confidently. Followed by, "I don't want the lesson to be over." I told him when it was done he could ski with us. He then said, "I want to ski with you now." So, after school we had some lunch and went skiing with Ollie and he did a great job. Skiing day #1...Mission accomplished!

Snorkeling in Kauai

Last year when we were on Kauai for Christmas we rented a boogie board and Oliver used his swim goggles. He then just held his breath and stuck his head underwater to check out the fish. Last July we bought him a mask and snorkel. There was no looking back. He uses that snorkel all the time, so he's been looking forward to going back to Kauai to see "millions of fish." In November we got him some fins. While he needs to work on his kicking he can still make his way around pretty good.  Here's a quick little video of snorkeling at Lawai Beach (aka Beach House Beach).

Pain in Nick's Ass - MRI and Where the sun don't shine III

So, back in April I finally had a follow-up appointment with my new oncologist. She was uncomfortable going another six months till another CT scan. I told her I was uncomfortable getting more radiation. So we negotiated to an MRI. An MRI takes longer, costs more, and doesn't do a good job looking at the lungs, but does a better job looking at the soft tissues surrounding the area where my primary tumor was and is better at looking at the liver (prime spot for Colorectal cancer metastases). Pros and cons, just like everything in life.

I scheduled an MRI for the middle of June and the day before put a reminder into the oncologists office that I'd like a call when the results come in, to which they replied I'd get a call. The MRI is with contrast, so when I get to the imaging center they started an IV which goes off without a hitch.

***Side Note: I've gotten a bit pickier in my old age regarding customer service and dealing with organizations the size of Stanford has it's pluses and minuses. Let's take the IV placement for example. Every time I get stuck the nurse assumes it's my first rodeo. How about you take a peak at me medical record, see that this isn't my first rodeo, my second, or my 10th. All I ask is for a little bit of personalized service. "I see that this scan is for a colorectal cancer surveillance, I'm sure you've had an IV or two started do you have any preferences where I go..." See that's simple. I get it, some people are very sensitive to their health information and it could be a HIPPA thing, but I'm pretty sure they know why I'm there. There probably also some thinking of ,'I must say the same thing every time otherwise I may miss something.' So patients get treated like they're a number. Oh well. I suppose there's bigger fish to fry.***

The scan takes about an hour in a tube not much wider than my shoulders. I can see how some people have issues with MRIs. You're stuck in a tube for a while with the machine thumping, clicking, banging around you. If you don't know what's going to happen it's probably disconcerting.

So the scan is done and I wait for the call which never comes. A couple days go by and I ask for the report. To which the reply is:

"Your CT results are up but we usually don't release them to myhealth until the dr sees them and [the] Dr is out of the office until Tuesday. I can tell you there is no evidence of tumor reoccurrence." 

OK. So, I had an MRI...does that mean you misspoke and your were looking at my MRI results or did you look my last CT scan (8 months ago for which I already have the report). So, being a 'details' guy  I don't know how to feel about the last sentence. In the end I prefer to read the reports myself. I wait a couple days after my Doc get's back in town (You know a polite thing to due as I'm sure there's more pressing things) and I still haven't gotten the report to send my next message. To which I get the following repy:

"Hi, the MRI will be discussed at your appointment but like your CT there is no evidence of tumor reoccurrence."

Again with the CT...Dude I haven't had a CT scan for 8 months why are we talking about it? Oh and my next appointment isn't until the end of September and I'm not waiting that long. So, it's July 1st, 15 days post scan I still haven't seen the report. I think smoke may have been coming out of my ears when I read that response. I went from supposedly getting a call with the results, to getting the report released when the doc got back to town, to having to wait till September. I didn't reply. Now about that customer service...

The next weekend was 4th of July and we spent it with my old oncologist and his family. We had a great time. His daughter and Ollie got along fabulously. I wasn't planning on saying anything because he's not my doctor anymore, but it got brought it up one evening. So, he grabbed his computer pulled the MRI report up and e-mailed it to me (turns out he has access to all of his old patients records).

No definitive evidence of tumor recurrence. No evidence of lymphadenopathy or metastatic disease within the abdomen or pelvis.

Sweet, I finally place eyes on the report 17 days post MRI. But, there's still some unfinished business. My old oncologist is not my current provider he's not the person I mail thousands of dollars to for service. If this is how the new oncologist is going to roll I'm not interested in seeing her.

