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Welcome! |
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| This
web
site is very much a work in progress as time permits. I hope
you find a few of the postings worth reading. I am not
posting any
material here specific to my work with the exceptions of my
bio and the summary of my
participation in
various conferences and
standards meetings. |
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I will be discussing
things related to my work over at my work
blog
which I try to update regularly. This site has morphed over
time into a journal of the
things going on in my life. I have been slowly adding more content
as
time permits. Feel free to have a look around and also feel free
to
send
me an e-mail if you have any comments or suggestions. In October
2007 I
was diagnosed with colon cancer so it will come as no surprise
that
several of the entries below document my experiences as I go
through
the treatment cycle for that.
Older entries, that previously appeared on the
front page of this site have been archived into the
Archived entries section.
Please feel free to leave a message in the Guest
Book.
No Sidebar?
If you do not see a frame on the left hand side of this page with
a
selection
of menu choices you may have come here via a search engine or some
other
means that did not cause the page to load correctly. If so, click
here
to re-load this page with the sidebar displayed correctly.
Four years post surgery, four
years in remission!
The (official) end of Summer
By the school calendar, which around here is the one most people
live by, as of today, Summer is officially over. This is despite
the
fact that this week we will most likely break the old record of 69
one
hundred degree days in a calendar year. The high yesterday was
around
105F and it is forecast to be about the same again today. I forget
when
we last had serious rain but it has been months. Unless we get a
tropical storm come ashore soon it may be many more weeks until we
do
get some rain. I love the hot weather but in my fifteen years here
I
have never seen a drought like this one. We usually get some good
storms, especially during the Spring to top up the lakes. This
year
that did not happen.
Anyway, my kids happily (yes happily) went back to school today.
They even got up at 6:20am and woke me up! Robyn is going into
eighth
grade and Jack fourth. They have grown so quickly. Robyn is
thirteen
now and Jack will be ten in December. Where does the time go?
Anyway,
above is a photo, which has become a bit of a tradition now, of
the
kids going out the front door on the first day of a new school
year.
25 Years at IBM
In 1986, August the 4th was a Monday and it was my first day as
an
IBM employee (at Hursley Park in the UK). Twenty five years later,
I'm
still working at IBM (these days in Austin, Texas). It's
been an
incredible journey both emotionally , technologically and
geographically (from Hursley to Austin with seven years in Boca
Raton,
Florida in between). I have worked with some fantastic people on
some
very cool projects and been lucky enough to make great friends all
over
the World.
The 25 years have flown by!
Where have I been hiding?
Those of you that check-in here from time to time, and the site
statistics tell me that there are still a lot of you, for which I
am
grateful, may be wondering what I have been up to and why I have
not
been posting of late. In short I have been busy at work, very busy
with
the kids and also had to have a spot of unexpected (and very
painful)
surgery from which I have been recovering since mid June.
Anyway, here is a quick update on the Summer so far...
Things medical
At the end of May I met with my colo-rectal surgeon and he performed my (now semi-annual) internal exam. Everything looked good. However, while he was checking me out he told me that I had a cyst that needed to be dealt with surgically (not cancerous). More on that in a minute!
On June 9th I met with my oncologist and he ran all of the usual
tests. While I always hope for the best, this is always a nervous
time
for me. None the less, I am happy to report that all of my tests
came
back clean. Still no evidence of further cancer. I can now go
twelve
months before he wants to check me again. This is significant
progress.
On June 10th I had surgery to take care of the cyst. The
procedure
ended up being a bit more involved that I had hoped it would be.
Without going into details it was in an awkward place and for
several
weeks it was really hard to sit down and I was in a lot of pain.
The
wound is still healing but is in much better shape now. Hopefully
in a
another week or so it will have finished healing. The surgery
really
knocked me out of my stride for a few weeks and even now I do not
feel
that I fully have my energy back.
On top of a few other stresses in my life at the moment I really
feel like I cannot catch a break. I hope to take a couple of weeks
off
soon and find a beach to lay on somewhere or something equally
restful!
The Kids
Despite the intense drought and soaring temperatures we have been
enduring for well over six weeks now, the Kids are having a great
Summer and spending a lot of time in the pool. Robyn was able to
escape
the heat mid June, when she left along with 40 other kids and four
adult leaders on a People to People expedition to the UK and
Ireland.
They visited an amazing set of places all over England, Scotland,
Wales and Ireland. She got to do many things that even I, growing
up
there, have never done. She got to hit golf balls at St Andrews,
ride
the London Eye, watch a Trebuchet catapult launching a fire ball
at
Warwick Castle, she got to abseil down the walls of another castle
in
Bangor (Wales) and so many other amazing things. She took over 900
photos! I think this trip will leave her with fantastic memories
and
hopefully a few new friends as well!
Work
Work is very busy which is a good thing and has also helped keep
me
distracted a bit from other things.
Finally, less blogging more tweeting....
Finally, I will observe that while I have not been posting here
much
lately, that I have been making regular posts to both Twitter and Facebook
and more
recently Google+
as well. If you have not already done so, feel free to find me at
one
or more of those venues.
That's the update for now. Take care all!
Three years post chemo!
I realized this morning as I was looking at what is on my
schedule
for this week that it is three years ago since I underwent my
final
chemotherapy treatment. The time has flown by and finally (a while
ago
now in fact) the "fog" that was in my brain has fully cleared.
Every
now and again I suspect my memory is not quite what it was and I
still
have neuropathy in my feet - but hey - small price to pay right?
