I’m Back!

10/9/2010

Sor ry for the long delay in my posts. 2010 has been a bit crazy. What I thought I would do today is have a catchup day. For you new followers I will give the readers digest/speed racer condensed version of my Cancer Journey. If you want the full story, please read my past posts from the beginning, which I encourage. Here is the quick chronological story:
12/27/2007 – You have an inner ear infection…ooops I mean Brain Tumor
1/29/2007 – Dr. Crute removes Tennis ball from my right temporal lobe in a quick 12 hour surgery. Friends and familysit in uncomfortable chairs in the waiting room and Lyle saves the day with Jimmy Johns. When pathology comes back we find out that I have a Glioblastoma multiforme IV,One asshole resident gives me 6-18 months and I said “wanna bet” and 34 months later I write to you today.
Q1 2008 – I recover quickly from the surgery and start a course of radiation 6 weeks 5x per week. I also start a cclinical trial of Chemo(Temodar)
March 2008 – the night I will never forget. After completing the first course of radiation, my buddy Marky – who comes in from Phoenix. Throws me an amazing surprise party see the post “a night to remember a night I will never forget to see how amazing. My keyboard is still dry at this point and if I write too much more about it, I will cry all over it.  Thanks again to everyone who came from far and near.
10/15/2009
After several clear MRIs, the Tumor comes back. Dr. Crute again performs a tumor resection. This time I had a little stroke during the surgery and spend2 weeks at inpatient rehab doing physical therapy, Occupational Therapy, and speech therapy along with 6-8 weeks of outpatient therapy.
11/2009 I start Avastin treatment before Thanksgiving evey two weeks.
3/29/2010
Its back again, but this time we do a non-invasive Stereotactic radiosurgery to NUKE the tumor. That works wonderfully and I get a clear MRI in May. Fast forward to 10/4/2010 – New MRI, get the results on 10/4
**********Current Day
MRI results Day – Its Back again. This time in 3 or 4 pieces. They cannot treat with Chemo or radiosurgery or crainiotomy. However, DEM SMART Doctors strike again. My Radiation oncologist, Dr. Roberts at UW, invented a new delivery method for radiation to allow for retreatment delivery of Radiation and its called Pulsed reduced dose rate Radiotherapy. It is the same dose delivered over longer period of time. I will begin this 10/12 and continue every weekday for 27 days.
Well folks, that brings us up to current day. There has been a lot of other things going on in the past few months, but I will save that for my next post that I will soon. The Fight goes on, and as always, I will never give up. Thanks for allowing me to express myself.

Good - Great - Exceptional, and SPECTACULAR

Well, I have been having a pretty great week so far. Team Talbott showed up in force for the ABTA 5K at Soldier Field on Saturday. We raised over $5500 as a team. Thank you to everyone that donated and participated. It means more to me than I can express in words. However, today was the day for my first MRI since I had the Stereotactic Radiosurgery in March. As always, my nerves were on edge and sleep was difficult to get last night.
Here is where the GREAT comes into play. I had the MRI and proceeded to the lab for blood tests and then to see doc #1 for the day... Dr. Mehta (Radiation oncologist extraordinare) he took a look at the MRI images and came in and informed us that they looked GOOD! That alone made my day...but wait it gets better. After Mehta, we went to see Dr. Ian Robins (NeuroOncologist extraordinare)we went from the waiting room to the treatment room and through the standard routine...I lost Three Pounds! Woo Hoo only 30 more to go. So we are waiting for Ian to come into the treatment room. And waiting, and waiting. Kim and I already know the MRI is good, but Ian is starting to make us nervous. He comes in and apologies for being late, but he was studying the MRI, and studying. The results? The tumor aka lesion is GONE. Totally regressed. Exceptional right? NO. Apparently there is a clinical correlation between my being on Avastin treatment (ie Chemo) and having Stereotactic Radiosurgery. The Avastin works to clean out necrosis and assists in the nuclear anhilation of the tumor! So I asked the stupid question...This is good right? He says No, This is Spectacular, and amazing. He thinks this will be the protocol for this procedure in the future! Having that crazy smart doc of mine saying the results are spectacular is one for the record books. Usually, he is real cautious on the good news, but NOT TODAY!!

So if you are following along, GOOD=clean MRI, Great=Tumor regression Exceptional = Cancer docs at a loss for words, and SPECTACULAR = Dr. Robins saying the lesion is gone and lets increase space between MRIs from every 8 weeks to every 10 weeks.

LIFE is good!

Thank you everyone for the continued prayers! They result in SPECTACULAR things.:)

If it is not to much to ask, please keep my Father in your prayers as well. He is battling inoperable liver cancer. He is fighting like the trooper and old Farm Boy that he is, but I know the power and value of your Prayers.

