Web MD Health Hero 2008

Well, here it is....just announced in the November/December 2008 Web MD Magazine.  Winter is the youngest recipient in the history of Health Heros.  You can also go online to see the online article about her recognition-see right column and click on picture.  As you can imagine we are so incredibly proud (an understatement) of what Winter and her brothers are doing.  This award has already made 2 million viewers online aware of what Team Winter  stands for.  One small baby step towards Winter's goal of having a blue ribbon (prostate cancer) to match every pink ribbon (the oh, so visible breast cancer).  To see her state her goal in front of 250 of the leading Prostate Cancer Researchers at Lake Tahoe, go to the video    www.vimeo.com/2020098 

For those who wish to follow Team Winter in more detail (which so many of you have already done) go and join Facebook.  There you will find Winter Vinecki, Group- Team Winter and Fan Page- Team Winter.  This is where everything related to Team Winter will be published, including upcoming events.  You can also get there thru www.teamwinter.org and clicking on facebook.

Michael had his tube in the liver replaced with a larger tube last week to help drain the liver better, which has caused great discomfort as one can imagine.  His energy level is wiped out and he has only a few good hours a day right now.  We are able to get care for some of these issues nearby so we don't have to run back to Mayo right now.  

Our Love,

Dawn, Michael & Kids

 

Adding Tubes

Well.... Mayo went well a week and a half ago.  As well as can be expected. The liver abscess seemed to be healing well so they decided to pull the final remaining tube Michael had. (that was short lived..)  CT didn't show any  new tumor, which is a welcome comfort to Michael for the time being.  There is a new spot, very small- 5-6mm, on the lung that they aren't quite sure about.  It is too deep to biopsy so they are just going to watch it.  Last Friday Michael started to have a lot of pain in his liver again so I had a CT done which showed his cavity in the liver that previously had the tube in it, had filled back up with "yucky" stuff.  It was significant enough that the Dr's at Mayo thought it would be best to reinsert the tube.  Luckily for us it could be done locally so we didn't have to travel back to Mayo.  It was a rough weekend for Michael, the tube causes a lot of irritation and pain.  NO hunting for Michael.  Guess the wife has hunting duties to fill the freezer for the family.  And this snowplowing thing should be easy... just drop the blade and go like h----, at least that's what it looked like Michael did last year.  These hallucinations Michael has on pain medicine are getting pretty good....who needs late night TV!!

Sorry about the humor, but sometimes that is all you are left with to deal with the day to day.

We are holding off on any reattempts at Chemo at this point.  His liver is not healthy enough to be tortured by that and neither is Michael.  The kids are doing great.  Swim season has started and it is so exciting watching the boys tackle this new adventure this year.  All four kids are swimming, including their 2 cousins.  Between them, they can almost completely make up their own relay teams.  Soon all four kids will be either skiing or swimming every night and every Sat/Sun.  How fun is that as a parent??

Team Winter is up and running.  Incredible things have happened in the last month which I will post soon (yeah, I know....define soon-----soon in my book is "when I get to it").

I just wanted to briefly take 10 minutes out of my sleep to update you on Michael's status.  He is sleeping as we speak and probably wishes I would get off the computer.  I have had many requests recently to update the blog so here I am.  WE appreciate the huge volume of prayers that are going out, the homemade healthy food people are sharing with us and the love that surrounds us on a daily basis.  We are grateful for every day.

Dawn, Michael & Kids

Back To Mayo For Check Up

Sorry About the "Lost Month"!

Time flies when you are trying to get the kids in a routine for school and with after-school activities, trying to hold a full time job down and oh yes, helping a husband recover and battle metastatic prostate cancer.  That is all in a day at the Estelle/Vinecki home.  No news is good new they always say and is pretty much where we are at right now.

Michael has spent the last month training himself to void all over again, so yes we have potty training going on in our house once again (I thought we were done with that after Ruger). Michael did not like the idea of cathing himself 6 times a day, so he has managed to get his bladder working again.  This is an amazing feat if you consider how much damage was done to the area around his bladder.  It may take him ten minutes to  empty his bladder, but hey it beats the alternative way of emptying the bladder.

