Check-Up

Well, it is time to update the blog. We have started to hear rumors like "he is cancer free" etc. so it is important to keep everyone up to date. We just returned from Mayo clinic on Saturday morning after having to extend our stay at Mayo by a few unexpected days. Michael had more CT's and the liver looks "stable" at this point. No new areas have developed on the liver over the last three weeks but we have to be cautiously optimistic and only after a year of no new lesions would we even consider saying he is in remission or cancer free. We are uncertain at this time if the chemo is having any affect but with no new lesions found at this point we will continue chemo for a total of 6 doses. He got his 2nd dose last week at Mayo. They attempted to take the catheter out of his bladder on Wednesday and he did well for about 12 hours, then urine started coming out places it wasn't suppose to (like his rectum). That is when they decided to take him back to surgery and put a camera in the bladder on Thursday to see if they could visualize the hole. After several hours of looking they were unsuccessful and just assume the hole is there but very small. The catheter went back in the bladder and will stay for at least 2 more weeks. The hole in the rectum is slow at healing due to the chemo, so the butt drain stays in.

Although the CT findings were good, Michael still has more tubes then he would like. He is tolerating the chemo extremely well despite fatigue and exhaustion. He still has an appetite. He craves chocolate right now so chocolate chip cookies, and hot fudge sundaes are a hit.

With school starting in just over a week, a whole new routine will have to set in at home. I am not sure if it will be harder or easier.

Hanging Tough
Dawn & Kids

Home, Home, Home

Sorry about all the long awaited anticipation of announcing Michael's return home. He got home late last week and needed some time to adjust to the surroundings. He is very fatigued but tolerating his first round of chemo very well. Mild nausea, no vomiting and still has an appetite. The entire family has been working on getting into a daily routine that works for everyone including the kids. He still has daily antibiotics that need to be given and too many tubes and drains. He will be returning in two weeks back out to Mayo for more tests and more chemo. He promises he will be on the blog soon. I have been overwhelmed both a work and home and will try and get caught up on pictures for the blog soon. My family and patients come first. Incredible friends have been taking good care of us and treating us to great meals and companionship (although I must say most of the male company has been "without hair", so they fit right in).

Lots of Love to All,
Dawn & Kids

CHEMO

Monday was the start of chemotherapy. Michael is starting to clash. He has pink toe nails and red urine. The chemo instantly turned his urine red which a normal side effect of the drugs. He did great, no significant nausea or vomiting. Hair loss will occur within 4 days they say, must be some toxic drugs to occur that fast! They will make sure Michael has no significant side effects from the chemo before he travels home by the weekend. Michael is calling all his bald friends to rally together with him. Some of them already have spoke up on the blog which is great to see. Michael wants to thank the other families that have visited him in Mayo (ie Walther's, Schaedig's) , it brought great joy to him. Thanks to all the new names that continue to surface. We are obviously making a difference in prostate cancer awareness! Michael is accepting "dew rags" to sport his new look. Any bets on the color and texture of his hair when it grows back in? I have heard all kinds of stories about hair after chemo. Guys, atleast he will get his back. They even said his hair on his legs will fall off. I guess he won't be making fun of all the shaved triathletes anymore.

We will keep the blog updated once or twice a week. That is all the time we can muster up at this point. The kids are learning new skills (lawn, cooking, cleaning) to do their part during this overwhelming time.

Good Night
Dawn & Kids

Liver Ablation #3

Well here are the pictures from a day at the spa! Yes those are the pink toenails you were hoping for. And the horrified look on Michael's face is one of concern since his mom has not cut his hair since he was a teenager. Well, the hair cut won't last long since Monday will be the start of some very nasty chemo. It will erase any bad hair cut. It is all good as long as it works against ridding his body of cancer.

Today he had another ablation on the liver. This time they used the latest technology using microwave energy. He tolerated the procedure well. Monday will be the start of the first round of chemo. The chemo will be every three weeks as long as he tolerates it. Hopefully by the end of next week Michael will be able to travel home.

Take Care,

Dawn & Kids

PS Mail for Michael can be sent to 514 Camp Ten Road

Gaylord, MI 49735

Ironman Lake Placid Update Coming Soon. All 3 Athletes for a Cure are an "IRONMAN".

