Looooong overdue, I know

Hi everyone!

So I know that I haven't posted in a long time, but as I said in an earlier post, no news is good news! Doug is continuing to power through all of his remaining rounds of chemotheraphy like the tough guy that he is, and we are looking forward to some warmer weather!!!!

we have had lots of exciting news recently! I'll start with the great news from the doctor that we have received just this afternoon!! Doug had another set of tumor markers done recently, and his CEA is way way way down from when he started his chemo in January. In January, Doug's CEA was 150+. In late February/early March it was down to 97. Now, here in early April, his CEA number is 55!!!!!! hooray! As any survivor of PMP will tell you, the numbers on the tumor markers don't matter, we are looking for a TREND in numbers. And the trend is consistently going down as his chemotherapy goes on. So all good news from the medical front! We will go to visit Dr. Sardi on May 1st for Doug's first 6 month checkup and will let you guys all know how that goes.

So on to some more exciting news! Doug and I have set the date and the location for our wedding! We will be getting married on May 28, 2010 at the Hall of Springs in saratoga springs, NY. I am originally from saratoga so it will be nice to have the wedding in my hometown right around the corner from my parents' house! we are really looking forward to it. I am so lucky and so blessed to be able to call this man my future husband, and we have lots of exciting planning to do! Stay tuned for more details (because really, what girl doesn't love to talk about the planning of her wedding?)

I hope that you all have a wonderful Easter/Passover!
Love,
Lindsey and Doug

A Way to Help

Hi Everyone,

I just wanted to post this link on here:

www.pmpcure.org

This is a new foundation dedicated solely to raising funds for reasearch dedicated to finding treatment and a CURE for PMP. PMP is considered an "orphan disease", meaning it is very rare, and it is a part of the National Association of Rare Disorders (www.rarediseases.org). For a disease to be considered rare, it usually means that there are less than 200,000 cases in the United States. Because this disease is so rare, there is very little, if any, federal funding or National Institute of Health funding for research into a cure.

Prior to the forming of this group, there was no centralized PMP research foundation. This relatively brand new group has a goal of raising at least $100,000 by the end of March in order to award their first grant to further research, and a goal of at least $1,000,000 within the next 5 years. The research being done now is not sufficient for the challenges we face, and this group is the best thing to happen so far to research into this type of cancer.

We found out about this group through the PMP Bellybutton Club--an online community of caregivers and survivors. The board of directors is being presided over by members of this group, and it is an IRS designated 501(c)3 charitable organization.

Another cool thing is you can keep track of the goals online---right now the group is at $81,865--getting close to that $100k donation. You can also just go on to join their email distribution list to keep updated on what progress is being made.

I hope everyone is doing well! Doug and I continue to anxiously await springtime (Doug more than me, I think he's already played a few rounds of golf in his head!). We have a busy few months coming up, and are looking forward to some warmer and healthier times ahead!

Thanks for taking the time to read this quick post.

Love, Lindsey

Overdue Update

Hi everyone!
I know that it has been a while since I have updated the blog, so I'm sorry about that! But in our case, no news is good news! Doug just finished his 7th round of chemotherapy and is doing GREAT. The first few rounds that he had were really difficult on him and he was feeling really sick. However, we think that his body has adjusted to everything and he really hasn't felt nearly as sick or drained for the last couple of treatments. He still gets pretty tired and worn out during the three days he is being treated, but bounces back very well. He is even putting on a fair amount of weight! For those of you who saw him three months ago, it is a world of difference to now. At his lowest weight he was at about 117, and right now he is tipping the scales at 135-139 range! And of course, for those of you who know Doug know that deep down he is really just a big child, so bribery has been working really quite well to keep that weight going up! Basically, every time he hits another 10 pounds (130, 140, etc) he gets a present. Hey, whatever works, right?? Seriously---hes like a big kid, even down to sleeping with his stuffed "Mr. Met" (a present from me to him during his first consultation at Memorial Sloan Kettering in NYC). In all seriousness, he is eating everything, and I mean EVERYTHING, in sight, its great to have the problem of not being able to keep food in the house vs. the problem of not being able to keep food in HIM! :-) He looks great and besides the fatigue and some lingering nausea that gives him some trouble occasionally everything is going well. He's keeping all those chemo nurses on their toes too. He will have scans and blood tests done in April and we go to visit Dr. Sardi on May 1. Not getting nervous about it yet, but I'm sure we will as it gets closer.

Doug and I had a wonderful valentines day as an engaged couple :). Doug has been going to the casino pretty often since its only about 30 minutes from our house and its a good place to just get out and walk around. So he and his friend pete went there on Friday night to play some cards while I went out with my girlfriends, and he had a lucky night so the next day waiting for me was a beautiful new pink coach bag---perfect for Valentines day. I'm a very lucky girl to have such a thoughtful fiance---I told him he has great taste in purses, women, and diamonds haha. We had dinner at a local restaurant and besides some slow service, food was great. Tomorrow we are going to go to the UCONN v Pitt game in Hartford---we even have matching UCONN sweatshirts to wear even though its corny we love it. I'll try to get a good picture of us and post it on here so you can all see for yourself how good he looks! Besides that, we're just taking it easy, planning our wedding, and spending lots of time together and with friends having a great time.

I hope everyone is having a great February! I don't know about all of you, but we are definitely ready for some warmer weather! we had a teaser earlier this week with 60 degrees on Wednesday but that has passed us by unfortunatly :-). I hope everyone is well, and I'll post some pictures from the game on here later in the week!

Love, Lindsey

Happy 2009!!

Happy New Year everyone!

I know that we haven't posted an update on the blog recently, so I thought I would post here tonight as I sit back and start recovering from the massive amounts of FOOD the holidays always seem to bring with it! :) I also wanted to give you an update of what has been going on with Doug and I, and how Doug is doing with chemo so far.

Fun stuff first! Doug and I are doing great! We are enjoying our time together as a "newly engaged couple" and are looking forward to starting the wedding planning in the next week or so. we have a lot to do, lucky that I have such a great mom who is going to help us with everything! We had a nice low-key New Years Eve with dinner and watching the ball drop at home, and then we had a great day together today since I didn't have to work. We started out with a huge homemade breakfast and decided we were going to "do nothing" all day, although we actually ended up doing a lot! Which brings me to the pictures below. well, first a bit of background. When Doug moved in to the condo with me in glastonbury where we live currently, I told him that the finished portion of our basement was his to do with what he wanted. He could get a pool table (although it wouldn't fit) or make it a game room or whatever he wanted. So he brought in a bar that had belonged to his parents and decided he was going to have a "man room" with the bar, big couches, tv, and lots and lots of sports pictures on the wall. Over the summer we did some work on it but we were, understandably, preoccupied with everything that was going to happen in the fall. So for Christmas this year I bought him a picture from the 1986 World Series (which, for all of you non-baseball folks the Mets won--for all of you sports fans out there it is the signed mookie wilson picture). He loved it and it reignited our desire to really make the room nice. So today in our travels Doug decided that he wanted a specific street sign for the Giants, and when we got to the sports memorobelia store, he also saw something else that caught his eye-- a picture from the superbowl last year where Osi Umenyura knocked Tom Brady down....(a great moment--sorry Pats fans!) that was signed and framed for a pretty good price. Well, he decided to buy the picture, and ended up getting a suprise huge discount--like 30% I think it was!- even better! So below you can see the two walls that Doug has gotten done (with my help---he's the supervisor and i'm really the manual labor.....hammering and nailing and everything. and trust me, with mr. anal-retentive-this-side-is-3/4-of-a-millimeter-higher-than-the-other it is not always an easy or a short task! I joke I joke.....he'll even admit it though!). The first picture is of his Mets wall, and the second is of his Giants wall!

Here is a picture of Doug's "golfers wall" including a couple of Phil Mickelson and of course John Daly, complete with mullet:

And of course, here is the picture that Doug can't wait to hang up---his favorite singer in the whole wide world, Ryan Cabrera. Doug thinks that Ryan is very rugged and manly and aspires to have the same haircut. You can tell by Doug's smile how excited he is about it.

So this is a great project for Doug to work on while he's stuck at home! The room looks great and he can't wait to show his friends when its all done--he's already decided that he wants to have everyone over for a party in the basement :).

As far as how Doug is doing health-wise, he is as we speak in the middle of his fourth round of chemotherapy---1/3 done!! It has been rough on him as the treatment and regimen he is on is very aggressive. don't get us wrong, aggressive is a good thing! But it hasn't been easy--chemo is tough on anyone who has to go through it. Luckily Doug is on 14 day cycles, so he usually has a week where he feels yuck and then a week he feels good. We're still working with Dr. Hegde and his crew to try to get his medicines right so that he doesn't feel bad more than he has to, but we're not quite there yet. But, as always, he's being very tough and very brave. UCONN has a great team of nurses that take care of him when he goes in for his treatments, and he's definitely a favorite of theirs (can you blame them?). Its a sad place though, the treatment room is always busy and there are a lot of people there who are very very sick, so its a very tough place to have to spend several hours. But as always, Doug keeps up his great spirits and always keeps those nurses on their toes! As Doug--who as I always maintain is much wiser than I am--always says, he's giving up a few months in order to exchange that for 50 years. And that lucky boy is stuck with me for the whole time!! :-) hahahaha.

I hope that everyone has a very happy and HEALTHY new year! Please keep our fellow PMP families in your thoughts and prayers, as the new year starts off there are so many people continuing their journey with this disease, as well as several people just at the beginning. It gets harder as you get to know other people, even just via the interet message boards, and get to know their struggles and successes.