38 days post MRI I send a message via the Stanford messaging system to my Doc. It was initially a bit of a flame-o-gram, but I decided to tone it down. I did include many of the quotes above. I'm pretty sure it was intercepted by the nurse who wrote the responses, but the report was released minutes later. So, now I get to have a fun conversation with my doc about the whole conversation, because I'm pretty sure she knows nothing of it (which is sort of a problem in itself). I'm just not interested in dealing with a similar situation in the future and will go find another doc to follow up with if necessary.

So, on to my colonoscopy. Last Thursday I did my prep and Friday was show time. The prep went smooth I added one little thing to it. Vaseline on the 'exit' prior to the commencement of evacuation and between each evacuation. It's basically protects the skin from irritation during the bowel movement and it worked. This prep was decidedly less 'spicy' than last time.

On Friday Lindsey and I went to Stanford a bit early to pic up a CD of the MRI, then went down to endoscopy. After another bad IV stick (couldn't get the first one to flow, so they stuck me again) and about an hour delay (only medical procedure that goes on time is the first one and sometimes not even that one) I get wheeled back get a camera shoved where the sun does shine. Like the last one I woke up just before they were done. I could see the screen and noticed the anastomosis (where the surgeon plugged my colon back together) and I confirmed it with the doc. Yes, I was talking to him while there was a camera in me.

After I was wheeled to recovery I took a little nap got my clothes on and chatted with the doc. He didn't find anything. So, it only took 5 colonoscopies in 3 years to finally not have them find something (the last two they found non-cancerous polyps they clipped). Awesome. Now I have the decision on whether to do another next year or wait two years. I'm leaning towards doing it again next year. Better safe than sorry and I'm getting really good at the prep. I would definitely make the all-star team...if there was one.

Back to the MRI. Since I work in spine I was really curious to see the condition of my lumbar discs. Below is an image of my Lumbar Spine:

My Lumbar Spine

The arrows show my healthy discs. The have good height and the lightness in the
 disc show it's properly hydrated, bad discs start turning black.

I'm going to leave any fertility discussion for another post, maybe. But, in a nutshell it's not going good. It's likely I'm permanently sterile and we're not having a good time with IVF.

I've got a CT scan and follow-up with my doc in the fall. Where I get to have a fun conversation with her about the whole results thing. Oh well at least my spine looks good.

Cancer the gift that keeps giving.

Oliver Using a Snorkel Mask

We bought Oliver a snorkel mask and snorkel a few weeks back and it's got him swimming like a fish.

When we were in Hawaii over the Holidays I got Oliver out in the ocean to see turtles and fish with his life jacket and swim goggles. I even tried to get him a mask at that time, but the whole breathing through the nose thing was weird for him.

Oliver and I checking out turtles on Kauai

So, when we got him the mask we weren't sure how it would go. Well, he took to the mask and it basically enabled him to start swimming. He could swim ok in the past just short distances, but kids his age can't breath while swimming easily and when they do they usually sink like rocks. The snorkel gave him the ability to keep his head down, breath, and keep swimming. It's very cool.

Oh I also got a new camera. I decided I wanted something that I can take in the water so I got a GoPro Hero+LCD. It does video and stills in a compact durable package. So all of the following footage was shot on the new camera.

Oliver's 4th Year

I'm finally done with Oliver's 4th year video. This one is a bit longer than the previous as we had lots of fun adventures during his 4th year.

Just a quick note the video may not play on the mobile youtube app because of copyright issues with some of the songs we used for what ever reason (probably because they can't efficiently place ads on mobile devices but have no problem on computers). But you should be able to watch it on a browser on a mobile device just fine (worked on my Android phone using Google Chrome).

Oliver's Riding a Bike

At the age of 4 and couple months our monkey started riding a pedal bike. While he's still really shakey, not good at turning and hasn't gotten the whole brake thing down yet, he aboutsolutely loves riding. Boy he's growing up to fast, but what parent hasn't said that?

Euro Trip 2014: Belgium to Le Mans

We wanted to break up the drive from Belgium to Le Mans. I asked my French travel advisor (colleague in next office). He said we should stop in Honfleur a little town on the Norman coast. Unfortunately there were no hotel rooms available, which should have probably told us something. So we decided to stay in Rouen a larger city about and hour or so inland from Honfleur which actually worked out well and had we not stayed in Rouen my favorite day of the trip would not have been as cool.

