Merry Christmas

Thankful for Family

After Thanksgiving weekend, we went up to Big Bear to a "cabin" that my brother David and his wife Suzy had rented together with my parents.  The place was really large and just fantastically well equipped.

It always amazes me what passes for a cabin up at Big Bear.  The boys had a real blast with the snow, and their cousins Sarah and Julia.  Both the girls were under the weather but were really well behaved.  The boys also got to go inner-tubing down some slopes and had a really terrific time.  Thanks to my family for providing this much needed break to us on Mom's birthday weekend.  We loved it.

 

Mike's Resume and Product Pages

I have uploaded Mike's current resume and a sheet of current product designs. 

Feel free to pass them around.

http://catalinacom.com/MikeAntramResume.pdf

http://catalinacom.com/MikeAntramProducts.pdf

Yes, It can always be worse

And so it is.  Mike was laid off today.  His company shut down their R&D division and laid off three directors, of which Mike was one.  The next person to say, "God won't give you more than you can handle," gets clocked. God didn't do this to us.  Shit happens.

Radiation Starts Tomorrow

Mike starts his radiation treatments tomorrow (Monday, November 16, 2009).  This will go everyday except weekends for the next 8 weeks.  So this will go until January 8, 2010.  The radiation therapy is called external beam radiation therapy or EBRT.  If fatigue sets in it should not be until toward the end of the treatments.  Hope for the best.

Mapping

Today Mike went in for his mapping appointment.  It's basically an ultrasound test that pinpoints the areas they will irradiate.  The interesting part is how they mark the spots so that they know exactly where they will return to each day.  They tattoo a small dot in the four places directly on the body.  So now Mike has his motorcycle and four little tats.  He's such a bad ass.

Radiation is a Go

So we've had our consult with the radiologist and it was decided that Mike would start 8 weeks of radiation therapy.  Which means we will be here for Christmas so if you want to see us you need to make your reservation at Hotel Antram now.  His treatments will be every day except weekends and holidays.  Tuesday they will map out a treatment and then start sometime after that.  This is not the seeds/pellets.  This is the shoot em up, shrink em down kind.  So we hope anyway.

Radiation

So the doctor has not given us the information I wanted.  He simply told Mike that what he needs now is radiation to stop the growth of the prostate.  Yes, I know that makes no sense.  I'm all in here folks.  Mike is just happy that the bone scan came back clean and now they are saying the lymph system is clean.  He did not ask why they don't just remove the prostate and the tumors from the bladder if this is true.

No News

Still do not have the results of last week's tests.  Hopefully tomorrow.

So Scans are Next

Some days I just wonder WTF doctors are really thinking.  Do they actually believe their own nonsense?  Only one week later and it's up again to 7.75.  A false test result?  A temporary spike?  Bullshit.

So now we get the scans done on Thursday to get a better picture. Then next Monday it's back in so we can see where we go from here.

A Break in Our Regular Programming

My Current Charity Project

Not Good

Mike had his three month PSA test yesterday.  We're in trouble.  His PSA has more than doubled for the second time in 6 months.  You recall that we got it down to 1 at the beginning of the year.  Then three months ago it had risen to 2.5.  I was worried, the doctor was not.  As of yesterday his PSA is 7.5.  Now worried has given way to frantic.  This thing is determined.  But so are we.

We are consulting with his doctor to figure out what is next.  I'm sorry that I couldn't post better news for everyone.  Mike is doing very well after his surgery and says he feels fine.  He's still working and looks great.  So those are good things to hold on to.

Like a Racehorse

So the old man is peeing like a racehorse.  Or as he says, "like a 20 year old."  (Like he can remember.)

Anyway, we are all very happy.  He still has a couple of days on the antibiotics and there may be a few clots but overall the doctor is happy with his progress.  He will not have to go in to see the urologist again for three weeks.

In two weeks he will be going in for his quarterly PSA test AND some other scans to see where we are now.  He has a full day of testing and scans on the 8th of October.  As usual, I will keep updating.

A huge thank you to my mom and dad for coming out to help with everything.  It was a HUGE help.

