Let's hear it for the boy!

Hello, from the Mrs Dut. It's been awhile since I've posted, though I remain an avid reader, supporter and admirer. I thought I would give everyone an update from my perspective. I'm so proud of him I can hardly stand it. As we strut through Number 9, I can't believe we are already here and how well Andy has done through all of this. He has been such a trooper. This has been a difficult feat, but has been as easy as it can be because Andy has made the conscious decision to not let it defeat him.

Last session was the least impactful side effect action yet. The general trend with chemo is that it can get worse with time. Needless to say, we are encouraged by Andy's trends so far! Yesterday, I asked the doctor if it was because Andy is building up immunity to the toxins . . . maybe that's why it seems to be getting easier with time ??. . . The doctor said "No, I just think he's tough." The nurses always tell me what a superstar patient he is, and that he's kicking chemo ass with his attitude. Makes me tear up like a mother would. Andy, I'm so proud of you!!!

We are in the chemo groove for sure, and I cannot wait to groove on out of it with you. Here's to number nine! I hope you guys get to jam out extra hard tonight at Number 9, in honor of kissing another round goodbye. Next round Ando and you are in the double digits and practically finito with this crap. You go boy!

boob

Thanks to my lovely and talented sister, Ash, for giving me a laugh on a good day to have one. Those twisted Japs have done it again, this time with stuffed animal boobs.
check out the line of them here.

nine-er

So, I sit here working, preparing mentally for the beginning of sesh numer 9. After such a fun weekend and some good time with old friends, going back into chemo just doesn't sound too fun. Oh, well, them's the breaks.

I'm hoping for another 'easier' session this time, like last time, and am excited to then be down to three more treatments after this one. Finally getting to the end, and man, not gonna be a second too soon. Really getting sick of going to the doc's office so often, tired of the drugs and the routine. Not going to the doc every week after this is gonna be so sweet. Just not having that constant in my life will make things seem so much more normal again. And normal life is all I can ask for at this point.

It'll be interesting to see, too, how and if the side effects go away after chemo is done. I guess some could possibly continue on, some could be permanent. We're hoping none stay permanent. Hoping the nagging side effects go away, my hair grows back, life gets back close to how it was before all this. When the chemo weeks start, it's really all I can think about.

honkeytime

this blog is funny:
Stuff white people like

Friends are sweet.

Thru my experiences with cancer, I've had some new realizations about what matters to me in my life. Money, jobs, possessions, well, they're just things. Sure, it's nice to have 'em, but it's really not that important in the grand scheme of things. What matters are the people. I've been lucky enough to surround myself with the most quality of folks (in my opinion, of course) thru my life, and it just really showed when I got knocked down in life and everyone just sprung into action. Even if that action was just sending me prayers or positive thoughts- I felt it, bigtime. You never realize how much you're loved or how many amazing friends you have in your extended family until you really need them....then they miraculously show up just in time and everything is OK. You feel empowered by love, friendship, compaionship. You cannot fail with such support.

Anyway, aside from just appreciating everyone so much, I miss them a ton. A lot of my 'family' of people live up and down the east coast, and well, here I am smack dab in the middle of the country. So, what this all means is that I get VERY excited when friends come out to visit us here. As the years have wound on out here it's fewer and further between as everyone has busy full lives these days. But, much to my joy and excitement, Andrew Miller and Chad White are coming out this weekend! I really cannot wait for some QT with the boys from the ATL and even more so look forward to our weekend of turn-making up in the mountains. Pics to soon follow......

Old Joe

My friend Bill reminded me on Friday that we were 2 years to the day out from losing Joe. Kinda made me sad, and also startled me it'd been 2 whole years already.

It was kind of refreshing to find myself focusing on Joe so much, and not me and all my own problems. It really reminds you how everyone has their own problems, and how sometimes you just think yours are the worst. Really, there's always someone struggling harder than you, someone who needs help more, and this is something to always remember when you are feeling down or blue.

I sure miss Joe. When WSP played that song Old Joe at NYE he was all I could think about. That song will always do that to me. It did it when he was alive, and now even more so with him being gone.

