It's been several months since I last wrote in my blog but I felt compelled to update it today. Today is a special day for me. Today marks the one year anniversary since I was diagnosed with cancer. As I reflect upon the past year and what I've gone through in my journey, I really can't believe that so much has changed since that fateful email I received about my diagnosis. (Btw- thanks to my friend Nine for getting Kaiser to change their policies on how a diagnosis is communicated to their patients). I remember thinking that the world was about to end; well, at least my world as I knew it. I was afraid and felt all alone and didn't know what I was about to embark upon. But just one year later, thanks to the wonders of modern medicine, the support of you all, and a positive attitude, I have beaten cancer and have never been healthier than I've ever been. Cancer has also given me a fresh perspective on life and what's important to me and I try to cherish and enjoy each day that I'm here on this Earth. And even against the backdrop of being displaced from my job this week, I realized that it's just another obstacle I have to face and that I've faced much tougher challenges. Life goes on and I'll be fine and I'll land on my feet somewhere else.

I also wanted to mention that I've dedicated this year as the "Year of Living". What that means is that I want to do anything and everything to enjoy life. In that regard, since my remission news, I've crossed off an item of my bucket list (went to the Super Bowl), took a family trip to Hawaii and went to several Warriors games. And later on this year, I'll take a trip to Paris with my wife (sans kids) so that we can spend some quality time together and celebrate our 7 year anniversary. 

Life is great. Each day is a blessing. 

Thanks again to all my friends for all your support and friendship the past year and over the years. Thanks for being there for me. You all are the best. 

It's Official!

It's official! I got the results of my pet scan that I did this past Tuesday and on the following day--  Wednesday, January 27, 2016-- my oncologist declared me in "complete remission"!! Considering that I celebrated my birthday only the day before, it was the best birthday present anyone could have received! I mean....considering that when I was first diagnosed, I had no clue of what this cancer was all about and it had crossed my mind that I might not live to see another birthday. Now I am shooting to celebrate many, many, many more! It feels AMAZING to be cancer-free and be rid of this illness. When I was first diagnosed and had accepted the fact that I had cancer, I had only one goal in mind and that was to get to the day I would be declared in remission. Now, with receiving the news officially, I feel as if I can finally go back to living a "normal" life. I know everything will never be the same though. There is no cure (at the moment) for follicular lymphoma, so at some point, it will come back and I'll have to battle it again. I am just hoping that it won't be till 10 or 15 or even 20 years from now. There is no predicting when it will be back but I can't dwell on that and live in fear of it coming back. I have my life back now and will make the most of what I've been given...a second chance to "enjoy every day and live life to the fullest". This is the quote that I am constantly reminded by. It was said by a support group member's sister who had to share the news with us that her younger sister- the newest of our support group- had passed away after fighting colon cancer for 7 months. She was only 26 years old. I only met her once at a meeting yet her presence filled the room; she was so vibrant and full of energy...and it was a shock that only 6 weeks later, she lost her battle. It's a constant reminder to me that this is the reality of cancer unfortunately. It's a deadly disease that has claimed countless lives. Just in the month of January alone, in the news we've heard many celebrities passing away due to cancer related deaths. It just makes me feel all the more fortunate that I went through my treatment with flying colors and was able to beat my cancer. I will never forget the journey that I had to go through.

Following my news that I was in complete remission, we had the awards ceremony for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society Light the Night Walk. It was this past Thursday and I attended the event with Aylang and a few other participants from team #fLOUrish (Jane, Chuck and Rick). Each of us received a certificate for raising more than $1,000 each for Light the Night (although they lost two of the certificates) and our team got a plaque for raising more than $5,000 (we ended raising just over $12,000 which was good for top 3 team out of 200+ teams). What was a really nice suprise though was that I received the 2015 Inspiration Award for my cancer journey and the reasons why I chose to participate in the Walk. It was such a great honor to receive such a distinguished award considering that there were over 200 teams participating in the Walk and each team had their own unique story why they were participating in the event yet my story was the one they chose to share. It was a great feeling to accept the award. It was a fitting end to what had turned out to be such a great week...celebrating turning 41, getting news of being in full remission and then receiving the awards.

Though this part of the journey is now over, I know that I am about to embark on a new journey-- a journey that I can fill with many happy memories; a journey without cancer.What hasn't killed me has made me a lot stronger. With the knowledge and perspective that I have, the determination to succeed, and the support of my friends, I know that I can overcome any challenges that come my way in this wonderful journey we call life.