In the meantime, Doug and I are going to keep our eyes out for other secret sales (Doug just declared from the couch that 2009 is our year, since it started out with such a great find!), we're going to look forward to starting to plan our wedding, and take some time to relax after the craziness of the holidays. I hope this post finds everyone well, and we hope to see everyone soon!

love,

Lindsey

Some Great News

Hi everyone,

I hope that you all had a great Thanksgiving! Doug and I had a great trip home to Saratoga to spend the holiday with my parents, and had a great time with them while we were there. Very relaxing, with lots of good food and quality time with my parents whom we don't see very often!

We wanted to share the good news with those of you who may not already know, but Doug and I are engaged! Last night Doug planned a suprise party at our friend Pete's house. He told me that we were going to the Hoffman's annual Christmas party and that we probably wouldn't know very many people there. Little did I know! We walked into Pete's house, and in the room were all of our friends--all of my very best girlfriends were there (except for Shelv, Liz, and Stacy---MISSED you girls last night!) and Doug's friends, along with lots of other special people---friends of Doug's from work, David and Rebecca Cooper, The Andersons, and the list goes on! I was just getting over the shock of the fact that all of these people had gotten together for a party for me--and then Doug got down on one knee and it was absolutely perfect. I had mentioned to him at one point when we first started dating that when I got engaged I wanted all of my friends to be there to share it with, and he remembered that! The party was wonderful and everyone had a great time. We both have the most amazing friends in the world. Jason and Barbara did a phenomenal job as well with all of the food and just helping to make sure everything went off without a hitch. We are also so grateful to Mr. and Mrs. Hoffman who were so generous in hosting the party and just making it a perfect night.

So at a time in our lives when we have so much going on that is negative, we wanted to share something positive. I am so lucky to be able to be with this man for the rest of my life, and I'm so excited for everything that is to come for us. He makes me the person I am today, and a better person at that. He has taught me strength, patience, kindness, and what it means to really love someone. I am so happy that during a time that is filled with so much that is hard, saying "yes" was something that was the easiest thing in the world!

I know I owe everyone an update on how Doug is doing, but I am going to save that for another post. For now, we are enjoying being together and looking forward to a holiday season filled with our family, our friends, and everything good in the world.

I'll post pictures soon!

Love you all!
Lindsey

And on to the next step

Hi everyone,

I hope that everyone is enjoying their month of November! I know here it is getting way too cold way too quickly! I'm also amazed by all of the stores that have their christmas decorations up and are playing christmas music over their loudspeakers! Seems like it comes earlier every year--both Doug and I have started our holiday shopping already. Luckily for Doug, I have held off on playing the music and watching the christmas movies on tv until this Friday after Thanksgiving. :-)

So I wanted to post an update on what is going on in our world right now. This week brought the first round of chemotherapy for Doug. On Tuesday we went into the doctor's to meet with Dr. Hegde--it was very quick, just a quick checkup to make sure that we were all ready to start on wednesday. Wednesday morning we got to UCONN around 9 am and they brought us into the treatment room. Doug got a great seat right by the window and they brought me over a comfy chair so I could sit with him. Well, what we thought was going to be a couple of hours in the treatment room turned out to be an all day affair. Because it was his first time getting the chemo it was quite a process. They needed to first of all test his blood, and his port in his shoulder was being uncooperative. So they had to administer a "Roto Rooter" type medicine in order to unclog it before they could draw the blood. So between that and the testing of the blood, it was about 1 pm before they even started giving him the actual treatment! Moving forward we've been assured that it will be much quicker--probably around 3-4 hours each wednesday. Luckily they have wireless internet in the treatment room so I will be able to work while being there with him. This past wednesday I took the day off since it was his first time.

So we got out of chemo around 3:30 pm and headed home with the chemo pump attached. Basically its about the size of a scienfic calculator, although a bit bigger than that. It comes with a bag that unfortunatly Doug has to carry around with him for 46 hours. He has taken to calling it his "purse" haha. Yesterday we went back to UCONN to get the pump disconnected, it was very quick we were only there for an hour or so. Overall Doug has handled the chemo very well. He obviously hasn't felt ready to run a marathon, but the doctors have given him some excellent anti-nausea medication so that won't be a problem moving forward. Probably the biggest problem he will face besides fatigue is the fact that one of the chemo drugs--oxiliplatin--causes extreme sensitivity to the cold, especially in hands and feet. It has started to affect him a little bit, but we've been warned that as the treatment continues and the drugs build up in his system it could get more severe. So we just have to be very careful about bundling him up good to go outside, making sure the car is all warmed up, and keeping him away from the fridge and freezer (no cold drinks or anything). Its a tough time of year to start a treatment that causes sensitivity to the cold, but if it keeps him healthy in the long run, it is all worth it, in my opinion! So, one treatment down, and 11 more to go! The treatment is every other week, so he won't have to get more until December 3rd. we have to go back to UCONN next week for a quick checkup is all.

So things are progressing smoothly here so far! As far as how things are going besides chemo, things are great and we are looking at a busy holiday season full of friends and family. For Thanksgiving we will make the trip to Saratoga to spend with my family. I'm excited to see my parents and my grandma and be at home for a couple of days. We have various other parties and events throughout the month, including Doug's Grandma's 99th birthday! She is quite a lady. We are going to a concert on the 13th--one of Doug's favorite bands, and we are going to go down to NYC for a day to see Dennis and Elizabeth which we are really looking forward to. So Doug is doing great!

I hope that everyone has a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday. I know that I personally have a ton to be thankful for this year. I'm thankful for skilled doctors and advanced medical technology, I'm thankful for both of our wonderful families, and thankful for all of our friends who continue to love and support us. I'm also so thankful for Doug--we are truly a team and I'm so lucky to have him in my life. we've been through a lot, but we are stronger because of it.

Have a great holiday---eat lots of turkey! :-)
Love,
Lindsey

More Appointments

Hi everyone--

Can you believe that it is November already? Can you believe we have a new president of the United States? Its crazy how time flys by....although for Doug I think that time is not going quickly enough! I wanted to write an update just to let everyone know whats up and how Doug is progressing in his recovery!

I guess the biggest news is that Doug just had his 8 week anniversary of his surgery on Tuesday! I can't believe that it has been two months. He is doing great---I think that he has really turned the corner and is starting to really feel better, and I'm so happy. There are still days where he doesn't feel great, and he gets tired easily, but its definitely an improvement from a month ago. Now we are working very hard to get some weight back on him--he's pretty skinny so he's a lucky guy right now as I always buy him all of the yummy fattening stuff he likes :-).

Last week we had an appointment with Doug's oncologist at UCONN--Dr. Upendra Hegde. Doug really liked him, and I did too. He of course is not a specialist in the field (no one is in our neck of the woods!) but he has been in contact with Dr. Sardi about Doug's case, and you could tell that he really had done his homework to learn what he could about Appendix cancer. He was very nice, and spent a good amount of time with us and even looked through Doug's latest CT scans with us to explain what and where everything is. He also started discussing with us what Doug's chemotherapy treatments would be like moving forward. It was just a preliminary conversation, and we are going back to see him this Friday morning to really finalize a plan. Dr. Hegde's initial plan is to do the FOLFOX regimen, which is the most common chemotherapy treatment for this type of cancer. He will go into the treatment center and receive IV chemotherapy for 90(? i think it was 90) minutes, and will then go home for the next two days with a chemotherapy pump--similar to an insulin pump. As always, I remain amazed about what science has come up with to make things easier for patients! They are two week cycles, and it looks like Doug will have to do this for 6-8 months. Side effects really vary from person to person, and we are keeping optimistic that Doug will not have an adverse reaction to the treatments!

Dr. Hegde wants Doug to start this treatment right away, and in order to make things easier, he had to have a port installed. So yesterday we headed over to UCONN bright and early for a minor surgical procedure (Well, everything is minor to him at this point!). They basically install a port directly under the skin of his shoulder which has a catheter that is threaded through a vein--basically it allows chemo to be administed directly through this port--like a central line. It keeps him from having to be stabbed in the arm by needles every time he has to get treatment or have blood drawn. So once again I had to watch them wheel my boyfriend away from me to have surgery :-(. But the procedure was no big deal, we went in at 7:30 and were on our way home by 11:15--that had to be a record for hospital time! he's a little bit sore but other than that no biggie--he didn't even get stitches!

So now that the port is in, we will see Dr. Hegde on Friday morning and take it from there! The doctor was going to speak with a friend of his at Yale Cancer Center to discuss Doug's case, jsut to get another oncologist's opinion. He will also have spoken to Dr. Sardi again, just to make sure that everyone is on the same page with Doug's treatment and to make sure everyone agrees that he is strong enough to begin. Its hard to think about him having to go through treatment just when he is starting to feel better---it doesn't seem fair. However, its what needs to be done and we know that. Doug is, as always, much tougher than me :-). I just don't want to see him sick and in pain anymore. But, I also know that this is what is going to make him better!

Like I said, Doug is feeling much better and we are starting to think about where we would like to go on vacation in the spring---we are thinking probably Las Vegas, and then perhaps somewhere with a beach next Fall. I think that after the last few months, we need to get away for some WELL deserved fun! I'll update again once we have a plan mapped out for Doug's treatments and what our schedule looks like.

In the meantime, please keep two other PMP families in your thoughts and prayers. Diana had her MOAS one week ago on 10/28, and Joyce had her MOAS yesterday---both with Dr. Sardi. They both have wonderful families surrounding them, and Doug and I are keeping them both in our thoughts and ask you to do the same.

