Finale

Chad finished his last day of treatment today. No more chemo, radiation, or green meds for the foreseeable future.

He made it! At the end of these six weeks our friend Chad is still tired, but good.

He will spend the next several weeks recovering, resting and returning to a more typical skin-hue. Less green anyway. In about four weeks, Chad will undergo more testing so the doctors at Barrow can determine the next steps for his treatment.

Shannon said that this morning in the lobby of the radiation unit, the nurse asked who was graduating today. It was Chad.

Yay for Chad, graduating from radiation and chemo and green meds! Now on to the next thing, taking quick steps forward, onward.

Good man.

Jaime

Week Six

I've been slacking here. Sorry. Chalk it up to the piggy flu.

In the meantime, Chad is entering the last full week of this first course of cancer-fighting treatment.

He is tired. Very. But not sick really, just super low on energy.

Overall he's strong, and he's made such an immense amount of progress in recovery since the surgery. So much progress, with his occupational and recovery therapies, that some of his doctors have been surprised. Not his friends and family though.

For now he’s looking forward to being done with the chemo and radiation and green meds, at least for a while. And he’s looking forward to getting married. To Shannon, even! Go figure.

Just kidding. We love them both so much.

Share a little love for this final week of treatment:

HAPPY BIRTHDAY CHAD!; and Complete This Statement:

Happy Birthday, dude!

Everyone, please complete this statement as a comment posted to Chad:

"If I could present Chad with any gift in honor of his birthday, I would surely give him (your answer here)."

Comment away!

Two Very Special Days

For those who might not know, tomorrow - Thursday April 23, 2009 - is Chad's birthday. On Thursday we'll celebrate with a birthday post, but I wanted to fire a warning shot for those who might like to send some good wishes Chad-way.

Also for those who might not know, Chad and Shannon have indeed decided to continue with their wedding plans, though the date has been postponed. They will now marry in June instead of May. In June they will be joined in holy matrimony and will forever be one. Or something similar.

More soon.

Jaime

Entering the 4th Week of Treatment

Again, sorry for the delay. The tournament recap I constructed melted the internets and made Blogger beg for mercy. I'll have to post the recap in parts.

Chad has now entered his fourth week of cancer-fighting treatment. Not all of the three parts of his treatment - chemo, radiation and Green Meds - require the full six weeks but the entire course of treatment will conclude at the end of six weeks. At least, this particular course.

After six weeks, new tests will be run and scans will be scanned and Chad's team of doctors will reassess his progress. At that time they will decide to take a break from portions of the treatment or plan a new course of treatment altogether.

Chad has done so well with all of these treatments and therapies thus far. He's continuing his studies and therapies to retain his brain, he's not too green, he's not super sick... he's getting a bit tired as all of this goes forward, but really, he's being a trooper. And he and Shannon are maintaining really positive attitudes overall.

Let's send them both all of the good vibes we can muster, now that they are more than halfway through this course. It might not be easy to stay positive without reinforcement; everyone says that the effects of cancer-fighting treatments are cumulative, meaning that a patient often feels worse, usually more and more tired, as the treatment progresses.

We have access to all kinds of good vibes, right? Let's send them in the general direction of Chad and Shannon.

Jaime

A Sneak Peek

Sorry for the delay in posting a follow-up to the poker tourney. I'm working on a kind of epic post and might not have it ready for another day or two.

In the meantime, I'll whet your appetite:

Terry, working hard, pokering.

Stefan, working hard, doing something else.


It's a breadstick, folks!

Shannon and her sister Tori, being sisterly and lovely.


More soon.

Jaime

Big Weekend

The Poker Tournament was a huge success! More details and photos throughout the week, but for now:

This weekend I met some of Chad's coworkers who hadn't seen him since the brain tumor's surprising and unwelcome appearance. These Chad fans were anxious, wondering if Chad would look or be different than before.

It occurred to me that I had not adequately described Chad's appearance on this blog, and my efforts to get Shannon to take a picture of Chad during his period of intense beardy-ness failed, so no visual evidence was posted here either.

Fear not. He looks great. He is great. Same Chad, same wickedness, same nasty sense of humor. Same generous heart.

Only now he's a few pounds lighter. A bit hairier as well.


Oh, and: no brain tumor.

Jaime