HD #16

Well, all is stable at Mayo.  Michael will be able to get a minute by minute race report tomorrow for his Athletes for a Cure Team (Team Winter).  Thanks to modern day technology, his three athletes will be test marketing a new device to track athletes by satellite.  They will be 3 of the 40 racers at Ironman Lake Placid to be tracked for the entire portion of the bike and run (it's not water proof enough for the swim yet).  Anyone can go to www.myathlete.biz and select track athlete.  The username and password are ma3 for both for Dawn and Chris and ma4 for Ollie.  Then select their name (Dawn #178, Chris #179, Ollie #186) and follow along.

Athletes for a Cure has also put out an inspiring video on "youtube" featuring Michael & Team Winter.  They have not publicly released the video since they need to make a few minor changes but I will give you a glimpse of what they have done!  Go to the website listed in the right column. (If for some reason it doesn't come up, type Athletes for a Cure Team Winter in the search area of youtube and it will pop up.  I haven't quite mastered computers yet!)

We are determined to make a difference and lift Michael from this horrible disease and tomorrow is just one small step in doing that!

Special Thanks to Scott Zagarino and wife Greta at Athletes for a Cure

Dawn & Kids

HD #15

Two Weeks and Counting

Hard to believe another two weeks have gone by since Michael returned to Mayo.  Michael doesn't have to worry about buying reading material, he's got the Blog.  It continues to get more and more entertaining!  I love all the humor that is surfacing, because laughing has tremendous healing power.  Michael continues to improve.  He is now up walking on a regular basis and eating a more regular diet.   The big wait is now for next week when he will undergo a repeat CT of the liver to see how the treated liver lesions are doing.  The fistulas will be reassessed to see if they are getting smaller and hopefully going to heal on their own.

Winter continues to spread the word about prostate cancer.  Today she ran a 1/2 mile race at Lake Placid, NY and sported her new Athletes for a Cure triathlon uniform in honor of the prostate cancer foundation.  She took 1st in her age group and was only beat by one boy overall!  The team  uniform she is wearing (pictures coming soon) will be worn by Michael's brother-in-law, Chris Dandeneau, Michael's friend, Glen "Ollie" Oliver and myself at Sunday's Ironman Lake Placid event.  We have dedicated this race to Michael and prostate cancer awareness.  For more information go to the Herald Times article on the right side.  For those who want to follow the race on Sunday go to the ironman website posted in the right column. 

God's Speed

Dawn & Kids

HD #12

Up And At 'Em

Dr. Commando is back in town and in charge (although I know there wasn't a day that went by that he didn't think about Michael or touch base with colleagues about his status) . The phrase of the day is "get up and get moving". Today he will challenge his legs to a walk. Soon they will recheck the status of the fistulas (holes in places they don't belong) to determine if more surgery is needed or not. It looks like Michael will stay parked out at Mayo at least through all of next week with no sign of returning to Gaylord yet.

Michael continues to have a class-reunion of his own going on (minus the beer). Eric Heidel stopped in yesterday for a visit! Hopefully Michael has a picture of the visit to post, this could start to get quite entertaining. Michael is in the Francis Building at St. Mary's Hospital on the 6th floor. Every nurse on that floor can direct you to his room for those wishing to come visit. Rochester is a really neat place to visit. New names continue to surface on the blog. I am going to start checking off names from our class list and see how well we do at making everyone aware of Michael's journey. I bet we can do better than our last class-reunion at finding lost classmates! Many of you are following but haven't figured out the log in process to leave comments, just ask any kindergartner and they can help you out, they know more about computers than we do.

Michael has been gone so long that he is once again an uncle. His brother brought a new little girl into the world last week, yes, just days after he was on a plane transporting Michael out to Mayo. What a brother!

I must say, yesterday while reading the amazing number of blog comments, I was brought to tears by Barb's entry. I hope many of you caught her entry. She is the nurse that is caring for Michael and to Michael she is an angel that has been sent to care for him. Reading her entry made tears stream down my face. There still are compassionate and caring people in this world who love what they do and who want to make a difference in this big world.

Eric, you are the Hero of the Day!
Dawn & Kids