Team #fLOUrish receiving the Team Award for raising $12K+

Second Time Around Is Not So Bad

Happy New Year. It's been awhile since I last updated by blog. Since returning to work, I've just been busy with keeping up with work-related things. It was good timing returning in December as things were a bit slow which allowed me to get into the groove of things. I was able to have a good New Year's and finally got to taste my first glass of wine since treattment! I have had a few more glasses since then and even did a trip up to Napa to buy some wine and to celebrate a friend's big 4-0 birthday.

Last Thursday, I got my bone marrow biopsy to check to see if the lymphoma was also gone from my bone marrow. The first time I had this done, it was one of the most painful things I've ever endured and I was sore the rest of the day. I don't think my oncologist gave me enough dosage (plus it didn't help that he had to do it twice because he wasn't able to grab any bone marrow the first go around) so this time around, I asked for at least double the dosage of lydocaine to numb the pain. I had a different doctor this time as my regular oncologist wasn't available. I told the doc about my last experience and told her that I wanted double or triple the dosage this time. She said that they did have extra lydocaine so that wouldn't be a problem. She then injected me twice in my pelvic area with ethe pain medication and proceeded to perform the biopsy. I must admit it wasn't bad at all the second time around. Perhaps it was because she gave me twice the normal dosage or maybe it was because she told me step-by-step what she was about to do and what kind of feeling (pain) I would be expecting. That, and the fact that she didn't have to go in twice (she was able to grab bone marrow successfully on her first try) really made the procedure not bad at all. Mind you, it was still painful but knowing what to expect (unlike my first time) at least helped me anticipate the pain. And again, maybe it was the double dosage that helped. However.....as with most of my doctor's visits, there's always something that comes up. It turned out that after she was done with the procedure, she told me that she gave me the regular dosage!! WTF?! I then asked her "but didn't you say that wouldn't be a problem as you had extra?" She replied that she did state that she had extra..and she would use it only if it was needed. Uh...that was a slight omision on her end! Who does that?! But I guess the placebo effect worked because again, it wasn't as painful this time around and my recovery time was quite fast because unlike being unable to move the rest of the day when I first had it done, I was able to walk and move around with fair ease a few hours after the procedure. Hopefully though, it'll be the last of that that I have to do for a very, very long time.

So, I am supposed to get my results on Thursday when I go to see my oncologist. However, yesterday, a nurse from nuclear medicine called me to schedule a PET scan. I was confused as my oncologist told me that I wouldn't need to get a PET scan anymore as my tumor was gone and I would only get scanned if something turned out. Of course, immediately I freaked out and thought that something must have come up in bone marrow biopsy result. I emailed my oncologist immediately after the phone call and asked him if it had to do with my bone marrow biopsy. This all happened in the morning time and so the whole day, while waiting for his reply, I was really worried. All these questions rushed through my head: What did he find in the bone marrow biopsy? What happens if the lymphoma is back? Could it be a mistake? It's most likely a mistake?

Finally, at about 530pm, I get a response back from my oncologist. He said that there was nothing to worry. The bone marrow biopsy showed no disease and the reason for the PET scan request was that he noticed that there was some minor inflammatory signal with my last scan that I did after my 4th chemo session which he contributed to chemotherapy but he just wanted to be 100% sure. I let out a huge sigh of relief after I read his email! It was really good to know my bone marrow biopsy was all good and that my next scan would be somewhat routine (most chemo patients get scanned after treatment anyways). I don't have a problem doing a scan if it's just to confirm again that my cancer is gone!

I'm scheduled for the PET scan next Tuesday, January 26-- my birthday. Guess there could be worse things to do on my birthday! Results to be shared in my next blog posting....

Almost Back to Normal

This past Monday, I took a normal shower for the first time in 4.5 months and it felt great! It felt great just to be able to stand under a shower head and not have to worry about covering parts of my body up. Last Friday I had my nephrostomy tube removed which allowed me to take normal showers again. It was a simple and quick procedure and lasted all of ten mintues. I was really happy to be rid of my tube and "pee bag". The urologist was almost recommending that we keep the catheter in and just put a cap on it in case there was a reason to put the tube back in but I was adamant about taking it out. I was all done with chemo and my "plumbing" seems to be working just fine so it was more than time to take the tube out. I was happy that it served a vital part of my chemo treatment and helped my kidney process the drugs and what not but I will not miss having the tube in my kidney. It really does feel good to not have an extra appendage and not have to worry about sleeping awkwardly on it or worry that the bag might leak (I've had a few horror stories about leakage most notably on the flight back from Cancun and I feel bad for whoever had to sit on my seat on the next flight). With the tube and bag out, it feels like everything is almost back to normal. My tumor is gone, my chemo is done, my bag is out, and my hair and eyebrows are starting to grow back out. I'm back to work full time and it feels like I haven't really left at all. I guess there's really nothing wrong at all with getting back into the routine of things. The first thing I wanted once I started treatement was for everything to be normal again and I think I'm almost there now...