As always a special thought and prayer goes out to all of the people who are currently in their own battles with cancer.
You will probably have noticed that I have not posted here in
quite
a while. This is largely due to the fact that I am incredibly busy
at
work (which is a good thing) and have a tremendous amount
going
on in my personal life. I do post regular updates however to Facebook
and Twitter.
I hope everyone is having a good year so far. It won't be long
until
the kids get out of school for Summer here. Robyn has a huge
Summer
coming up. The highlight of which is a 21 day trip to the UK and
Ireland with 41 other kids on a People to People Ambassador
program.
I am keeping other sections of the web site updated as
appropriate
and I will try and get back into posting here more often!
Happy New year!
Just a quick post to wish all of my wonderful family and friends
around the World a very safe and prosperous 2011. I have not been
updating things here on the web site as often as I used to but I
have
been posting regular updates to my Facebook
page. I am very happy to report that in October I had a full
series of
medical tests and everything looks good. Unbelievably I am now
three
years into remission. We did some fun things in the second half of
2010. One of the highlights for me was when the kids and I got to
take
a seven day cruise on Carnival cruise lines around the Eastern
Caribbean. Lorna and the kids are all well although I don't think
the
kids will want to go back to school next week after the long
Christmas
break. Work starts back up for me on the 4th.
Again love and best wishes to all, from our family to yours for
2011
Father and Daughter surgery
What are the odds that both my daughter and I would end up having surgery from the same doctor at the almost exact same time in adjacent rooms? Well that is exactly what happened this past week! Robyn had already been scheduled to have her lower wisdom teeth removed Monday morning so that part at least, was expected. The unexpected part is that right after we met with the surgeon to prep for her surgery, a few days prior to the scheduled date for the procedure, I started getting a lot of pain in my upper right jaw bone. An x-ray from my dentist revealed that some screws in my jaw from reconstruction surgery in 1998 had moved and allowed the area to get infected. The required "fix" was to have the offending screws and bone plates surgically removed. So, in an exercise in efficiency, we scheduled my surgery at the same time as my daughters so that Dr Gallagher (my long time oral surgeon and great doctor) could emulate Bobby Fischer playing chess against multiple opponents at once and fix us both (almost) in parallel! We turned up at 7am and Robyn got to go first. While he was operating on her, other nurses started prepping me. When he was done with her, the doctor appeared and basically said "OK all done with her, she did great, let's get started on you"!! I woke up as she was also waking up more in the adjacent recovery room. How surreal is that?
Anyway, we are both doing well, I think at this point her
swelling
is going down faster than mine (behold the power of youth) but at
least
the severe pain I was in before the surgery has gone away.
She
gets a nice present for being brave, I get a few days of being on
an
ice cream diet so all in all not too bad!
Certainly a week to remember!
Misc updates
There has not been too much to report lately (which is a good
thing)
and hence I have not posted here. I have been posting small
updates to
Twitter and Facebook and as a result have not felt the need to
duplicate those here. On the medical front, my latest round of
tests
are now behind me and both my oncologist and surgeon have switched
me
to a "once a year" checkup schedule now. This is real progress!!
Yesterday Lorna and I went down to Houston so that we could watch
the MLS (soccer) All Stars vs Manchester United. We had a
great
time. Reliant Stadium was a great venue for the event and the
match
itself did not lack action, with Man Utd coming out on top 5 - 2.
The kids have been off school for several weeks now and I am
definitely counting the days until they go back! That said, I am
taking
next week of so that we can do some fun
things together as a family. I really need a break from work to
recharge my batteries as
things have been extremely busy.
So, as I said, no major news to report, at the moment but I will
try
and get back into making
more regular postings again soon.
Two years post chemo - wow!
It's almost impossible for me to believe, but two years ago
yesterday I finished chemotherapy. The time has flown by. Aside
from
some remaining neuropathy in my feet I feel great and all of the
other
side efects have long since worn off. I have a checkup
appointment with the oncologist next month and will post another
update
after that. Thanks as always to everyone for all of their
incredible
support.
Here's to more milestones like this one!
Quick medical update
I have again taken way too long between posts here. My thanks to
all
those of you that have contacted me to ask if everything is OK. As
far
as I know things remain good. A couple of weeks ago I met with the
surgeon who is keeping an eye on me and performing my regular
exams.
I'm happy to say that no new polyps were found and I have no more
scheduled exams until I meet with the oncologist again in a couple
of
months time.
This week the kids are on Spring Break and I am taking the week
off
work so that we can spend some time together as a family. If the
weather stays nice we are going to try and make it to the Austin
Fairgrounds for the Rodeo. In the 15 years I have lived here I
have
never been so I hope we can make it this year.
I'll try and post again soon but at least as far as the medical
stuff
goes, having less to post for a while is fine by me!
Belated Happy New year!
I have been very bad about posting here recently. Things are
going
well and I have just been very busy with family and work
activities. I
hope everyone is off to a good start to 2010 and I would like to
wish
everyone a belated Happy New Year. I'll try and get back
into
making regular updates again vey soon.
Latest test results still look
good
Yesterday I went to the oncologist to get my latest round of
tests
done. They called me five minutes ago to say that everything
continues
to look normal. My cancer antigen test is even down a bit from
last
time and my haemoglobin number remains solid. I continue to be
plagued
by neuropathy in my feet but it has mostly gone away now in my
fingers.