Hope everyone is doing well!
Love,
Lindsey

What a Week!

Hi Everyone,

Just wanted to give you all an update about how all of Doug's appointments went this week! Its been a very busy week and we are both very tired and are happy to have a nice Sunday at home just to relax.
Our week started out with an appointment on Monday morning with a Neurologist to talk about the issue with Doug's hands and so that he could have an EMG test done to see if they could figure out what was wrong. Basically the test did show that the nerves in both of his hands are both slow and temporarily damaged, but the neurolgist at this point has decided that it will be much better to wait a while and see if he gets better before doing anything radical like surgery. So.....unfortunatly no magic answer there! We will just continue to wait and see if his hands continue to improve, and if not we will bring Doug back to the neurologist in a couple of months. That afternoon Doug also went to get his first CT scan done and tuesday he had his first set of Tumor Markers done.
Thursday after work Doug and I headed to New Jersey to spend the night at the Coopers before driving down to Baltimore on Friday for his first followup with Dr. Sardi. It was great to see Dr. Sardi, Dr. Nick, Darlene, and Paula briefly! It was a very uneventful visit--almost one that could have been done over the phone! However, it is comforting to see the team and to have them see that Doug is doing great. Basically this was a baseline appointment and we won't have to go back until April for a 6-month checkup! At that time we will have another CT scan done and more tumor markers and they will compare them to this set that he just had done. It is the way the doctors will be able to tell what kind of effect the chemotherapy treatments are having on his body and the cells left behind.
So moving forward our next step is Tuesday we have a meeting with Dr. Upendra Hegde, a medical oncologist at the UCONN Health Center. Dr. Sardi has reached out to Dr. Hegde just to give him some background information on Doug and plan moving forward. We have the results of the Chemo Assay so I am hoping that on Tuesday Dr. Hegde will discuss what Doug's course of treatment might be. I know I am anxious to find out what the next few months hold for Doug as far as a chemotherapy schedule goes! I am also making it my goal to really step up his calorie intake to get some weight on him and try to get him to start doing some light workouts---the stronger he is the better he will feel, and we want him feeling good as new :-) So all in all, it was a busy week, and we're glad to be done with the big round of appointments, scans, and tests for now.

On a lighter note, Doug is doing great! He has been up and about (although all the hours in the car too and from Baltimore were pretty tough for him) and has been spending time with friends and continues to improve every day! As I said before, I want to get him to get more calories and really work on starting to get some weight back on. We are going to be traveling to Saratoga to spend Thanksgiving with my family in November, and I'm really looking forward to seeing them. For the next few weeks we are just going to take it easy, see our friends, and enjoy some down time together. I'm looking forward to having him feel even better so that we can do even more fun things together!

I hope everyone is ready for Halloween! We contemplated getting Kitty a costume......but then neither one of us wanted to risk being the one to try to get her into it! I hope you are all doing well, and thank you for your continued love and support, it continues to lift our spirits and reminds Doug of how popular he is :-)

Love, Lindsey

An Update for Everyone

Hi there-
So I realized it has been a while since I've posted an update and thought I would give you guys one to let you know how we're doing! This Tuesday will mark the 6 week mark since Doug's surgery! As of Tuesday he is medically cleared to start doing more things physcially--he could go back to the gym, lift more than 5 pounds at a time, etc. Now, I don't think he'll be running a marathon this month, but its nice to know that now as he feels up to doing some different things he is now medically cleared to do them! Now I try to stress that some housework is really the key to a quicker recovery, but I don't really know how much he is buying into that one! Marathon vacuming session sounds good for the body, no?

Doug is feeling a little bit better every day, although it is a long and very slow road. Some days are better than others, but that is all to be expected. The good news is that his appetite has really been coming back a bit in the last week or two, I think he may have even put on a couple of pounds (I'll make sure that trend continues!). I'm trying to make lots of good food, and we have great family and friends that help make sure that we always have everything that we need.

We had a great weekend! For those of you outside of the CT area, the weather was gorgeous this weekend. Friday night Doug and I had movie night, it was so nice to just sit and relax and watch a couple of movies. Saturday morning I got a chance to get out and have my hair done which I always love! Then when I got back three of Doug's friends--Ant, Paul, and Matt--stopped by for a couple hours to hang out with him. It was nice to see them. After they left Doug and I went out for a while to the Glastonbury Apple Festival-a town carnival that they have in our town every year. It was such a nice day and it was so good to get out for a while. Ian and Erik came down last night to watch a UFC payperview fight so all in all a great day. Today is of course, Football day, so our friends Andy and Erin came down from Boston to watch the Giants dominate the 49ers today, and Pete was here too, although as a San Francisco fan was not nearly as happy with the outcome of the game as we were!

This week will be a busy one for us. Tomorrow we go to see the Neurologist in the morning to get Doug some EMG testing--basically it will test his nerves and muscles in his hands to see if they can figure out where the damage is and what they can do to fix it. Needless to say, this is an appointment we are very anxious to go to as his hands are not getting any better! Then in the afternoon its off to UCONN to get his first followup CT scan. Tuesday will bring a trip to get bloodwork and Tumor Markers done. Tumor markers are substances that are produced by tumor cells and are used to tell what is happening with the cancerous cells in his body. We use these first set of tests as a baseline---they are a way that we can non-invasively tell if the abnormal cells in Doug's body are shrinking, stable, or if they begin to grow again. It is a way to monitor any possible reoccurance (or in our case, hopefully the NON-occurance) so that we can respond to it if need be. He'll have them done every three months or so. Yet another amazing way that science has progressed in a way that really helps his medical team make the best decisions for him! They will study the trends in the numbers to see what is going on in his belly. These tests are painless for Doug which is always great too--its no different than getting regular bloodwork done for him. Finally, on Friday we will trek down to Baltimore for Doug's first followup appointment with Dr. Sardi. We're looking forward to seeing him and everyone on the team, and can't wait to brag about how well he is doing! Then the following Tuesday we have an appointment with an oncologist at UCONN--this doctor will become a critical part of Doug's health care team, as he will be the one overseeing the chemotherapy treatment that he'll be starting in the relatively near future. We hope that Doug likes him!

Of course along with all of the appointments we have plans with friends and family sprinkled throughout the next couple of weeks. Tuesday after work my friend Kristen will stop over for dinner and a visit, and Doug's dad is going to be around in the beginning of the week as well to hang out with him for a while. Next weekend we will see Amy Cooper and Ileana on Saturday, and the following week will bring visits from my friends Rosie and Kathy as well as Doug's brother Jason and Barbara. We are so lucky to have such a huge support network around us, and it gives Doug a much welcomed break from all of the "On-Demand" television watching!

So all in all, more of the same for us! Pain medication is now only taken as he needs it, so the fact that that has been hugely scaled back is great as well. I have been and continue to be so proud of him--he's a real trooper and continues to have nothing but an optimistic view of his recovery. I'm so lucky to have him--we all are. I can't wait until he gets fully better so that we can continue moving on with our lives together and so that he can be good and ready to hit that golf course in the spring! Right now we're trying to decide where we may possibly want to take a vacation at the beginning of the spring :)

Hope all is well with everyone and you are all enjoying what is arguably one of the prettiest fall seasons I have ever seen! We love you all and continue to thank you for the support and good wishes.

Love, Lindsey

One Month Anniversary

Hello everyone!

I thought I would write an update today---it is Doug's one month anniversary from his surgery date! Four weeks ago today we were all waiting anxiously to hear how he was doing every few hours, and now we are comfortable and settled in at home working on getting him better.

We've now started to settle into a routine now that we're back, with my primary focus being on trying to get enough calories into him! For those of you who have seen him since we've been home, he's pretty skinny! I'm trying my best to fix that with lots of smoothies laced with protein powder, the occasional ice cream treat, and as much food as I can possibly get him to eat! Its tough for him since he really doesn't have much of an appetite at all.

Doug is doing very well in his recoevery, and has had visitors come to see him to cheer him up!We've seen Jason, Aunt Dolores, and the San Pietro family along with his friends and some of my girlfriends. I have returned to the office and am working full time which has been great to get back into a "normal" swing of things. I've ben doing about 3 days in the office balanced with a couple at home, depending on how our week looks. Almost every day we try to get out of the house to go for a walk outside somewhere (while we still can---it was 38 degrees outside this morning!) just to get him out of the house. Fresh air is such a help for getting better I think. He is getting a little bit better every day--its a very slow and frustrating process at times but he is being tough as always and trying to get through it.

Coming up Doug has several doctors appointments that we will be going to. We will be going to see a neurologist that will do some tests regarding his hands, as they are still the thing that bother him the most! We will also see Dr. Sardi down in Baltimore at the end of the month for a checkup, and we will be meeting with a local oncologist at the end of the month as well. We are hoping that Doug really likes the oncologist at the UCONN medical center that we have an appointment with, as that would be the easiest place for him to receive his chemotherapy treatments beginning in a month or two.

So things are good here, we are really trying to take it easy, make sure he gets enough rest and food, and are both looking forward into the future to him feeling better and nice and healthy! I can't wait until he's feeling more like his old self again and ready to have some much-deserved fun :-)

Have a great week everyone--we'll keep you updated periodically on how all of Doug's appointments and everything go!

In the meantime, here is Doug relaxing with his favorite girl:

See everyone soon!

Love,

Lindsey

Straight from the Horse's Mouth

Hi There!!!

