May 12, 2010 - The Final Stretch

Marc is heading into what appears to be the final stretch of his chemo treatment.  

The first week of May, Marc was in for another of his rounds in the ring fighting cancer, followed by a few days with mom and dad at aunt wendy and uncle pat's place with cameo appearances by melissa and elijah. Following that was lots of rest and little energy.

He was scheduled to return to UCSF this Friday May 14th but as the past few weeks vitals were not good, it looked like he might have to wait.  And by vitals, i speak of his "counts:" white blood cells, platelets, and etc.  He's had a few transfusions in the last week to supplement his own body's stores of blood.  Becoming well... overcoming cancer, is very involved.

Unfortunately, Marc (and dad) was unable to attend his cousin Jeremy's wedding last weekend as his counts were low enough that mask-or-no the risk of infection was much too high.  Instead they put him on a antibiotics-and-blood-transfusion regimen which is not nearly as exciting as watching two special people make a big commitment, dancing to Vanilla Ice, playing with elijah, and... margaritas.  Yet, he took it like a champ and rested up despite the very real fear of cabin-fever.

Marc has been reading, not exactly for pleasure (he was quite clear that the only thing that sounds pleasurable is to go outside, risk cuts and bruises, and infections which he absolutely can't do now), but it was how he fought off boredom.  According to Marc, "Keep Climbing" was particularly good...

Fortunately, although his counts have remained less-than-stellar, he will be able to start treatment again this Friday. He'll soon be back to floor 11, doing laps, flirting, and offsetting the boredom with trivial pursuit and reading, texting and sleeping.  

May it be so that this is the last trip to UCSF for awhile. May it be that that the next few updates will be full of YAY! May it be that on memorial day that Marc's lymphoma is but a memory (not to slight the true purpose of Memorial Day... just saying).  [Marc's Lymphonma - RIP - January 1010 to June 2010]

Remember to keep Marc near to you, in whatever way that you do, as he puts his head down and barrels for the finish line.

(posted by amber with Marc's permission)

April 15, 2010 - An Update... and a Nice Break from the Dreariness of Tax Day

Marc sent me another update today and I wanted to get it up right away. There is also a new addition to the rally-hat gallery and I have to say I love the creativity, the depth, that the gallery is gaining.  Keep rocking your hats for Marc!

The short story: too much nausea and bone pain, too little energy and white blood cells.  But as usual, a good outlook and is generally enjoying, or rather, appreciating, not having to shave very much.

Here's some news from the hands of our favorite couch-surfer:

"I finished round 4 of chemo last wednesday and since then have not been feeling very well. The chemo itself went pretty well, they had trouble accessing the port the first night, which in rough translation means no sleep for marc on night one. once they got everything working i made sure that we were back on schedule to finish by the 7th so i could get by butt home. Everything from that point on went pretty smoothly, had a great easter with your family who cam and entertained me for a few hours. and then on  wednesday I of course was released as planned.

The bone pain started thursday afternoon and lasted until about monday. The feeling is basically like a bruise all over the body. three-four days of that gets tough but everythng comes to an end at some point. I still have some bone pain in my knees and legs, nothing a few pain killers can't fix. I just results from my blood test today and all of my counts are pretty low. that accumulates to a weekend of couch surfing until monday when we findout if I need any transfusions. So right now i have a little bit of remaining pain and after writing this email, I can guarantee that all of my miniscule amount of energy will have drained and I will head back to the couch for recuperation.

Mood: surprising high and optimistic tho very little energy to show."

Marc will head back on the 23rd of April and until Monday at least will be honing his movie knowledge and texting skills and sleeping talents.  Keep the love coming and the hats.

(posted by amber with Marc's permission)

March 18, 2010 - May the Mask be with You

didn't speak to Marc too much this week per phone challenges but he had good company with both the 'rents at his side. i think they were having such a nice time together, in fact, that once when i called they had to "go" to play skipbo.  and this, this is how it should be... there should be much too much fun to speak of tests and chemo and the 11th floor of the hospital.

they were unable to do the PET scan in order to keep him on a schedule that allowed him to be at elijah's festivities. he'll have that soon though. they did do the bone marrow biopsy and, as to be expected, plenty of chemo.