The Lyrica I am taking works wonders on the neuropathy pain but I
think
is the major contributor to the weight I continue to gain. We
agreed
yesterday to again try reducing the dosage in the hope that we can
reverse this unacceptable trend!
I have not posted for a month mainly because I did not have to
much
to share - which is a good thing. I hope everyone is having a safe
and
happy start to the holiday season. As always thoughts and prayers
go
out all fellow cancer patients and their families at this time.
My second anniversary
Today marks the second anniversary of my cancer surgery. Is
it
really possible that two years have already passed? It seems like
just
yesterday. Thanks to all the wonderful doctors and nurses that
treated
me I am still here to type this and to bug my family and friends!
I owe
my life to you. Special thanks today (as every day) to Keith M,
John M
and Darren K, three amazing doctors, without whom I would just be
a
memory.
I think I have more blood work scheduled in the next few weeks
which
as always I shall be nervous about but all continues to be well as
far
as I know. I have not posted here lately as we have all been very
busy
between work and school, soccer games, boy scouts, girl scouts,
dance
and camping trips.
I'll try and post a longer update soon but I could not let this
milestone day pass by without a quick post.
Quick medical update
As many of you know, I had my latest internal exam last week,
or as my son calls in my "butt check" ! The procedure itself
is
nothing that I worry too much about but I do worry very much about
what
might be found. I am therefore pleased to report that
all remains clear as far as the surgeon can tell. I do not have to
see
him again for another six months now which is great progress!
Brandy
Sadly, we had to say goodbye today to another of our dear animal
friends. Brandy, now over 13 years old had been with us since we
got
her and her brother Toby as puppies from a friend as a wedding
present
back in 1996. We lost
Toby
just over a year ago
and now Brandy has joined him at the doggie park in the sky. She
was a
great dog, in her younger days extremely atheltic, more recently a
lady
of leisure and sadly even more recently pretty much unable to get
up
and move without our help. We are extremely sad to see her go and
all
miss her very much. I'm glad we still have Rocket, Scamp and
Shadow to
keep us on our toes (as well as the kids!). I need to update the
pets
section with some new photos and will try and get to that soon.
Brandy
during
happier times - July 2008
Kids, Dogs and the end of Summer
So, while the days remain extremely hot, Summer is over for the
kids
who went back to school last week. I work from home a lot and am
having
to adjust to a quiet house again! Robyn is starting sixth grade
(Middle
School) this school year and is very excited. Last night we went
to a
meet the teachers evening. It was fun. We got to experience her
day. We
went to each class for eleven minutes, attended a presentation
from the
teacher and then had four minutes to make out next class - the
same way
she does! As well as the traditional subjects, Robyn is taking
Choir
and Band this term. She has chosen to try the clarinet as her
instrument. I hope she likes it as I am still trying to get over
my
almost heart failure when I saw the price of even a used
one!
Meanwhile, Jack is starting out on second grade. We have spent a
small
fortune this Summer on consultations with specialists as we
continue to
try and get Jack the help he needs for his Aspergers and ADHD.
Lorna is
right now having to sit in the school with JAck during the morning
classes to try and keep him calm. This is unacceptable and I shall
be
coming down on the school like a ton of lead bricks (backed up by
advocates and other medical professionals) if they do not get
their act
together fast. He is supposed to have a teacher's aid in class and
he
is not getting one. We also have some new medication for Jack that
we
are just starting him on that may help with his morning moods but
I am
not going to give the school what they seem to want which is to
have me
medicate him into passive oblivion.
None the less, both kids had a great Summer. They both attended
lots
of day camps and had numerous parties, play dates and sleep overs
with
friends. Robyn's Summer ended on a super high as she passed her
Tae
Kwon Do black belt test. Her graduation ceremony is on Thursday.
One
of the things we have been doing lately is volunteering at the
Williamson County Animal Shelter. As well as being a good cause
anyway,
it also is helping Robyn get one of her Girl Scout badges.
However,
those that know me well, know I love animals. Every time I go to
the
shelter I find it hard not to bring a dog home with me. Well a few
weeks ago, my resolve broke and we now have a new member of the
family.
He is (we think) a four month old puppy. We are not sure exactly
what
breed he is. The shelter staff wrote him up as a Black Lab/Great
Dane
mix. Our vet says he sees some Sharpei in him, I think this may
just be
due to his "room to grow" wrinkly skin! Whatever breed he is, he
is
loads of fun and it is clear he is going to be BIG! The other
dogs,
after a few initial barks and warning growls to establish the
boundaries and the pack order have now fully accepted him. We get
to
watch some fantastic play fights on a regular basis. This reminds
me
that I need to go and update the pets section of this web site and
get
updated photos of all the animals posted.
The weather here continues to be brutal. Every day during the
Summer
the high temperature reached or exceeded 100F and it has hardly
rained
at all. We are now (not before time in my opinion) on mandatory
water
controls.
On the medical front, I met with an Orthopedic Surgeon yesterday
(not related to my cancer treatment) to get his opinion on my
elbow
which continues to be extremely painful after I whacked it against
a
plastic pipe at a water park back in June. As far as he can tell
from
the X-Rays and MRI pictures that have already been taken it's
nothing
more serious than an acute case of tendinitis (good old fashioned
"Tennis Elbow"). The Cortisone shot that I got for it two weeks
ago has
so far not helped so they are going to start me on Physical
Therapy
later this week and a course of meds. We were joking that "Tennis
Elbow" should really be called "Computer Mouse Elbow" these days
as
that is when it hurts me the most. The surgeon suggested I stop
using
the mouse and get a trackball instead. "Gee" I said, "what a great
idea". I am supposed to be the computer guy but I think that the
doctor
is on to something there and it never occurred to me (sigh). Of
course
I am not the first patient with a bad elbow he has ever seen
either!