I figured it was high time (percocet induced of course) for me to come on and write a post to those of you who have been following my recovery so closely. First of all, I feel absolutely great right now considering 3 weeks ago to the day my internal organs were being serial molested (and I signed up for that...). Its amazing and ironic to think that my biggest complaint right now is the fact that 14 hours of surgery has rendered my hands nearly useless. I guess that some things are not meant to be easy or convenient, and I dont think they would be completely worth it if they were. I am currently writing this post solely using my ring fingers, so you can imagine how much this facet of the recovery sucks. While the rehabilitation itself has not been as bad as I thought it would have been, I am sure you all understand what an ordeal these past 21 days have been on Lindsey and myself (not to mention friends and family as well). Now that boredom has set in at home, I have taken to rereading some of Lindsey's posts to piece together some of the days that I do not recall. I have constant memories of each and every day beginning with waking up from the procedure on a ventilator, but some of the minor details still escape me. That's not to say that's a bad thong though, as the initial (read: past and current) pain is something I would not wish on my worst enemy.

The most important thing is that the most difficult part is behind us, and I dont think that any doctor on this planet could have accomplished what Dr. Sardi did with my abdomen. As many of you know, the days and months leading up to the surgery I was in a great deal of discomfort that I was constantly hiding. Fortunately, I did not wait too long and it seems as though my surgery was just in time for the surgical team to remove the vast, vast majority of cancerous cells from my abdominal cavity. For this, I thank God as well as Dr. Sardi who could have just as easily passed on my case as he did to "solve" it. Without all of that nasty stuff inside of me, I feel new and healthy again. Like i told Lindsey recently, its going to take some getting used to to remember what it feels like to be healthy, but its something that I am enoying now and look forward to in the future.

Finally, I wold be the worst person in the world if I didnt thank everyone who helped me through this.

To all of you reading and commenting on the blog, I thank you from the bottom of my heart for the constant support and goodwill that you have sent my way. It has been an utterly humblng experience to go back and read each and every comment several times. I greatly appreciate that you all see a great amount of mental and physical strength in me, but without all of you that wouldnt be possible. Whether it was the guys at work making fun of my flowered shirt to take my mind off of things, or the guys at home getting together to watch a baseball game there was not a day that went by that I wasnt cognizant of the fact that I was not battling this disease alone. It is much easier to be the first into fight when you know there is an army backing you up.

To David and Amy, who have been right hand men to me and Lindsey throughout, again I cant thank the two of you enough. The days you spent In Baltimore were just what Lindsey and I needed and could not have come at a better time. I know Lindsey realy needed the company and some like minded souls to find a good hapy hour with.

To m father and Elizabeth and Jason, I thank you all for the constant moral support, financial support and good spirits that you bestowed upon us during the trip. I know that it was not easy for the three of you to see me in pain, but you can all take solace in the fact that I am free from pain and ready to move on so that we can enjoy each others company in a happier setting than the oncology ward of a hospital.

Finally, to my dearest Lindsey. What you have been saddled with is the most unfair thing in the world. To be 26 and have to both understand and deal with this with me has been the hardest thing in the world for me to deal with. The amazing job that you have done with this blog as well as my care is something that I could not have imagined in my wildest dreams. I suppose that I should be thanking your parents as well for raising a daughter that has not only looked hardship n the eye, but rose above it to make it manageable for myself and everyone else around. You were my rock during the hardest times, and smile and kiss that you gave me reminded me that I didnt want to let you down either. You really were the glue that held this entire thing together, and not for a second did I ever doubt that you would do the amazing job that you did. I only wish that you never had to do it. I am so glad that we can soon start enjoying ourselves again without the weight of the world on our shoulders (or in my abdomen).

I promise I will post something more "doug-like" as you all like to say in the future, but for now I just wanted to say thank you to everyone (especially my beautiful Lindsey) and let you all know that although my recovery is going well, I still accept presents and cards and more specifically visitors and well wishers. Ill be here for a while, so feel free to drop in anytime to say hello.

Thanks again for everything, I could not have done this without each and every one of you.

Doug

And we're home--a proper update

Hi everyone!

We have now been home for a couple of days, and I'm finally feeling enough energy to do a proper update on here and let you all know how Doug has been doing the last few days.

I'll start with telling you guys about his appointment with Dr. Sardi on Wednesday before we left. The four of us went back to Mercy for his appointment at 11:30 am, and first they had to do a quick physical on him just to check on how his incision was doing--and best of all to take out those pesky staples!! Just by looking at them that morning you can tell that they were ready to come out--it almost looked like his body was trying to push them out of him on its own--kind of like when your finger pushes a splinter out. He says that it is a lot more comfortable without them in--they were catching on his pants or belt and would pinch or pull a little bit. so he's fast on his way to having a great scar (and starting to come up with stories along the line of--"well you should see the OTHER guy!"). Then all four of us went into Dr. Sardi's conference room with Darlene, and Dr. Sardi came in to go over the operative report and the pathology report. But first---they had pictures from Doug's operation that he really wanted to see. It is amazing to see the human body and how resiliant it is and how much it can tolerate. The pictures were definitely not for the faint of heart (I had to turn away a few times, even with how much more comfortable I have become in the last few weeks with this stuff--ask my mom-she was amazed that the girl who would pass out at a scraped knee or bee sting was able to handle the "hospital stuff" so well!) but it was amazing to see all of the bad stuff that they got out of him. All you can say when you see that stuff is--thank goodness that is out of his belly now! It was interesting to see the stuff that has turned all of our lives upside down for the last few months and a relief to have it gone! Doug has asked me to email Darlene to see if she can email me the pictures as he even wants to see them again!

The doctor also went over the operative report and the pathology report with us. The operative report is basically a blow-by-blow of what his operation was like. Its 8 pages long (14 hours made them very busy doctors!). We didn't get a chance to read through the whole report until last night, but it was amazing to read about the order of events, and also how meticulous they were about making sure that he was ok and stable at ALL times---its noted each time they checked to make sure his body was tolerating everything and it was very frequent. The pathology report reported that the tumor came back as LOW-GRADE mucinous adenocarcinoma. Low-grade is great news, and a huge weight off of my chest I know when we heard. There is a high-grade form of this disease as well that is significantly more aggressive and harder to treat, so we are glad for the diagnosis (and prepared, as that was the probably diagnosis even before surgery). Unfortunatly, Doug will have to undergo chemotherapy treatment beginning in a couple of months when his poor body has recovered from the surgery and big dose of chemo he has already had! Right now samples of his tumors have been sent out for what is called a chemo assay--basically they test them with different combinations and "cocktails" if you will to see what mix of treatment will hopefully be the most effective. Isn't science an amazing thing? A few years ago they would have had to just guess what treatment would work the best and it would waste valuable time. So now we are working on finding Doug a local oncologist (probably at UCONN as it is only about 15 minutes from our house so would be the easiest facility to get to for treatment) and that oncologist will work with Dr. Sardi's team tomake sure he is getting everything he needs. At the end of October we will head back down to Baltimore for a checkup with Dr. Sardi and at that point he'll be ready to talk to Doug's oncologist about what kind of treatment he will be getting. So the journey isn't over, but the doctor is very optimistic that this treatment will help ensure that nothing new grows or comes back. It will be a tough road for Doug, still, but as always he is approaching it with his characteristically great positive attitude and with great support from his family, friends, and of course me!

So finally tonight I got everything unpacked, the laundery is in the process of being done, and I feel like our house is getting back to being liveable again! The Mets are in a crucial time so much has been devoted to watching those games, and even with his hands bothering him Doug has been able to play the drums on Rock Band 2! We had a visit from a home nurse today and she will be back on Monday for another visit (just to make sure he's doing ok, nothing exciting).

I wanted to post here also a couple of pictures--now that I'm home and have been able to locate the cord to hook up my camera to my computer! The first picture is of Doug and all of his friends when they came to visit the weekend he got out of the hospital. The second is of Doug and his friend Alan in our hotel room, and the third picture is of Doug with the famous Dr. Sardi! Now you can all see what the famous doctor looks like! :-) Its a great picture and he's asked me to email it to him so that he has a copy of it as well. Oh--and Doug asked me to make sure that everyone was checking out his mountain man beard in all the pictures!







So I hope that everyone is getting ready for a great weekend---I want to catch up on some sleep as I'm still pretty tired, and just relax at home and get used to being back in CT again! Thanks so much, again for everything, and I'll do an update next week just to let you all know how he's doing!

Love, Lindsey

Thank you!

Hi Everyone--

Just a quick post before I head out for a few minutes to go to a birthday celebration for my boss at work and stops at the grocery store to get food since our pantry and fridge consist of soda, beer, and ramen noodles :). Doug is doing well and is right now trying to set up his new Rock Band game---good therapy for his hands, no?

Thank you to whomever decorated our house for the homecoming last night! I assumed it was Stacy since Kitty was back as a suprise and I knew she had been here, but she has let me know that she couldn't take credit for it-- So thanks so much to whomever does deserve the credit--we have so many great friends that i don't want to embarass myself further by calling out the wrong person again haha!

I'll post later on tonight.
love, Lindsey

We are Home!!!

Hi Everyone--

i'm just going to do a quick post tonight---just wanted to let everyone know that we are HOME!!! Dr. Sardi gave us the go-ahead to go home today, and took Doug's staples out for good measure! It was a long but uneventful drive, and i will update more tomorrow (i'm TIRED and looking forward to kicking back with kitty and Doug and reading a magazine while Doug watches the Mets game). As Doug says, I can now begin booking his social schedule for him for visitors haha.