On the way from Belgium we stopped in a coastal French resort town called Neufchâtel-Hardelot for lunch. I had some more moules et frite, the last of the trip. The town seemed like what I would imagine the Jersey shore on the off season would be like. A little ghost town-y resort area that was slightly run down (older). After lunch, some gelato, and a walk down to the beach we continued on toward Rouen. Rouen is a decent sized city with an old town that has some very interesting architecture. Once we got checked into our hotel we took a little walk around the old town and found a little park so Oliver blow off some steam. Not wanting to go back to the hospital for infected fingers we kept a keen eye on Oliver, but he was glad to get out and run around.

Moules et Frite...YUM!

Oliver and I looking for shells

Lindsey and Meme near the beach stairs

Rouen Architecture

Cathedral in Rouen

Poppy and Oliver riding on a merry go round

The next day was my favorite day of the trip outside of the racing. Why? Hard to put my finger on it. It was very road trip-y. We saw some cool things that one would have never saw unless you were driving across France. The goal for the day was to make our way to Honfluer to check it out. Between Rouen and Honfluer winds the Seine River and along the river abbeys were built (Route des Abbayes). We followed the river to one of the more impressive ones, Abbaye de Jumièges. Abbaye de Jumièges was founded in the 7th century and its existence as a monastery ended during the French Revolution. Now all that exists are impressive ruins. It resides in a tiny little town, not even one stop light or round about. We checked out the ruins of the abbey in a park like setting. Oliver was able to run around while we walked amongst the ruins. When we were done at the abbey we found a little tavern (La Taverne Des Moines) for lunch. When the waitress delivered our charcutrie et fromage (meat and cheese) plate the first thing Oliver did was pick up a good size piece of Camembert cheese and start munching on it. Frog legs, Camembert that's on every kids menu, right? After some Trappist beer, some fabulous cheese and meats we hit the road towards Honfluer.

The Abbey Towers

Abbey Ruins

More Ruins

Oliver trying to stand like Poppy

Eating Camembert for Lunch

OH MY was Honfleur busy no wonder there were no hotels. There was a festival going on, Fete des Marins or Sailors Festival which has been occuring since 1861. So, there were people everywhere. Luckily we were able to find parking spot not far from the main 'square', which is actually an old dock area surrounded by picturesque shops, restaurants and houses. We had told Oliver that there was a merry go round and if he was good he could ride in it. He was good all day so first thing was first, merry go round rides (no need to have a Paris repeat). After we finished there we took a break in a cafe where we got a little ice cream and a beer. Then we headed outside and Oliver spotted another merry go round with helicopters and motorcycles, so he had to ride on that as well. It was about that time that we noticed the boat parade leaving the harbor and a fire boat spraying it's canon into the air, so we watched some boats go by. On our walk back toward the old dock area we ran into a park and let Oliver play some. I texted my French travel advisor and asked him were we could find a tower o' seafood.

**Side Note** A couple years ago while planning our first trip to France we watched an episode of Anthony Bourdain's "No Reservations" on the Breton area of France. In that episode Anthony obsesses over a seafood tower and becomes a bit confrontational with his producers wondering when he gets to take one on. So we (Dad and I) decided that while in the town of St. Malo, in the Brittany region during our first trip, to take on a seafood tower or plateau de fruits de mer (which literally translates to platter of fruit from the sea). Basically a huge plate/tower of various shellfish. We decided to try the same thing in Honfluer.

He texted me back with a restaurant (Restaurant Les Deux Ponts) and when Oliver was thoroughly tired out (who am I kidding that kid would have played until he passed out) we made out way to take on the tower. We ordered the tower o' seafood, I had a pretty feminine looking drink with Calvados (kind of like apple whiskey) and prepared my head for what was about to come. The tower was delivered and oh what a sight is was oysters, lobsters, langoustine (small lobster), 2 different kinds of shrimp, clams, whelks (sea snails), and periwinkle (smaller snails) all made an appearance on the tower. It was all tasty stuff, but it's a lot of work prying the various edible portions from the hold of their shells. I'm not sure it was a positive calorie meal. Would I do it again? Probably. When the memory of the work it took fades and the coolness of a tower o' seafood sitting in front of you takes over. When Dad and I finally waved the white flag (common in France) on the tower o' seafood we made our way back to the car and hit the road back towards Rouen. The next day we packed up and headed to our final stop, Le Mans.

Oliver and Mommy on the Merry-go-round

More Merry-go-round

Sundae Time

Merry-go-round 2 - Flying copters is serious business

Boat Parade

Swinging with Poppy

My green drink

The weapons use to attack the tower

The Tower...Attack

White Flag