The Holidays

So I hope everyone Had a great Christmas! I know I did, it was nice to be able to spend time with the family.

I am having a hard time focusing today on writing my blog. It is about 3 pm right now and I started typing this at 10:30 am. I have been doing some research this morning on things for the non profit. Also I have been writing an article forwww.voicesofsurvivors.com

I was pretty excited when Lynn Lane, the founder of Voices of Survivors, asked me to write “My Voice” to share with him and the people that visit his site.

I want to be able to share my story with as many people as I can. I want to be able to share my sense of hope and that things can get better. Really, like I have been saying, I just want to help people, and as time has gone on I have realized that I really want to be able to help people on a large scale. Of course I need to start small...gotta start somewhere, and that is why we have started Protect Your Pair. If you go towww.ProtectYourPair.org you will find a page called events. In there you can find the information for our first event to try and start to raise money to support our cause.

Please help me spread the word! It would be greatly appreciated, and with every person that someone tells, it will help raise awareness that much more!

I guess this is all for today. I am feeling a bit off, so I think I may try and take a nap. Not too much longer until my final treatment. Then I am done and I can really get started on all of this!

So long for now!

-The Tech

HOLY COW I"M HOME!!!

So this is great, I got home yesterday from the hospital! If you read my blog from yesterday you would know that I was very excited to come home and I expected to make an early day of it!

Haha...Right...I should have figured it wouldn’t work like that. So The Nurse Practitioner that works with the group of doctors that I see came in and told me my red levels were a little low in my blood. I was sooooo excited to be able to leave by like 10 am, it would have been awesome! Instead though I needed to get two units of blood. It was the first time I had ever had a transfusion, and let me tell you at first I was all “this is gonna suck” and “what the f**k” I want to just go home. I was literally at the end of my rope and just wanted to get out of there. Of course the only person who really sees this behavior or these feelings while they are going on seems to be my mother. (Sorry Mom, I love you)

So after me breaking down and saying ok...fine...do it, they got the blood, tylenol, all that crap gave me some Benadryl and I passed out for about 4 hours while I became a vampire...or at least thats how I like to look at it.

Anyways...so I went through it, and felt better than ever, had great color in my face and extremities. I probably look and feel better than I have since I started my chemo! Not only that but on top of that add the GREAT NEWS I had gotten the day before my treatment, the fact that it is the holiday season, I am out of the hospital, and I get to see my friends and family....I don’t think I could ask for anything more this holiday season! I mean what is better than beating the pants off of cancer for christmas!

So I am also excited to announce again the official launch of my other website, www.protectyourpair.org. We have created a facebook group for it too, and soon enough there will be a forum section on the site where people will be able to post questions, concerns, and all of that!

Anyways, I am currently working on getting our first benefit set up with my friend Jenn <3.>

Ok, I have precious precious sleep that I am going to catch up on...or watch Inglorious Bastards...or like I am doing now watch my little sister make Empire Biscuits...

This is new for me...I am starting to like the holidays, but not for the bullshit...I have finally realized how much my friends, family, and life mean to me.

Until next time...

-The Tech

Oh it is early

So I am awake...it is 6:47 am ET, and have been working on the recently launched... PROTECTYOURPAIR.ORG

I have been working away at this just trying to get it ready for people to see and use. There is some valuable information on there about the cause, and the wonderful people behind it including myself! HAHA!

Anyways, today is officially the start of day 6 in the hospital since the start of round #3 of chemo! That means I should be getting the hell out of here though! Granted my counts need to be high enough and my PICC line needs to be taken out (No Blood Clot please), but I am almost home free and for the holidays!

I have friends coming home that I am going to see, and I plan on spending as much time as I can with, not to mention my family, because they mean more than anything right now. As most of you probably know I got great news the day before I came in for my chemo! For those of you that haven’t read that great news yet please go here and check it out! It is probably the best news I have got in a long long long time!

Ok so anyways, I think I am going to get some more rest before I leave this place, then rest when I get home, and then rest till after the New Year when I start my FINAL TREATMENT!!!!

-The Tech

Worst I have felt yet

So my roomate is snoring and I cannot fall asleep. On top of that, I am feeling sick finally now that I am into my third treatment. I have to expect that though...I am just over half way there. I will luckily be home for Xmas and New Years!

Then right after the New Year, I will be back in on the 4th, and I will be here till about the 9th or 10th.

Right now though I am super exhausted, and I am going to get some sleep!

I will type more tomorrow, the NPO is really starting to take off, and the official site will be up soon!

www.protectyourpair.org

Thanks Everyone!

Drew

Great News!!

So I got some of the best news I have in awhile today! I went to the doctor for all my...ok screw that lets just get to it!

My Lymph node has shrunk back to normal size!!!! I am “Cancer Free”. Of course we cannot be completely sure just yet, so I am going through my next two treatments as planned, but things are looking great. When my doctor walked into the room earlier with a giant smile on his face I knew it was great news...it is pretty easy to read him...I think because he is so straight forward!