On a slightly less "humerus" note (sorry I couldn't resist the
pun),
I am scheduled to meet with my colo-rectal surgeon tomorrow for my
next
round of checkups and my internal exam (yep, yuck!). I always get
nervous when I go in for this one as this is how it all began
almost
two years ago and we all know where that went (wow time flies).
This weekend I went and paid the $29 for my copy of Apple's new
Mac
OS X 10.6 (Snow Leopard) operating system upgrade. I installed it
on my
Mac Book Pro laptop over the weekend and so far it seems to be
running
well and living up to the advertising. Lot a great deal of new
visible
features but definitely a bit faster and uses less disk space.
I'll
report more as I play with the new OS some more. I know many
of
the folks that follow my web updates are Mac users. Please let me
know
if you are also upgrading.
That's about it for now. I'll post more after my tests this week
are
over.
More on the Pan-Mass Challenge
Further to my prior posting, I just received the following words
from Don. I am extremely grateful that he is riding this
year in
honour of my dear friend Dion Gillard, who died way too young,
from
cancer last year. Cancer is such an evil disease and none of us
are
immune from it. Please help support Don if you possibly can.
Here
are Don's words...
| I
‘met’ many of you through a post I made here thanks to
Kelvin, last
Summer. Now it’s time to renew our friendship and launch our
2009
campaign to raise funds for cancer research. This year, I am again dedicating a large investment in time and sweat to ask as many people as I know for their support in my effort to raise funds to support cancer research at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in Boston. I do this by signing up to ride the Pan-Massachusetts Challenge, a 2 day, 192 mile bicycle ride here in Massachusetts. By signing up I commit to raise a minimum of $4,200 but I aim higher. Last year with your help, I was able to ferry in $9,385. Please check out their web page ...you'll see it's an amazing event that attracts participation from all across the country and the world. All told, we raised $35,000,000 for cancer research in 2008. Not bad! This year’s PMC fund raising goal is anybody’s guess given the impact of the economic crisis. Billy Starr, the executive director, said recently, “It’s a whole new world.” That said, we all know that cancer strikes without consulting the latest econometric data. It affects all of us, all too often. Many PMC people ride in honor of a friend or family member directly affected by cancer. This year I will honor Dion Gillard, Kelvin’s friend who lost his battle with melanoma last September. I can't think of a better way to do this than to continue to work hard at the fund raising, and then go out and break a sweat by riding with ~5,000 others from Sturbridge to Provincetown here in Massachusetts. It’s an amazing community action, and one that has made and will continue to make a major impact on developing new therapies and treatments to curb and ultimately, defeat cancer. For a detailed description of how PMC contributions have made a difference in the fight visit this page. This year the ride is on August 1st and 2nd. Please join me in this effort by sponsoring my ride. Contributions may be made as late as September 30, 2009. To do this, just visit my eGIFT site. Click on 'Sponsor one rider with one donation', then open up 'Select a person by eGift ID'. You'll see my name and the field to enter the amount you wish to contribute. It's very quick and simple. The PMC staff manage a lean operation. As they say: "Not one cent of each dollar raised through riders' sweat and determination is used for administrative and organizational expenses." Using the web is a major component of this success. If you work for IBM or a company that has a matching gift program, this is an excellent way to double your gift. Last year, more than $2,500 was directly matched by IBM. Here's the link for IBM's Matching Grant form Just fill in your employee serial number and the amount of your donation. Then snail mail it to me at: Don Harbison
3 Thoreau Dr. Chelmsford, MA 01824 I will take care of mailing it in to the PMC/Dana-Farber team. I'm looking forward to the ride, and re-connecting with the amazing community that comes together once a year. When it's over, I'll post an update on how it went. Thank you for your support! Don Harbison dpharbison@mac.com |
The Pan-Mass Challenge - Bike
riding for cancer research
You may recall that last year I was proud to support my
friend
and colleague Don Harbison in his efforts to raise money for
cancer
research at the Dana-Farber
Cancer
Institute by riding in the Pan-Mass
Challenge.
Don is riding again this year and needs our help to reach his
goals.
Despite the tougher economic times, cancer has not taken a break,
and I
feel strongly that we need to continue to support research into
defeating this evil disease. As well as my own fight, I have lost
my
mother, an aunt and several close friends to cancer. This is a
cause
near and dear to my heart. Don asked me if I would again advertise
his
efforts this year by way of a posting here and of course I agreed.
I
hope some of you can join me in supporting Don. Every little
helps.
You can sponsor Don by visiting
this
link.
The Hot Summer Continues
It is always hot in Texas during the Summer time but this year is
off to an even more brutal start than usual. In June, we had
something
in the order of 20 days where the temperature met or exceeded 100
degrees Fahrenheit. July has been following a similar pattern. I
for
one, do not mind the heat at all but what we do need is some rain.
We
have not had a good, prolonged, rain shower for weeks.
Yesterday
some promising looking storm clouds formed around 5pm but produced
very
little in the way of useful rainfall where we live.
