Another birthday

Today we celebrated Denise's birthday.  We could because she's still here.  She fought the battle and won.  I haven't updated the blog in awhile as there hasn't been a whole lot to update.  Denise continues to recover from chemo and its after-effects, but every day she gets stronger both physically and in spirit.  

In the beginning of October, we did have an appointment for a follow-up with her cancer doctor, Doctor M.  It was a typical get up there early, go for a scan and then wait for the office visit.  There's always that tension and anxiety between the cat scan and the meeting, but luckily it was only about an hour or so.  When we went into the office, Doc M and Nurse J came in and right away gave us the awesome news that Denise remains cancer free!  He followed up with an exam and didn't find any problems at all!  So with that said, Denise has one more follow-up visit in February and as long as everything is good with that, we won't have to return to the clinic until the following February and  will continue on the yearly cycle.  That will also mean that Denise will be able to get the port removed from her, which she is very happy about.  Especially with our grandson.  You see, he seems to target that thing all the time when he gets grabby and it hurts.  But it's all good.  

Denise got to spend the day with her inspiration, celebrating another year.  And for that, we are truly thankful and blessed.  

Gideon

The night before her first chemo treatment, we found out that we were going to be grandparents. That gave Denise the power to fight and beat back the cancer to reclaim her life.  It wasn't ever an easy battle, but she did it.  On Monday morning, September 12, 2016 at 3:52 am, 253 days after the news, she was in the labor room and got to witness him coming into this world and into our lives.  I have never witnessed a greater joy in her eyes then we she came out to get us.

Thank you, Gideon, for coming into our lives and giving your grandma hope to fight a sometimes difficult battle.  

That time when we went to Ireland

I have been neglectful of the page as of late because, well, I haven't had a whole lot of news to share.  Well, that it until now.  If you have been following along here, you know that back in May we were told that we were going to be guests of some wonderful people in Ireland.  On July 31st, we started our adventure and what a grand adventure it was.  We spent a week in Northern Ireland seeing all the raw beauty that country has to offer, plus we got to visit where my grandfather was raised.  My biggest fear for Denise during this trip was her ongoing bouts of afib.  Since the chemo treatments, she has had afib on and off and it's been a struggle to find the right combination of medicines for her to keep things in check.  But on our journey over there, not one instance occurred.  Trust me when I say this, this wasn't just a sit back and relax vacation either.  We got out and saw things and walked places that tourists don't normally go along paths and trails that hug the ocean.  It was a beautiful time.  And Denise, she was a champ!  She got to nap in the car every now and again, but wow, I am impressed with her stamina on this trip. 

So if you didn't see my Facebook post thanking you all that were involved, I will say it here too.  Thank you!  Thank you for helping bring the spark back to my wife's eyes. Between our son's wedding, this trip and the soon to be born grandson, my wife is truly a warrior who has fought her way out of the darkness and back to herself.  I've included a link to the images from our trip below.

A day of celebration

If you follow along here on the blog over the past several months, you may remember a post I wrote back towards the beginning called "Twas the night before chemo".  That was the night before Denise's first treatment and when we learned that we were going to be grandparents.  

But with the bun in the oven, the kids decided to hurry their wedding date along a year and have the wedding this summer.  This past Saturday, July 9th to be exact.  It was a beautiful ceremony and day and was a true reflection of the love that Alex and Laura share with each other and with their soon to be born son, Gideon.  For Denise, the wedding and baby have been nothing but encouragement to get through her treatments and heal up so that she could celebrate the joys that life have given her.  She put a Tweet out the other day that sums it up best:

These events were what she needed to continue her fight and were her glimpses of hope in her times of struggles.  

She got to dance at her son's wedding.  And she couldn't have been more radiant that day, either.

You can view the entire set of images here if you wish.

For now, besides the birth of our grandson to look forward to, there is this!

Where do we go from here?

I know.  Ireland!

If you have been following along on the old blog here you know that a group of some fantastic human beings put something together for Denise and myself. A once in a lifetime trip to Ireland.  But, there was two things holding us back.  We needed to make sure that Denise was done with chemo and also that her cardiologist felt that everything was good with her afib.  But let's rewind to yesterday first.