It's sad to already have good friends gone from this world, but I realize now life is very fragile, and that it can end at any time. Thru this I've learned that you MUST take advantage of things while you still have the time- you MUST savor the moments that matter and learn to appreciate even those that don't. Joe had that figured out. He truly enjoyed life with a zest that most humans will never know. His flame was extinguished early, but burned brighter than most everyone's while it was lit.

Here's to Joe and his memory. A quality guy with a heart of gold, and man, we sure had some good times together. I'll always feel like he's watching, enjoying the ride with me, and it's nice to always have a good friend around.

8 down.

glad to say i'm thru 8 sessions of chemo. I still am feeling kinda funky today, but happy to have that damn needle off me. With only 4 to go, I'm finding that I can kinda see the light at the end of the tunnel.

If you want a site full of random things that range from pointless to entertaining, take a cruise around: http://www.boingboing.net. My fav is on like page 7 or something, it's New Jersey club kids with fake spray tans and strange spikey haircuts. They look like oompa loompas. Hilarious. Thanks to the big man for not having me be born into that strange culture up there.

Sweetness

Some pics from the weekend (note snowbank size - more snow than I've ever seen).

We had a great weekend in Crested Butte. They have absolutely been getting crushed with snow this winter, snowing almost every day for the last month. The snowbanks on the side of the road had to be 5-6 feet tall, and you couldn't see over them when driving around town. It was really nuts. I've never seen anything like it.

So, needless to say, the conditions were great. It snowed for almost 30 days then was sunny the two days we were there. It was sweet. Woulda loved some of the super fresh, but with the sun, it was warmer and better for me to ride in. We managed to find soft stuff and evern a few pristine powder turns in there, too. Was a fantastic weekend. Crested Butte mountain is truly sweet- major steeps there. Great to see some old friends and spend some Q.time w/ JK and Timmay.

A bit worn from two days of skiing and a good bit of driving, but still basking in the after glow of the weekend. Will be sleeping early as I'm so insanely sore and still tired from it all, and preparing for session number 8, which gets underway tomorrow. I'm in no way looking forward to this one, mainly just because I'm sick of chemo. That point has happened where the novelty has worn off, and now I'm just plain sick of going there. Guess going does get me closer to being done, so that is motivation to go just get 'er done.

Killer coffee

Just a quick (and poor) shot of the coffee I've been working on. It's really good stuff. Our pals have the raw, green beans sent up to Denver from their land in Southern Costa Rica, and they roast it themselves here in D-town. The result is a high end, hand crafted product that, in my opinion, is superior to anything you can buy in the grocery store.

They're currently perfecting the different roasts, and the idea is that the stamp can be a different color for different roast darknesses. The stamp here is green, but we've also been doing black and are looking into what other colors are avail in rubber stamp ink. They hand stamp each pkg and write the roast and date on, currently, to further enforce the fact that you're getting a hand made product (rare these days).

Anyway, soon there will be a website to sign up and receive coffee regularly thru the mail, but for now, if anyone is interested in buying some, email me and I'll put you in touch with Justen.

Huckabee would buy this:

It's new, it's improved: it's Jesus scented candles.

"you can't hear him, you can't see him, but now you can smell him"

apparently they're flying off the shelves. 10K of 'em sold already.

So tired of you, snow

It's been pretty much mostly small storms here on the front range, but man....there's been snow on the ground and cold for over a month now, and I'm getting sick of it. I woke up to 5 or 6 new inches on top of whatever fell yesterday which fell on whatever was left over from the last time.

I know you in GA are saying "how cool", well, try cleaning your truck, once again, before work with snow all over it with chemo hands. Not cool. I think I'm extra over it b/c I'm so sensitive to the cold (and because I want it warm so I can bike/skate around again) with the chemotherapy side effects. I really don't like cold w/ the pins n' needles I get in my hands/face/feet, so all this cold weather and snow has really sucked. Esp when you figure I haven't taken advantage of the fact that the mtns are getting pummeled this year. GREAT riding and I've been watching from the sidelines. Well, no longer:

Going to Crested Butte for a few days of FREE RIDING with Jennie this weekend. She, being the fantastic employee she is, gets free condos and lift tix somtimes thru work, and we're going with her and Timmy to CB for this weekend for two days of free riding and condoing. We're pretty fired up over here, and I've got a new face mask, so hoping to ride w/ out any pins/needles effects. Really looking forward to some turns (will maybe appreciate winter more after that) and Andrew and Lumper coming out in 2 weeks to ride Summit county wit us.