Doctor's Appointment

Going to see the urologist tomorrow at 1:50 p.m. Many thanks to Dorothy Reynolds for picking up Gregory from school! These schedules are killing me. If only I could sleep well.

Home

We're home and Mike ate dinner. He will be on some pain and antibiotic meds for a few days. It took the doctor and nurses to convince him that he should not be thinking of going to work for a few days. "But it's outpatient." Yes, dear. That doesn't mean you can drive and go to work.

In Recovery

Mike is in recovery. He will be there for about another hour and then they will move him to a room for another hour or two. He seemed to be doing OK on the morphine. I will update as I have info.

Surgery

We will be at the hospital early and surgery is scheduled for
10:30 a.m. I will have my phone and computer but there is
no guarantee of a wifi connection. It's an older hospital.

I will update everyone as soon as I can.

Recent pictures

Philip's costume for Anime Vegas.

I also made two more costumes for his friends.

Can you say

"sucker?"

Picture of Us at the House of Blues in Mandalay Bay. When did we get old?

Who Me?

Sometimes people ask how I'm doing. My standard answer is "eh." Not today. Today I need to vent. Today, the best thing that happened was my meeting with the Feds who came to interview the Governor's Council on Developmental Disabilities in order to make sure we are doing our job. Yes, that was the BEST part of my day. Clients cutting me off at the knees by giving me files that are SO wrong they kill 4 full pages of a magazine with the inaccurate page count. Little man's school calling me 30 seconds before I go into my meeting to tell me that he is refusing to enter English class and can they count on my help to talk to him tonight? After I brought in a desk for him to school so he could be isolated, and ordered a set of textbooks for use at home, and just talked to him last night about this very thing? You know what? No.

Not to mention my hand is still killing me from where I punched the headboard Monday at 2 a.m. I am so stressed out that I've been having some pretty bad nightmares. It was a particularly bad dream about someone who made me very upset. In the dream I punched this person. In reality I almost broke my hand. The hand I use to lay out the magazines that are all late now. Did I mention that the headboard is carved hardwood? Like this only in dark wood. Those vines hurt like hell in a head on collision with a fist. So I guess you could say I don't sleep well.

So I leave the meeting early, telling the lovely people from the Federal Government that I must go see to one of the very people the council serves, my autistic child. I drive the half hour to get there to have a transportation worker tell me that I cannot park near the busses that take the disabled kids. I explain to him that my son is with those kids and it has been a very bad day for him and sometimes he does not recognize my car so I parked close. He tells me it doesn't matter and I had better not be doing this everyday and the Deans would be out to talk to me. So I did what any sane woman would do. I very calmly told him that I did not do this every day, and turned my face fully to him so he could see the tears rolling down my cheeks. He ran away. (Wuss.)

When the child finally made it out to the car I was informed that tonight's homework was out of the textbooks that I ordered but have not arrived. Lovely. At home the phone rings so that the school can send me a recorded message saying that the boy had an unexcused abscence in English class. No kidding! I'm expecting the truant officers at any time. I think they may show up before the textbooks. And yes, my hand still hurts.

Pre-Admit

Today was the pre-admit paperwork and tests. They took the usual samples of blood and urine but also did a chest X-ray. Chest X-ray? I asked if hubby was sure that they knew what surgery he was having. He said, yes. He asked too. So I guess this is to make sure he is OK for surgery. Fingers crossed.

On another note:

My heartfelt sympathies go out to Lisa Anne Niemi (Swayze).

Surgery

What a fun day yesterday was. Not. Sorry, haven't had my coffee. I'll just stick to Mike. The meds for enlarged prostate are not having a pronounced effect. An effect, yes, but not nearly good enough to prevent further complications. So now we are headed for surgery. It's an outpatient procedure.

Message from John Vesely

Sent a link to the blog to John Vesely thanking him and letting him know his kindness was broadcast to the whole family. Thought I'd share his reply with everyone.

You have a new direct message:

secondhandjohn: Thats awesome!!! Thanks for letting me know.

