epilogue

 In the words of The Stranger, played by Sam Elliot in the Coen Brothers film The Big Lebowski, that about does 'er..wraps 'er all up.  I'm flying to LA tomorrow and will meet my Foreigner buddies, band and crew alike, to start back up with them. I'm officially back full time with the band, and we have quite a healthy schedule throughout the remainder of the year. I plan on making this my last Rectifyin' post (God willing), as I am now cancer free and done with all my treatments.  I'm all healed up from my March surgery, feeling strong, and ready to rock! I have been hitting the gym regularly, eating very well, and taking lots of supplements-vitamin D, B complex, Omega 3s, antioxidants, etc. to build up immunity. Honestly I have never felt better.
 This blog has been a real source of healing for me, and I have so appreciated the comments, feedback, and support that I have received. Thanks to everyone for reading and caring! Though I am feeling quite healthy now, I realize I can never again take my health for granted. Cancer recurrences happen all the time, and I plan on doing all I can to avoid that happening to me.
 Goodbye all. Be kind to yourselves and others!

Michael

The Last Supper

 Just to clarify, tonight was the last supper for a couple days or so. Tomorrow I will be ingesting nothing but clear liquids..mostly water and green tea. This is because Friday it's time for my long awaited Ileostomy reversal. Woohoo! Yes, I'm actually psyched to have my surgeon re-route my small intestine from it's current position where it exits my stomach a few inches to the right of my belly button, back down to it's proper home where it meets my colon. Reunited and it feels so good...yes I have the Peaches and Herb 70s classic buzzing in my head too. I think my colon may be singing along too...though he hasn't seen much action in 6 months, so he's probably just humming very quietly.
 I'll be in the hospital for about 5 days following the surgery where I'll be healing from the incision, and working my way back up to solid foods in the fashion I employed following the first surgery: IV drip, then liquids, then liquid diet of soups, etc, then the final leap to solid foods.
 I will have the blessed fortune of being surrounded by my family this coming week, and I am so grateful for this. This marks the 4th and hopefully final chapter of my cancer treatment and recovery that began with (1) chemo/radiation, (2) tumor removal/ileostomy surgery, and (3) more chemo. I am entering into this feeling strong, healthy, calm, and extremely supported. Thanks so much to all my family, friends, and fans.  See you on the other side cancer free!

love,

Michael

Chemo is done!

 Just a quick installment to report I am all done with chemotherapy! I wrapped up my 8th and final cycle this week. I'm feeling great, and I started juicing again to detox the system of any remaining chemo agents still floating around. I still seem to be hovering around my lean mean weight of about 150-155 lbs, but I am eating well and have lots of energy.
 The last hurdle will happen next month on march 15 when I do my ileostomy reversal surgery. This is apparently less invasive and taxing than the original surgery I did to remove the tumor, but I will be spending a few days in the hospital following the surgery, and I'll be taking it super easy after that for a little while to recover.
 That's it for now. I'm about to catch a plane for New Orleans. Foreigner is doing a private event there smack dab in the middle of Mardi Gras weekend. Looking forward to enjoying a bit of the revelry, and of course sampling some beignets from Cafe Du Monde!

Risk Versus Reward

 I have made some changes to my chemotherapy regimen. Initially I was being infused with both Oxaliplatin and 5FU, but starting with cycle 5, I discontinued the use of the Oxaliplatin. The tingling pins and needles in my fingers and jaw (neuropathy) was getting worse, and since there are cases where that can become chronic, I decided I wasn't willing to take the risk of any long term nerve damage. This wasn't an easy decision to make, but after a lot of thought and consultation with different doctors, friends, and family, I decided to press forward with the chemo, but only with the 5FU and not the Oxaliplatin. I now have only cycles 7 and 8 to complete, so I'm scheduled to be done with all chemo on February 4. Thankfully, I'm feeling like the end of all of this is in sight. I will have my ileostomy reversal in mid March, and after recovering from that, I will be considered "cured", with regularly scheduled scans to follow. I have been feeling strong and positive, and I even managed to put on a whopping 3 pounds! 

 I have continued to do lots of local fun gigs, and I had my first show back with Foreigner on New Year's Eve in Vegas. I'm leaving tomorrow for a couple of weeks with the band. We're starting the run at the Hard Rock Cafe in Hollywood, Florida, continuing with a "Rock Legends" cruise out of Ft. Lauderdale for 5 days, and then finishing up with a couple of casino shows in Minnesota. 