The last several weeks have been the best weeks for Michael since before surgery.  He is finally able to get off the couch and move around and do small tasks around the house.  The hair started growing back in since he is off chemo right now but he got too many comments about his hair looking like goose dander so he shaved it off again.  Michael was able to get some much needed R&R in Las Vegas last week for a few days.  He managed to survive being dragged up and down the strip numerous times.  The highlight was seeing Elton John live in concert.

Michael is back out at Mayo this week getting more follow-up CT Scans done to look for recurrence of tumor.  They were able to pull his drain from his liver this morning so he no longer has any drains.  He only has his colostomy and a PICC line (for medications when needed) left.  We stopped his daily antibiotics last week since his liver infection and blood infection seem to be resolved. 

Winter has managed to round up some of the best researchers in the world for prostate cancer after her recent trip to Lake Tahoe.  She was a special guest at the 15th Annual Prostate Cancer Foundation Scientific Retreat.  She presented them with a check for prostate cancer research and gave a brief speech to all of them after they all watched her video from the Florida triathlon.  It was a very powerful day for prostate cancer research.  A video of this event is available at www.vimeo.com/2020098  These researchers are committed to trying to help Winter's Dad anyway possible.  We will be looking into clinic trials and newer up and coming treatments depending on the results of his CT scans.

Michael will be starting to put some entries on the blog.  It will be good to start hearing things from his prospective.  Much of the activities of Team Winter can be tracked thru www.teamwinter.org 

Winter can also be found on facebook and under "groups",  Team Winter can be found and you can join as a "fan" to view what is up and coming for Team Winter.

We thank all of you for your continued thoughts and prayers,

Dawn & Kids

THANK-YOU

Winter and Scott Zagarino,
Founder Athletes for a Cure

September 27th 2008

To everyone involved with the 2008 Inaugural Athletes for a Cure Triathlon:

Winter and her family would like to personally thank everyone for making this event such a success in so many ways, but most importantly by helping raise awareness for prostate cancer. Winter cannot tackle prostate cancer awareness alone but through Team Winter and Athletes for a Cure, the possibilities are endless. The outpouring of love to her and our family has been beyond belief. Throughout the race individuals were introducing themselves to Winter, Michael and myself and telling their stories of how prostate cancer had affected their lives. This event is not just a race; it is so much more than that. It is about making a difference, not setting limits on oneself, giving unconditionally and having a passion for a great cause.

The staff at Disney, the race volunteers, race directors and organizers, race participants and spectators showed incredible compassion and support throughout the entire weekend. We could not even begin to thank everyone; especially those who could not be there at the race in person, but so graciously gave donations and words of encouragement. Most importantly, none of this would have been possible without the founder of Athletes for a Cure, Scott Zagarino.

So many new people have come into our lives from this one single event. We will continue our passion (the multisport life) in support of Athletes for a Cure and the Prostate Cancer Foundation each and everyday. We can’t wait until the 2009 2nd annual AFAC Triathlon. A special thanks goes out to all the athletes who raced under Team Winter. We hope all of you will be back next year to help Team Winter grow in both numbers and fundraising.

I want all of you to know that Michael smiled more during that one weekend then in the entire last four months since being diagnosed and treated for metastatic prostate cancer. That is something only all of you could accomplish and we are thankful for that.

Who do you race for?

Thanks a Million,

Dawn Estelle
Michael Vinecki
Winter, Yukon, Magnum and Ruger


*We send our Love and we will stay strong to help Michael fight the fight.
TeamWinter.org will be up and running soon.

Athletes for a Cure Triathlon 2008 Video

Go to http://vimeo.com/1853805

Post Race Update

Photo shoot on location at Disney Before Surgery on Sept 24th 2008 at Mayo Clinic

What at whirlwind of a week. I know one thing, I don't want to be a truck driver when I grow up! Yes after an amazing week in Florida for Michael, Winter and Team Winter we are safely back at Mayo. Michael underwent surgery on his liver yesterday to go after two more metastatic lesions. The procedure went well with no complications. He is a little sore as usual but will be released from the hospital later today. He is having more tests done today to see if any of the drains he has in can come out. He has appointments tomorrow to discuss what to do about future chemo. Hopefully we will be home by the end of the weekend.

