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10/24
Been home since Saturday night, taking it easy mostly .... feel like I have a bad stomach flue. My favorite past-time is sitting and staring out the window.

Got home in time for the second half of Cameron's football game. Although they lost (they are now 3 - 4), he had 18 tackles, a p.a.t. block, a fumble recovery and a nice run after a one handed catch on a screen play. Sunday, Liz and I went for a nice walk at wind and sea beach and watched Kyle and his friends get pummelled by the shore break. Yesterday, made a guest appearance at work and and plan on going in today for a few hours to catch up. Also, saw the movie 'Pay It Forward' which was very thought provoking, particularly since we have so many people that have done us favors lately. I've always been a big fan of the concept 'random acts of kindness', not to mention karma.

10/21
In case you missed the mass emailing or haven't gotten into the habit of checking the message board (bottom left, this page ... easy place for me or you to update things on the fly, without me having to update the webpage), please review message 15 on the message board to see note about us coming home.

10/20
Well, we're still here. Due mostly to continuing to set my personal best for hurling. I understand that in Ireland, they have hurling teams and leagues and championships. Apparently hasn't caught on here in the US.

I feel good enough to come home (keep the pain pills going though for gastritus) but the culprit appears to be the little valve at the end of the stomach called the duodenum, which seems to be on strike since the chemo, and won't let anything pass. For those of you who have heard the joke about which part of the body should be in charge, this is a new twist.

When you have a chance go back down to the 10/04 update below about the Siskowic sports heritage. I have added some links there that are pretty cool

10/19/00
Alas, my computer outside my room won't load the pagebuilder program I need to update this, so I have snuck off to the 4th floor business center to do so. I need to time it in between my average six-times daily 'hurls', so I have to be quick.

In general, since I started the painkiller last night, I have felt a lot better ... very little nausea, for which I am thankful. I just had a shower, so my frightening case of bedhead is no longer scaring Liz away.

I was seen today by the attending physician, Moshe Taplaz, who happens to be well known for his work in the leukemia field, in particular the earliest use of interferon for that disease. Dr. Mavligit made the long trip over from his new office two buildings away to check in also. They both said the bloodwork looks good, but still needs a little tweaking. Need to get vomiting under control as I am getting dehydrated and electrolyte imbalance is a concern.

During this treatment, Dr. Stephen Haller, who did the angiogram and catheterization, put a small metal spring in the artery that leads from my hepatic artery over to my stomach. This appears to have greatly reduced the severe gastritus problem I had with the first treatment.

I had a nice long talk with my sister Dawn who was calling from Cabrillo Hospital ... we have a bet to see who comes home first. She informed me that her daughter Heather was nominated to the homecoming court. I suspect Heather was mildly pleased with this honor.

We miss our boys like crazy, but they have been great about emailing and keeping us up on their goings ons. Six week report cards come out this week and early reports are almost all A's. They will, of course, be punished severely for any B's (hhok).

Liz has been social as usual ... I think there are a few patients and nurses in the farthest wing away from us who she has not talked to. She is glad her parents are here for their constant support.

10/16/00 (Quick) Update
Just met with Dr. Mavligit and am now waiting to be admitted. He reviewed the recent scans and compared them to last month's. Good news, bad news ... not any worse, not much better. He was leaning towards hitting the left lobe of the liver a little (lot) harder using a technique called chemoembolization. This is where they add gelfoam (basically tiny plastic particles) to the cisplatin chemo and it enhances the chemo's effectiveness. He also refers to it as the best antiangiogenesis method available because it inhibits the growth of new blood vessels and the flow of blood to the tumor. This treatment is considerably more painful and upsetting to the system. I suggested that since we had only had one treatment to each lobe and it seemed to be working, that we should try the infusion method one more time to each side and hold off on the embolization, which he agreed to. Hence, this treatment will be like the first one in August, which means about five days of recovery after tomorrow's treatment.

Liz is hanging in there, although she had her hopes up that he was just going to 'excuse me' this month. No such luck. We will keep at it until the scans are clear, i.e. NED (no evidence of disease).

10/04/00 UpdateI am back to feeling quasi-normal again, which is to say that I feel GREAT, relatively speaking. Back to work, albeit only part-time and in a more limited capacity, mostly doing project management.