Anyways, not only that, but I also got to see my friend Reid today, and we went to the movies. It was nice to hangout with a friend today, I haven’t done that in awhile!

I need to get some sleep though, I have treatment tomorrow and the next 5 days, so I will post more tomorrow about progress with the NPO and the new website and all that!

Thank you all so much for your continued support through my hard times, I really appreciate it and don't know where I would be without you!

-The Tech!

Ahhh What the hell

So you have to love this, two day....two days that is all until my treatment on wednesday and I wake up...feeling like shit. Oh yea real fun stuff here, I mean I hate it when I feel nauseas when I am treatment, but at least there is an actual reason for it then. I mean I guess there could be a reason that is legitimate for this too, but come one...I have been feeling sooooo good the last few days that I am a little put out by this.

Anyways, last night I had a pretty good night. I went to my brothers with my mom and dad and helped my dad and my brother put up some boarder for their babies room that is being re-done right now. It is almost finished it seems, I haven’t really been able to help with that room because of my treatment that has been going on, so I was glad I got to help him with it yesterday. Then while my brother and father finished putting up the last piece of border, I went and sat down with my sister-in-law and we were talking about my brother and her new phones that they just got. The HTC Droid Eris, Oh My God, is that an awesome phone! I really with AT&T would carry an Android phone...I really want to get one, but I don’t want to switch carriers...at least right now. Anyways, we had dinner over there last night, my brother made Lasagna and it was delicious! I ate it really fast, but I was starving from not eating much all day, and not to mention taking my Marinol.

So last night we came home, I sat down with my sister and her boyfriend, and watched part of Tropic Thunder. There are some parts in that movie that crack me up, then others where I kind of want to slap whoever wrote it for making it so awkward at times.

Anyways I ended up back in my bed last night, thinking about writing a blog last night, but I didn’t feel I had a lot to write about at the time. So instead I worked on my other website, which at this point still has the coming soon page up, but it is exciting anyways...the baseline for the site is really coming along, but once we have all the information for it together then I will really be able to take off with it.

So anyways, I thought that sitting up and doing something might make me feel better...turns out it hasn’t....soooooo I am going to go back to sleep for now, but I will be back on with more later I am sure.

So long for now!

-The Tech

Rough Start

Hey Everyone,

So this morning I woke up at about 8 am, with no desire to get out of my bed. I did my normal routine though, got up...walked to the bathroom, walked back to my bedroom...jumped in bed, and then grabbed my laptop which I had fallen asleep with in my bed with me last night...along with my phone. So I got on my laptop, checked my twitter, grabbed my iPhone and checked my emails, and then passed out.

Awaking again about 45 minutes later I realized I need to stop falling asleep with my MacBook in my bed because it was about an inch from the edge of my bed where it would have faced an awful fall to destruction! Ok so it wouldn’t have been that dramatic, but it would have been me going, “SHIT SHIT SHIT....(crash)...SON OF A...”, you get the point. It probably would have went on for about 2 hours while I tried to fix whatever was broken and then tried to order new parts for it.

Anyways, so that is not even why my morning has been rough. I woke up and did all that and after checking my email, my twitter, napping again, and waking back up...I got to thinking about stuff. Nothing in particular...just stuff...which eventually led to me thinking about my life and the things I wished were different. I started thinking to myself, I wish I didn’t have Heart Disease, then onto I wish I didn’t have to go through chemo treatments, and finally onto I wish I had never had cancer in the first place and had to have a testicle removed! So while I was getting down on myself and wishing that none of these things ever happened I got thinking some more on how that is not me. How I have had those things happen to me, and sure I may be upset about them but shit, those things are what have made me the person I am today. Without any of those things happening to me I would not want to make a difference like I do today. So instead of sitting around being counter productive, feeling sorry for my damn self I am going to do what I planned and help people that need help. (Of course I don’t mean right this second, I have a blog to write...site to finish...benefit to be set up...)

But, when everything is said and done, and in the mean time I want to try and help people. Be it volunteering while I am at the hospital to talk to and visit the kids that are going through chemo, or even some of the older people who are there to keep them company while we are all going through this. I especially want to focus on helping the kids right now. I cannot imagine what it is like being a kid I mean under like 15 that has to go through chemo. Not really understanding why these things are happening to you, or why you feel so bad. It makes me miserable thinking about a child having to go through what I am going through right now. Or their parents having to watch their child be so sick, and so tired that they can’t play, or play with other kids because their immune system is shot from the drugs they are coming in contact with. I just want to be able to help them and their families, or people my age and older and their families get through what could possibly be the hardest time in their life.

Me, I have been in and out of the hospital, more now than ever and I know exactly what it can be like, and I sure as hell know what it is like when things go wrong. If I can use those experiences to help other people I am going to!

Anyways, I need to go get something to eat, my meds are starting to kick in, and and I am getting hungry. I am sure I will post again later tonight though.

Until then, have a great day,

-The Tech