A couple of weeks ago we spent a week at the Great Wolf Lodge in Grapevine (right by the DFW airport) and had a great time. We went there last year and enjoyed it so much that we decided to go back again. This year I finally found the courage to ride the Tornado! It was a lot of fun and a much needed break for me from work, which, of late, has been extremely busy. On one of the water slides, I hit my arm very hard on the plastic side of the tube. It hurt so much that I went and had it X-rayed when we got back but there was no sign of any fracture. It still hurts a lot though! We were also able to visit with our great friends Rhonda and Terry and their kids Elizabeth and Chip while in Grapevine. They also visited us here in Round Rock last week for a day and we had a great time.You cannot put a price on such friends.
Thanks to the Internet and the BBC Radio broadcasts, I have been
keeping up with the Ashes cricket series between England and
Australia.
So far it has been every bit as exciting as the series in 2005. I
had
planned to visit the UK with my good friend Dion Gillard (from
Australia) this Summer to watch the cricket live. Sadly, as many
of you
will know from my prior posts, cancer took Dion from us way before
his
time a few months ago. I know we would have been having a great
time
and I think about him often.
Talking of absent friends, this time last year we lost one of our
Golden retrievers, Toby. His sister Brandy was 13 on July 8th. She
is
not doing so well and I fear will not be with us too much longer
either. While we know that 13 years old is well beyond
average
for a Golden, it will still not be easy to see her go.
We have tried to find the kids lots of things to do that get them
out of the house during the long Summer break. Robyn did a
ceramics
camp this week and I am taking Jack to a sleep-in at the Johnson
Space
Center (Mission Control) in Houston in a couple of weeks. I keep
trying to get them to play outside but given the heat, all they
seem to
want to do when they are home is sit in front of the TV or the
computer. School goes back on August 25th this year so we need to
keep
them busy for a few weeks yet!
On the medical front, my tests continue to look good but the
neuropathy is proving extremely stubborn and I am still dealing
with a
lot of fatigue attacks. I have been doing some reading of medical
papers on the Web lately, and it appears that many of my symptoms
seem
quite common among chemotherapy patients. I read with interest
that
some doctors are now describing the after effects that chemo has
on
people like me as "chemo brain". What is interesting is that I had
myself been using that phrase to somewhat jokingly describe what I
have
experienced to people. Now it seems that maybe "chemo brain" will
become a more formal name for the results of chemotherapy
medications
on the brain and neurological system of the patient.
That's it for now. As we head in to August in a few days I wish
my
many friends and family in Europe all the best as they start their
prime Summer vacation season.
Patents
I discovered by accident today (I promise I was not doing a
"vanity
search") that Google now offers a way to search issued US
patents.
Having
found
the
site,
I
will
admit
that
I
keyed
in
my first and last
names and it gave me back a ton of hits. I then remembered that
patents
carry my full name so I added my middle name to the search and was
impressed to see that it found almost all of my issued US patents
(I
think I have about 77 now). I also discovered that some of my
issued
patents have my name spelled wrong (Kevin instead of Kelvin) so a
few
don't show up in the search on my actual name!
If you are curious, you can find my patents, courtessy of Google,
here
and here.
In
case
you
are
wondering
(having
looked
at
my
search
results),
no, I
did not invent the system for organ placement during surgery!).
Anyway, if you have patents yourself or are just curious to see
what
you can discover I recommend doing a few searches.
Graduation, Summer and More
Tests!
I have been so busy at work and at home that a month has flown
by,
it seems, in the blink of an eye, since my last post. School here
in
Texas is now out for the Summer. Robyn (who turned 11 in May) is
no
longer in Elementary School. When school goes back in late August
she
will be in Middle School. The Elementary school held a graduation
ceremony for all the fifth graders which, while cute, to my mind
is a
bit over the top. Jack meanwhile will be in second grade
when
school goes back.Where does the time go?
So now that school is out, I am wondering once again if I am
going
to be able to work from home as much as I usually do now that my
work
environment has become very LOUD!! I have turned on parental
control on the playroom computer which forces them to unplug for
at
least part of the day. We are instigating a rule for the Summer
that a
certain amount of time must be spent outdoors. We also have the
kids
signed up for a few camps that will hopefully keep them distracted
(and
out of the house) for at least part of the time.
On the medical front, last week I had my latest scheduled round
of
blood tests. As far as they can tell, everything continues to look
normal.
It's already in the mid to high nineties Fahrenheit here, it's
going
to be a long, hot Summer!
Best wishes to all
My "End of Chemo" Anniversary
I realised yesterday that this week is exactly one year on from
my
last chemotherapy treatment (May 7th 2008). While I am still
feeling
some of the side effects of chemo (neuropathy and fatigue mainly)
I am
still alive to play with my wife and kids and enjoy spending time
with
my friends, family and colleagues. For that I am very grateful.
Test results
When I first began posting here about my cancer diagnosis back in
October of 2007 I adopted a policy of being very open about my
"adventure" in the hope that I might be able to provide some
comfort
and information to others embarking on a similar journey. By far
the
highest proportion of visitors to my web site get here as a direct
result of colon cancer or chemotherapy related searches. I have
made a
lot of new friends along the way, most of whom I have never met in
person, and I continue to wish them all the best for successful
outcomes in their respective battles with this evil disease. I am
very
humbled by the number of people that have written to me or posted
a
message into the Guest Book telling
me
about their battle with cancer and thanking me for sharing my
information which helped them better understand that they were not
alone in terms of symptoms, side effects of treatment etc.