Thank you to whoever decorated the front door---my money is on Stacy and her mom.....it was so fun to come home to that!!!! And Kitty--we didn't think we'd see her until Friday!!! :)

more tomorrow, promise--
Love,
Lindsey

Last Night in Baltimore

Hi everyone-

I hope you all had a great day today. Today was pretty uneventful, and really we're just playing the waiting game before Doug's appointment with the doctor tomorrow! lets see....where to start? well first Doug last night rediscovered his love of the sleep aid Ambien......because they gave him so much of it in the hospital his body has developed a tolerance for it so in order for it to be effective, he has to take a larger dose than what is recommended. Soooo needless to say after a couple of those Doug had a long restful night......followed by a long restful morning! This morning I got up and went to the neighborhood Starbucks to get some work done. After working for a while I had to go back to the hotel to drag Doug out of bed because we had to go and get him some bloodwork done for his appointment tomorrow. For anyone who knows me at all--I'm REALLY bad in the morning. In fact, Doug will tell anyone who listens that one of the things about me that annoy him the most is the fact that I am the slllloooooowwwwwest person alive in the mornings. Well, today around 12:30 Doug took the award for groggiest! The poor thing was so sleepy!



But, we eventually got out of the room and over to the hospital to get the blood drawn with no problem and then went for a walk. We then came back to the hotel for a visit from what they call a Home Care nurse--basically the Insurance company and the hospital likes to have someone peek in and make sure that Doug is getting the right pain medication and is healing properly, takes vitals, etc. It was quick and easy!



Tonight Doug's dad and Elizabeth came into town because they are going to be there with Doug and I for his appointment tomorrow. We all walked down to the inner harbor and had a great dinner at Philips Seafood. Anyone coming to Baltimore I have to recommend eating at Philips and also at McCormick & Schmidt (I probably totally messed up the spelling on that). The funniest thing was, when we first got down there we heard live music coming from somewhere and realized it was "Simple Man". So we decided to walk closer to see if it was the real Lynard Skynard. Come to find out, the Hard Rock Cafe was having a concert and it was indeed the real band (or what is left of it, anyways!). Funny thing is we actually saw them in concert a few months ago with Kid Rock(thats right--and it was a GOOD concert! haters. )

So tonight we are just relaxing and I just finished doing all of our preliminary packing--let me tell you thank goodness that Dennis and Elizabeth are here! Not only for their invaluable support for Doug for his appointment tomorrow, but also to help us with all of the STUFF we have here! Doug's not allowed to lift anything or do any strenuous activity so........oh and he's been quick to point out that this restriction includes any and all forms of housework or chores when we get home....hmmmm......:-) No but seriously we are so happy that they are here--no matter how old we get, we always need our dads/moms in a tough situation.

So everyone keep your fingers/toes/eyes/whatever else crossed that everything goes smoothly tomorrow and at this time we will be home in CT! I'll do a quick post tomorrow when we get back just to let everyone know that we made it ok.

Hope to see you all soon!
Love, Lindsey

Are we home yet?

Hi Everyone,

i hope that you all had a great weekend! I know that our weekend was much better than last weekend was! I just wanted to give you all an update on how Doug is doing and what the plan is moving forward.

This weekend was a lot of fun--a big group of our friends was up to visit Doug and keep him busy! On Saturday we all went down to the Inner Harbor--thats right, he walked all the way there and back--and had a nice lunch at a good seafood place. We then all walked around, saw a bunch of street performers (including the world's worst sword swallower) and made a quick stop for some retail therapy :). We then came back and Doug's friend Alan and his wife Danielle were in town to see him so they came and hung out with us at the hotel for a while---so for all of you folks at Mannkind, if you want to know how Doug is doing, Alan Jones is your man--i think he even has a picture on his phone of the two of them! That evening after a quick rest we all piled on a shuttle and went to dinner at a place called Bertha's Mussels--it was a good meal and a lot of fun with everyone. Yesterday we had breakfast with our friends Andrew and Julie (the rest of the guys had headed to the Giants game......which they won by the way.....had to throw that in) and then the rest of the day was designated for football and Ryder Cup Golf Tournament watching--complete with room service. We needed a day just to rest! Doug did great all weekend...we were both tired at the end but it was great to see everyone. It makes us miss home even more!

Today I went up to a Starbucks about a block away and worked for most of the day---did you know that Starbucks charges for WiFi now? Damn economy........hahhahah. But after I got a bunch of work done we took a quick trip over to the hospital because Mr. Popular had gotten a phone call this morning that he had a bunch of packages that had arrived for him! So we made a trip up to the 7th floor where all of the nurses promptly swarmed around Doug exclaiming how good he looked (he really does!). Dr. Sardi and Paula were also on the floor at that time so it was nice to see them as well. I think Dr. Sardi must think that we stalk him....then we took a walk down to the inner harbor just to get out and moving a little bit, and now we're just relaxing and hanging out and planning on watching some football tonight.

Tomorrow will bring probably about the same as today--I plan on working for most of the day and then Doug's father and elizabeth are coming down in the evening so we will probably have dinner with them. They will come with us to Doug's appointment with Dr. Sardi on Wednesday and help us get settled for the long car ride HOME!!!

Oh--and for all of you Kitty fans out there........shes living at my friend Stacy's parents' house for right now and has managed to not kill their other cat.....could she be getting nice??? No we both miss her and can't wait to have her back with us--but thank you to the Sullivans/Ryans for taking such good care of our "baby". :-)

I hope everyone has a great day, see you all soon hopefully-
Lindsey

And we're Free!

Hi Everyone,

I just wanted to do a short post to let you all know that we are free!! Doug was discharged from the hospital yesterday afternoon around 3pm and it feels GREAT to be out of there! Yesterday was a crazy day at the hospital just trying to get everything together and ready to go--lots of doctors and nurses in and out, giving him that last little boost of fluids and iron before he got out of there. He also had his PICC line removed--no more needles! It was a crazy day, I don't think that I stopped running around until about 9 pm :). Luckily Jason was there with us all day which was such a huge help just getting all of his stuff out of his room and into the car and then from the car into the hotel.

We are staying at the Tremont hotel which is about a block away from the hospital. We were going to stay here at the Hope Lodge, but Doug decided that he would be more comfortable in a hotel for a few days. I understand that--for one thing although the Hope Lodge is a wonderful organization (and one that is added to my list of charities to contribute to!) we are the youngest people here by probably 10-15 years or so, and he would have to go down to the communal dining room to eat each meal, and he's just not feeling up to a lot of socializing with people he's not familiar with and I don't blame him. Luckily, the hotel room we have is a suite and is probably bigger than my first three apartments I lived in after college. We have a living room area, a big bedroom with two beds and a big kitchen. The two beds was key as the last thing I need to do is hit him in my sleep somehow! :) It was so nice to be in a real bed again, and although we were still up every four hours for meds, it was so much more comfortable.

Last night after we got back, Ian, Arnie, Sharnoff, Corey, Paul, and Colleen joined us and we took a walk down to a little restaurant down the street for dinner and then back to the hotel room for the UCONN football game. All in all, a great relaxing night with some great friends, I think it did Doug a lot of good to be around everyone.

So we are just going to hang out today, take some more walks, etc. We'll be at the hotel for a few days, and on Tuesday he has to go and get bloodwork done. We have an appointment with Dr. Sardi on Wednesday and we hope that we are given the all clear to head home after that appointment! If all things are ok, we'll be back in Glastonbury the evening on September 24th. I'm taking good care of him for you guys, and I know we both can't wait to get home.

I'll still be updateing the blog on a regular basis as we finish up here in Baltimore and head home. We can't wait to see everyone, and love you all.

Love Lindsey

Light at the end of the Tunnel

Hi everyone, and welcome to Postop Day 9 here at Mercy Medical center.

OK first want to qualify my comment about the nursing student in the earlier post---I don't want anyone to think that we don't value the nurses here or don't hold them in the very highest regard because we definitely do---I think that nursing has to be one of the hardest jobs in the entire world and anyone who is one or is training to be one has my uptmost respect. However, this particular student was rude. OK that is my "readers digest-esq" retraction. hahahaha.

Today was a very good day. To start, last night we got a lot of sleep for the first time in at least 10 days or so!! Probably four whole uninterrupted hours which is nothing short of amazing in a hospital. Now for the best news---Doug may very well be getting discharged from the hospital TOMORROW! Let me tell you, this is exciting news. I had no idea how long 11 days in the hospital could really be. I know he is itching to get out and I am right behind him! Of course I am a little bit nervous as we'll be without the safety net of constant nurses and medial staff, but I also know that Dr. Sardi would never let him out if he wasn't ready to be out, and we're only moving across the street for the next week until we get cleared to go home to CT. I've learned a lot over the last couple of weeks about helping to care for him--I think my official title is now "chief pillow fixer" among many other things.

Today Doug also did some stairs during his physical therapy, and then the PT group gave him permission to go onto different floors of the hospital. However, according to hospital rules a doctor has to write up an order that says a patient can leave the floor to which they are assigned. Do you think that Doug wanted to wait for something as simple as that? No way! So he managed to charm the head nurse up here into giving him a floor pass. Very against the rules, but what else is new, right? At this point Doug's friend Paul was with us so the three of us wandered down into the lobby and then Doug decided that he wanted to go over to Dr. Sardi's office "to say hello". Dr. Sardi's office, keep in mind, is on the other side of the medical campus, in a different building. Only Doug would be able to finagle the equivalent of a hospital hall pass, walk a quarter of a mile to the office of one of the most world-renowned surgeons in the field, and drop in to say hi not only to him, but to his ENTIRE surgical team in the middle of a team meeting. Turns out that not only is Doug the YOUNGEST patient Dr. Sardi and his team have ever had, he is the first patient to make it over to the offices during their hospital stay to see everyone. Its so HIM to do something like that though......with Paul and I tagging along behind making sure that he doesn't trip/fall/break anything.