Thank you all!

Peace Out!

ABTA

Saturday is the ABTA Path to Progress 5K at Soldier Field in Chicago. This is an event that raises money for brain tumor research. I did this event last year and it proved to be an emotional but uplifting event. I have been looking forward to this event all year. THis year we created "Team Talbott" and have raised over $3600 for brain tumor research!! Most importantly I have a team of friends and supporters joining me in the walk. In case you haven't noticed in my posts over the last 2+ years, I have some absolutely amazing friends. Bringing them together for this cause is breathtaking! When my hope is challenged, as it has been over the past month or so due to the challenges in my father's Health, I always think of my support group and what they mean to me. Within minutes, my spirits are lifted! I will post pictures and thoughts after the event this weekend! Go Team Talbott! THank you for all you do.

Peace out!

Peace Out!

A Smile to end your day

I went to Madison today for treatment. My buddy Lyle drove me. Thanks Lyle.

My day started outstanding. After getting to Lyle's house for the ride North, I not only got a refill on the coffee, but I got a big hug from his gorgeous 3 year old daughter AVA! Made me smile right from the start.

We continued on our way and had a great time catching up (except for the time I napped) :).

After I got home and finished up work for the day, I checked my email and got this from Lyle:

When I got home today, Ava asked me “where’s Steve?”. I told her you went home. She then went crying to Laura and said “mommy, Steve went home!!”.

Just wanted to share that…

Made my whole day! and to steal Lyle's line.... I Just wanted to share that! :)


For Little Miss Ava,

Peace Out!

It's Baaaack Redux

So last Wednesday , I had my MRI check-up and that damn tumor is back. That is the bad news. the good news is that we are going to treat it with a non- invasive "Stereotactic Radiosurgery tomorrow Monday. This is an outpatient procedure using radiation to blast the tumor cells from hundreds of different angles with surgical accuracy without a cut.

So the process goes like this
1. Arrive at UW Cancer CLinic at 6am Monday 3/29..
2. get a "frame" placed on my head. 4 pins that hold it break the skin. I will wear this frame all day. Apparently this is the most painful part. they will give me a local anesthetic and valium (so I got that going for me. :)
3. with the frame on, I will get a ct scan. Dem smart docs will then go into a planning session to plan the surgery (think Really High level physics)
4. once the plan is done, they will take me into the Linear Accelerator (radiation machine)and I will receive the radiation blast. We won't know exactly how long the radiation will take until the planning is done, but 30-45 min is common. Once the surgery is done, they take off the frame and send me home! The Radiation doesn't hurt, it is about as painful as an Xray. I will be really fatigued for a couple days and have potentially have some eye puffiness late next week, but that's it. I will have a follow up MRI in a month which will hopefully show NO tumor growth and hopefully dead tumor. I go right back to my chemo schedule of every other Wednesday

So the tumor is back, which is not a huge surprise as we have always known that this thing will keep coming back. I am happy that my medical team is able to treat this with a noninvasive procedure. It is what it is and I will continue to fight this with everythng that I have!

The fight brngs me to the real reason for this post. When people find out that I am fighting Brain Cancer, they inevitably ask me how I can stay positive and smile. My answer is usually, it is what it is. Obviously, my family gives me strength as does my faith.

When I was freshman in college at Iowa State (GO CYCLONES!) I had periods of time where the life adjustment was difficult on me. I had a friend at the time who recognized what I was going through and gave me something that I still have to this day. It is a poem by an unknown author. For the past 20+ years, whenever I ran into a situation that I may have briefly considered giving up, I pull out this poem and reread it. I wanted to share it with you today. I hope you enjoy.

Don't Quit

When things go wrong as they sometimes wll;
Whe the road you're trudginig seems all uphill;
When the funds are low, and debts are high;
And you want to smile, but have to sigh;.
When care is pressing you down a bit-
Success is failure turned inside out;
The silver tint of the clouds of doubt;
And you can never tell how close you are;
t may be near when it seems afar.
So,stick to the fight when you're hardest hit-
It's when things go wrong that you must not quit.


Its a simple Poem that has helped me more times than I can count.

Never Never Quit!
Thank You SMITH Kinney!- my brother PHi Delt (My fraternity Phi Delta Theta) who Originally shared this with me in Late 1987.


Thank you all for your thoughts and prayers!

Peace Out!