 That's all for now. Thanks for all the continued healing vibes people! It must be working because I'm doing really well.

chemo sabe rides again

  On Monday I went in for the first of 8 chemo "cycles" I'll be doing. These will be happening at 2 week intervals, so the whole course runs approximately 4 months. It's done intravenously through a "port" which was surgically implanted in my chest a couple of inches down from my collar bone. It sits just under the skin and delivers my chemo "cocktail" called "Folfox" into my jugular vein. The cocktail consists of 3 different chemical agents. Their purpose is to attack any rogue micro tumors that may still be in my system. Today is Thursday and I'm happy to say that I was mostly unfazed by this round. There has been a little bit of neuropathy (a tingling sensation which can also include numbness) in my gums when drinking or eating cold things, but it's nothing major, and I have ordered an amino acid powder called "glutamine" which is supposed to help with it.
 I've realized over the last few days that I'm about halfway through all of this. I can't say it has flown by, but it hasn't felt like an eternity either. Onward and upward, and again thanks to all my dear family, friends, and Foreigner fans that have been so supportive and thoughtful throughout this!

post surgery recap

No one said to me, "when you awaken from this surgery, you'll be in a LOT of pain and be quite disoriented". Looking back, I'm glad they didn't. I went in to surgery feeling very calm and confident,

and that would probably not have been the case had I been warned like that. Well, it WAS quite

painful and disorienting when I came out from under anesthesia. Luckily I was hooked up to a narcotic IV drip cocktail consisting of hydromorphone and tylenol; the brand name "Dilaudid". Good stuff. And I availed myself of PLENTY (self administered with a button) for the first 48 hours. While nodding off during this initial period, my wife Carrie and my mom Deborah became the dedicated "pusher girls", hitting the button for me at 6 or 10 minute intervals. The down side? an itch that started on my arms and slowly began to cover my whole body, and some chills. I started feeling like a junkie lunatic after awhile. Though I honestly can't say I know what THAT feels like.

When I moved to solid food on day 3, they weaned me of the "dilaudid" and switched me over to pills: I had a choice of Norco (hydrocodone and acetaminophen) or Percocet (oxycodone and acetaminophen). I opted for the Percocet as it seemed to make me slightly less catatonic-though only slightly less.
 Lying in my hospital bed, I was visited by an endless flurry of nurses and doctors. Their duties? 8 hour interval shots of Heprin (blood thinner to stop potential clots), blood draws to check vital counts, changing the urine catheter, checking on my temporary ileostomy ( I will have this for about 6 months while the colorectal surgical area heals and I do my follow up chemotherapy), and monitoring my pain levels.  I should mention that my surgeon informed me that the surgery went "as well as could have been imagined". There were absolutely no complications. He estimated 6 hours for the procedure and it took 4.
 I was discharged after 5 days. I got off the pain pills after 1 day at home as they started making me nauseous and I was tired of feeling like a zombie. The pain has lessened considerably, so I'm fine without them now. Since arriving home, my solid food intake has been pretty steady and I'm working on putting back about 10 pounds that I lost during my hospital stay..I realize this will take a little while.
Activities have included: finally watching the whole Sopranos series from beginning to end, playing Words With Friends on my new iPad (a gift from Mick Jones and Foreigner's management), short walks around the neighborhood, some music making, and lots of sleep.
 Also, some amazing news: as well as removing the tumor, my surgeon removed 22 lymph nodes from the surrounding region and found they were completely free of cancer. This bodes very well for the future.

70%

 There were 2 big pre surgical tests this week. I'm very happy to report that the news was very encouraging from both of them.

  On Monday, I went in for a catscan and it was discovered that the inflammation around the tumor area was down considerably, and that there was still no evidence of any distant spreading, or "metastases" (in medical terms) of the cancer. 

 Next up, today I met with my surgeon, Dr. Stricker, who is scheduled to perform a "Lower Anterior Resection", in which a significant part of my colon will be removed. He "got all up in there" with his trusty scope and after a..ahem...thorough examination, informed me that it appeared  the tumor had shrunk a staggering 70%!..though to be truthful, he didn't use the word "staggering". I however will go on to use the word "staggering" as much as possible when describing this. Needless to say, Carrie and I were thrilled to hear this news. In Dr. Stricker's words, this "sets us up very nicely" for the surgical procedure. As we were leaving his office, he let us know with a big smile that he was very pleased with this result. We were of course very happy to hear that coming from him. :)

 It may sound strange, but going into these 2 tests, I had barely a shred of worry. I have felt so healthy and strong from my dietary and lifestyle changes that it was like I ALREADY KNEW there had been a major reversal in the condition. Of course, getting the hard, quantifiable data was very reassuring, and definitely needed.

 So September 7th is the big day. I will most likely remain in the hospital for about a week following the procedure, and then ease my way back into civilian life. I know there are some challenges awaiting me, but I feel more ready than ever to face them. 

 More to come soon..