Last week I went to Cameron's football practice and met my Dad and two of this three brothers, John and Paul (Ringo was missing ... hhok ... Dave is in Colorado). When these guys get together, it is hilarious, As I walked up, I saw they were talking to the head coach and I thought, oh no, they're probably telling him something like "you're way too easy on these boys; when we use to play in Ohio, they use to make us eat dirt", etc. There's a lot of football heritage in the family, going back to my grandfather who was involved in the famous ... what, you never heard of it?... tie game (link is actual picture from game) between little Wooster and Ohio State back in the early 20's. Dad's mom's side, the Willamans, may have had even more notoriety as Sam Willaman once played professional football with Jim Thorpe for the Canton Bulldogs and went on to coach Ohio State later on. His brother Frank also played at Ohio State. Cameron and Kyle must get their basketball genes from their great grandmother, Martha 'Danny' Willaman (top left corner of picture) who scored more points than all other players combined in the league her senior year ... try to match that record boys.

Later that same night my Mom came over and helped me work on a piano piece I have started to work on again as part of my therapy. I'll bet most of you didn't even know I played. Well, technically, I don't ... I memorize piece by piece until it sounds like I know what I am doing. I started this back in high school with my infamous rendering of The House of the Rising Sun. I'm now working on something called Grieg's Concerto Opus 16, which you would probably recognize; it is incredibly pompous of me to attempt something this hard, but oh well.If I play it over and over again enough, I may be able to fool some people. If I can figure out how to record to the computer, I will 'play' a sample for you.

More later ....

9/22/00 Update
Cameron had a great game today with 13 tackles, a 50 yard pass reception and four pat's as the varsity Clairemont Chiefs won 40 - 21, to go to 2 and 1 on the season.

You might ask how I know this already, since it just happened ... simple, I was there. The doctor released me today and we flew home in time for the game, surprising everyone. Liz wanted to call and tell the boys, but I couldn't resist the surprise. Grannie Annie picked us up at the airport and managed to keep the secret from my niece Heather, who goes to school with Cameron. When I got to the game and I saw Cameron with my old high school number drawn on his upper arm, I can assure you I was a little 'verklempt' (talk amongst yourselves). Cameron just said 'I can't believe you' when he saw us, but after the game he told us it was a little tough to start the game out feeling verklempt, too.

I walked up behind my dad and his brother John and said 'great day for a football game' and my dad had another 'priceless' reaction (something to the effect of 'why you son of a' ... then hugs and tears all around ... great stuff.

Liz had to run up to give Kyle some money for school pictures just before the game and he was, like, what is she doing here at school? ... then he went 'wait a minute, why aren't you in Texas?' Liz said the look on his face was priceless.

Anyway, we are back home and glad to be here. I was getting tired giving demonstrations of my website to touring doctors who Dr. Mavligit was showing around, including a couple from Budapest. I am still waiting for my lecture stipend check from Mav.

I feel ... ok. Still got a ways to go, but better here amongst friends and family than in the hospital, right? Many people prayed that I would be given the strength to handle this treatment easier than the last and I thank you.

I will be going back October 16th, presumably for another round similar to the first (unless the scans show I don't need another treatment -- for now ... there's our next prayer assignment).

Thanks everyone, for everything.

9/21/00
Much better day today. Kind of cruised around the hospital ... took the scenic tour ... arboretum, chapel, meditation room, even outside (still muggy as all get out). Also spent alot of time adding jokes and pictures to this website. Night time didn't go as well as I seemed to digress with nauseousness and pain in the area of my liver. Tough night of sleep.

Dr Mavligit brought around some doctors who were attending a conference and I basically gave them a little seminar on how the internet can be used by patients. I only charged a nominal fee for this service.

Liz is holding out well. Probably boredom is the worst part.

We have received almost too many emails for our incredibly supportive friends and family. Many people have taken the opportunity to offer up specific prayers and scripture and We appreciate that.

Talked to the boys last night (note this is early Friday) and it seems like they are doing fine, although they may be getting spoiled with some of the meals people have been providing for them. We are bummed we will miss Cameron's game (Friday @ 3;00 at Clairemont), but are hopeful we can get to kyle's baseball game on Sunday.

More later