Seasons Changing, Attitude improving

I apologize for not writing these past couple months, but I have been focusing my energies on re-engaging in our business. Jeff and I are working with a Marketing Group to help us rebrand our company. We are incredibly fortunate in that our business is doing well and we are actually hiring new employees and plan to bring on a couple more in addition to our onsite contract staff. Jeff has been fantastic growing our business while I was out.The weather in Northern Illinois is beginning to change and Spring is starting to show. I am excited for the weather improvement mainly because I have spent the Winter gaining back all of the weight I lost in the hospital last Fall. the change in the weather is finally allowing me to g et outside and begin biking again which I hope will help to slim my fat ass down.:) the first week of April, I have a conference in Vegas! Woo Hoo!, and Kim is going to Join me. It works out that school is out that week and she is in need of some rest and relaxation in the sun.
So the latest Health update is that the Avastin (Chemo) that I receive every other Wed at UW seems to be doing its job, my next MRI is March 24th. Overall, I have been feeling good other than the daily fight with allergies, which is normal with the change of seasons.

MAY 22, 2010 I will be walking in the American Brain Tumor Association Path To Progress 5K at Soldier Field in Chicago for Brain Tumor research. My great friend Mark Patrick is helping me this year. We have set up Team Talbott, and would love you to join us either by walking with us, or with your donation Any help you can give would be greatly appreciated and will go to a great cause! Check out the link and Thank You in advance

http://hope.abta.org/goto/Steven_Talbott


Peace out!!

Live for the moment - For Kim

I will start today with a health update. Had my first MRI since starting the Avastin treatment. Dr. Robins was pleased with what he saw. The Avastin is doing what it is supposed to. YEAH! So I continue with biweekly treatments and MRIs every 8 weeks. I am feeling good and glad to get some good news.

The real purpose of this post is to discuss a show that I just watched on CBS that triggered a "switch" in my mind. The show was "Live for the moment" and hosted by the Survivor host Jeff Probst. The show was a week in the life of someone who has ALS or Lou Gehrig's disease. He was given the opportunity to do some amazing things that he always wanted to do. It was an obvious Made for TV program, but it moved me none the less.

I have done a good job burying reality deep in my mind. I put on my game face and pretend that I don't have Brain Cancer. I go around living my life oblivious to my surroundings and often taking for granted how much my wife Kim does for me every day. Let me try and put this into words. My last surgery was a tumor resection. during the surgery, I had what my Neurosurgeon described as a "Bleed" which basically means that it was unexpected bleeding that they had to deal with on the fly. Now there are two types of strokes...those caused by a blockage and those caused by a bleed. In other words, I had a minor stroke in the operating room.

The idea that I had a stroke at 40 was hard for me to grasp. I had obvious left side deficits and am told I still have a little droop on my left side when I am tired. After several weeks of speech, physical, and occupational therapy, I have recovered remarkably well and am doing great, but I am realizing that I still have some deficits. The deficits are mainly short term memory issues. Now I have been aware of these issues and have learned some great techniques like - Write shit down Dumbass! :) However, this is where I tend to take things for granted.

Let me start with Kim is everything to me. I not only love her, but I am in love with her. Kim has a very demanding job both during the day and in the evenings. That is who we are...work-a-holics. We love what we do and it helps to define who we are.

That is the simple part. The hard part is that I often unknowingly take advantage of her. If I sit back and am honest with myself, I rely on Kim for damn near everything...from keeping me current on my medications, to cooking and all in all being Lead CareGiver for me. This with a 60hr/wk job and a gimpy husband who doesn't use his head and help around the house and use the tools he learned to overcome some of his deficits..i.e: Write shit down dumbass!

So with Valentine's Day coming up I want to take a minute to acknowledge what my wife does for me. I couldn't do it without her! If you have seen strength in me over the last two years with how I am handling my life with Brain Cancer, I assure you it is really her keeping me standing.

Kim- You are my everything and I don't know what I would do without you. Thank you for everything that you do every day. It is all appreciated more than you will ever know. Thank You and I Love You!

To all of you....don't take anything for granted! Live for the Moment!

Peace Out!

Another Year Older - YAHOO!!!

One year ago I was posting how excited I was to turn 40 years old. Well, one year later, another Brain Tumor removed, several weeks of rehab to recover from a minor stroke, 2 years post original diagnosis, and here I am - 41 and loving every minute of it!

Typically all of the survival stats for people with Glioblastoma's are pretty dismal, except for this one that I found not too long ago...for patients with GBM's who suvive 2 years post original diagnosis and treatment, the 5 year survival statistics go through the roof! How's that for a birthday present?

So, today is going to be low key. Going to spend the day doing some work and hopefully get to the gym. We already celebrated my Bday as Chef Kim treated me to a great Steak dinner this weekend for my birthday and I spent Saturday evening with some great friends and donated money to each of their Poker Funds.

Thank you all for the continued prayers and thoughts.

Peace Out!