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Last night I played soccer. My team (the Matrix in a Rec "B" league) came back from a 1-3 deficit to win the game 5-4. The teams I play with (Orange Crush) in two co-ed league nights)on Sundays and Mondays have each also won this week. I was fortunate to play three games in the last four days and win each of those games.

On the minus side, when I got home from the game last night, I was pretty sure that I had fractured my left forearm during our game. I am not playing soccer tonight.

My hair started falling out in gobs yesterday. Hair fell into everything, in my mouth, pillowcases and all over the sink. I just wanted it gone.

This morning at 4:45 AM I asked JSP to use the hair clipper to take my hair off. After trimming down the unruly and rapidly thinning mess on my head, JSP helped me to get dressed because I was not able to use my left arm with out We made ready to leave and I was at the hospital by 5:40 AM.

I looked disgusting this morning. Yes, those metal pins were anchored into my skull for most of the day today.

Shudder, now look away.

If you want the basic run down of the procedure, feel free to go back to my January 16th Gamma Knife in Your Brain posting.

The specialized MRI today helped the medical team decide to treat three of my largest brain tumors. Dr. Paul, after reading today's MRI called my other, smaller tumors "wispy" suggesting that the whole brain radiation that I had done during two of the last three weeks may have had the desired effect of shrinking or stopping their growth.

After the MRI, technicians did an Xray for me of my possibly fractured arm. Luckily the images of my arm showed no fracture. I was positively surprised by this information and am happy that my left arm will heal faster now that there is actually nothing wrong with the bone. I may take to the soccer pitch again next week after all.

JSP was with me during most of the time I was at the hospital today, of course he could not be in the room during therapy, but he was a rock for me, proving to me time and again that he loves me and will do anything to make this easier for me. He even smiled calmly when he took the above Frankenstein monster photograph of me.

I was sent home this afternoon and have been relaxing and consuming fruit and vegetables and some juice.

I am feeling tired out by the days events, but otherwise doing well.

Honestly, the only truly terrible part of the treatment was having that frame anchored in my head. Dr. Paul and the neurologist and the physicist were each very professional while still being lots of fun. My nurse, Trixy, was also really wonderful.

I felt fortunate to have this all done so close to home. I am thankful for many things, including my partner, my family and friends, my colleagues at work, my health insurance, and the fine doctors and staff in Radiation Oncology at the University of Minnesota.

Labels: Melanoma, MRI, radiation

"How are you feeling?" takes on a totally different tone than the same question held just over a month ago.

I feel good today.

I frequently feel like I am being anti-climactic when I say, "I'm feeling pretty good today." A much more interesting answer feels expected. Sometimes I wish I could answer something like, "My galactoid levels are really high today," or "About five minutes ago my sphincter was in pandemonium, but now I have it under control."

I feel quite good overall and this does not change much from day to day. I am fortunate that people want to know how I am doing, but I get slightly irritated by so much curiosity about my body. Want me to describe my low level nausea in detail? Are details regarding my difficulty following the Gerson therapy interesting? Do I have to admit that my hair is now starting to fall out in small clumps even if if you can't tell yet by looking at me?

When people ask me how I am feeling, the question feels poised to expose my difficulties. That in essence asks me to be vulnerable all the time. I prefer not to feel vulnerable all the time. Sometimes I feel like people are asking "Do you still have cancer?" and the answer to that will always be, "Yes." That can be a depressing question to answer repetitively.

Each glass of juice I manage to drink, each bowl of oatmeal I eat, each soccer game I play in, and even each coffee enema make me feel better. I choose to work and fight to be well and enjoy each day. My life is continuing. Cancer is part of my life now, but it is not the entirety of my life.

I finished the whole brain radiation treatment this past Wednesday, and in two days I undergo the Gamma Knife treatment to treat the largest tumors in my brain. This will be a whole day affair, and may take a day or so to recover from.

The tumors on the underside of my skin do not appear to be growing beyond the size they were a month ago although some tumors have appeared in new places. I don't have any pain. I am mostly asymptomatic of being in stage IV cancer. Beyond that, I don't know how my cancer is doing.

I feel good today.

Ask how my beer brewing is going. Ask if I have seen any good films lately. Ask who I support in the upcoming Minnesota Democratic Caucus (Barack Obama). Ask what my favorite food is on my new diet. Ask me to go out and enjoy the day with you. Questions like these focus on life continuing.

