Big Thom rides again

Not sure who is still out there but figured that I would give this a shot. Hi, it's John. My brothers Mike, Jim and myself have been trying to get some things organized and h3elp out Priscilla. She has worked long and hard for years and deserves a Nobel Peace Prize for not going nuts already. Anyway, the phrase for the day is "disease free".

I was in Florida a couple weeks ago and spoke face to face with Dad's doctors at University of Florida Shand's medical center, and they gave me the info.
The main problem now is dealing with his pain and daily comfort level. He came through the transplant like a champ and now we need to make this a success story instead of a sad one. He has spent the past couple weeks at Park Meadow's in Gainsville, Fl. and it is a rehab center. We are trying to get his mental, physical health in order and get him to the point that he can enjoy his time on earth with less pain.

I would like to ask that if you have the time call Dad. He is in need of family and friend support and it gives him a great boost of energy. When his mental health is good, his physical heath seems to get better as well. Priscilla could also benefit from the same kindness as she is down there with limited family and friend contact. So lets all work a little mind, body and soul magic...OK? Great, you are all the best.
Get hold of MIke, Jim or myself if you have any questions.

Talked to Dad

I talked to Dad the other day and he said that he is feeling much better. We talked for a good 28 minutes, according to the phone timer. That is a big deal for him. He said that he is working on getting more food down but not much tastes good right now, mostly because of the chemicals. But he said that he is feeling better. While we were talking the big guy needed to use the little boys room and realized for the first time in around a month that he was not tethered to any machines or tubes. He was truly free of the medical end of things and he is trying to rebound using the antibiotics and diet. He is still moving slow and we discussed that it may take him an hour or so to get his room packed up if he were to leave today, but he is not.

I would like to alert the staff of the hospital that he seems to be in possesion of about ten pair of hospital pants and I think he is planning on stealing them, of course after our talk I don't think that they want them anymore, use your imagination. All in all things appear to be swinging upward and if you wanted to call this might be one of the better times to do so. Thanks for reading and keep the comments coming, I read them to him when I call.

Not sure how to post a comment?

Just go below the text portion of the entry and click on the button that says how many comments have been posted i.e. (4 comments). Then scroll to the bottom of the comments and type away. You will have to pick some choices and authenticate as well but hang in there you will get it. JT

Ding Dong The Witch Is Dead!

The tests have been run twice just to make sure and the results are in ... the Leukemia is GONE! That's right folks, Dad has squeaked through in that 30-50% range Dr. Chris initially talked about and the first round of chemo did the trick.

He now gets to spend his remaining two weeks in the hospital getting pumped up with the good stuff (antibiotics) for a change in order to rebuild his immune system so he can be released from his bubble into the rest of the world.

This is the absolute BEST CASE SCENARIO, so it looks like the Polish Gods were smiling down on us all this weekend despite Ohio State and Notre Dame losing in the last seconds of their respective games!

Of course, cancer is cancer, so it looks like he may be coming back for another hospital stay in a month for another round of chemo ... but that will just be to pound it into submission, because this Pollack is in remission!

Dad sounded great on the phone (as you can imagine), but he's still pretty tired. He thanked everyone for all their well-wishes and is looking forward to reentering society as just a Walendrome's patient!

Guest Book

When you guys want to get a message to Dad leave him a new guest book signature and comment. When I talk to him I usually try and log in and read them to him so he knows. Tried to call yesterday and left voice-mail, but the last time that we talked I read them to him and he was surprised to hear how many wrote in and are following. Nice job guys! John

Day 14

It's Jim again ... looks like this blog thing is going to be driven by ghost writers versus the Big Guy himself until he's feeling a bit better. Anyway, here's the most recent update:

Dad had his Day 14 bone marrow biopsy done yesterday at about 2 PM. Everything went well this time and he said he felt "50% better coming out than I did going in." This is just a test, so we'll get the results back (hopefully) by Monday ... remember, this will let us know to what extent the chemo will be capable of wiping out the AML, so keep your fingers crossed.

After several phone calls, I was finally able to speak with Dad's nurse and P.A. about getting a better schedule for his pain meds. They agreed to have someone ask him if he needs them every four hours versus having him initiate the request (otherwise known as begging for his drugs). The degenerative problem they found in his back from the MRI on Sunday will be addressed after the chemotherapy, so no cortisone shot will be administered as earlier reported.

That's it for now ... keep the comments going in this forum. Phone calls into the hospital are subject to Dad's sleeping patterns, which have returned to their pre-AML levels. After taking a brief walk and reading a chapter in his Louis L'amour book, he said he was ready to "do what I do best: sleep."

And yes, you read it right ... he's reading the same Louis L'amour books as good ol' Grandpa Lemon used to dig through. History has a funny way of repeating itself, huh?!

I am not a blogger, nor an IM'er...but I do have a good PA related story to share...about golf.

A few years back I was golfing in a yearly organized outing with work and clients. When golfing, golf stories are told, and I shared one from when I was about 20 years old golfing with My Dad (PA).

We were playing behind a slow foursome, on a short par 4 about 300 yards long, PA had had enough. He couldn't wait any longer for these guys to get off the green, looked at me and said, "watch this, I'm going to put it right between his legs!" Then laid into his drive, ball rolled between a set of legs (know so because one guy lifted his leg as it rolled thru), when they turned to see who was chipping up on them, my Dad yelled, "FOUR!!!!" Had to be there, but it was all in the timing of yelling four after they turned around...what makes this story better?

After I was done telling the story, I walked up to hit my ball. I duffed one a good 20 feet, and sent a hunk of grass and dirt farther than the ball. When I looked down at the hole in the earths crust, there was a ball. The ball had a familiar logo staring up at me...Foseco.

True story, have witness, ball still in my car wedged (no pun) in gear shifter.

See you the 18th PA!

Love, Mike