Please come soon warm weather.

Big ups to Justen Miller and his lovely lady Lara Booher. They just gave me this longboard this weekend and I'm FIRED UP.Well, not this one exactly: Justen lovingly picked out custom soft wheels and bearings and trucks. See, they've recently purchased some coffee land in Costa Rica, and I've been helping them some with thier company's identity/logo/pkg a bit. They, being so nice, got me this longboard as an xmas gift. And I'm pumped.

See, Denver is pretty much flat. But, there's always a slight grade to the flatness, and it's perfect for finding all downhill loops thru neighborhoods and alleyways. You essentially carve the pavement like you would on a snowboard. it's SO MUCH FUN in the warm months. Justen and Lara turned Mere and I on to it last summer and we're fired up to join the "little bannana" long boarding posse they've got working.

Also- their coffee is REAL GOOD. If any of you guys out there in the world want some really good stuff, hand picked in Costa, Small batch hand roasted in Denver, well then stay tuned. We're working on a site where you can order monthly, and it's worth it- super good stuff and hand made. I'll post pkg and some more info soon... Oh, it's called Monarch Coffee Roasters, too. Stay tuned for order info, etc....

It's Super

Super Tuesday is here. It's not super here(will elaborate in next post). I am, unfortunately, not registgered to any party, so am not eligible for the CO caucus today, but would have prob voted for Obama. I def am not a McCain/Oven-mitt Romney fan, and also really don't dig Hilary so much, so I guess Obama is my fall back. Lesser of all evils, so to speak.

I took this online quiz that ranked who you should vote for after you answer some ?s (if anyone is interested i can post when i get to work). I was 'best' suited for Ron Paul, it said. Then a tie for second was Hilary, Edwards and Obama. Funny enuf, Dad got Ron Paul, too, so we started wondering if it was a quiz made by Ronny himself (everyone at work got diff people so it turns out somehow both Dad and I line up with Paul, go figure).

Anyway, I guess I'll be playing music instead of caucusing due to my non-registration issues (and it's way more fun), but I promise to be more educated, registered and voting come election day.

The big easy

Mere and I have been dreaming of what vacations we'll take when this is all over. The beaches we'll sit on and do NOTHING (but heal), the friends we wanna visit, the sights we'll see. It's exciting to think and talk about, and honestly is a great motivator to keep me going thru all this. It's what I daydream about.

Whether all these grand travel plans come together or not, we're REAL fired up to have the first post-chemotherapy weekend trip actually scheduled. Our good friends Patrick and Lori are having a New Orleans Jazzfest trip, to both act as their respective bachelor and bachelorette parties (wedding this summer!) and as a great opportunity to help support a super cool town that has amazing history and culture (it helps we're all music junkies and Jazzfest is an epicenter of good tunes). It just so happens that the trip is a little more than 2 weeks after my last treatment, and seemed perfect for us to go, not only to toast Sully and Lori, but also for Mere and I to kinda kick up our heels a bit, enjoy some music, and to hang out and have some fun with our friends with me back to 'normal' a bit, and over the chemo. I guess blow off some steam would be a good way to describe how I'm picturing it. This whole thing has obviously been a really hard time for us, a real test of endurance, and that finish line is gonna taste so sweet. I really can't wait to just go have a good time and NOT think about this stuff for that whole weekend.

It's also really an exciting to think about going back to a Jazzfest after at least 6 or 7 years away from N.O., but def even more exciting to realize that when I finally get there, I'll be done with chemo. Finally.

Freaking insuranced

Man, so I guess it's always too good to be true. Turns out the "out of pocket" max resets on Jan 1, not my 'calander' year date of Aug 9 (when i thought it'd reset), so I gotta re-up on the ol' outta pocket maximum action. Funny thing is, there's all these co-pays you pay, so when you look at what you spend for the year, its way more than your out of pocket, anyway. Those insurance people are sure a pain, and sorta slippery, too, but I am still feeling lucky to only being paying a portion of the overall dealie. Should be counting my blessings and not bitching, I know.

Here's to a nice weekend for all. I'm coming out of the chemo fog as I type this and looking forward to the next 9 days of non-chemoness. It's just so nice when it wears off some and you get back to normal-ish.