Labels: juicing, Melanoma, perspective, radiation

Tonight my friend Cosmic Monkey came over to play. We considered doing art projects together, but first we'd have to locate my oil paints. After searching the first floor, second floor, basement and garage, we gave up looking for the illusive oil colors and settled for playing some old school games on an antiquated Nintendo 64 that I was given by a friend many months ago. These games held our attention for perhaps an hour, then we moved on to the evening's main attraction, bottling beer.

I have had fifteen gallons of beer sitting in my home that I have been putting off bottling since I stopped drinking beer due to my new chronic health condition. It seemed unfair somehow that I would not allow myself to taste any of this fantastic beer hand crafted with loving detail. Since I learned beer brewing through Cosmic Monkey, it seemed poetic that he was here to help me bottle the beer I would never drink.

On this cold night in Northeast Minneapolis while bottling beer, we spoke candidly about fear, death, and loss. I brought up the Buddhist idea of impermanence which gives me comfort. He spoke of childhood in a Christian tradition, and remembered the exact moment in his childhood when he realized that his parents would eventually die. Winter does this I think, it reminds us of our mortality as we take refuge from the cold outside, nestled in our homes, brewing beer. Outside the garden is covered deep in snow, but I know that it will be green and luscious as we tend it in the spring.

Ten gallons of hand crafted bottled beer are now neatly stacked in the basement, minus a share given to Cosmic Monkey. Five gallons of my Sweet Stout and five gallons of my Phat Tyre Amber Ale will sleep soundly for the next two weeks, coming of age in their bottles. Five gallons of my Belgian Triple Ale still stare at me from a carboy wondering when it too will have the privilege of finding its way into beautiful green flip top bottles. This Belgian beer will be extra strong, strong enough perhaps to "put hair on your chest" as my father might say.

Who will drink my beer?

Labels: beer, cold weather, friendship, garden, Northeast Minneapolis

Last night JSP and I went to the Guthrie Theater to see their current mainstage show, Peer Gynt. We left our home in Northeast Minneapolis about 20 minutes before showtime and arrived only ten minutes before the curtain. This time crunch meant that we did not have time to lounge about in the Guthrie's deliciously modern public spaces and bars. Instead we were herded with our fellow audience members through the halls and into the thrust theatre to our seats.

As we took our seats, we noticed that most of the cast was already on stage. The actors were greeting each other and speaking casually to the audience in typical Midwestern dialects. We could discern that they were talking about a party happening and they seemed happy that we all had made it through the cold to join them. The stage was minimally dressed, but was staged to look artfully like the inside of a barn. The stage floor itself appeared to be made of planks of hardwood. Later in the show the floor would show off a marvelous ability to transform to look like both shifting sands and finally moving water in a tempestuous sea.

The script is based on Henrik Ibsen's construction of a Norwegian Folktale. Ibsen is best known for his play A Doll's House. This translation and script work was done by Robert Bly, a Minnesotan writer probably best known for Iron John: A Book About Men.

The play follows the title character Peer Gynt, a merry prankster of an everyman, through his life. His life is marked by an inability to connect in any real way with women or anything feminine. He is driven by self interest and fear of commitment. The actor playing Peer is charismatic and interesting but even his fantastic acting skills were not enough for me to find his exploits worth savoring. The performances by the entire cast were first rate. However, I was really not very touched by the content of the play. It was a little like using great ingredients to make a mediocre recipe. The play lasted too long and offered little philosophy to chew on.

Some have likened Peer Gynt to a morality play. This analysis falls short because the main moral question in the script is roughly: Is it enough to just be yourself, or is it important to challenge yourself to be responsible to those who love you and to your community as a whole?

I saw a different translation of this play performed at Hill Murray High School when I was in about sixth grade. As a student years ago, I thought that the Norwegian tale of Peer Gynt must be too deep for me to fully understand. By seeing this production I realized that this was not the case. The play is a farce dressed up as something profound.

In summary, the production was very good, but the play itself is mediocre. It was interesting to see that with even the full artistic force of the Guthrie Theater behind this play, it still could not become a better play than it is. I guess we cannot blame Ibsen's Peer Gynt, the play is just being itself.

Labels: arts, Minnesota, Northeast Minneapolis

Although I had the day off of work due to Martin Luther King Day, I did have to go in for my daily radiation therapy. The photograph above was shot by my sister Julie. We wanted to document the fabulous experience that I have been having for the last two weeks of having my head bolted down to a board and zapped with massive quantities of radiation. The radiologists were very accommodating and seemed to understand perfectly why I would want to get a photo of this. One of the techs remarked, "Be sure to smile for the photo."