Tonight we have one of my favorite nurses watching over us, and we' ve been promised a 4 hour block with no interruptions from 12 am-4 am so we're hoping for some more good sleep tonight. Tomorrow I will update everyone on whether we were able to be discharged or not, everyone keep your fingers crossed that everything with Doug's recovery stays smooth overnight and that we are in good shape to check out to the hotel tomorrow! Tomorrow also brings the beginning of a weekend full of visitors--tomorrow Jason will be coming down which is great because as I told him on the phone today--we have so much STUFF in this room right now that I'm going to need help getting it all downstairs and into the car and Doug won't be much help as far as the manual labor goes :-). Over the course of the next two days or so we will also see characters in the form of Ian, Andrew, Andrew, Julie, Arnie, Corey, TJ, Jess, Alan, and Danielle possibly. Lots of friendly faces and lots of laughs sure to come---even doctors say that laughter and good spirits is the best medicine, right? :-)

Everyone sleep tight, Ill keep you updated on our progress and will post again when I have a chance with an update. Love and miss you all--
Love,
Lindsey

Postop Day 8

Hello from Baltimore to everyone--

We've had a very eventful day today here. First and foremost, the best news since the last update that I posted is....no more tubes at all! The last chest tube and what they call J Drains (drains from his belly getting all the rest of that chemo solution out of him) are all gone, so now all Doug has to deal with is the IV lines, and thank goodness they aren't even going through his neck anymore! This is very good, and allows Doug to really move around a bit more freely. He now has no problem getting from the bed to the chair on his own, and does several laps a day around the floor without holding on to anything. Again, all great progress.

Some other good news from today--doug is again eating solid food! He had some lovely looking scrambled eggs and cheerios for breakfast today, and had some really gross looking chicken and rice stuff for lunch, and quite honestly i'm not really sure WHAT was on that plate for his dinner! Ahhh...hospital food. I think the only food better than hospital food is airline food......it might be a tossup though. Unfortunatly every meal has been kind of a hassle since for some reason the computer down in the kitchen is not registering the fact that he is back on a normal diet and keeps sending up meals consisting of jello and broth, which we have to promptly send back. This morning it took them three tries. sigh......oh well. Another good thing from today is that he also got to take a shower. Now this may sound like a small thing, but for anyone who is an "indoor girl" like myself, if you go camping for a couple of days how good does that first shower feel when you get back? Now, multiply that times probably a zillion. I've never had an operation but I have to imagine that a shower adds a sense of normalcy to a very abnormal situation. For all of you beard fans out there though, don't worry Doug has decided to not shave yet!

So here is what else happened today--I have to set up this situation by starting out saying that we had an extremely long night last night. The IV drips that Doug had kept dinging at us, then we would have to call the nurse, then she'd come in and put them on hold, then they would ding again....etc.....etc.......this went on from about 3:30 am on. Then of course there is the 6 am wakeup for vital signs and blood sugar testing, then around 7:45 Dr. Sardi and his troops came in to chat (they are so chipper in the morning!), then Paula the nurse came back 10 minutes later, then another nurse came in......I finally got up with the realization that sleep and I were not meant to be friends this morning! So then this nursing student comes in. She was nice, but quite obviously a little bit new at this. She then decides to recommend to Doug that with everything going on with him it might be worth it to go back to community college to take some science or biology classes. He then proceeds to answer her in the deadpan way that only Doug can-"I have a degree in molecular cell biology". Now normally I would feel bad and think he was being rude, but this was after this student had said to me a couple of minutes earlier "wow and YOU must have a lot of time on your hands!" (i'm still lying in my pullout chair at this point as its about 8 am and there has been a steady stream of doctors and nurses in all morning). Oh how little she knows........anyway those of you who know Doug know exactly the massive eye roll and tone of voice that he informed this student about his prior knowledge of science and biology---a classic Doug moment and nice to see his old self continue to fight through to the surface!

Doug's hands are still bothering him pretty badly, so Dr. Sardi sent a neurologist up to see him just to make sure we weren't missing anything. The neurologist did a bunch of tests on him and thinks that he has very similar symptoms of Carpal Tunnel syndrome (which coincidentally is a common side effect of diabetes) so he now has Doug in the wrist splints I'm sure you have all seen people in your offices or around wearing. Hopefully the wrist splints will give him some relief, but we may have to go and visit a specialist once we get home to get more guidance on that. The poor guy can't catch a break! I know he's feeling a bit better and would like to read a book or a magazine but his fingers hurt so he would have trouble turning the pages. I wish i could do somethingfor him to help! Another thing they did today was they took away the pain pump! He had a pump that had morphine in it where he could press a button and he would get a jolt of pain meds. It was a sad thing for him to see it go, and he's been in quite a lot of pain most of the evening tonight. The new painkillers (Percosets and dilaudid) will take a little while to really take hold and get into his bloodstream, so its been a long night for my poor guy. As always though, he is such a trooper and is taking it so well with very little complaining at all. He never ceases to amaze me.

Unfortunatly today Doug was taken on a field trip to Radiology and Occupational Therapy unexpectedly and we missed meeting one of Dr. Sardi's patients that had the MOAS in january of 2008. If you guys are reading this, I am so sorry to have missed you, thank you for the wonderful card and I hope that your meeting went well today! Thank you for all of your kind words of encouragement the last week, it has been great! David and Amy are here as well so I had the opportunity to hang out with them a bit, both here with Doug as well as going out to dinner at a great restaurant. Its always so nice to see them, and I know that Doug was very happy to have them here to see him.

So off to bed now for us, I'm hoping that all of the drugs start to hit Doug hard so that he finally gets at least a few hours straight of sleep (and me too!). Tomorrow will bring more of the same--more walking, eating, showering, and recovering! We've both agreed we're tired of the hospital and want to follow all possible orders that Dr. Sardi and his team gives to Doug in order to make sure that he is able to get out of here as soon as possible (well, as soon as the doctors think it is safe and he is ready!).

Thank you all agian for your continued love and support--and thank you for all of the great cards and packages and things that you've been sending--we have a "wall of fame" going with all of the cards and stuff that Doug gets! :-)

Miss and love you all, keep the positive thoughts coming our way--
Love, Lindsey

Post Op Day 7

I can't believe that one week ago today at this time we were just beginning our 14 hour vigil while Doug was in surgery! Does it seem like ages ago to anyone else?

Its amazing the progress that Doug has been able to make over the past few days! Yesterday was a very big day for him. First and foremost, he got his NG tube out! That was the tube that was down his nose into his throat, and by all accounts definitely the most annoying one! Now that the NG tube is out Doug has also started on a clear liquid diet (all the orange jello and vanilla pudding he can eat---of course he doesn't really like jello or pudding so......). We've got to start getting some food into that belly of his! :)

Another big development yesterday was walking without the help of a walker! He did several laps around the floor with only the Physical Therapist holding onto his arm lightly. This is great, and I know that he is happy he doesn't have to use it anymore. He also had his Foley catheter removed so he is now free to get up and down to use the bathroom which also gives us an excuse to get him moving around a bit! He's doing great and always is able to draw several catcalls from the nurses station when he's out for his walks!

Finally another move yesterday was that they removed his central line and switched him over to what the call a Picc line. Basically the central line was through his neck and allowed all medication, pain meds, sleep aides, etc to be injected directly into his blood stream (works faster than a regular IV). This is also where the IV nutrition is insterted. The Picc line is in his left arm so it is a lot less cumbersome for him to deal with. I was there when they both inserted the Picc line and removed the central line----anyone out there in the medical profession probably already knows but that central line was BIG! Doug and I were both like..."whoooah".

Spirits are good, Doug's hands are still bothering him but they are more burning today which Dr. Sardi says is good because it means the nerves are firing up again! Still pretty painful for the patient though. Dr. Sardi is actually performing today on another patient the same surgery that he performed on Doug a week ago and stopped in this morning before hitting the OR. My heart goes out to the family of today's surgery, we all know how hard the next 12 hours or so will be. This morning has been busy already with the Dr. stopping by and then getting Doug out of bed. Right now he's settled in for another nap after an already busy morning:).

Elizabeth has headed home to NYC to go to work today, and last night Doug's good friend Paul stopped in for a visit (he lives in Annapolis so is pretty close by). David and Amy Cooper are making their way to town today and will be here today through thursday of this week to spend some time with Doug, and then this weekend will bring lots of visitors from home and all over--Doug's brother Jason will probably head down on Friday for the day and a big group of our friends from home and a couple from Boston will be here on Saturday and Sunday. My job this weekend will partially be traffic cop to make sure the nurses don't end up kicking everyone out!

Ok well I have to get some work done this morning, just wanted to post a quick update for everyone. We miss everyone at home and can't wait to get back.

Love, Lindsey

Sunday night

Hey everyone,

I hope you all had a great weekend. I am writing this as Doug is snoozing nicely in his bed and I'm in one of the hospital recliners right next to his bed, with the little hospital tv playing the football game for us. I even said to him "see--we didnt even miss the football game!" although down here they don't play the Giants (who won today, BTW) we still got our usual Sunday dose of football :).