Now about Prostate Cancer Awareness. The rippling effect has been created by Winter's accomplishments both physically and financially! She had an unbelievable weekend of racing. She, along with her brother Ruger (6) took first place in the kids Dualthlon (run-bike-run) on Saturday. Yukon (11) and Magnum (7) took fifth place and team-mate Gabby Rose from Gaylord took sixth place. On Sunday Winter was able to put together an amazing day. Michael was given Race #1 despite not being able to race. Winter received Race #2. (Historically low race numbers are given to professional and top athletes) The symbolic emptiness of Race #1 said it all. Winter raced for her dad and did a .9 mile swim in 48 mins., a 24 mile bike averaging 14mph and at the end ran in a 10K (6.2 mile run) in 1hr 10mins. On the run she was joined by pro-triathletes, Simon Lessing and Karen Smyers. Michael was escorted around on a golf cart through-out the race and had a great view of his daughter, the entire day. Her overall time was under 4 hours and equally impressive is the over $32,000.00 (actually $64,000 since the Safeway Foundation is matching her fundraising efforts) that Team Winter has generated thanks to many of you!! Michael smiled more in the last week than he has smiled in the last 4 months thanks to Athletes for a Cure. He met so many people either fighting the disease, survivors of the disease or families who lost members to the disease. Michael and the family were touched by over a 1,000 new friends at the Inaugral Athletes for a Cure Triathlon and can hardly wait to return in 2009. In the mean time Team Winter has a lot of ground to cover. Amazing avenues are being created to allow a 9 y/o girl from Gaylord to make a difference in the Prostate Cancer World. Winter will be telling her story over and over to many reporters this week. We will provide links to all the different artcles and videos that are being published. Please contine to spread the word about prostate cancer! Tell us your stories if you have family or friends affected by prostate cancer. Michael would love to hear them.

Michael's With Mickey

After 5 long days of travel and no internet capabilities, we have finally landed the RV at Fort Wilderness Campground at Disney in Florida. I must say it was not an easy journey getting here. The kids and I left last Thursday morning with the RV and trailer with bikes in-tow and headed to Mayo to try and bail Michael out of the Hospital for a little R&R. Michael's blood infection is doing well and we think we found the source. On CT he was found to have a liver abscess (infection) from an old ablation site measuring about 6 cm. They then placed a tube into the liver to drain the abscess, which now puts him up to 5 tubes and drains. He has to flush his liver 3 times a day, no not with beer, with saline although he has been tempted. While finding the abscess they also found 3 areas of recurrence of cancer off of the previous ablation sites. He will have surgery a week from now back at Mayo on the liver. Hopefully, if all goes well, he will only be in the hospital for a few days and head back to Gaylord. The Doctors all thought it would be good for Michael to get away for a week to forget about hospitals. His antibiotics are being shipped to the campground here at Disney by UPS and I give them to him daily. Our RV is like a little hospital on wheels, fully stocked with all the supplies Michael needs or could possibly need. Internet has been a royal pain in the butt, just like the drain that Michael has in his butt. It took Yukon, my 11 y/o son to finally find us access. I tried updating the blog on my i-phone and that didn't go to well. The tube in Michael's liver has really put a damper on his mobility. Athletes for a Cure has provided a golf cart down here for Michael to get around and to be able to keep track of the kids on race day. Winter is training hard in the early morning heat to aclimate to the high humidity. She will do the kids race on Saturday with her brothers (1 mile run- 6mile bike- 1 mile run) and will be the "featured athlete" on Sundays big race with a 1,000 other competitors. She will swim- .9miles, bike 24 miles and run 6.2 miles. Some pro triathletes will be on hand to lend her support. Winter's only concern about the whole race is "ALLIGATORS". She has already touched base with pest control asking them to get the gators out of the swim course! She was assured that she will be well protected. She also has heard of some large snakes (poisonous water moccasins) seen around the campground which should make her run splint darn fast.
Michael is finding all the shade possible to keep his head from sweating and getting sun burnt. A friend graciously gave him a Greenbay Packers hat which is working well.

Hopefully, we will keep everyone a little more updated over the next week, if internet doesn't fail us. Right now I have to sit outside in one particular spot to get connection.

We Are Holding Up Well,
Dawn, Michael & Kids