Thankfully my tests continue to show that I am (as far as can be
determined using current technology) cancer free. However, my
journey
is far from over and I am continuing to run into additional issues
that
were most likely caused by the FOLFOX chemotherapy that I
underwent
between December 2007 and May 2008. Chemo has become a lot more
effective over the years but for all the good it does it
definitely
comes at a price, but as my wife constantly reminds me, I am still
alive to gripe about it! Most recently, as I mentioned in my
prior posting, I have been suffering some fairly bad fatigue. A
week
ago I went to see the oncologist and they ran a set of tests on
me. All
of my basic blood work (white count, platelets, haemoglobin) came
back
fine and there was no sign of any issues with my Thyroid. The only
test
that seemed at all off was my Testosterone level which was at the
low
end of normal ("is that chemo or my age?" I ask myself!!). Anyway,
the
oncologist has decided to put me on a regimen of monthly
testosterone
shots for a while to see if that helps. I had my first shot last
week
and it may be my imagination but I already seem to have a bit more
energy!
Anyway that's it for now. Thanks as always for all the messages
of
concern. It's great to know I have such a great set of people
cheering
me on.
Fatigue
Just recently I have been suffering fairly chronic fatigue. I start the day with plenty of energy but by about 4pm I'm ready for a nap. This is not like me at all. My legs have also been somewhat restless again, which if you remember how my journey began back in October 2007 is a bit scary. My next scheduled round of tests is not until June but (hopefully using an excess of caution) I have scheduled an appointment with the oncologist for Monday morning to get checked out. The fatigue seems to have been getting slowly worse each day for about the last two weeks and I want to make sure nothing unusual is going on. Suffice to say I'm a bit nervous.I'll keep you all posted as soon as I have some results.
World Autism Awareness Day
Today is World
Autism
Awareness
day.
This is a subject near and dear to my heart as my son Jack is on
the
Autism "spectrum" and has been diagnosed with Aspergers and ADHD
among
other things. We have other family members that are also dealing
with
autism on a daily basis. Whether you are a parent of an autistic
child
or a person dealing with the austism spectrum disorder (ASD) on a
personal level, today is a day on which we can show our support
for
each other.
Entries from 2008 are now in the
Archive
I did a little Spring cleaning of the web page today. All
entries from 2008 have now been moved into the Archive. Please let me know if you run into
any
broken links or other problems.
Spring is here in Texas
I can't believe that a month has flown by since I last posted
here.
Things have been very busy both at work and at home. For the kids,
the
outdoor soccer season is again underway. I am the coach of my
son's
team and the assistant coach of my daughter's team. This means I
am
involved in three practices a week and they each have games every
Saturday now.
Although Spring does not officially start for a few more days
(March
20th), as I type this it is close to 80F outside and the Red Buds
are
in full bloom. This week is Spring Break for the kids. Robyn is at
a
Girl Scouts camp all week and Jack is enjoying a series of
extended
play dates with some of his friends. I have a lot of work to get
done
(which is bad planning on my part) so I am hiding in my home
office a
lot, with the door shut! Last week we finally got some much
needed rain as a cold front arrived and stayed for a few days. I
think
we are still below where we need to be and if we don't get some
good
storms during the Spring we could be in for a very hot Summer. As
is
typical around these parts at this time of the year, the week
before
the cold front hit, the temperature was in the 90s F. Several of
my
colleagues were in town that week to attend the SHARE
conference which was held in Austin for the first time. I'm glad
they
got to enjoy some nice weather while they were here and in these
times
of reduced travel, it was great to see them.
This past Sunday, we went to see the Broadway touring production
of
"Spamalot" here in Austin. It was excellent. Richard Chamberlain
was
great as King Arthur and it's hard to believe that he is now 75
years
of age. This coming Saturday we have tickets to see Elton John and
Billy Joel live in concert. I have seen them together before and
am
hoping for another great show. We don't get out that often so
having
two great events on back to back weekends is a real treat!
One of the reasons I have been posting here a bit less is that I
have been trying to give more real time status updates on both Facebook
and Twitter.
I have to say though that the recent changes made to the Facebook
web
page (I think it's a real mess now) probably mean I will be
spending
less time there in the future
On the medical front I am continuing to get my strength back but lately have been feeling a bit more tired than usual and I think I have overdone it a bit both in terms of trying to get back into shape and also in terms of housework and other errands. Lorna and I debated buying a treadmill but after researching how much a decent one costs we ended up joining a local gym which offers a pay by the month plan. I have been trying to get to the gym one or two times a week. I feel like I am in hand to hand combat right now with the drugs that help with my neuropathy. I love that they cure the pain but I hate that they help me gain weight!
That's it for now then - I hope you are well as you read this.
Another year older - and that's
a
good thing!
A few days ago (February 1st), I celebrated my 44th birthday. I was overwhelmed with all of the nice messages that I received. Thank you all very much! When the journey that I have been on began back in October 2007, I had serious doubts I would still be here at this time and I am so grateful and blessed that I am.
A few days after my birthday it was time for my next round of
blood
work and physical exams. The worst part about the blood tests are
that
they can give you you basic numbers (white count, platelets,
haemoglobin) almost right away but it takes a day to get the "CEA
marker"
test back (and those are the ones that can indicate a recurrence
of
colon cancer). I am happy to report that all of the tests (both
blood
work and physical exam) came back clean and as far as the doctors
can
tell, I remain cancer free. I have no more tests scheduled until
June
(so I get four months to try and relax a bit). The neuropathy
continues
to be an issue. As an experiment, n discussions with my
oncologist, we
agreed to try reducing the amount of Lyrica I am taking to see if
the
pain remains under control while hopefully stemming the weight
gain
that I have been experiencing since I started on this drug. For
the
benefit of fellow patients that I know are reading this blog, the
Lyrica has done a really good job with the pain but it seems to be
the
main cause of my weight gain. I'm also trying to focus on exercise
and
fitness to see if I can win back a few pounds. I'll keep you all
posted
on my progress!