Since the beginning of this year, Mondays have come to mean two things.  First, Archer reruns on Comedy Central and or course chemo.  But for the past several weeks we hadn't gone to chemo because Denise finished her cycles.  So when we got in the car yesterday and made the trek north to the Cleveland Clinic, it was like getting back into the swing of things.  We had to go early because it was Denise's follow-up CAT scan first thing then meet with her oncologist to go over the results.  As you can imagine, Denise was pretty nervous about the whole thing.  I was too, but, didn't want it to show.  "What if it came back" was the thoughts on our minds.  So after the scan we had breakfast and awaited the doctor at 11.  We decided to go check in with him early in hopes we could get it over with quickly.  We were in luck.  About 10:40 he popped out in the waiting area and called us back.  He took us in a room, sat down and started asking Denise the usual routine questions.  Then he stopped and said, "Oh, by the way, the results of the scan are clean, you're good", then continued on.  He knew we were nervous.  Talk about a weight taken off our shoulders.  When he was done we asked if we are okay for travel and he gave us a thumbs up!  He rushed off to care for another patient and I forgot to ask the most important question, is she cancer free?  J, the nurse practitioner and Doctor M's right-hand/enforcer was also in the room and I asked her, "Can we say the words cancer free".  A huge smile filled her face and she said yes.  My heart lept with joy!  You could just see the expression on Denise's face change to one of peace.  She did it.  She kicked it's ass!  As we were driving away from the clinic, it hit me hard.  I was finally able to step down for a few minutes and let go of everything I was holding back for 8 months.  Boy did that feel good, but not recommended when driving through a major metropolitan area.  I get to keep my wife, my best friend for a while longer.  Cancer was not getting her.  So to celebrate we headed off to one of our favorite restaurants and afterwards take a leisurely drive through the Cuyahoga Valley National Park.  We stopped at Brandywine Falls and went for a little walk.  This picture of us describes it best.

  Our friend Mandi commented "I've missed that smile and light in your eyes, Denise! So glad to have you back!"  You're not the only one, Mandi ;-)

So now that we had the oncologist's blessing, we still needed to talk to the cardiologist.  Luckily, Denise had an appointment at his office today for a follow-up EKG.  But when we got there, we found out he wasn't in the office until the afternoon.  We told the nurse the plan about Ireland, but we were afraid to commit to a schedule until we got his thoughts on going into a pressurized cabin 40,000 feet into the air for several hours.  She promised that she would ask.  Also, her EKG is perfect. 

Well, we got the call a little bit ago and we got his blessing.  So....

We're going to Ireland.

With that news, I sent a note off to the peoples over there to get the ball rolling.  A BRILLiant travel agent needs to be consulted first. Wow.  Holy crap.  We're going to Ireland.

But like these events of the past several months, I want to capture it all somehow.  I want to make sure I have a forum to catalog and list out all the details of this once in a lifetime blessing.  

However will I do that?

Wait.  I have an idea! (<---click there!)

Just rolling along

It's been a few weeks since our last update here, so I figured I would dust off the old blog and give the latest.  Well, there really isn't a whole lot.  Denise continues to be on the mend from her chemo.  The biggest problem is still with her legs.  The water is beginning to shed itself off and her feet are returning to normal, but her legs still get sore from time to time leading to discomfort.  The afib is easing as well.  Her cardiologist gave her some different meds and that seems to be having a positive effect on her.  She's been back to work more regularly too the past couple weeks and as she loves her job, that has done a lot for her spirits.   She's also using a technique a former coworker of mine shared with me.  She too had a battle with cancer over this past year and had returned to work before I left.  Her advice to Denise was to nap at lunch.  There's a meeting room where Denise works that is normally not in use so she's been ducking away in there and catching some sleep over lunch.  She's saying it REALLY helps.  Thanks for that tip, Diane!
(Truly, if you need great vet care, drop me a line and I can give you a referral.) 

So with things on the mend and her getting back to life that's the new normal, we can start concentrating on the important things.  Like our sons wedding in July, hopefully the trip to Ireland to follow that and the birth of our grandson in September.  Still seems weird to me to say, "our grandson".  

Our hero seen here baby clothes shopping!

Not that I am opposed to the birth mind you, not one bit, just the fact of I've now gotten old enough to be a grandparent.  When did I get old?  She, of course, is ecstatic over the fact of being a grandmother and wanted to go clothes shopping for him this past weekend. 

Anyways, we are still on track for the June 6th appointment for another scan and follow-up appointment and hopefully then we can start moving past this stage completely and on to the future. 

So that's it for now.  Hopefully will have some good news to share in a couple weeks, but for now we'll just keep rolling along. 

"Andy - you there?"

This has been an incredible week.

Last Monday we celebrated our anniversary by going for a post-chemo check up scan.  Then on Tuesday afternoon we got some fantastic news that we weren't expecting.  But let me give you some background first for those that are not familiar with things.  