Our weekend went well, and I greatly appreciated the two day break from radiation. I only have two more treatments and then I am done with this therapy. The Gamma Knife is still to come, but at least it is just a single day procedure.

I wanted to go visit some friends in Gays Mills, Wisconsin this weekend, but I was just not feeling up to the road trip. The reports I read from those who made it there suggested that my friends that gathered there had a wonderful time. I am sad that I missed it.

My wonderfully devoted sister Julie kept Jason and me company for the last week and a half. Although I am sad to see her go home to Denver, I am excited for her to return to the arms of her husband. They will be flying off to have a fantastic vacation in sunny Belize... where I would like to be going too, since Minnesota is an icy hell. Julie played soccer with my team on Sunday since we were short players, and she did very well for not having played soccer for many years. She is in good cardiovascular shape and did herself proud, playing the entire first half of the game. We lost the game, but not due to her heroic efforts.

Honestly, Julie and I spent some time crying together this weekend too. I was amazed and delighted to see her blow her nose all over the shirt she was wearing. What a lady! It certainly didn't matter in the moment. In a well lived life there is time enough for smiles and for tears; I welcome living both of these times. (Next time though, I could do with less snot.)

I have been in good spirits this weekend, but I have not been closely following the Gerson diet. I like to blame it on my nausea from the radiation, but it is also that I am really desperate for food with flavor. Nausea makes drinking glass after glass of freshly squeezed vegetable juice unbearable, so I have been sticking to just having a few fruit juices. I am not consuming anywhere near the 13 glasses of juice a day that is my eventual target. I have been drinking tons of organic peppermint tea which seems to calm my stomach reliably.

I ate half of a not allowed vegetarian burrito today, and some not allowed Ahi Tuna. On Saturday, I ate a huge pile of not allowed sushi. Since my weight has fallen 8-10 lbs, I figure that it is more important to get nutritious calories than to follow the exact foods of the diet. Hopefully once my regiment of radiation is done I will be able to stomach the Gerson Therapy much closer.

Did I mention that am totally stoked to have only two more radiation sessions left? This does not include the day long Gamma Knife session that will take place next week. A metal halo screws into my head for that one. Woohoo!

Just because I look so pretty in it, here is another shot of me. Doesn't it look like an evil Spider man has been to visit me?

Labels: cold weather, juicing, Melanoma, radiation

I wish everyone heartfelt thanks for the outpouring of support and well wishes that many of you have sent out way over the last few weeks. Nothing that JayBee and I have experienced over the last seven and a half years could have prepared us for what awaits us in our future. Together we look for support and love from each other and are very grateful for the love and support from so many of our family members and friends.

This web site has been very useful in distributing the day to day information we obtain regarding the status of JayBee's health. I hope to contribute more, to express some of my thoughts and emotions to you all. It has been three weeks since the test results, this is my first post on the blog.

My mind has been all over the place in these three weeks. We have shared tears together and have pulled ourselves up and now talk about optimism, healing and faith in our body's ability to rid itself of this noxious weed. I have hope for a future with my partner. He is strong, vigorous and energetic. The news was stunning to hear because when you look at JayBee you only see the exterior...a model of fitness.

The changes are still ongoing in attempt to modify JayBee's diet to conform with the Gerson Therapy standards. This is certainly a challenge. Combined with the brain radiation treatment, the Gerson diet is not at all appetizing. It is difficult to stomach under perfect conditions, and I wish there were more foods that were available.

With my scientific background, I am somewhat skeptical of some of the foods that are available and some that are not permitted by the Gerson Therapy. I believe most of what is prescribed is healthy and sound scientifically, however I would like more detailed references as to why berries, for example, are forbidden food. Hot peppers, basil, and oregano are forbidden because they contain aromatic compounds, but no real scientific explanation is given to back up this claim. I know of several studies that suggest Capsaicin, a component of hot peppers, is healing and beneficial in cancer fighting. Thus it currently is a "do as best as we can" situation with trying to conform to the Gerson Therapy.

I hope to contribute more to our blog, especially if I have something I want to rant or rave about.

I can't fully express my thanks and gratitude for everyone sending positive energy our direction... it is being put to very good use.

