I don't really have much of an update. They started chemo a couple of days ago and I am feeling fine. So I won't add much more.
The only thing that I did want to point out is that some of you (you know who I am speaking of); many of you out there really have "sick sense of humors'. When I read Nick's comment to Gail from my 1/7/09 blog, she asked "who in the world is that?". I responded by telling her Nick is our friend in Atlanta, at which point she said "Oh yeah, Him!
What I love about Nick is that during times when people are "down" and going in for Stem Cell Transplants and looking for encouragement, Nick has the courage to remind me about the last time we played golf and "he kicked my butt". Isn't that nice? Furthermore, he proceeds to tell me that he also got an SL500 Benz and that his is "probably" better than mine. This my friends is the sign of true friendship. As for Nick's family, they are all the sweetest people in the world.
As for you Nick, I love you buddy!
All my Best
P.S. May God strike your golf club on the backswing on # 18
Saturday, January 10, 2009
Wednesday, January 7, 2009
I'm Back!! 1/7/09 I Have to Believe
Hi Folks:
I hope the past few months have been as good for you as they have for me. My middle daughter (Jackie) got married in Wichita, KS and we had a great time. All my daughters were home for Christmas along with my two Sons-In-Laws; again, a great time. I feel great and am in remission. I have a great wife and three loving daughters and a bunch of friends praying for me. A great feeling.
Well, the New Year has started and guess what. I was admitted to Northwestern Memorial Hospital today (this was planned) to undergo a Stem Cell Transplant. Regardless of whether you think I have a sick sense of humor, this is not exactly my idea of fun although I am going to do the best with what I have to work with. It is a decision that we made (we being my family). You see the problem with AML, as I may have explained before, is that it "hides in the weeds". While I am in remission which means that there is no sign of leukemic cells from my bone marrow biopsy, the probability of it relapsing in 12 - 24 months is actually quite high. And if it does come back, I am in trouble. So we decided to go for the cure and not sit around for next 12 - 24 months wondering and worrying about whether it comes back or not. The cure, of course, is a Stem Cell Transplant (not guaranteed of course). This is where your part comes in. My family and I would appreciate lots of prayers!!
Let me try to give you a summary of what is going to happen. First of all, out of several hundred thousand in the Bone Marrow Registry, I had two individuals pop up that are a 10 for 10 match to my bone marrow genes. This is a good thing as it means that there is another person in this registry, who lives outside the U.S., who is willing to give me a donation of their Stem Cells and their Stem Cells are the closest match to mine for purposes of conducting this transplant. God Bless this person! I am prevented from knowing anything about this person for at least one year, but I will be able to write anonymous notes thanking them. The only thing I know is that the donor is a 27 year old male that lives outside the United States. Now if any of you want to sign up to the Bone Marrow Registry (doesn't mean I will get your cells), I would be happy to send you the Web site. What drives someone to register for this donation is beyond me, but I thank our Lord that there are people like this.
Now back to the transplant process. Beginning tomorrow, I will receive Chemo treatement for the next four days consisting of two different drugs. This will be what they call a full ablative transplant, which means that the chemo will kill off all of my cells in my bone marrow. It usually takes 2-3 weeks for the cells to die and hit the Nadir, but they will be exposed to this toxic chemo formula. I will then have 72 hours of rest. On January 13, my donor will be harvested of his Stem Cells through a transfusion process and his cells collected will be shipped to Chicago. On January 14, I will be infused with his Stem Cells, once again through my PICC line (transfused) into my veins. BTW, God designed our bodies and cells in a way that these Stem Cells will know to go directly to my bone marrow and take hold. Pretty cool, huh.
After the infusion of his Stem Cells, there will be some conflict between my own cells and his cells. It happens with ALL transplants of any sort. His cells will engraft to my marrow and my cells will fight these foreign cells. Even though he is a 10 for 10 match, his cells (we will refer to him as John Doe) and Dennis Cavender cells will fight each other. How appropriate to have a little conflict in my life. The Doctors will administer immunosuppressants (medication) to reduce this conflict but with no intent on eliminating this conflict. Because this is where the magic happens. The whole idea is to inject the John Doe's cells that are healthy and for the combination of the chemotherapy and the John Doe's cells to kill off all of my cells and take over my bone marrow and produce healthy cells (without leukemia) in the future. Voila!