Secondhand Serenade Concert

I cannot believe how fantastic the Secondhand Serenade concert was! I was able to upgrade our floor general admission tickets to the table/seated area so that Mike and I could sit and put less of a strain on him after his recent ER trip. I explained to the security gal the situation and not only did she get us a table, she took care of extra drinks and then... wait for it... went to talk to the backstage security to apprise them of the situation. The next thing we knew, John Vesely himself came out from backstage to meet us! I could not believe it! I told him how much his music meant to me and was helping me throught this difficult time. He wished us all the best, hugged me and shook Mike's hand. I cried the rest of the night and sang to all the songs. Thank you John, from the bottom of a grateful heart. To hear John's amazing music, head to www.secondhandserenade.com or hear one of my favorites here: Your Call.

Second Place

Just so you know, the Mikey Man came in second in last night's tournament. So he did come home with a profit. His buddy Tim, however, continues to have the worst luck at cards we have seen in a while. Sorry Tim but out first? Twice? Dude.

Cath is still out. Life is much better. Also I would like to thank Stereodevil for helping me with the wifi router issue. Mom, next time you come out you won't need to hardwire to the Cat5 anymore. You can power up in your room.

No Sleep Last Night

But that's a good thing! Mike was up every hour to go to the bathroom. "Like a champ" was how he put it. So it looks like he's doing much better now and no catheter! Huge relief. What a week. So guess where he is tonight? Yup, playing poker. But no soda and no flask. Water!

Thank you to everyone for your prayers and well wishes.

Doctor's Apt. Today - Wed.

So the cath came out today but not with much progress. So we are playing a waiting game. It may have to go back. Interesting side note, Mike passed 2 blood clots. I'm thinking they are the blockage. It would explain the problem with the cath yesterday. I mentioned it to the doctor and he gave me the "isn't she cute, she thinks she knows anything" look. So I'll be doing my own research tonight.

Update

Another doctor's appointment tomorrow and most likely the cath will come out. Bladder spasms are making it difficult now to even use the cath. Bag is not filling but he's still managing to go so no ER visit this time. I'll update tomorrow when we know more.

Enlarged Prostate

So the verdict is an enlarged prostate. The surprise is how suddenly the whole thing happened. Not that slow, over time, kind of thing. So we try pills first. Then, if that does not work, we go for a laser surgical option.

Next appointment is on Wednesday. We'll know more then .

Again, thank you everyone for your thoughts and prayers, and thanks Mom and Dad for all your help. A special thanks to my angels.

Doctor's Apt. Today

Urologist appointment today at 10:50 a.m. We will keep updating the blog on any news or change in Mike's condition. So far there is no consensus on what caused the blockage on Saturday. We hope to know more today. Might have to wait for lab results or CT scans. Again, I'll update the blog as soon as possible. Thanks everyone!

Trip to ER

So we had a little scare today. Mike needed a trip to the ER early this morning. He's fine now and they think it's just an infection. He is home and we will go see the urologist on Monday. I will let everyone know if there are any changes. Much love.

Poker Tourney at the Fiesta Henderson Take 2

And the Mikey man wins again! The regulars at the Fiesta are getting to really dislike poor Mikey. This time he was generous and agreed to split the pot three ways among the top three people so they did not get down to just one winner. So that was still $300. Nice. He may need to hire bodyguards.

Vacation - Comicon 2009

We actually made it to Comicon this year! You may or may not remember that last year we were stuck on the 5 Fwy for over an hour moving only 5 miles or so. We eventually gave up as the entire freeway had just been shut down. This year we made it. And the boys got to meet Peter Mayhew. For those of you who are not Star Wars fans, Mr. Mayhew played Chewbacca. He says for his audition all he had to do was stand up. He's 7'3" tall.

Vacation - Jet Skiing

Vacation this year was a real blast. The boys were both old enough to do things they'd never been able to before. Since we did so much, I'm going to take events item by item and post them over the next week.

But first, I have to thank Pam and Alan for all their wonderful hospitality! Yes, that includes the poker and the tequilla and the internet access.

So the first pic is of Mike, Gregory, Philip, and my brother David as they prepare for a wild hour of jet skiing. This activity was courtesy of David. Thanks Dave!

Poker Tourney at the Fiesta Henderson

Every Sunday at 11:30 there is a poker tournament at the Fiesta Henderson Casino. Mike has played in it once before with a friend. Today he went by himself. There were 30 players in the tournament. And....