Labels: juicing, Melanoma

Today I met with yet another Radiation Oncologist, Dr. Paul. Even though Dr. Paul was very clear, concise, and Caucasian, my take away message was something that sounded to my multicultural brain a bit more like a refrain from a heartfelt urban gangstalicious song:

Gotta let me sticka sticka Gamma Knife in yo Brain!

My cultural critique is that the Gamma Knife procedure should receive much more cultural coverage than it has received so far. Rappers and Britteny Spears should sing about it and rhapsodize about the fantastic wonder of modern medicine that it is.

Those in my reading audience that have experience with the Gamma Knife procedures might be familiar with the following drawings.

First, a kind doctor with a Phillips screwdriver screws a metal frame to your skull. Don't worry boys and girls, the screws won't hurt as they enter your skull.

Then you will be fed into a large robot that will enjoy delicately consuming your delicious head.

Finally, you become a Scientologist.


My whole brain radiation therapy is done on Wednesday, January 23, 2008 and a week later, January 30, 2008 I get the Gamma Knife therapy. The procedure lasts a single full day and they told me I probably want to stay home the following day.

Labels: Melanoma, radiation

Only six more radiation treatments to go.

I have not experienced any great pain from the whole brain radiation treatments, just sparklingly fresh breath.

No really.

Mild headaches can develop a few hours after treatment along with a low grade nausea. I can eat despite the nausea, but it makes eating less pleasant. I am happy that I am 40% done with this therapy and have not suffered worse symptoms.

Still struggling to drink enough freshly made juice, I take thermoses full of juice to work. I am learning that you can't use juicing bags that have been used for icky things (like green juices) and use them for yummy things (like fruit juices) and expect the yummy juices to remain yummy.

I have several dietary supplements that go along with the Gerson therapy. My favorite is pig pancreas extract, otherwise known as Pancreatin. I have about seven vitamin and herbal pills that I take daily now. I am learning as much as possible about each of these supplements. I hope that they help me to strengthen my immune system and break down tumors.

Labels: juicing, Melanoma, radiation

I woke up Sunday morning and felt well enough to play soccer. Julie and I got dressed and drove to my game at the University of Minnesota. Our team played hard, but something did not congeal right and we ended up losing 0-3. After the game we returned home and hosted some family and friends for freshly made juices and games.

Over the course of Sunday, I consumed nine glasses of juice, still four short of the magic thirteen that I am shooting for, but still more that I had ever consumed in a single day. JSP and Julie were troopers making me juice after juice after juice and each time cleaning up the kitchen afterward. I also had two coffee breaks.

Today at work, I got some strange hives around 11:00 AM. I am not sure if they were caused by sun beating down on me through the windows, bad carrots in my juice, or by something else, totally unknown. The hives went away in twenty minutes and the rest of my workday went fine.

I went to my third radiation treatment today at 1:30 PM and so far I have no side effects. The walk over to the hospital from work was really cold; we are locally at 9 degrees Fahrenheit. This is far colder than any place has the right to be.

The question for me remains, will I go completely bald before JSP does? Stay tuned for this and other exciting news as JayBee: Cancer Patient continues.

Labels: Melanoma, radiation

Today JSP and I spent the day making fresh organic vegetable and fruit juices and running errands with my sister Julie. I was hoping to be able to write about successfully drinking thirteen glasses of fresh juice today. Realistically however, I consumed probably only five or six 8 oz. glasses of juice. Partly I felt short of my goal because I felt some nausea today. I wanted to blame my nausea on the vegetables and juices, but the more I thought about it, the more I realized that this unpleasant feeling was probably a lingering effect from the radiation treatments of the last two days. I would probably have felt nausea today no matter what I was eating.

Julie had some wild adventures with our Norwalk juicer. "I think I am doing something wrong!" she called out from the kitchen as I heard the juicer whir. I went to the kitchen to see fruit and vegetable matter flying upwards out of the juicer and sticking to the kitchen ceiling and walls.

"No, that looks about right." Plant matter again violently sprayed the ceiling from the juicer. Working together on our juicing technique, we figured out how to minimize the projectile vegetation and maximize the flow of juice.

Yesterday and today I felt quite good. I felt less negative physical reactions from my second radiation treatment than from the first. I had less headache and less overall sick feeling. I enjoyed having the day off from radiation today.

In addition to the juicing, Julie and I went for a walk around Como Lake in St. Paul. We bundled up well and enjoyed walking and talking with each other in a scenic place that we each remembered spending lots of time in high school. We had tea at Ginko Coffeehouse to warm us back up before heading back home.