The Doctors are optimistic for a positive outcome, however they do throw in their caveats about how the mortality risk is 20-25% in the first 100 days. I won't have much of an immune system so there is the risk of infection. Additionally, there is also the risk of "Graft versus Host" disease resulting from the transplanted cells fighting, thus the need for medication. But I have something that will override all of these risks. That is a promise from God in Jeremiah 29:11. Go ahead, read it. It can apply to you as well. Because our God is full of grace and mercy. Without my personal relationship with him, I really don't know what I would do going into this procedure.
Without getting too technical, I hope that helps explain the process. Please pray for me and my family and I will update you as this new chapter and journey unfolds.
God Bless all of you.
Love, Dennis
I hope the past few months have been as good for you as they have for me. My middle daughter (Jackie) got married in Wichita, KS and we had a great time. All my daughters were home for Christmas along with my two Sons-In-Laws; again, a great time. I feel great and am in remission. I have a great wife and three loving daughters and a bunch of friends praying for me. A great feeling.
Well, the New Year has started and guess what. I was admitted to Northwestern Memorial Hospital today (this was planned) to undergo a Stem Cell Transplant. Regardless of whether you think I have a sick sense of humor, this is not exactly my idea of fun although I am going to do the best with what I have to work with. It is a decision that we made (we being my family). You see the problem with AML, as I may have explained before, is that it "hides in the weeds". While I am in remission which means that there is no sign of leukemic cells from my bone marrow biopsy, the probability of it relapsing in 12 - 24 months is actually quite high. And if it does come back, I am in trouble. So we decided to go for the cure and not sit around for next 12 - 24 months wondering and worrying about whether it comes back or not. The cure, of course, is a Stem Cell Transplant (not guaranteed of course). This is where your part comes in. My family and I would appreciate lots of prayers!!
Let me try to give you a summary of what is going to happen. First of all, out of several hundred thousand in the Bone Marrow Registry, I had two individuals pop up that are a 10 for 10 match to my bone marrow genes. This is a good thing as it means that there is another person in this registry, who lives outside the U.S., who is willing to give me a donation of their Stem Cells and their Stem Cells are the closest match to mine for purposes of conducting this transplant. God Bless this person! I am prevented from knowing anything about this person for at least one year, but I will be able to write anonymous notes thanking them. The only thing I know is that the donor is a 27 year old male that lives outside the United States. Now if any of you want to sign up to the Bone Marrow Registry (doesn't mean I will get your cells), I would be happy to send you the Web site. What drives someone to register for this donation is beyond me, but I thank our Lord that there are people like this.
Now back to the transplant process. Beginning tomorrow, I will receive Chemo treatement for the next four days consisting of two different drugs. This will be what they call a full ablative transplant, which means that the chemo will kill off all of my cells in my bone marrow. It usually takes 2-3 weeks for the cells to die and hit the Nadir, but they will be exposed to this toxic chemo formula. I will then have 72 hours of rest. On January 13, my donor will be harvested of his Stem Cells through a transfusion process and his cells collected will be shipped to Chicago. On January 14, I will be infused with his Stem Cells, once again through my PICC line (transfused) into my veins. BTW, God designed our bodies and cells in a way that these Stem Cells will know to go directly to my bone marrow and take hold. Pretty cool, huh.
After the infusion of his Stem Cells, there will be some conflict between my own cells and his cells. It happens with ALL transplants of any sort. His cells will engraft to my marrow and my cells will fight these foreign cells. Even though he is a 10 for 10 match, his cells (we will refer to him as John Doe) and Dennis Cavender cells will fight each other. How appropriate to have a little conflict in my life. The Doctors will administer immunosuppressants (medication) to reduce this conflict but with no intent on eliminating this conflict. Because this is where the magic happens. The whole idea is to inject the John Doe's cells that are healthy and for the combination of the chemotherapy and the John Doe's cells to kill off all of my cells and take over my bone marrow and produce healthy cells (without leukemia) in the future. Voila!
The Doctors are optimistic for a positive outcome, however they do throw in their caveats about how the mortality risk is 20-25% in the first 100 days. I won't have much of an immune system so there is the risk of infection. Additionally, there is also the risk of "Graft versus Host" disease resulting from the transplanted cells fighting, thus the need for medication. But I have something that will override all of these risks. That is a promise from God in Jeremiah 29:11. Go ahead, read it. It can apply to you as well. Because our God is full of grace and mercy. Without my personal relationship with him, I really don't know what I would do going into this procedure.