I think all the hospital stay is starting to get to him a bit, I know he's not feeling particularly well tonight but of course that is to be expected. The NG tube (which is a tube that goes down his nose down his throat and into his stomach to prevent nausea among other things) has started to really irritate his throat making it difficult for him to talk, so he's been pretty quiet tonight. We're really hoping that tube comes out soon, as its the one bothering him the most right now. There are some rumblings from his digestive system so that is a good sign that it will be out pretty soon. They have cut some of his pain meds back to make him more alert, but he's also feeling a bit more pain because of it also. We're just getting a little taste of what everyone has warned us about--sometimes this recovery feels like one step forward, half a step back. However, its not really a step back, it just feels like it is because he improved so rapidly in the days directly following the surgery that is only FEELS like he's not getting any better now that its slowed down. Again, patience is our friend and all of the doctors continue to think he's on the fast track of recovery and is right where he needs to be. He did four laps around the ward this afternoon though, and that was after the two laps this morning, so that is definitely forward progress!

Doug's hands are still bothering him--it really is the strangest thing! As if the surgery and recovering from that incision and everything in his abdomen isn't enough he has to worry about his hands too! Hopefully they will improve soon. He's really being so tough, and hes not complaining at all but I can just tell he doesn't feel good and I wish I could do something for him so badly. But, at this point all i can do it dab the head with the towel, make sure the water cup is always within reach, and sleep with one ear towards his bed. I hope he gets a good nights sleep tonight, i think it would make him feel so much better tomorrow.

So the plan for tomorrow is, again, more of the same! We'll get Doug up and either into his chair or on a walk first thing. I will be signing into my work computer tomorrow to try to get some hours in at my other day job! Im hoping that it works but I do see a couple of hours with my IT group on the phone tomorrow. I'll work in between making sure Doug gets his PT walks in and meeting with the doctors, especially since Dr. Sardi is back tomorrow.

Good night everyone, I hope you all had a great weekend, and we'll see you soon!
Love, Lindsey

Postop Day 5

hello everyone!

I just wanted to post a quick update on our patient and how he's doing on Day 5 here in Baltimore. I can't believe that we have been here for a week already---it feels like a year and an hour all at the same time if that makes any sense! Doug is doing well and continues to get a little bit better every day. He is continuing to get up out of his chair and walk around---yesterday he did two complete laps around the floor! Every day he walks further and further which is great because that is how he's going to recover quickly. Yesterday they were also able to take one of his chest tubes out which is great--one less thing to drag around with him while he's trying to get up and walk around. Another thing that has done him a ton of good is his two friends Pete and Andy are here to visit him. I think it has been great for him to be able to see someone other than the people that have been here the whole week and to be able to sit and talk football and baseball and other stuff that has nothing to do with the hospital. Yesterday the guys came and hung out with him and I left the hospital for a bit to go to lunch with my mom and walk around and do a bit of shopping in the inner harbor.

After we got back to the hospital, Doug had done his second lap of the day and was sitting up in a chair! So Elizabeth, my mom and I went to go out to dinner a litle bit later, leaving Doug with his dad for a bit. We had a great dinner at a little pub-like place down the road--they even had Blue Moon! :) Then we came back and Doug, Pete, Andy and I hung out for a bit, listened to the end of the Mets game (they won!). Tomorrow Dr. Sardi returns from his weekend away so I keep trying to remind Doug that he has to keep moving around and working on his therapy because the Doctor is going to want an update! :-) In Dr. Sardi's absence though, he has had some excellent doctors that stop in to see him a few times a day.

So all in all, more of the same--hes getting better one little step at a time. Its difficult because I know he isn't getting better as quickly as he would like to. It is a slow slow process, and patience is not one of his (or mine for that matter!) virtues. So we are just working on keeping his spirits up, keeping him positive, and keep reminding him that the doctors all think that he is on the right track, is getting better very quickly, and is right where he is supposed to be!

Doug's father left this morning to head back to the city for work for the week. My mom will also leave today and Elizabeth will be here until tomorrow. Everyone is doing well here, feel free to send cards or emails or give Doug a call and leave a voicemail--a couple times a day he asks for his phone and wants to check his voicemail!

Love and miss everyone at home, thanks for all the positive vibes and good wishes for us!
Love, Lindsey

Postop Day 3

Hey everyone,

I'm writing this from Doug's hospital room. It is about 7 pm on Friday evening, and just want to give an update about the day today.

Today Doug had another good day, although I think he had such a good day yesterday that he really tired himself out and has not been quite as alert and awake today as yesterday. However, he still did manage to do a good walk down the hallway with the walker.

Doug had a good night last night, although we were both just getting used to being on this floor and haveing the nurses come in and out all night. we were probably up once an hour or so, but I think he got some good sleep in between nurse visits. I was also tired this morning, so while he was catching up on some rest I went back to the lodge to nap for a couple of hours and get some food and relax for a bit. It took me about 10 seconds to fall asleep!

So today was more of the same--every day Doug feels a little bit better--its a long tough road and he'll have to be patient---not necessarily a virtue of either one of ours! I do know that it will do him a lot of good to see a couple of his friends and just to hang out for a bit. I know I'm looking forward to seeing my mom tomorrow! More to come later!

Love,
Lindsey

Doug's Address at the Hospital

Hi Guys--

Doug's address at the hospital if you would like to send him flowers or a card is:

Doug Selmont
Mercy Medical Center
301 St. Pauls Place
Seventh Floor Room 701
Baltimore, MD 21202

Thanks!
Love, Lindsey

Day Two--Check!

I have great news to start off the evening tonight--Doug is OUT of the ICU!!! WOOHOO!!!! He is back on the 7th floor and in his own private room, thank goodness. This floor is much quieter, more private, and we have a wonderful night nurse named Laurie looking after Doug tonight.

Today was a great day for Doug. He had physical therapy this morning--poor thing the PTs came about 2 minutes after the nurses had gotten him out of bed and settled in his chair! He had to do some leg exercises with light weights, and then it was time for the walker! At that point Doug's dad and Elizabeth and Stazia were all there so I took that time to run down to the caf and get some food. when I got back upstairs, they told me the good news--Doug took a nice long walk with the walker today! About 80 steps!! For anyone unfamiliar with this surgery, that is a MONSTER number for day 2. The therapists even called him their "miracle child". well, we should have known since he started off the day by telling the nurse that she had put his chair too close to the bed and he wanted to do a few more steps to get to it, and she had to tell him no. Doug is doing the right things, and he's got great care with the nursing staff and his family and I making sure he doesn't push it too far to quickly.

So after PT, they gave doug some lovely Xanax to help him relax and get some rest. He then proceeded to get a little bit loopy from that! Probably that and the combo of massive amounts of pain meds have started to affect him a little bit. He was seeing some weird stuff, and he also swore he could hear music although there was none playing. He did say that the song was American Baby by Dave Matthews Band. Hey, if you are going to imagine music, might as well be GOOD music, right? He then conked out for a while and woke up just as I was drifting off a bit! (i took on the "burden" of sitting on the hospital bed while he was in the chair....and it was coooommmmmffffyyy.....). After he woke up I left the hospital for a bit to go on a shopping excursion with Stazia to get Doug some presents and then a stop at the Hope Lodge to change and get my overnight stuff together. That way he got to spend some time alone with his Dad and Elizabeth too which they needed too :).

When I got back to the hospital around 8 pm, Doug was in his new room! We were so happy--he was uncomfortable in the ICU--i had never been in one before and its a pretty tense area, very noisy, lots of poking and prodding, lots of machines, etc. We had some slight concerns about a couple of the day nurses but that was taken care of. Most of his care has been excellent though--his night nurses were all fantastic. So we gave Doug his presents--we went on kind of a spree at Best Buy! We got him three dvds he can watch when hes feeling a little bit more up to it, or for when he is recuperating at home, a new cd, and best of all----the preordered copy of Rock Band 2!! Our friends all know that Doug and I are addicted to Rock Band and we're excited about the new one! I think he was happy about it haha.

Doug's family left around 9 tonight and then Doug had to get all of his nighttime stuff done with the nurse (insulin, nutrition, checking the tubes and lines, etc) and then we just hung out and listened to a cd together while he fell asleep. He's sleeping now and hopefully will sleep through until 1 am when they come in to do vitals and blood sugar. Then he'll get a break until 6 am.

All in all, Doug is doing so well for being two days out of surgery. The tech (person who takes vital signs and things like that) that we have tonight is the same one that we had the night of his surgery, and when she saw him she broke into a HUGE grin and said that she couldn't believe how good he looked. Shes seen a lot of these patients, so she knows when someone looks good. He's still in a great state of mind, even with the continuing challenges of recovery that lay ahead. These last few days have been insane, I'm hoping that now we will settle into more of a routine (as routine as we can be in a hospital anyways) and i plan to start working again on Monday. I originally planned to start today, but as you can tell from my posts it was completely out of the question--my state of mind and sanity couldn't have taken it today, and there was a ton going on with the move and therapy and everything. Luckily I have a great team that I work on (they're reading this blog too so I have to do a "shoutout" haha) and my company has been wonderful and flexible with my schedule and i'll be working remotely for as long as is necessary.

Alright, time to pop on a movie and try to get some sleep.........theres a loud buzzing machine in the room (its a machine that acts as suction for Doug's central line--so a loud but necessary machine!) so once I get used to that i should be fine--I think everyone is still sleep deprived.

love you guys, I'll update tomorrow on our favorite patient!
Love, Lindsey

Day 2 postop

Good Morning everyone-
I'm writing right now from the waiting room of the ICU. Dr. Sardi is in with Doug right now changing bandages and talking to him so we aren't allowed in. Its ok though, we've been breaking all of the ICU rules for the last couple of days so I guess we can follow a rule for once!