The Mikey Man came in first!

$400.00 for First Place.

He came home VERY happy.

And then do you know what he did? He made shrimp fajitas and margaritas for dinner.

God, I love him.

Daniel Negreanu

So Mike and I met Daniel Negreanu today. We saw him on Sunday at the start of a really bad run of luck both with his play and his health, which were certainly connected. By today (Thursday) he had already lost 5 pounds and on him it really showed. But he's feeling better and we were happy to see him up and around.

He signed a hat for me and his book for Mike. Very nice guy. Very willing to give advice and props for good play to the other players there.

Kind of funny how he came to sit on Mike's left. I was on Mike's right and when Daniel came in the room he asked where the best seat in the house was. I told him, "Right here," and patted my lap. He immediately walked to the OTHER side of Mike. Oh well.

Latest PSA

OK, so it's now at 2.5. I'm calm. No sense in panicking. Four is the magic number anyway right? As long as we're under 4.

The Poker Brat

Mike and I went to the WSOP Main Event at the Rio Hotel today. What timing! We arrived just as the one and only (thank goodness) Phil Helmuth was making his entrance. Phil dresses up for this every year. In 2008 he dressed as General Patton. In 2007 he came dressed as a race car driver. This year he was Caesar. No doubt with Harrah's blessing. Harrah's owns the Rio and Caesar's Palace.

We were also lucky enough to catch sight of Daniel Negreanu. He passed so close to us that I think he may have brushed Mike's shoulder. There's a possibility that Dan's luck not only rubbed off on Mike, but that Mike's luck took poor Dan. Immediately after we saw him at the break, Dan went back in and crashed and burned. He's out.

Mike's New Helmet

Helmet has arrived!

So what did he get?
A poker theme of course. What else?

Happy Birthday Gregory!

11 Years Old Today.

Mike's New Toy

Everyone told me that I couldn't tell him no. So it's all your fault.

Honda Shadow Aero VT750.

Julia Therese

Just thought I'd share a picture of me with my new Goddaughter, Julia. This is my brother, David's, new baby. She is absolutely beautiful.

I had a terrific weekend in OC at the baptism. Ate way too much. Thanks Mom and Dad!

Prom 2009

So Philip has moved up since homecoming.
He had THREE dates for the prom. Yes THREE!

Mike was so proud.

22 Years

Remission?

I've received a few inquiries about what the new PSA score means to Mike's cancer. Is he cured? No. Is he in remission? Good question.

I think an analogy is in order. Think of the PSA score as the number of people that respond to a fire. When the score is high, there's big trouble going on. Lots of people trying to help/respond/contain the damage. It's simply a count of responders in the body. The higher the score, the worse the fire. A normal PSA is below 1. Mike started at 68. We're down to 1!

The treatments he's receiving are like an outside source of water needed to put the fire out. As the fire is contained and doused, people leave the scene. The score goes down. That's good.

HOWEVER, the fire itself is not the problem. The building is still burned to a crisp. No amount of water can make the building look and act as if nothing happened. Not only that, but the fire got into the main infrastructure of the city. The local fire department had no effect on it because their hoses were burned, their trucks melted, etc. The fire is out but the damage is irreperable.

The hope is that the arson that started this blaze will lay low for a while since everything is soaking wet. This is as close to "remission" as it gets. The cancer stops growing. We keep throwing water on the area and hope that things stay cool for as long as possible.

So now we wait. And yes, at some point the arson may show up again.

PSA Down to 1 !

One. Uno. Singular. Lone. Prime. Digit. ON.

Crestor

Mike had an appointment with his internist today. They went over some bloodwork from the last appointment. Mike's cholesterol was a tad high (268) so the doctor put him on Crestor. We'd had it checked a few months ago and it was not that high. He put Mike on red yeast at first but that did not help so now it's Crestor.

On a sad note: my Grandpa Harry Griffin passed away yesterday early in the morning. We will most likely be taking a trip down to So. Cal. He was 89 years old.

Sounding the ALL CLEAR!

Thank you everyone for your prayers.

Mike's polyp was benign.

No colon cancer!

Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm going to start drinking.

Results on Wednesday

Results of the biopsy from Mike's colonoscopy will be in on Wednesday afternoon. He has an appointment with the Gastroenterologist at 4 p.m. We'll post information as soon as we can.

Some good news - Gregory finished his 5th grade D.A.R.E. program.

You can watch a short clip below. The little girl giving Gregory the high-five is Rachel. Her older brother has high functioning autism. She helps Gregory stay focused in class sometimes.

Colonoscopy Today

Mike is home from his colonoscopy this morning.
They found a polyp. One. Small.
So they removed it and sent it for biopsy results.
NOT to Quest. Almost though.
But I stopped them and told them I couldn't afford to hear results if they sent it there. So they helped me circumvent the exclusivity contract the hospital has with Quest.
Officially, I took the sample to Lab Corp. In actuallity, they came and picked it up. Good thing. I hate running around with someone else's polyp.

Colonoscopy

Appointment next Wednesday (March 18) for Mike's procedure. It will take the whole morning and he'll be at home resting afterward. We're hoping to find a clean colon - no more cancer. I'm not sure when the results will be back, but at the latest, we will find out at his April Oncologist's appointment.

Now for something completely different:

The little fellow above is called a Peter Pepper. I just had to post it. You can buy the seeds online but they are not too easy to grow. I'm not even tempted.

NO Quests!

File this under lessons learned. Turns out that some doctor's offices (who shall remain nameless) do not check the insurance before sending out lab work. This results in rather large bills which are the responsibility of the insured. Meaning us. At 100%.
Not only that, the money does NOT go toward any kind of deductable.
It's just not covered. At all.
So from now on, we ask for, no demand, Lab One or OUR Lab. NO Quest Diagnostics allowed! Any docs out there who send Michael Antram's tests to Quest are going to foot the dang bill themselves.

On the fun side: Philip turns 17 tomorrow. Well, as close as Philip can come this year. No leap year. So, party at our house with a bunch of high school kids. Oh goody.

New Appointment Today

So today is the first of the colon appointments. This is just a consult. I'm not sure what that means exactly. I guess that's why we need a consult. As close as I can tell, they are just going to say, "You need an appointment for a procedure." Insurance must pay for consults or they would just say this over the phone.

In other news...
The picture on the left is Mike and I at the St. Viator School Foundation kick-off party - this year.
Yes, I know. Our kids have not been at that school for years. Yes, they are still abusing me. Yes, I am still taking it. However, I have just admitted I have a problem. First step toward recovery, right?

Sir Robert Byron Bird

Please Note: I have not updated for a while so there are two posts for today. This is the first.
I have been researching our fine Antram roots and as we knew, they run pretty deep in North America. While I was researching, I ran across an Antrim (on his mother's side) who had also done an incredible job of researching the family. In fact, he wrote a book about it; An Antrim Family History. So this is the second book on the American Antrams or in his case, Antrims, the first being the one by Harriet Antram. All are related anyway. He co-wrote the book with his mother, Ethel Antrim Bird.
He was kind enough to autograph and send me one of his two remaining copies. Other copies of the book have been filed in the Library of Congress, Rutgers University, and other prestigious institutions. Which sounds like quite an accomplishment unless you know a little more about the author.
Robert Byron Bird, Professor Emeritus of chemical and biological engineering at the University of Wisconsin, Madison, is better known for his textbooks on Chemistry and the Japanese language .
And... he's a knight of the Netherlands. He was granted Knighthood into the Order of Oranje Nassau by Robert de Leeuw, consul general of the Netherlands in Chicago on Behalf of Queen Beatrix. (http://www.news.wisc.edu/9195) Among his other accomplishments:

• Fulbright Fellow and later a Lecturer and Guggenheim Fellow in the Netherlands
• Fulbright Lecturer in Japan
• Taught elementary Dutch informally, has co-authored two college Dutch readers, and was co-founder of the Dutch Club of Madison
• Elected to the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences
• Received honorary doctorates from Lehigh University, Washington University, Technische Hogeschool (Delft, Holland), and Clarkson College of Technology
• Member of the National Academy of Engineering and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences
• Otto Laporte Award Recipient
• One of the founders of the Rheology Research Center
• Benjamin Smith Reynolds Award for outstanding teaching of engineering students
• Has an award named for him: The Byron Bird Award for Excellence in a Research Publication
• He has also been an avid hiker and canoeist and is 82 years old and signs his e-mails "Bob."