I hope everyone is off to good start in 2009 and I particularly
want
to send out best wishes to all of the other cancer patients out
there
that I have met because of this blog.
My use of "social networking"
tools
While I still like having a journal of significant events here
(especially the medical ones), and I fully plan to continue making
regular updates, I have been finding that lately I spend a lot of
time
posting updates and communicating with people using so called
"social
networking" tools and web sites. Specifically I find my self using
four
web based tools a lot. For me each one fulfills a different and
yet
interesting, role. One thing I like is the real time nature of
these
tools. When I write a blog posting (such as this one) I try to put
a
lot of thought into it and I have to carve out a fairly
substantial
chunk of time to do it. By contrast, it takes no time at all to
update
my Facebook status or to post a quick "tweet" on Twitter in answer
to
the basic question of "What are you doing now?". So whereas I may
update this blog on avaerage about once a week. I will update
Facebook
and Twitter multiple times a day typically. Below is a table of
the
four sites I use the most. If you click on the links you will get
to my
specific page on each site. Alsongside each entry in the table is
a
brief summary of what I use each one for. If we are not already
connected on any or all of these tools please feel free to reach
out
and make a connection!
| I view Facebook as the
primary
place that I interact on-line with my family and friends.
Facebook is
also the tool I have been most actively using for the
longest time.
While I also do find work colleagues there, the discussions,
at least
the ones I am most involved in, tend to be more about
non-work
activities. Unlike some, but like many others, I also enjoy
many of the
games that are available on Facebook. I tend to play mostly
word games
and puzzle games and for the most part avoid collecting
fish! I tend
to know most of the people I am connected to on
Facebook. I am
less likely to accept a friendship offer from someone I
don't know
unless the person is recommended by a person I trust. I
mostly interact
with Face book using their web page but I also use their
Blackberry
client. The facebook tools for finding people you know seem
pretty
good. |
|
| I am fairly new to Twitter. I
have been using it since last October. I view Twitter as a
mix between
so called "micro blogging" and instant messaging with
persistence.
Unlike Facebook, I do take part in many technical
discussions with
people on Twitter. You can chose to have your messages be
open to all
or just to your followers/fiends. Each message you post is
limited to
140 characters. I have many people that I "talk" to via
Twitter and
many of them I have never met before or even knew of before
we found
each other on Twitter. These type of connections work best
when people
have a common interest. You will find all types of people on
Twitter
including many celebrities. Many of the people follow tend
to discuss
technical things related to computers but I also follow
people
discussing topics like autism, local events in Austin and of
course
people that I just find interesting. Twitter has a lot of
applications
that you can run on your computer or handheld to read and
post "tweets"
but I tend mainly to use the twitter.com web interface. I do
however
run a couple of Twitter clients on my Blackberry. The one I
use the
most at the moment is TwitterBerry. I find it quite
difficult to easily
find people I want to connect to. I usally have to rely on
spotting a
conversation between people I know or stumbling upon an
ongoing
conversation that looks interesting. The tools provided fot
finding
friends need some work in my opinion. |
|
| I view LinkedIn as my primary
on-line resume/CV and business contacts database. Sadly in
recent weeks
I have been getting a lot of requests via LinkedIn to
recommend people
who are tidying up their resumes. My best wishes to all of
them. I
almost always interact with LinkedIn using the web page
interface. As a
general rule I will only accept a connection request from
someone I
have either met in person or on the phone. Likewise, I am
very careful
with my recommendations. I try to view LinkedIn as a very
professional
environment and treat it and the people I find there in that
way. The
LinkedIn tools for finding people you know seem pretty good
and I have
even managed to find old university class mates from the
1980's using
the tools provided on the web site. |
|
| Plaxo | Of the four,Plaxo is the one
I
use the least. I am not 100% sure what Plaxo wants to be and
I am still
trying to decide if it should be on my list here. It is sort
of a
mixture between Facebook (without the apps) and LinkedIn.
One thing
that Plaxo is very good at is aggregating information from
multiple
sources (blogs, del.icio.us,Flickr, etc) into a single
place. That is
the primary reason I use it. I have very few connections on
Plaxo that
I am not also connected to elsewhere (typically on LinkedIn
or
Facebook). I only use the web interface and don't know if
other options
exist. |
There are a lot of other sites that offer similar facilities, but
these are the four that I currently use and they, I think,
cover
my personal life connectivity needs! I do also use sites like del.icio.us
and Digg to store my bookmarks on-line but I am not including
those
sites in this list. I also use photo sharing sites like Flickr and
Picasa but for now I am not listing those here either. I am
finding
that I use e-mail and dedicated instant messaging tools less these
days, especially since Facebook added an instant messaging
facility. Of
course I also use a lot of additional tools for my day job
including
the more traditional tools like e-mail, instant messaging, news
groups
and discussion lists, as well as some of the more interesting web
conferencing and collaboration tools but the the web sites listed
above
I view as more the ones I use in my personal life. I could also
get
into my use of virtual worlds like Second Life but that deserves a
whole posting of its own at some future date.