OK now its about half an hour later and I'm sitting in the room with Doug. Believe it or not, he's actually ON THE PHONE! He's amazing, isn't he? We've had a good morning so far. His hands aren't bothering him quite as badly today, they still feel funny but he can at least hold things on his own now. Still has a bit of a dry mouth and throat, but again not as bad. The mouth and throat irritation is from the ventilator, and its getting better every hour. He got to brush his teeth today, which made him feel better too. Right now they are working on getting his heart rate and blood pressure down, and once those are under control they are going to be moving him back to his chair. Doug said this morning that what he really wants to do is walk! Every time he gets up and down or moves around it gets a tiny bit easier. He also had an xray done this morning. He's been a busy guy!

Later today at some point we will be moving from the ICU to a normal room on the 7th floor. I know Doug is looking forward to that, theres a little bit more peace and quiet! Luckily we were also told that getting Doug a private room is a priority for the floor--so he won't have a roommate which is great. when we're moving we don't know--things take a long time in the hospital sometimes! But definitely before tonight. So probably in a little bit we'll leave Doug to get some rest and I'll head back to the lodge to eat and grab some stuff since i'll be stayin at the hospital with him overnight from now on. I'm glad--its tough to leave him here all alone at night.

This weekend we have some visitors coming which is great. Two of Doug's best friends--Pete and Andy--are heading down and my mom is also coming down for a night. I know that Doug is looking forward to spending some time hangin with the guys, and I'm glad they will be here to keep him company so my mom and I can get out for a bit and wander around (and buy him the presents he has started to request!) Doug has pointed out to me that the Filene's Basement store on the inner harbor sells Affliction tshirts.......

So good morning so far, still working on getting that heart rate and bp down so that we can get him moving. He's snoozing right now, so that is helping to bring everything down. I'll update later on today.

Love,
Lindsey

Wrapping up the day

Hi everyone--


I am writing this to you from the ICU at about 10:30 pm on Wednesday night. I wanted to give you a rundown of how the rest of our day went! Visiting hours in the ICU are a bit stricter than when he is on the normal floor so we are only allowed to see doug for a little bit at a time. However, they have let me stay with him longer tonight which is great. Right now the nurse is working on getting his IV nutrition line hooked up and they are going to get him cleaned up so that he can sleep comfortably for the rest of the night.


This afternoon we all got to sit with Doug and visit with him from 4-6 pm, but then had to leave (the nurses have a shift change so we all have to get out of the way!) so we went to grab some dinner and then were back to visit some more at 8:00. Dennis, Elizabeth, and Stazia all left around 8:45 and Doug and I have just been hangin' out! He did GREAT today! He sat in a chair (it looks kind of like a recliner) for the entire afternoon! In fact, they just moved him back to the bed about an hour ago. He did great at that too, even though i know it hurt him a lot.


Doug has exceeded ALL of my expectations for how he did today. You can tell that he is determined to get better, and do it QUICK! I know that he really wants to feel better so that he can have fun with his friends as they start to plan their visits. He is pushing himself to do the things he needs to do--and don't worry i'm keeping an eye on him and making sure he isn't pushing too hard too fast!


The p plan for now is that I'll head home (the lodge anyways!) probably in the next hour or so so that Doug can get some sleep. I was going to leave earlier, but he wanted company for a while. He is started on the IV nutrition and they will keep an eye on his blood sugar and if everything is stable they will try to move him to a normal room. We're also hoping to get some of the tubes out of him! He has a few drains that are draining the chemo out of his belly that we hope to get out in the next couple of days--they are annoying and uncomfortable for him. We are also hoping that the numbness in the fingers will end soon as I know that is really bothering him a lot.


So, Day One of recovery is almost over! I couldn't be prouder of him and how well he is doing and has done so far. He is so brave and I just love him even more for it (if that was even possible).


I will update tomorrow, and try to update more often if possible, I'm sorry that it took me a while between posts today! Everyone have a great night.


ALSO--Doug wants to listen to his voicemail tomorrow---so if you guys want to call him and leave him a message, I know he'd love pto hear you all :-) I'll be putting it on speaker phone for him to hear--heres the number 203-804-4480.


Thanks, as always--for everything and for all the posts and emails---keep them coming! Love you all very much.



Love, Lindsey

Recovery begins

Hi Everyone--

Sorry I haven't gotten a chance to update the bl0g until now! Our guy is doing very well today I have to say.

I went over to the hospital this morning and got there around 10:30 am--I meant to go a lot earlier, but I think my body crashed out as I slept through about 5 phone calls and an alarm! But I'm feeling much better and stronger today. When I got into the ICU he was awake and the ventilator has been removed which is great! The swelling has gone down, although he is still pretty bloated from all of the fluids they gave him yesterday. He is able to talk and smile again! when I was there, the Physical Therapist came and, and got him to sit up, get out of bed, take a couple of steps, and settled down into a chair. This was GREAT as this is what is going to make him better the fastest. I know it hurt him, but he was so tough and so brave while he did it--he knows what he has to do to get better and he is so strong. While we were there the dietician came in as well--they will be starting him on TPN which is IV nutrition later tonight. He will be on this until his digestive system starts working again--right now it is "resting" after all of the handling it went through yesterday!

They are going to keep Doug in ICU for one more night. Because he's diabetic they want to make sure that his sugar is stabilized before moving him to a regular room--need to make sure they aren't blasting him with too much or too little when the nutrition starts.

He is in good spirits today and his pain is being managed very well. He said as long as he's not moving on a scale of 1-10, he's at about a 2. when he moves its a different story of course, but that is to be expected. His complaints include being poked and prodded all the time and some numbness in his fingers. he's also sweating a lot (no fever though) and that is making him itchy and uncomfortable. However, if thats the worst, I'll take it! Dr. Sardi came and spoke with us and with Doug to let him know how everything went and we'll see him again tomorrow. So I have one more night in a "real bed" before i go back to my pull out chair in the hospital :-).

Thank you everyone for everything, keep those emails and comments coming! This morning I read him every comment and every email that we got and he was so happy after hearing how many people are pulling for him. It helps me get through the day too. So things are as good as can be expected at this point, as we continue to get more information I will update as soon as I can. I'll have another break from the hospital later on this afternoon.

Love,
Lindsey

Beginning of Recovery

Hi everyone,

I know I'm late with this one, and I'm sorry--most of you are probably asleep already and will see this tomorrow morning. Doug made it through the surgery just fine, and now begins the recovery phase. Here is an overview of what the last few hours have been:

Surgery took a total of 12 hours. We got a call from the nurse letting us know that they were closing up and that Dr. Sardi would be out to talk to us in the next 90 minutes. The doctor came out and let us know that Doug was doing well--his diabetes was good throughout the procedure which was always a concern in the back of my mind. He removed a LOT of tumor from Doug's abdomen, and his body responded well to the heated chemotherapy. We will know a lot more over the course of the next few days as Doug is able to wake up and participate in our conversations with the doctor. I will be giving more updates over the next couple of days, as often as possible, I promise--I know there are a lot of concerned friends and family out there. with this thing, we don't always have answers right away.

Now my definite best part of the night---they let us into the ICU to see him!! Doug will be spending tonight and most of tomorrow in the ICU--he is still on a ventilator, although he's breathing just fine on his own it is normal to keep him on to make sure that the general anesthesiaa that "freezes" the muscles that help him breath have completely worn off. They let all five of us in to see him at once which was great, and then I got to spend a couple minutes alone with him before we left. He was awake, knew who we were and knew we were there. He has a fever and is in some pain (which i made sure to point out to the nurses up there so they are keeping an eye on his pain level and the fever). He was given a lot (i think Sardi said like 20 liters!) of fluid over those 15 hours he was with the team, so he's a bit bloated. I can't even tell you how brave he is and how proud I am of him. i could only hope that if I had to go through something like this I could be like that. It was painful almost to leave him there all alone, but I know he needs his sleep (and so do I....I'm running on about 48 hours straight of being awake--good thing UCONN trained me well for that!). I just want to protect him from this and I know I can't. We will all reconvene at the hosptial tomorrow around 9 am, and we will be able to see him off and on throughout the day. Our hope is that he gets to leave ICU by tomorrow night, and they will for sure have him sitting up and even out of bed once for a couple of steps tomorrow.

On a personal note if I could indulge for a moment---thank you all SO MUCH for today. I was in no way, shape, or form prepared for what today would be like--hardest day of my life by far and I pray that you guys don't have to ever share the experience. I know I didn't pick the phone when it rang, write back to emails or texts, but please know that I read and listened to every single one and it really kept me going. i saved everything to read and play for doug when he's feeling a little better. Its when times are the hardest and the worst that people become their best and thats what all of you did for me today. I'm really running on empty as you can probably tell by my ramblings, but I wanted to, out of appreciation for all you've done for me, and for Doug and his family today, to at least get out an update. I also was very glad to be with doug's family all day---it was easier being together definitely.

OK bedtime so that i can be ready for full speed ahead recovery for my favorite guy in the world (tied only with my dad of course!). He's not going to like everything that he's going to have to do to get better because its going to HURT so I'm mentally preparing myself for that! Love you all, keep the encouragement coming!

Also, I don't have a room number or address for doug yet, but if you want to send a card or anything else to him you can send it to me here at the Hope Lodge and I'll make sure that he gets it. Here is the address:

Lindsey Springer
American Cancer Society Hope Lodge Baltimore
636 w Lexington Street Room #208
Baltimore, MD 21201

OK more updates tomorrow.
Love,
Lindsey