Blogging in B Minor

I mentioned I would post some pictures of the canister that is used to ship the DCVax-Brain vaccine and as promised, here they are.  I’m placing one here inline with the copy but the rest are going to posted as thumbnails.  Just click on a thumbnail and the full size picture will load in the same window.  Just hit the back button to go back to the post.

There were a lot of people curious about this.  It had been sitting around for a day and the canister couldn’t be opened until the injection was to be given.  I’m sure a lot of people were curious.  Look at that thing!  The SacBee writer and photographer when with the team to watch as it was opened up and you’ll see in the pictures how intricate of a process it was.

It really is great though – to have my medical team so behind me, so excited about the treatment – as am I of course.  And to have the local coverage here.  I think this is just God’s way of not only giving me potentially the opportunity of adding time to my life but also, as I have said, providing anyone you reading this or those that are exposed to any press coverage a sense of hope and direction.  I’ve hit many brick walls.  I have been at the height of frustration at times in my treatment.  Failing Temodar (after 8 months) after having 5 weeks of radiation and concurrent chemo.  A transformation from grade 3 to 4.  Failing CPT-11.  2 surgeries.  It hasn’t been easy and I know a lot of you have been through similar battles.  But research continues.  There is hope and we have to have faith – look for the solution, not be mired in the problem.  Sometimes I don’t do this so well but if I can stay in today, I can do it pretty well.

I don’t have too much else to say.  I didn’t have any allergic reactions.  I started Thalidomide last night and I feel fine today.  We’ll see how that goes.  Here are the pictures!

1. The cannister
2. My Neuro-Oncologist, Dr. Nora Wu, who was really the one who pushed so hard to make this a reality.  I have to thank Dr. Edie Zusman, my Neurosurgeon for her hard work in getting this started but Dr. Wu (pictured) performed so much heavy-lifting.  If it weren’t for her, this would not have become a reality.  Also, my case manager, Diane Nunes, RN, CCN was so instrumental.  I think hundreds of emails flew around about this over the course of making this happen and she was in the middle much of the time!
3. Disassembling the canister #1
4. Disassembling the canister #2
5. Disassembling the canister #3
6. This is the inner tube that contained the syringes holding the vaccine.  They needed to be thawed for 30 mins prior to the injections.
7. Doctors preparing the vaccine for injection

I have the next injections a week from today.  I’ll have an MRI in about 30 days.  I think it will take 60 days at least to get a feel for this, maybe longer.

Good stuff!

Interesting Update - 4/6/09 – This post has been pounded by traffic over the past day or so.  Put it this way, I haven’t had a post on this blog receive this much traffic in one day since the blog became active.  There is a large percentage of traffic coming from Yahoo! Finance and Silicon Investor.  I think there are many interested in this very promising treatment from many different segments of the population.  For me, we’re praying that it can add time to my life so I can spend time w/my family.  My career is important – we have to pay the bills, but in the end, what really matters??  We could lose everything and as long as I have my wife and 2 children with me, THAT is what matters.  Therefore, NWBio’s vaccine, that they have provided me with, is something that gives us hope and we are grateful for that.  Perhaps this will push my life out far enough for more advances in brain tumor treatment to emerge.

For me, it’s about family really.  I got home today and played a game of HORSE with my son – he’s getting to be a pretty good shooter.  I was able to lie with him on his bed and just talk.  He had questions tonight about brain tumors believe it or not!  We’re honest with him about it.  There’s no need to talk about the end-game, but he explained to me that because I have a right-frontal lobe tumor, the left side of my body doesn’t work right – and he said he wrote that down because he’s trying to figure out how to cure it.  Wow.

I’ll end here… 

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