I saw my neprologist today and he was pleased with my progress. The kidney is fine and I really don't have to worry about it anymore. I just need to maintain my healthy and strict diet and get plenty of exercise and I'll be fine. Just one more visit on Jan 14 for my bone marrow biopsy and that should be the last of the hospital visits and then it will be just routine check ups from there.

2015 was not the greatest year for me but despite my diagnosis and the challenging treatment I went through, I'm still thankful and grateful for everything that I have. The thing about cancer is that it makes you realize that it can take everything away from you that you hold precious and it also makes you appreciate everything so much more. I am thankful that I have good health, my family, my friends, and everyone else that has touched me on my journey. Without everyone's support, I don't think I would have fared as well as I have. Thank you everyone...and I mean that sincerely from the bottom of my heart.

All done!

Last Friday, December 11, I finished the sixth and last cycle of my chemotheraphy. It was a rough one as I've been nauseous the last few days. They say that the side effects are cumulative and gets worse after each session and I think there's truth to that as I ended up in the hospital after my fifth session and now I'm experiencing more nausea than normal (I've actually had to take my second anti-nausea medicine for the first time...never had to use it before this past session). But you know what, some nausea is not going to dampen my spirits because I'm all done!!! No more chemo sessions after this and hopefully for a very very very long time! I'm really relieved that I'm all done with my treatment and aside from a few daily injections of neuprogen to boost my white blood cell count, I won't have to sit in that reclining chemo chair anymore.

It's such a huge relief, but that might be an understatement. It's been a grueling up and down roller coaster journey the last 4.5 months but I am finally near the end of my cancer journey and can finally see everything winding down. Fairly soon, I can get back on track with living a normal life. There are just a few more steps I have to take...the first being getting the nephrostomy tube out of me (which will happen this Friday) and then getting my bone marrow biopsy around the first week of January to confirm that the lymphoma is also gone from there as well. Taking the tube out will be another milestone in and of itself as I've had that thing in since end of July and I am excited about my procedure on Friday. After that, I'll be able to take my first shower in almost five months!

Now that I'm all done with treatment, I'll be celebrating this Christmas and come New Year's Eve, I'll be able to have my first glass of wine. I'm really looking forward to that! My wine fridge is stocked so anyone want to celebrate with me, just drop me a line and come on over!

Thank you everyone for your love and support! I have many more thank yous to write but will save that for another post.

Three Days in the Hospital

So I spent my Thanksgiving weekend in the hospital at Kaiser Oakland. Not quite how I envisioned I'd spend my Thanksgiving weekend. It's not that I was looking forward to spending it on a shopping spree and partake in Black Friday and Cyber Monday in all its glory (I stay as far away from any shopping until 2 days before Christmas) but being hospitalized wasn't also on my agenda. Rewind to the Wednesday right before Thanksgiving. It was my first week back at work (yes, I am back at work) and I had been in the office the first two days. I decided to work from home on the third day given that Thanksgiving was the day after and also, being only my first week back at work, I wanted to take it easy and not overdo it. Well, I started experiencing some pain in my lower abdomen and that pain progressivley got worse to the point that by Thanksgiving Day, I had trouble moving around. It really hurt every time I got up to walk around or move my body in any way. I suspected it might be something bad because I had not experienced that much pain before but I just tried to deal with it. We had Thanksgiving dinner at my friend's inlaw's place ( I have been celebrating Thanksgiving with my friend since junior year in high school and now we celebrate it with his inlaws) but by Friday morning, the pain had gotten worse. I called up my doctor and went in to see her the same day.

She wasn't sure what was wrong with me so she had me do a series of blood tests and while we waited for the results, she ordered a CT scan to be performed on me. By Friday evening, we got some of the blood tests back (it showed that my white blood cell count was almost non-existent) and the CT scan cambe back normal, yet they still were not sure what was wrong with me. By this time, in addition to the lower abdominal pain, I had also developed a fever. My temperature was 101. Because of the combination of those two things, they didn't want me exposed to any more germs or infections due to my very weak immune system so my doctor recommended that I be admitted to the ER and hospitalized. Just great. I was admitted at 530pm Friday evening and after another round of blood tests and two IV lines (they couldn't get the first IV line to work- suprise, suprise) later, I was moved to a regular room. They told me that I would be staying overnight at the least until they figured out what was wrong with me. They suspected I had some type of infection and therefore, I was put on antibiotics and pain medication. The pain medication was to reduce my fever. They also gave me neupogen shots which would help boost my white blood cell count and heparin injections (blood thinners) which they shot into my stomach. I've never been injected in the stomach beofore and it was not pleasant at all (it hurt like  hell).