For the past 17 years of my professional career, I have administered and used products made by IBM namely the Lotus Notes/Domino tools.  Over my career I was fortunate enough to be able to attend a conference that was held every January and centered around those product.  Through that conference, as well as by blogging and participating in social networking, I have made a lot of great friends all over the planet. The people that I met in this community are some of the nicest people you would ever want to know.  Just regular folks with a passion to share their knowledge and love for the products that provide for them as well as a passion to just be excellent human beings.  It's hard to describe this group because in my journeys through life I have never met a group of people like this. They have always been there for me when I've been stuck with a problem or provided help through their own blogging and sharing of things they had come up against in their daily struggles.  Every year at the conference people would fly in early or stay after just to hang out with each other.  A year ago when I wasn't able to attend they had me come down with my photography gear and do headshots.  It's truly a great group, I can't stress that enough.  So I think you get the point.  Now back to our story.
Last Tuesday afternoon I was sitting in the living room with Denise when I got a message on Facebook from Paul.  Paul lives in Northern Ireland not too far from where my grandfather Patrick was born.
The elaborate ruse begins.....

So we jumped on Skype and Paul was telling me about a problem another friend of ours, Steve, also from Northern Ireland, was having with IBM Traveler.  That software is used to get email, calendar and contact information to mobile devices from the corporate backend.  One of the products I've spent a bunch of time on.  So Paul added Steve to the Skype video call and we started to troubleshoot the issue.

Paul recorded the conversation

It seems that Steve was having problems with people from the US coming over to visit his company's location and when they get off the plane they cannot access the servers any more.  The phones won't communicate with them, etc.  So I put my troubleshooting hat on and started giving suggestions on things to try, what I've seen in the past with my experiences with people going overseas, etc.
After about 10 minutes, Paul begins to ask me what my cell carrier is.  I of course start spouting off that information and then I'm asked what phone I have.  I tell him that it's an iPhone 6 plus.  He then asks about what Denise's phone carrier and type is.  I tell them.  I'm then asked by Paul, "Is there any way you can get your phone to us?"
That's a puzzling question.
"Um...no, I need it" was my response.
"What if you brought it with you" asked Paul.
"Those are the two phones we need to test" says Paul.  "So, why don't you and Denise come over and we can test those phones?"
The conversation then continued with talk about Denise's current health and when she could travel.  I told them that it's going to be a slow process likely and we just have to wait and see.
Paul then says, "That's what Molly told me when we talked earlier" and the conversation continued.  It took me a second to realize what he had said.  Molly?  Wait, my Molly? My daughter?
I called Molly into the room and interrogated her asking if she had been talking to these two.  I then reminded her of "stranger danger".
The gents went on to tell me that they have been conducting a fundraiser behind our backs.  It was called #supersecretsquirrel on the social medias.  It appears that they had set up a fund in Paypal and asked other community members to donate.  They did. Denise and I, to celebrate the many things we've gone through over the past several months, are the fortunate recipients of a paid vacation to Northern Ireland to stay with Paul and then Steve and then to Dublin with Eileen.  I called Denise into the room and they told her.

I love the look on Denise's face when she's hearing this

As you can tell from the picture above, Denise was in a state of shock.  We've always talked about going over there one day.  I had never met my grandfather as he had passed away before I was born. My dream was to one day go to Northern Ireland and see where he was born, baptised and raised. I've always wanted to have some connection to him.  Well, now I get to have that.  Holy crap, we're going to Ireland!
I again cannot thank the community enough for this blessing, because it truly is that.  You all are an incredible group of people that words cannot even come near to properly communicate the level of gratitude both Denise and I have for you all.
Yes, cancer has been a bitch.  Yes, the recent things that have occurred professionally have not been great.  But having something like this to look forward to has just been amazing beyond words.
Our sincerest thanks to Paul, Steve and Eileen for getting this thing together and for being our hosts. Our sincerest thanks to ANYONE and EVERYONE who donated to this in any way.
People have said numerous times in the community and it's held true, it's not about the software, it's about the people.  Well, thank you IBM for making the software that introduced me to these people and have made them a permanent part of our lives.  We are truly blessed because of it.
Now as for Denise, it appears the swelling that has been a parting gift of the chemo is starting to finally subside.  We also have to go back on June 6th for another scan and follow-up.  So hopefully this is a sign that we can soon board a plane and head off to what will be an adventure of a lifetime.  
Again, THANK YOU to everyone that is a part of this.