We are making the transition from post-surgery.  I’m getting into a follow-on chemo regimen and at the same time rebuilding the base of my body’s energy and immune systems. I’ve been going through chemo since early September now, and the effects of the surgery and early phases of chemo have had an impact on my body. The chemo will continue to have an impact, and what we’re working on now is what it takes to strengthen my system in order to be strong for the continuing chemo phase.

I’d like to acknowledge many people. The list would be too long to list everybody’s name, but there were so many who helped me and pulled my whole family through all the planning effort that started in the mid-summer, the pre-op work, and then everything through the whole operation.  Your phone calls, cards, all the people who came and visited or stayed with me, all the way through the hospital, including all our days in Houston all helped make a huge difference. I had one friend who picked me up every day at the hotel after discharge from the hospital and took me out to dinner, and checked in on me. I had somebody with me throughout that entire span while I was in Houston, so it was really good to have that kind of help.

One of the things I’ve reflected on is comparison of this surgery and recovery to my last.  I came to the decision to not do that, because although they were very similar, there are also some very distinct differences. So what I chose to do is to only take forward and focus on the lessons that we’ve learned over all this period of time and not compare much else to the past. That has really helped me to focus on what needs to happen down the road, to really keep an eye on the future and what steps we need to take.

I’ve been in the mountains, for about two weeks.  The move up to over 8,000 feet has gone well and I haven’t had any issues with my acclimation. I’m starting to work with the team at Shaw Cancer Center and the Minturn Fitness Center, and that has all gone extremely well and as expected.  They have done very well with helping me to succeed and move forward.

What we’ve looked at is some things about the overall condition, and one of the difficult things in this new phase is that my sleep cycle is super broken up. It’s getting better, but the combination of post-op, healing, and everything with chemo—there are drugs that I have to take to mitigate the side-effects of chemo, but they also impact my sleep—so we’re working at getting back to normal sleep, but it’s going to be notchy at best for probably the next month to month and a half.

As far as my cardio-pulmonary, my breathing and my heart rate, they’re pretty good right now. My capacity is improving, however it is not all the way to where it was—I started to diminish a little at the end of summer—but it’s on its way back and I can really feel that. My heart rate is up a little bit to compensate, but not to the extent it was earlier, so I feel good about that.

Eating has been a chore, and I have anti-nausea medication that is trying to help with that, but I have been really focused on trying to get protein in and add to the healing process. I’m doing the best I can.

My pain is subsiding, but I’m really starting to feel the presence of fatigue, and my hope is that what we are going to do from the training point of view will impact that through strength and endurance.  I have met with the physical therapist and my trainer; I think that is only going to get a little better with time. I have to be patient, that’s the mentally challenging thing for me.  

As far as my treatment, the chemotherapy is the big one. We have somewhere between another one and three cycles; it just depends on how my body responds, but right now I have enough capacity in terms of blood chemistry to keep proceeding with chemo, so that’s good news.

Next week I hope to resume acupuncture, which has been helpful with a number of different things.

We’re going to get back to the same nutrition program - I'm pretty close to that now, but I’ve been just kind of eating what I want and that goes against getting the best level of nutrition. Right now it’s more about getting the protein in. But soon I’ll get back to the same diet I had going before everything started back up.

I’ll ramp up my physio and training as we go, which includes massage therapy. All of that complements my main line of treatment. It seems counter-intuitive, but the strength and endurance training actually helps with the fatigue. A year ago, I was told to just “go rest.” That didn’t fit who I am, for starters, but it also wasn’t the right solution. It didn’t make me feel any better; all I felt was deep fatigue all the time. So I did a little research and that’s why I decided to come to Shaw Cancer Center, because they had some thoughts on how to address that. We had discussions about the effect that all the treatment and surgery had on my body, in terms of shutting down systems and lowering my immune system, and lowering my energy systems. So what we did then, and what we’re going to do now, is work to bring those systems back up, and do that with a very careful approach to physical training, nutrition, and rest. It’s a combination of all of those things, not just, “go rest.” You have to have the rest, you have to have the sleep, you have to have the nutrition, but you also have to have some level of physical exertion and bring that up steadily, and that is actually the best complement to help with the other treatments, and in particular chemotherapy.

And another big thing is just getting outside. It’s really nice to be up here right now, so I’ve spent a little bit of time outside, took a walk out up and around the woods and that’s great to be out and feel the cool air and enjoy the snow and feel winter coming on.

Down the road a little bit we’ll start to have some discussions about what my long-term management and treatment will be, but that probably won’t really take place until after the first of the year when we get through the chemo rounds and see what type of effect that has. That’s when we’ll know a little bit more, but that is going to take some time.

Our focus now is really turning toward the holidays, and that’s exciting.  I look forward to having a great holiday season, and I just hope that everybody who’s been supporting me knows how much I appreciate all of your intentions and prayers and support.  My hope is for all of you and your families have a great holiday season!

As far as website updates, I want to shift to more of an every 3-4 weeks schedule for updates and give a little sound bit of where we’re at, but if anybody wants to know a little more or just catch up they can always e-mail me at billschane@gmail.com and I’ll be happy to correspond that way.

Please also keep in mind that Pink Vail in 2016 will be on Saturday, April 2nd, so make your plans to “Think Pink” and ski down the mountain with us and contribute to the great work of the Shaw Cancer Center.  I will include some info in my next post.

Hello all,

It was a great week this week.  Beautiful weather and some follow-up visits with doctors here in St. Louis.  No major changes to our plan have been identified so it is "steady as she goes"  for now.   There was a small blood clot detected in my right jugular at the site where the line was located after surgery.  It was decided that I go on blood thinners for a bit and re-test in a while to see that is has cleared.  Hopefully it will be clear my mid-November so that skiing isn't impacted.

