Welcome to my CaringBridge website. I am using it to keep family and friends updated in one place. I appreciate your support and words of hope and encouragement. Thank you for visiting.
The very first thing I would like to do is to send out my love and gratitude to all of my family and friends. As you all know, in January I was diagnosed with inoperable pancreatic cancer and began on the road to exploring treatments. I was happy to find a well regarded oncologist here in Cleveland, named Dr. Judah Friedman. Dr. Friedman determined a plan of chemotherapy. Chemo began and the first few hours were well-received and then what we are calling "the perfect storm" hit. A combination of Noro Viris, C-diff, diabetic ketoacidosis among a few other issues all hit me at once and slammed me into the hospital for almost two weeks.
It was a very frightening time for friends and family because I was completely incapacitated, physically and mentally. It was frightening for me because I did not understand much of what was happening to me, including where I was or why I was there. Fortunately, I began to heal and have recovered to the point of being able to be home and continue to strengthen up for the next round of treatment.
In the meantime, all of you out there have been so wonderful and attentive while respecting the intricacies of cancer care. You have no idea how much a kind word whether it be via email, text, snailmail, etc. can mean to someone who feels punky and often frustrated.
Please feel free to join in my story by responding to or simply just reading the entries in this log.