Today I was able to take stock of the requirements of the Gerson therapy and come to some conclusions regarding the time commitment needed to follow it. I also had my first coffee enema, but chances are you are not very interested in learning about that in any great detail. It functions as a sort of dialysis for your liver and bile ducts, reportedly helping your body to remove toxins from your blood. I'll just say that it went fine and was much easier than I'd expected.

I look forward to taking Julie with me to my soccer game tomorrow. I feel really good today and I hope that my body continues to be tolerant of my upcoming radiation treatments this week.

Labels: cold weather, juicing, Melanoma, radiation

This morning I met with a plastic surgeon. I was referred to Dr. E. by my oncologist (Dr. A.) on Wednesday when I asked if it would be possible to remove some of the tumors in my skin that have been bothering me.

The meeting went great. Dr. E. measured my tumors and told me that all of the tumors that are causing me pain or discomfort could be removed during a single surgical procedure. I asked about how the radiation treatment that I am currently on will impact this. He suggested that we wait to do surgery until after my whole brain radiation treatment is complete. We set up an appointment for the surgery for February 12, 2008. If I receive any steroids to combat swelling in my brain during radiation therapy, then this surgery will have to be pushed back 6-8 weeks.

I learned yesterday that my sister Julie, who lives in Denver, is here to visit. She decided that she wanted to spend some time with me, grabbed a reasonable priced ticket, and flew in this morning. She is going to walk me over to my radiation therapy today.

Today I am drinking a carrot-apple-beet juice. I am excited to follow the whole Gerson therapy regiment tomorrow, it will be the first day that I will be able to drink the thirteen glasses of juice and try out the other part of the therapy... more on that later.

Labels: juicing, Melanoma, radiation, surgery

My first whole brain radiation treatment went fine. I don't feel much different now from how I felt this morning. I am scouring my mind to find if I feel any different, and so far feel only a sense of increased awareness about my head. (Edit - An hour later I have a significant headache.)

The treatment went relatively fast, I was in and out in less than 15 minutes. I'll continue this radiation therapy daily at 1:30 PM weekdays for the next nine days.

On Wednesday of next week, at the halfway point through this therapy, I will meet with the doctor who is overseeing this treatment.

Labels: Melanoma, radiation

The appointment with my oncologist Dr. A. went fine yesterday. He told me that the brain radiation treatment that I start today is really the only thing I should be thinking about in the near future in regards to treatment. Most of the experimental studies that he had spoken to me about in our last appointment are no longer open to me since I have active metastases in my brain. However, three months after my brain radiation treatment, if the tumor activity stops and I am stable, I may again be eligible for some of the experimental treatments.

Hearing that my brain tumors made me ineligible for these experimental treatments was not the news I was hoping to hear, but in some ways it was helpful, because now I can put all my focus into going through this radiation treatment and on my new diet.

Yesterday my juicers arrived! JSP and I purchased two machines, a Champion juicer and the Cadillac of juicers, the Norwalk juicer. I am on my way to following the Gerson Therapy anti-cancer diet therapy which suggests consuming thirteen servings of eight ounces of freshly made organic juice over the course of your day. That is a glass of juice every hour all day every day.

It is time to drink some juice. Mmmn, I am drinking carrot apple juice made about two hours ago as I write this sentence. Ideally you drink the juice immediately upon making it, but few of us live in ideal worlds... in fact in an ideal world I would not have cancer at all.

I have an appointment tomorrow morning with a surgeon. I want to have some of my tumors removed because they are starting to make it uncomfortable to sleep. Additionally I have a small tumor on my upper lip that causes me distress. Dr. A. did not think there would be any drawbacks to having the troublesome tumors surgically removed. One possible concern is that being on radiation therapy might make me heal slower, so I may wait to have the surgeries until after the radiation is done.

My radiation treatment starts today at 2:00 PM. Sessions on this therapy only last 15 minutes. I'll walk to treatment from work, receive treatment, and then walk back to work. My hope is that I will feel OK after the treatment and be able to continue with my day as normal. I feel confident that I can continue to be productive through this process.

Wish me luck.

Labels: juicing, Melanoma, radiation

This afternoon I will be going to see my Oncologist Dr. A. to talk about treatment options for my systemic cancer. I am not sure what experimental options are out there, but I know there should be several promising studies that I may be eligible to participate in.

