Hello everyone, we hope you all had a great Christmas like we did! Andrew's big gift was a new iMac Computer to make life in college a little easier; Maddi got her cell phone which has been non-stop texting since Friday morning; Dana is finally getting to see U2 in concert in July and I got a bunch of new clothes for my skinny ass. Most importantly we all got to be together to celebrate the Holiday! Some of you may know that March 30th is our 25th Anniversary (I know, it's hard to believe Dana put up with me for that long). Since I could not go down to Florida this past summer, I used my credits and ended up booking a cheap flight for both of us to fly in and out of West Palm Beach for an 11 day gettawayand much needed vacation! The trip will include a 5 night cruise out of Miami to Cozumel and Grand Cayman Islands, then 2 nights in Key West, 1 night in Marathon Key and then 3 nights with Dana's parents in West Palm Beach. I originally was going to book it over our anniversary dates but quite frankly, couldn't wait that long and it's pretty damn cold outside right now so we're going in January!
We also got to see Dana's Sister "Bucky" and the little "Fra-Fra", Sammi in the big city the Friday before Christmas. It was the usual "fun" ride into and through Manhatten (remind me to take the bus next time). Next, we took a few calm minutes to decide on which restaraunt to eat lunch at and the decision was Bubba Gumps after heavy lobbying by Andrew. We had a really nice lunch and then we were going to go to Madam Tussaud's Wax museum until we got there and found it would cost a small fortune for us all to enter! Soooo, we walked to Bryant Park and saw the skating rink and tree there; then to Rockefeller Center and saw the "real" tree with stops at Central Park, F.A.O. Schwartz and we can't forget the request by Maddi to stop at Saks 5th Avenue because she wanted to buy a pair of shoes. Needless to say, after she saw an average price tag of $950 for a pair, she said she would wait till we got home and would go to Payless. A stop at Starbuck's for some much needed hot coffee/chocolate topped off the bitter cold day before our walk back to Times Square to pick up our car which thankfully was there.Well we haven't quite determined what exactly we're doing for New Year's yet and traditionally it has always been low key but as Dana & I discussed, this is the first year we really want to celebrate by saying "adios" to 2009 and welcome the new year! That being said...Happy New Year to all our family and friends
As expected, my 2nd PET scan was very good and the way I got the news was a much better experience than the last! Dr. Yen said that everything looks as good as can be expected and that he is extremely happy with the results and that I should be equally as happy. He is now suggesting to simply "keep an eye on things" through 4 - 6 week check-ups with him and to now go to 3 month intervals between PET scans. If the next scan looks good, we'll probably go to 4 - 6 months and follow that logic for a while. I asked Dr. Yen when will I be "out of the woods" and his response was after 5 years with no sign of cancer. He also went on to say that my first milestone should be the two year mark. If there is a recurrence, 97% of the time it will happen within the first two years. If we can get to the two year point, I'll be in great shape. Every day that goes by without signs of cancer is a step in the right direction. Dr. Yen was very encouraging and believes that right now, I'm looking at 85% odds of being cured.I still have all the same side effects with no noticeable improvements to them but I am still hopeful that they will get better. I have been keeping myself busy with my latest project of finishing our basement which I refer to as the "man cave". This was something that I had wanted to do before my ordeal and I'm proud to say that I'm just about done with it and it looks pretty damn good if I may say so myself. You can see a shot of the wall that holds the plasma and kick-ass sound system that I finally treated myself to below. As much as I love music, I have not bought a "decent" sound system that I can crank up and sound awesome since my college days.
I am also glad to report that my father-in-law is now at home and doing extremely well. He had a few minor complications like fluid around his lung and heart and an infection in the incision area, but that is all resolved and he is looking forward to getting back out on the golf course and walking the mall again! Oh, and while he was in the hospital, he was actually joined by his son (Dana's brother) Paul who ended up being in the hospital for about a week and was treated for Mercer which he got as a result from a cut while doing his chef thing at work. I didn't realize how severe this could have been, they said he almost lost his finger because of it and I then heard about a program where a woman who was also a chef lost her entire arm and it attacked other organs in her body. I spoke to brother Paul and he is also doing well as he is on an IV at home pumping some major antibiotics in his system while he recovers. Get well soon you two, I'm ready to come down there so us three sickos can play some golf!Happy 50th Anniversary Mom & Dad! Love you guys - Fred
Hello everyone, we hope you all had a great Christmas like we did! Andrew's big gift was a new iMac Computer to make life in college a little easier; Maddi got her cell phone which has been non-stop texting since Friday morning; Dana is finally getting to see U2 in concert in July and I got a bunch of new clothes for my skinny ass. Most importantly we all got to be together to celebrate the Holiday!
We also got to see Dana's Sister "Bucky" and the little "Fra-Fra", Sammi in the big city the Friday before Christmas. It was the usual "fun" ride into and through Manhatten (remind me to take the bus next time). Next, we took a few calm minutes to decide on which restaraunt to eat lunch at and the decision was Bubba Gumps after heavy lobbying by Andrew. We had a really nice lunch and then we were going to go to Madam Tussaud's Wax museum until we got there and found it would cost a small fortune for us all to enter! Soooo, we walked to Bryant Park and saw the skating rink and tree there; then to Rockefeller Center and saw the "real" tree with stops at Central Park, F.A.O. Schwartz and we can't forget the request by Maddi to stop at Saks 5th Avenue because she wanted to buy a pair of shoes. Needless to say, after she saw an average price tag of $950 for a pair, she said she would wait till we got home and would go to Payless. A stop at Starbuck's for some much needed hot coffee/chocolate topped off the bitter cold day before our walk back to Times Square to pick up our car which thankfully was there.