An interesting footnote to this posting is that I feel so well in
touch these says with my friends and family around the World that
I
think Christmas cards, at least for us, are probably a thing of
the
past (sort of sad but also the reality of the times we live in).
Brief medical update
I haven't posted a medical update for a while and several of you
have been kind enough to inquire as to my status. So, here is a
very
quick update. I have no more tests planned until early next month.
As
far as I know the next round of tests will just be blood work. The
biggest problem right now is the neuropathy left behind by the
FOLFOX
chemotherapy (that ended last May). Specifically this is caused by
the
Oxaliplatin drug. I am told that it can take a year or more (from
the
day chemo ends) for this to go away. I am currently taking Lyrica
which
does a really good job of reducing the pain but seems to have the
unfortunate side effect of causing substantial weight gain. Lately
I
have been exercising regularly (riding the bike, walking, in-line
skating, lifting weights) but no matter what I do I am finding it
impossible the weight I have gained since I started taking Lyrica.
Usually I find it very easy to lose weight so this is, to say the
least, a bit frustrating! A week ago, I decided I would try
an
experiment and stop taking the Lyrica. Three days after I stopped
the
pain in my hands and feet became unbearable and I started taking
it
again. The pain almost immediately subsided. So I feel as if I am
stuck
in a situation where I can be in pain but losing weight or pain
free
and heavy! I plan to talk to my oncologist again next month
about
this. That said, my wife keeps reminding me that my body has been
through a lot in the last year or so and that I need to be
patient. I
know she is right but it really bugs me that most of my clothes
are
tight!
I continue to be humbled by the fact that I am still being
contacted
by fellow cancer patients (usually colon cancer patients like
myself)
who have found my web site while searching the internet for
reassurance as they start their treatment. That was one of the
main
reasons I started keeping the journal here of my treatment and I
am
really pleased that it has been useful to others. If you are a
cancer
patient reading this, e-mail me and I will always reply and I will
help
in any way I can by sharing my experiences. You can reach me by
sending
e-mail to gfxman@yahoo.com.
That's the medical news for now. All in all not too bad. I am, as
ever, extremely grateful for all of your support.
Happy New Year and now it's back
to
work!
First of all I would like to wish all of my friends and family
around the World a belated "Happy New Year".
I'm back to work today for the first time in several weeks and
the
kids are back at school. The house feels extremely quiet. I
took
an extended break to burn off all of my unused vacation time and I
feel
a lot more rested as a result. I have spent a lot of time over the
past
few weeks playing with the kids both indoors and outdoors and
finally
catching up on many house projects and also on my reading. Our
video
games and our bicycles all got an extended workout too andI even
got
both my daughter's bedroom the garage tidied up!
We celebrated Jack's seventh birthday on December 17th. I cannot
believe that he is seven already. I need to upload the photos from
my
camera and post a few here.
Looking back, 2008 as far as I am concerned, was truly a year
unlike
any other. I was in chemotherapy for the first 24 weeks of the
year and
then recovering from the side effects for a long time after that.
In
fact, I am still dealing with some of them and probably will be
for
some time to come. I'm not complaining however. I'm still here for
my
family and that's all that matters. There was also the
seemingly
endless schedule of blood tests, CT scans, surgeries and other fun
stuff.
Thankfully I have no more tests or other medical procedures
scheduled
until next month. I can finally feel my energy returning and I
have
started trying to exercise regularly. Over the holidays I spent a
lot
of time riding my bike and working out with weights. I also want
to get
my Rollerblades out of retirement once it stops raining!
One of the post chemo side effects I need to address
somehow
is the weight that I gained due largely to the medications I
still have to take daily. Right now I weigh about 50 pounds
more
than I did a few weeks after surgery in October 2007 (which of
course
caused me to lose weight) and about 30 of those pounds seemed to
appear
very soon after I started taking a specific drug back in August.
So, to
a large degree I had little control over the weight I have gained
but I
have decided to draw a line in the sand and try to fight
back!
Check back here periodically for news (hopefully) of my progress!
Meanwhile the weather here has been crazy. It was 83 degrees
Fahrenheit two days ago and I was out in shorts. Today it's
raining and
barely above freezing. It's supposed to be back in the seventies
by
midweek - such is a Central Texas Winter !
Anyway, this has been a nice diversion but I need to get back to
work so here's wishing everyone all the very best for a safe and
happy
2009.
I am very interested in computer graphics and I was one of the authors of the original Scalable Vector Graphics (SVG) 1.0 Specification produced by the W3C. I am no longer a member of the SVG Working Group but I do still try and keep up with SVG developments which, if you are interested, you can follow here.
When I originally created the web site I intended to create a site dedicated to SVG but I never quite got around to that. I was also well along the road to getting an SVG book published but that project got put on hold by the publisher. I am still going to try and publish some SVG stuff here sometime soon. In the meantime, part of the unpublished manuscript for my book was published by Manning on their web site. You can take a look at what we had done and see what you think. I think we had the makings of a very good book, but I am a little biased!
So for now this site is a bit of everything but mostly still very
much a work in progress and in many ways exists to give me a place
to
try out various HTML ideas and experiments. And in case you are
wondering how this site is edited, it's mostly done by hand using
a
text editor. I also use Composer (from the Mozilla Sea Monkey
suite) to
edit some of the pages. As I mentioned above, I mostly, use
Mozilla
Firefox to review changes I make before submitting them to the
server.
Anyway, please do check back from time to time as I plan to try
and
make regular updates.
| Contact me. | Last updated August 23rd 2011 |