Today is my last pre-radiation day, so I enjoyed showering and combing my hair this morning. I don't know how much longer I will have my hair, as it will likely fall out from the whole brain radiation therapy that I start tomorrow. Between my new scars, lumps and the loss of my hair, I am certain to become less physically attractive quickly. Tonight after my soccer pick up game, I will ask JSP take some photos of me with my hair. Before and after photos can sometimes pack a punch. On some level it feels good to let slip the chains of vanity.

I'd also like to publicly brag about how well I played soccer the last two days. On Monday, my team tied 1-1 and I scored our only goal. Yesterday (Tuesday) our team won 9-5 and I scored two goals. Hoot Hoot! Playing soccer is one more wonderful thing to live for.

Labels: Melanoma, sport

There has been a long absence of posts in this space, and that is because JSP and I have been going through some life changing experiences lately. On December 26, 2007 I received some bad news from one of my doctors. Some tissue that I had biopsied showed that I had metastasized melanoma, a particularly aggressive and difficult to treat cancer.

The tone and timber of this blog will be different from now on, there may still be the occasional food or entertainment reviews, political pieces, and writings about hobbies, but from this time forward this will be where we also document our journey through cancer. Below is a short synopsis of what has happened so far.

I had skin cancer (Melanoma) in 1998 and it appeared a that time that I was one of the lucky persons who seemed to have caught it early. I was 22 years old and I had gained a sense of my own mortality. Doctors at the time told me that the chances were that if it was going to recur that it would likely recur in the first five years. After many years had passed, I felt that I had been really lucky, and hoped it would never come back.

On December 26, 2007 I learned the result of a biopsy test that I had done on some small lumps which my dermatologist removed from my torso. The biopsy results conclusively indicated massive systematic Melanoma in my body. The results were not completely unexpected to me, but were still quite difficult to hear. The cancer that I had struggled with when I was 22, returned almost 10 years later.

Subsequent PET and CT scans, taken on December 31, 2007, showed that I have tumors in several places under my skin and two tumors in my lung. This confirmed the diagnosis of systemic cancer and gave me a baseline for how developed the cancer is at this time. An MRI that I also had done on December 31st showed that I have brain tumors. I learned of these test results from my doctor and his nurse on January 2, 2008.

The brain tumors were a shock to me, partly because I have not had headaches, motor skill problems, behavioral changes, or any other symptoms of brain tumors. As you can imagine the brain tumors were not welcome news. My oncologist promptly communicated that in his opinion the course of treatment for my brain tumors was to have whole brain radiation therapy to combat the smaller visible brain tumors and the unseen brain tumors. Once this treatment was completed he suggested that a Gamma Knife procedure be used to target one or more of the largest tumors that may not be knocked out by the first wave of radiation.

I have felt hesitant to submit to the brain radiation therapy, because I currently feel so good. I am afraid that in the short term, at least, that this will lower my quality of life. The potential side affects (including decreased cognitive function) are frightening, however I know that leaving the tumors to grow in my brain is not a wise option and that brain damage, if it should occur due to pressure from the tumors, would most likely be irreversible. With this in mind I am planning on gogin ahead with whole brain radiation therapy. My first radiation therapy session is this week on Thursday, January 10, 2008 at 2:00 PM. As I understand it this therapy will go for 2 weeks, M-F. I also understand that the effects are cumulative, so the last session swill probably be much harder than the first few. Optimistic thoughts are hard for me to come by about this, but the treatment seems preferable to not being treated.

On Wednesday, January 9, 2008 I'll talk with my Oncologist, Dr. A about systemic treatment options.

I am still going to work as normal and feeling fine, asymptomatic for the most part except for the small tumors I can locate in my skin.

Before my diagnosis, I was planning to play soccer four nights a week with my soccer team. I enjoyed playing in a game last night, and I shot our team's only goal. (We tied 1 - 1.) I am unsure about my ability to continue playing soccer while receiving radiation therapy, but if I can play, I will play.

In addition to the allopathic (traditianal medicine) treatments that my doctors have described, I am also using a book on the Gerson Therapy to guide my choices regarding dietary intake. I am hoping that moving toward a diet rich in fresh organic fruits and vegetables will help strengthen my immune system both to brace my body against the cancer and against potentially toxic cancer therapies.

I want to live a long time and I am thinking of my body as a garden and this cancer as a weed. I hope to be able to tend the garden and keep the weeds in check for years to come.

Labels: CT, Melanoma, MRI, PET, radiation