Without getting too technical, I hope that helps explain the process. Please pray for me and my family and I will update you as this new chapter and journey unfolds.
God Bless all of you.
Love, Dennis
Saturday, September 13, 2008
9-13-08 Being Released Today
I weathered the Chemo well this week and feel good. I am being released today and will go home as my blood counts drop to low levels over the next 7 - 10 days. So I will need to be careful about exposure to infections. My plan is to work primarily from home and wash my hands a lot. Given my counts will drop, I will most likely need to do some outpatient blood and platelet transfusions. After the next couple of weeks, my counts should beging to come up nicely and I should be in good shape by the October 18 wedding in Wichita.
Thanks again for all of your prayers, comments, and suggestions about improving my driving skills given the SL500 bumper incident. God Bless all of you.
Thanks again for all of your prayers, comments, and suggestions about improving my driving skills given the SL500 bumper incident. God Bless all of you.
Tuesday, September 9, 2008
I'm Back 9-8-08 In the Hospital that is
I am back in the hospital, but this is actually a good thing. Part of my chemo treatment envisioned a few rounds of "consolidation" treatment for a week at a time in the hospital. Praise the Lord that I have had three bone marrow biopsies and all show that my bone marrow is clean and no leukemic cells can be seen. This is a very good thing.
For the three weeks that I have been out of the hospital, I have felt great. My blood counts have climbed up into the normal range, I have spent the last couple of weeks in the office, caught up little lost time by driving my fleet of cars, and even managed to rip my front bumper on a parking curb on my SL500 baby (Mercedes). At first I whined a lot ($2800) to replace and paint a bumper!? But then my daughter Amanda reminded me that it is only a car. True! However, the younger female generation just does not understand the male mindset of my generation as to what cars, in particular, our special cars mean in our lives.
The consolidation or "clean up" round of chemo this week is intended to go after any leukemic stem cells that "may be hiding in the weeds". My treatment this week will consist of six infusions of Cytarabine "AraC", of which two will be administered on Monday, Wednesday and Friday each. The expectation, barring no complications (please pray for that), that I will be released either late Friday or on Saturday. I would then recuperate at home as my blood counts go down over the following several weeks (the predicted nadir is 7 - 10 days). So I will neutropenic, which means I won't really have an immune system again and will most likely have outpatient blood and platelet transfusions. But I will be home! I don't plan to attend any social gatherings and will probably do my work from home for the following several weeks just to mitigate any risks related to infections. I do plan to build my counts up within 3-4 weeks and be totally fit as a fiddle ready to walk Jackie down the aisle on October 18 at her wedding.
I feel great and continue to stay busy with my work, workouts, reading and sundry other things regardless of whether I am in the hospital, at home, or at work. God is so good when we totally look to him.
I continue to thank many of you for staying in touch and for all of your thoughts and prayers. May the grace of God and the peace that he gives all who know him personally be an encouragement to your own lives and whatever trials that you may be experiencing. Our pastor a couple of weeks ago gave a sermon with regard to all of us at some time in our life experiencing a (several) crisis. The take home message is "to never waste a crisis". God has something planned for each of you if you allow him to work through you.
For the three weeks that I have been out of the hospital, I have felt great. My blood counts have climbed up into the normal range, I have spent the last couple of weeks in the office, caught up little lost time by driving my fleet of cars, and even managed to rip my front bumper on a parking curb on my SL500 baby (Mercedes). At first I whined a lot ($2800) to replace and paint a bumper!? But then my daughter Amanda reminded me that it is only a car. True! However, the younger female generation just does not understand the male mindset of my generation as to what cars, in particular, our special cars mean in our lives.
The consolidation or "clean up" round of chemo this week is intended to go after any leukemic stem cells that "may be hiding in the weeds". My treatment this week will consist of six infusions of Cytarabine "AraC", of which two will be administered on Monday, Wednesday and Friday each. The expectation, barring no complications (please pray for that), that I will be released either late Friday or on Saturday. I would then recuperate at home as my blood counts go down over the following several weeks (the predicted nadir is 7 - 10 days). So I will neutropenic, which means I won't really have an immune system again and will most likely have outpatient blood and platelet transfusions. But I will be home! I don't plan to attend any social gatherings and will probably do my work from home for the following several weeks just to mitigate any risks related to infections. I do plan to build my counts up within 3-4 weeks and be totally fit as a fiddle ready to walk Jackie down the aisle on October 18 at her wedding.