He went out into the aftermath of an ice storm recently to take his book to the post office so that I could add it to the Antram collection for my sons.

I find I can call him naught but Sir Robert.

No Mas Cervesa

So Mike has another poker game tonight. The man loves playing poker. And this is, after all, Las Vegas. Besides which, he wins. I signed him up for a couple of poker magazines and bought him Daniel Negreanu's latest book. He studies everything. Which brings me to his recent flask purchase. Most of you know that Mike is NOT a big beer drinker. When he does drink beer it's usually at some kind of get-together and it's usually imported beer (he brings his own). But he's decided to lay off it while playing poker. I'm not saying he won't drink. He just won't drink beer. It's a strategy, you see. He'll leave the table less.

Now if I can just get him to give up the diet soda.

Are Wii Having Fun Yet?

Everyone says, "Get some exercise." The kids say, "I want to spend my Christmas money." So after Philip finished his SATs on Saturday I took the kids to Target. 'Cuz that's exercise, right? Walking and scolding at the same time takes a lot out of you. (Greg was with us.)

So while we're in electronics, Philip takes me aside from Greg and says, "They have 3 Wiis on the shelf. What should we do?" What would you say?

The boys decide to pool their Christmas money and I decide to kick in some too and the next thing I know, the Antram boys (Mike included) are in the game room BOXING! I don't think Mike has ever boxed in his life, but they are having a blast. Then they start bowling, and you know how good Mike is at that. The boys are amazed. "Dad's really good at bowling, Mom!"

"Yup, I know."

Word to the wise though... Mike says NOT to start with boxing if you are a couch potato. He has a Wii sports injury. Truth be told, I think he likes telling people that he pulled a muscle boxing with his 16 year old.

Get Out of Cancer Free Cards

I think that if you already have cancer you should get a free pass from the universe for any other type of cancer. Apparently this is not the case.

Mike's doctor (the internist) wants to look for colon cancer now. This requires more appointments for consultation on making appointments for procedures that will require more appointments to discuss what may or may not be actual results.

First appointment (consult) will be at the end of February. I will keep everyone posted.

Oh, and the graphic is my way of NOT putting a picture of a colon up.

My mom sent us some water from Lourdes. She got it from a good friend of hers (thanks Kathleen) and FedEx-ed it to us. It took me a while but I got Mike to use it. Good news, I think. Even the idea that someone thinks enough of our family to send something like this to Mom so she can send it to us tells us so much about the people we have surrounded ourselves with. We appreciate you all.

More good news: Mike won at Saturday's poker game. And no, it was before the water. Mike's just a really good poker player.

Is That Good?

After yesterday's post I received a few questions regarding Mike's PSA score. So, just a quick explanation:

The PSA score is the level of prostate antigens in the blood. The higher your score, the more likely something is wrong. A normal PSA score is usually less than 1. If your PSA hits 3 or 4, your doctor will most likely start ordering tests. Mike's PSA started in the 60s range. Not good. The high score indicated that the cancer was advanced and aggressive.

For those of you familiar with Gleason scores, which indicates the aggressiveness of the cancer, on a scale of 2 to 10, Mike's cancer was rated a 9. A very nasty piece of work.

So we are actually very happy that only one month after starting treatments, his PSA score is down to 25. We are hoping for less than 4 at his next visit in a few months.

Incidentally, Mike came in third in the poker tournament last night so he won his buy-in back. Nice work babe!

Let's hear it for Antram's Bits!

So I thought it would be a good idea to keep everyone updated using a blog so that the good news could travel faster than the phone lines to one person at a time. The latest good news:

Mike's PSA score is down to 25! Let's hear it for the boy!

I know what you're thinking. "Why Antram's Bits?" A couple of reasons:
1. I wanted to post more than just news about Mike's health from time to time.
2. There was no one here to stop me. Mike's out playing poker.