It was my first time ever staying overnight in a hospital. I wasn't really sure what to make of it except to think that there were probably far worse reasons to be hospitalized other than an infection and a fever so I probably should consider myself lucky.

The next day, they ran more tests on me and drew more blood. They also told me that it would be at least Monday before I was released. I still had my fever which kept on coming in and out. However, by Sunday morning, it was all gone. I tried to make the most out of my hospital stay...it did give me an opportunity to watch all the football I wanted-- colllege on Saturday and NFL on Sunday, so I guess that was a silver lining. The hospital food was crap (has anyone ever had good hospital food??!), so I had to ask my wife and friends who visited to bring me food. By Sunday evening, they confirmed that it was indeed an infection and that it was a bladder infection. I was still on antibiotics but now at least, it was more targetted towards my specific infection. They prescribed me a take-home antibiotic which I would need to take for the next two weeks.

During my entire three days stay, I was pricked a total of 14 times- between the IV lines, injections, and blood draws. I could literally (and visibly) count all the pricks on my arms and stomach! I'd be lying to say that my hospital stay was pleasant but at least, they found out what was wrong with me and had a plan of action to make me bettter. The nurses and doctors that took care of me were all very nice, so all in all, it wasn't a terrible experience.

I'm just glad to be back at home now and recovering. The only sucky thing was that because I was hospitalized, my oncologist (who by the way, was one of the doctors that visited me in the hospital. Apparenntly, he also does hospital rounds and this explains why he's never there during my chemo days!) recommended that I postpone my last chemo session to the following week just so that I could heal a bit more. It wasn't the best news but what he recommended made sense to me. It's just a small hiccup in the road but I really can see the end of my journey nearing. One more session to go! I've got my calendar penned in for December 11 and I'll update my blog thereafter.

My hospital bed and room which I called home for 3 days

Light the Night Walk

On November 12, I, along with 14 other walkers on my team (team #fLOUrish) and their kids in tow participated in the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society's Light the Night Walk event. The goal of the Light the Night Walk is to raise awareness of blood cancer and raise money to fund treatments that are saving the lives of patients today. Every walker gets to have a lantern- supporters walk with red lanterns, survivors walk with white ones, and those carrying yellow lanterns symbolize remembrance for loved ones lost due to cancer. I signed up for this walk many months ago because I wanted to be involved in LLS and give back to the community as a token of appreciation for all their support during my journey. I didn't do much in terms of fundraising but as the event drew nearer, more and more people found out about it and signed up to be part of team #fLOUrish to walk with me. We went from having a team of 4 people to 17 people in total! My personal goal was $500 and I set our team goal at $1,000. I figured I could easily get to $500 and if others signed up, $1,000 should be fairly easy to attain. Little did I know that we would blow that goal right out of the water. In fact, not only did we more than raise the $1,000, as a team, we raised over 12 times that goal and ended up with just over $12,000 in total funds raised! This was rather suprising considering just two days before the walk, we were just under the $5,000 mark in terms of dollars raised. A whopping $7,000 came in on the last two days thanks to the great efforts of my team and reaching out to their network of family and friends. I ended up raising about $2,700 for myself, more than half the amount came in the last few days too. It just showed to me how everyone was so supportive of my journey, regardless of whether they knew me or not. The $12,105 total meant that our team came in at #3 in terms of dollars raised out of 225 teams! We surpassed the total of many corporations, including my very own Wells Fargo!

The route for the San Francisco walk was around AT&T Park. I really enjoyed the Walk as I had many of my close friends and supporters around me and because we had lots to celebrate. It really was a special night as I had a lot to be thankful for and lots to celebrate given that I had just gotten the results of the clean scan and was just about near the end of my chemo treatment. ABC7 News was there and they took a team pic of our group which made it up on their website. Here's the link: 
http://abc7news.com/society/photos-abc7-news-at-light-the-night-walk-in-san-francisco-/1082063/#gallery-3  (I ran into an old college friend who works for them and I think she probably had a say in what pics to use!)

Thanks again to everyone for their kindness and generosity in making the Light the Night Walk a success and one that I will remember for a very long time.