Marc had a was released from UCSF on Wednesday afternoon, with a brief stop over for dinner at aunt wendy and uncle pat's and then on to truckee. he'll be home until april 2nd.

take a peak a the rally hat gallery... some fun new corny-displays-of-support. go team Marc! keep 'em coming and my apologies for any delays in getting them up, this site admin has been a busy bee. 

today he was out and about running errands, going to doctor's appointment, filling prescriptions, and washing the truck.  he had started feeling significant bone pain and believes it is probably from the shot he got at his doctor appointment this afternoon. it's a mega cocktail of important stuff but his bones don't like it.

he'll travel to sacramento tomorrow for elijah's birthday.  he'll need to wear a mask all day as his system is now pretty weak. he promised to get a masked super-hero photo for us (masks are the stuff of super heroes, right?).  one thing is for sure, that though it will be hidden, under that layer of protection will be a big, proud uncle-marc smile.

prayers for happy bones, joyful moments, and protection from immune invaders.

may the mask be with you.

February 16, 2010 - One Game at a Time

marc has another three days to enjoy the fresh air of truckee, the coziness of his home and family. then west on i-80, over the bay bridge and to UCSF he goes.

this past weekend he had a lot of visitors, at least one everyday. friends and family, and perhaps most importantly... his nephew elijah. melissa was on a mission to get everyone in rally hats--looking ridiculous for Marc--and the results of that mission are posted here. the visits have been both fun and exhausting: life just takes a little more work right now. a few more visits are planned before he returns to the hospital.

on friday february 19 he'll return to UCSF for more intensive treatment. today he had chemo at the local clinic and reports relatively few side effects. since there is much more chemo in the future, the lack-of-side-effects is a blessing for which we can only request: more, please.

so you've heard about "chemo" but if you've ever wanted to know more... like, what exactly is chemo? simply put, chemo is short for chemotherapy which refers to particular drug therapies used to destroy cancer cells. click here for Web MD's q&a on chemo for more answers.

it is a bit complex to fully grasp the treatment plan, partly because it could shift depending on a number of factors, partly because neither Marc nor I are oncologists. the thing we know for sure: it is a highly aggressive plan to tackle his highly aggressive cancer and the road to recovery is more like a series of serious games than a single battle. that being said here is a rough outline of the treatment plan (sort of like Marc's-treatment-plan-for-dummies):

• when Marc was last in the hospital, the first week of february, he was on what could be called round 1a. 
• this week when he returns he will begin round 1b which entails, among other things, five days straight of chemo and then rest. end of round 1
• after these days of treatment and rest he will be evaluated either for release or to stay on for monitoring until the next round, what we'll go ahead and call 2, likely with parts a + b.

pray that the time will pass quickly and the fresh air won't seem too far off.  Marc is feeling a little nervous. specifically: a bit nervous about the long stay in a hospital room, a bit nervous about the seriousness of the treatment course, a bit nervous about how overwhelming it can all feel especially when there is no way to schedule an "R-day" - short for the day we all are looking forward to: REMISSION DAY.

while we all look forward to a big celebration on this day, we know it's a little too complex to predict, so we will be patient. as such, Marc is walking the delicate tight rope of knowing enough to be informed about the next match/round without trying to understand all the matches ahead to get to the finals. it's one game at a time... being informed without being overwhelmed.

...and all the love and support from ya'll does help with that.

Marc and I talked about what the next couple weeks will look like and where we all might fit in. once he starts round 1b, he'll be neutropenic. this means that the chemo will not only destroy cancer cells but also white-blood cells which help fight off infection... and leaves him very vulnerable physically.  as he'll be both very vulnerable and likely very exhausted, it will become harder for him to communicate with all of us, though we'll keep this site updated. but phone calls could be harder, responding to texts, emails, etc., will be challenging. 

yet, he is so grateful for these shows of support. so, i asked if i could suggest one-way texts, and he agreed. i may have made this up, i'm not sure. meaning: a  text that does not elicit a response. it is just a statement of support, encouragement, or just an "i'm thinking about you" reminder. you could even text a phone-photo of your smiling face, thumbs up, or whatever else comes to mind. i'm sure the whole family would appreciate one-way texts, actually.

in addition to one-way texts, he has loved the comments everyone has been leaving for him--he said those help too. and, might i put another plug in for rally hats? sure. send rallyformarc@gmail.com photos of you in your rally hat, looking silly... for Marc. you are also welcome to email rallyformarc@gmail.com questions you have about Marc's treatment or information you'd like to see posted that will keep you more in the loop with Marc's progress and i'll run your questions by Marc when i get updates from him.

lastly, i asked Marc if there was anything he wanted to make sure i report to you loyal readers, you website devotees, and he said: "just make sure that everyone knows i am really grateful for everything."

and he, really, really is.

(stay tuned, friends! - posted by amber with Marc's consent)