I made an effort to rebalance how I spent time and specifically to focus on training a bit more this week.  I was able to do that reasonably well.  On Monday, I had a great spin and spent over an hour on the bike and completed 6-1/2 intervals.  I was able to get my heart rate well into the anaerobic zone for the intervals and I stayed in the aerobic zone the rest of the ride.  It felt great!  I also kept focus on my functional training elements including the first core exercises since the restriction was lifted.  I tapered intensity off as the week went on due to chemo fatigue.

Speaking of chemo, on Tuesday, I received round five of the Kemo Komodo Dragons!  There weren't any surprises in terms of side effects.  As in the previous rounds, my metabolism increased and along with it, my appetite.  Fatigue set in full force by Friday afternoon but I haven't let it hold me down as much this time.  I've worked the week and kept with training and feel pretty good about that.  A few catnaps have been necessary.  This week's MOTIVATOR came to me on one of my spins...I often talk myself out of action which is totally the wrong answer.  Does this ever happen to you?

PINK VAIL is now up to 51 interested sponsors so we are over the halfway point!  Thanks to all.  I head to Colorado this week and hopefully my friend Franz will have a sample of my speed suit that I can get a photo of and share with you!

A few weeks ago I mentioned that my neighbor Mike was going to ride 100 miles in a fundraiser "Pedal the Cause" to raise awareness and funds for cancer.  Well he made the ride today and we rooted for him and many other riders as they rode past our subdivision this morning.  I believe he and his team raised over $30,000 which is fantastic.  The picture here is Mike taking a quick break at about the 75 mile point.  He's been training all summer for this ride and it is his first "Century."  Congratulations Mike and thank you to you and your team for your service!

That is all for now...I hope you have an awesome week ahead!

Bill

Hi everybody,

Pink Vail:   "Team DGIA" is up to 43 interested supporters and participants.  We are getting close to the first milestone of 50...thanks everyone!!!

I went on my first business trip to Seattle since returning to work on August 19th. This gave me a great opportunity to reconnect with so many of my teammates at Boeing. I also had a couple dinners with some friends. The picture to the right is of me in my seat on the plane heading out on Sunday evening.  All I can say is it felt good when the sensation of the engines spooling up and the airplane accelerating down the runway.  We had some discussions about the team and what it meant to "have each other's back" and "sharing and supporting one another's success" meant and looked like. All I could think about is all of the folks like yourselves who have read this website, prayed for Chelle, Audrey, and I, called/emailed/texted us, visited or helped take care of us and know that I know exactly what those two concepts look like.  They define the essence of "Don't Go It Alone."  Thanks again everyone...you are awesome and we wouldn't be as far along without you and your support. 
I appreciate you having our back and hope you feel great about our shared success!

I have renamed the "Miserable Cough" to the "Nitro Cough!"  On my flight to Seattle, I let the fellow seated next to me know that I would cough and it was an annoying but not contagious. He quickly said, "not a big deal" and went on to explain that he was the starter for the National Hot Rod Association (NHRA) national races having just left the Gateway Raceway in Illinois. He said, he coughs all day  Monday after breathing the nitro fumes from the dragsters and calls  it  the "Nitro Cough."  I think that sounds much better than what I had previously named my cough. Fortunately, I will have the last two pulmonary tests run on Wednesday and meet with the pulmonologist right afterwards. Hopefully we'll get some answers.

On Tuesday, I get round four of the Kemo Komodos.  I am pretty pleased with how little impact chemotherapy has had in terms of not inducing nausea or lack of appetite. The fatigue is not bad but fairly constant.  It is something I have learned to accept and deal with. One thing my friend Carol and I discussed when I was in Seattle this week was "the judicious use of energy." This is something I will need to work on because before all this I would drink coffee and power through everything. Not anymore. I have achieved the weight goal established and now will work to maintain it as best I can. It will be interesting to see the internal impact the drugs have had on my cancer levels. One thing I can say for sure is that the drug has platinum so I truly am a "Platinum Blonde!!"  Ha ha!

Our next trip to Chicago is set for September 15th-17th.  They'll do PET and CT scans and some blood work on Tuesday, and we'll meet with the oncologist and cardio-thoracic surgeon on Wednesday and Thursday.  From these tests and meetings, we'll know what lies ahead.

That is all for now.  I hope you all have a great Labor Day weekend!

Bill

Today our beautiful daughter Audrey completed the sixth grade at Visitation Academy.  We are so proud of her!  During an end of year celebration Mass she was awarded with a certificate and small medallion of St. Jane de Chantel.  My girlfriend presented a bouquet of flowers from Bill and I as a way for her to feel our presence. Thank you Amy.  Well, summer has officially commenced…Congratulations sweetie…We love and miss you very much!!!

A few minutes ago Bill and I bid farewell to our special friend Chuck.  He set aside his family and busy schedule to join us in Chicago and we will be forever grateful.  Bill may not remember the meaningful conversations they had into the wee hours of the morning but I will never forget ours. Thanks a million Chuck for lending me your ear and sturdy shoulder(s). I know we will see you again soon!

After a busy day of tests and follow up procedures, we ask that you pray for clarity on the challenges Bill is facing. There are many routes one can take to reach a destination and last night Bill took a slight detour.  I know he will be back on the ideal trajectory soon thanks to the amazing critical care team here at the University of Chicago!

As I reflect back on the past twenty-four hours something our friend Mark mentioned comes to mind…If you remove the “I” in ILLNESS and replace it with “WE” you have WELLNESS.  This is a team effort and we value each and every one of you!

With much appreciation,

Chelle