I feel great and continue to stay busy with my work, workouts, reading and sundry other things regardless of whether I am in the hospital, at home, or at work. God is so good when we totally look to him.
I continue to thank many of you for staying in touch and for all of your thoughts and prayers. May the grace of God and the peace that he gives all who know him personally be an encouragement to your own lives and whatever trials that you may be experiencing. Our pastor a couple of weeks ago gave a sermon with regard to all of us at some time in our life experiencing a (several) crisis. The take home message is "to never waste a crisis". God has something planned for each of you if you allow him to work through you.
Friday, August 15, 2008
Day 60 - 8-15-08 I'm Going Home!
I'm going home today everyone. Not much more to tell you than that. I will continue to update the Blog and keep you informed as to how I am doing. As for right now, thank you for all of your prayers, thoughts, emails, text messages, phone calls, and other support.
Wednesday, August 13, 2008
Day 58 8-13-08 Getting Close
This will be a short post to let you know that my blood counts are beginning to come up nicely. Am still dealing with a rash (side effect of medication). I am no longer on any infusion bags and remaining antibiotics being administered through pills. I had a platelet transfusion yesterday and today. Pray that the platelets will begin to rise on their own. Getting close to going home.
Monday, August 4, 2008
Day 49 - 8-4-08 To God Be the Glory
Well, hi folks! I have not been very diligent about keeping my Blog up to date lately. But I figured that you were probably not interested in my fevers, rashes, and gastrointestinal issues.
We received some good news today. Psalm 37: 7 : "Be still before the Lord and wait patiently for him;"The results of the bone marrow biopsy done on Friday have revealed that my bone marrow is "Clean". This means that there were no residual leukemic cells identified in the sample. This is extremely good news. It doesn't mean that I am in remission or free of cancer, but it does mean that whatever little cells are left in the bone marrow. none of them are the "Bad Guys". We will just see how the white cells grow back. I don't know what else to say other than giving thanks to the Lord and to all of you with your prayers and thoughts.
I know that those of you who have visited me are impressed with my hospital room, the view of the lake and the technology that I continue do some work. Right now, we are getting a down right nasty Chicago thunder storm and I am watching lightening bolts skip across the city. Put all of that aside it is day 49. How many of you think that you might have some challenges believing in Psalm 37:7. It has been difficult, but I knew God was in full control.
With this news, it is simply another waiting game to rebuild my cells and make sure none of those bad guys reappear. I am hoping that I get released somewhere around day 60.
I continue to battle some of the side effects of all the medication not to mention the lingering effect from the chemo (BTW my chemo dosage was 10X compared to the first round. I think they were just warming me up in the first round and then hit me with the nuclear dosage in the second round.
God Bless All of You. Send me a note when you get a chance.
We received some good news today. Psalm 37: 7 : "Be still before the Lord and wait patiently for him;"The results of the bone marrow biopsy done on Friday have revealed that my bone marrow is "Clean". This means that there were no residual leukemic cells identified in the sample. This is extremely good news. It doesn't mean that I am in remission or free of cancer, but it does mean that whatever little cells are left in the bone marrow. none of them are the "Bad Guys". We will just see how the white cells grow back. I don't know what else to say other than giving thanks to the Lord and to all of you with your prayers and thoughts.
I know that those of you who have visited me are impressed with my hospital room, the view of the lake and the technology that I continue do some work. Right now, we are getting a down right nasty Chicago thunder storm and I am watching lightening bolts skip across the city. Put all of that aside it is day 49. How many of you think that you might have some challenges believing in Psalm 37:7. It has been difficult, but I knew God was in full control.
With this news, it is simply another waiting game to rebuild my cells and make sure none of those bad guys reappear. I am hoping that I get released somewhere around day 60.
I continue to battle some of the side effects of all the medication not to mention the lingering effect from the chemo (BTW my chemo dosage was 10X compared to the first round. I think they were just warming me up in the first round and then hit me with the nuclear dosage in the second round.
God Bless All of You. Send me a note when you get a chance.
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