Boyz vs Men

For any of you who watched Purdue lose to Xavier, you probably had the same feeling I did; "Did I switch the channel to the local high school kids vs dad scrimmage?"

Purdue fought the good fight...but it became pretty clear that they were freshman and the Xavier team were all men. I enjoyed the game and thought we might have had a chance, but it just wasn't meant to be. It was a great year of Boiler basketball and hopefully we'll get three more years of these hard working kids.

As for my health, I'm feeling pretty good. No blood work this week so I'm a little anxious to hear how my numbers are doing next Tuesday. It's a blessing that my meds are working so well so fast, but I'm still so new to it that I like to have the confirmation that things are going well via hard data. The side effects continue to be manageable and the outpouring of support continues to amaze me.

After a pretty good health run in my circle, I'm starting to realize how unfair the world is. About a year ago, a former coworker was told he had a tumor on his pituitary gland, surgery followed but now it's looking like it wasn't enough. This man is a true gentlemen who I've have never known to be anything but courteous, fair and a great dad of three young girls. More recently a current coworker's husband had been losing a lot of weight and a visit to the doctor led to the diagnosis of with what appears to be pancreatic AND colon cancer. As if that wasn't bad enough, they had their first child on Monday. It's hard to say poor me with so much other bad stuff going on around you. It's a quick reminder of mortality and to be thankful for what you have immediately in front of you.

At the office, the Obama Brigade is in full force with more than 20 people coming and going all day. It's quite cool to be part of something like this (even as an observer), but you can quickly tell which coworkers are for him and which are against ;-).

The kids and Kristin are doing well. As my energy returns, we are able to get back to a more active lifestyle and expect that will only increase as the weather warms up.

No news is good news.

All is seemingly quiet on the health front. Aside from a little funk and the inability to sleep more than three hours straight...feeling pretty good. I had a follow-up with the cardiologist yesterday and he gave me the all clear. Since getting the green light from him, Kristin and I promptly headed to Mug 'n Bun for corn dogs and root bear.

We continue to get showings on our home so that part of our life is promising and I think we've found a new home that will solve most of the problems we looking to clear up (schools, land, proximity to city, design, etc). Its a late 50s ranch on 2.6 acres only 8 miles from downtown. I probably like it a little more than Kristin does, but I think we could really turn it into home. Keep your fingers crossed that we'll get an offer on our home soon so we can get this one before somebody else does.

Some other good news is the Boilermakers made it past the first round of the NCAA tournament. It's pretty easy to be a Purdue fan because in most every sport, they are a hard working bunch that doesn't rely on superstars to carry them. Tonight they play Xavier and I'm not expecting a win, but give me some Popeye's chicken and the Boilers on TV and I'm set.

Speaking of TV, we had been downloading TV shows from iTunes for the Cayman trip and an unexpected side effect was that Eli likes the same cartoons I do. I had downloaded Road Runner and Pink Panther episodes for me and I'll be damned that he'd prefer watch Pink Panther over all the other choices. Sure is nice to have a 4 year-old with an old soul.

Boiler Up!

Eggtastic.

It's no secret that my meds are expensive...but now, I might be able to get them from eggs and at a significantly reduced price.

You can read about it here.

OK, we're probably a long way from this happening, but since many of the drug proteins are harvested in a very expensive and complicated manner, it sure would be cool to have 5,000 chickens cranking out a less chemical version of my drugs. I always knew the McMuffin would someday cure cancer.

It's Official.

The office where I work (which I refer to as my office though I have zero ownership in the building) is renting space to the Obama Indiana Headquarters. I just happen to think this is pretty awesome.

We are told not to expect Barack to grace our presence, but one can Hope (pun intended). Currently we have a dozen or so twenty-somethings pounding away on computers and doing a lot of pointing at maps and such. I think I finally realize why Mr. Obama went after the youth so heavily...free, seemingly limitless labor that has very little professional responsibilities or baggage.

It's smart really, most of these kids' parents are probably in their early to mid 50s and likely Clinton or McCain supporters, but because they're still funding their kids (either in school or through some other promotion of philanthropy) - these parents are essentially funding the Obama campaign. Ok, its a stretch, but I think it makes sense.

The US can't repeat the Bush, Clinton, Bush, Clinton pattern (don't forget about Jeb). Let's hope there's a new sheriff in town...

Movin' on up.

Whities - 3,500
ANC - 2,200
Hemaglobin - 13 (still a woman)
Hematacrit - 37.7
Platelets - 137,000

In spite of my increased Gleevec dosage, my numbers continue to creep toward the healthy range. I won't go back for two more weeks so don't expect a hematologic update any time soon...I know, you'll be on the edge of your chair waiting.

On the home front, Kris and the kids arrived home safely (but late) on Sunday night. I haven't seen too many pics yet so this one will have to do:

Apparently, one of Eli's new skills is the high five. It looks to me that he has mastered it and somehow managed to not catch salmonella from the ginormous sea turtle at the breeding farm. It sounds like much of the trip was spent in the sand, ocean and pool...though I'd be lying if I said it was all sunshine and sleeping. My wife is a trooper, one who has dealt with cancer of a spouse, running a successful business and now traveling out of the country with two kids under five (arguably her biggest challenge to date). I think I'll keep her.

We had two more showings on our house this weekend. I'm really happy we're getting the traffic and am hopeful that we'll see an offer in the next 90 days. Kris and I are going to look at two homes on Thursday, though right now we're not seeing anything we're too excited about.

I've got some more cool news (not health, house or family related), but need to find out if I'm allowed to put it out on the Interweb. Stay tuned.

One more day.

Wooo Hoooo! Kris and the kiddos get home tomorrow. At least, they're supposed to. Given the theatrics it took to get them to Cayman, I won't hold my breath until I actually see them. So far, its sounds like they had a pretty decent trip. Not terribly relaxing for mom, but Eli and Maris got to spend a lot of time with Grandma and Grand-dad and hit the water several times a day. I should also mention that the low temperatures never dipped below 70 and generally stayed right at 82 during the day.

Turns out the fever that Maris had when she headed down was more than just a cold. They packed up and went to the Bodden Town clinic after a morning of crying and found out she had a mild upper respiratory infection and an ear infection. Some antibiotics and drops later and she seems as good a new.

My mom and dad left this morning after visiting for a couple days. It's great to have them here not only for cleaning ;-), but also for support. Now that our house is on the market, I can use all the help I can get keeping it clean for showings. Those two spent the better part of the day on Friday getting this place ship shape and it really showed. We had a showing this morning and have another one Sunday night from 6 - 7. We're glad that we're getting activity but we won't get too excited until we see an offer.

As for me, I'm just taking it easy and trying to stay healthy. I tend to be really sensitive to my body now and whenever I feel a little warm I worry that it will turn into a fever or chills that could send me back to the hospital. I probably need to just accept the fact that its harder for my body to regulate it's heat now which proves to be challenging for my wardrobe.

Better touch up a few things before tomorrow's showing.

I promise.

To not become a link aggregator, but I stumbled upon another video that can give you a lot of hope and enlightenment into common man (or woman in this case). It's about 19 minutes and taken from the TED conference. Dr. Jill Bolte Taylor is a Neuroanatomist (brain doc) who had a severe stroke...but recalls almost the entire event in great detail and understanding. It's a little scary, but a fun presentation that calls you to think.

Got some time? Check it out here.