Don't Forget Thanksgiving

I know people get upset that Thanksgiving is overlooked due to stores switching from Halloween to Christmas decorations.

But, I am not letting Thanksgiving go unnoticed this year.

Here is a video to get you in the Thanksgiving Spirit! You can thank me later.

A Decade Since...

Today is a very significant day for me.

One this day TEN YEARS AGO I was told that I HAVE CANCER.

I remember this day as if it was yesterday. I was in a small hospital examination room and in walked some new doctor I had never met. Her name was Dr. Schiff and after a short introduction she relayed the news. You would think that a relationship with another person who shares this kind of horrible news shortly after meeting them would not progress into an amazing relationship.

However, that is exactly what has happened. On this day ten years ago I met the awesome, wonderful, and best doctor in the world. In the decade since we had that wonderful introduction I have put her through a lot. I am not the best patient in the world. I make a lot of decisions that give her stress, but I am thankful for her caring, loving, and mother-like approach she has with me and my cancer treatment.

The few weeks preceding this day I have done A LOT of soul searching and pondered a lot on the past decade of my life. That without Dr Schiff would most likely would not have happened.

In the Last Decade I have:

-Graduated from High School
-Survived a 1.71 G.P.A. during my first year at college
-Served a 2-year Mission for my church
-Had a academic paper accepted to a national conference
-Graduated from College with a B.A. in Communications
-Been a Best Man at a Friends Wedding
-Had Emergency heart surgery
- Made life long friends
- CouchSurfed numerous times at complete strangers houses
- Kissed a girl in a bar
- Bungee jumped off the highest indoor bungee jump
- Won a dance contest at a summer camp
-Traveled to eat amazing food
- Been to many concerts: Imagine Dragons, Fun., Head and the Heart, Sleigh Bells, and others
-Groomsmen in another friends wedding
-Attend my Grandfather's funeral of whom I was named after
-Been interviewed by the Seany Foundation to promote awareness for childhood cancer
-Been 94.1 Radio station in San Diego's kid of the week
-Drove 4 hours for a hamburger
- went skydiving
- Interviewed for a documentary about life after cancer
-Took a Road trip from Utah to Washington D.C.
-Had 10 surgeries
-Been to Australia, Canada, 26 states, Fiji
- Worked for the Make-A-Wish Foundation
-Been to 13 baseball stadiums
- Front Page Story written about me in the Daily Universe
- Attend the 100th Anniversary of the Calgary Stampede
- 10 years of holidays and memories with my family
- Started a Masters program
- Been constipated many times
- Slept at Mark Madsen's house

I have been blessed with a lot of amazing experiences in my life since October 16, 2002. And after this time of reflection and self mediating I have come to the realization that most of these amazing opportunities would not have come to pass had it not been for having cancer.

Yes, I have cancer and it is an intergal part of my day-to-day life; however, it does not define me as a person. That being said I am glad that I have cancer. It has molded me into the person I am today by effecting my personality and outlook on life.

Although sometime it sucks being stuck at home sick and depleted of stamina to go about day-to-day activities ..I would not trade not having cancer for anything.

So, I raise my glass and toast the amazing Dr. Schiff, Cancer, and living each day positively. Here is to another 10 years of school, traveling, eating, treatments, surgeries, and constipated nights.

Cancer cannot take away your will to live...Only you can!

Here is a motto I live by: What is the point of extending life if you are not going to live it!

My Mother's Day...I mean Labor Day weekend

Last Friday I went home for my routine three months scans and everything was relatively stable and it was a good visit with my doctor.....unfortunately the medical fun of the weekend did not end there.

I woke up in the middle of friday night with HORRIBLE side pain. I did my usual routine when I am awoken with bad pain; I took some Oxycodone and a long hot shower. This usually alleviates my pain allowing me to drift back to sleep. However, after repeating this process three times I could no longer handle the pain and was pacing around my room taking deep breaths to occupy my mind.

So around 1:30 a.m. and awoke my parents and told them that I needed to go to the E.R. because I was near tears due to the amount of pain I was in. My dad woke up and drove me straight to the Children's Hospital E.R. it was a very LONG ride as I tried not to pass out due to the amount of pain.

Once in the E.R. I could no longer hold in the tears and I started to break down and go into some form of early shock (this is a non-medical diagnosis)....the E.R. people, realizing what I was going through put me in a room right quick and within a half an hour I had Morphine flowing through my veins. This dulled the pain and allowed my body to relax.

After watch reruns from the Republican National Convention on FoxNews I was discharged and was home sleeping in my bed around 6 a.m.

The Story continues....

SATURDAY

Often times my extreme side pain has been caused as a result of constipation. Trying to eliminate this as a cause for the pain I awoke around 8 or 9 a.m. and drank about 8 ounces of prune juice and went back to sleep. Around 3 p.m. there was still no bowel movement and so I got out of bed and drank ANOTHER 8 ounces of prunes juice (by this point the "High" from the Morphine had worn off and my taste buds could better discern what it was tasting and drinking....not very enjoyable). Prune Juice is some nasty crap.

Anywho, after sleeping some more I pooped up a storm that a mother potty training their youngster would be thrilled with (and concerned due to the amount deposited into the "John").

The Story continues....

SUNDAY

I woke up and my mother informs me that my wonderful doctor (she is always aware of my situation) had called and said I could come in a do a intense Chemo treatment in hopes of shrinking the cancer in hopes of reducing the pain. (All the time spent on the toilet the previous evening didn't solve me pain...although I did feel 50 pounds lighter).

I decided against my better judgement to go get some I.V. chemo. I have not had I.V. chemo for at least a year and a half so I knew my body was not use to it and that my world was going to be rocked once again this weekend.

I got chemo, Morphine, and watched hours of diners, drive-ins, and dives to pass the time in the hospital.

The Story continues...

MONDAY

I awoken from my drugged induced sleep to see my mother on her ipad by my bedside....this is when I turned to her and wished her a Happy Mothers Day....(I had been under the influence of Morphine for the better part of the weekend). She informed me that it was only Labour Day and we laughed about it.

The Story continues....

Fast forward to today...Saturday...I am nearly pain free (no side pain just bone and joint pain synonymous with I.V. chemo), but things are improving and I am back at school getting caught up and living life!

I meet with my Utah doctor on Monday to set up the new treatment game plan from here on out....

The Story will continue....

Summer Travel Totals

Since my midsummer travel update I have traveled to Calgary, Canada; Vista, CA; Providence, RI; Hartford, CT; Boston, Mass; and Newport, RI.

My complete traveling totals are:

Driving: 5, 938 miles 

(This does not include my 20 min. commute to BYU campus/Provo which I have driven many times. It also does not included travel time to and from airports)

Flight Distance: 21, 485 miles

Flight Time: 39 hours 27 minutes



All-in-all I would say that is has been a very fun, busy, eventful, and memorable summer!

I will be blogging about all the events, food eaten, and experiences experienced during these travels.

Annual Baseball Trip with Dad--Part Two: Dallas

After spending two days in the Houston Area my father and I drove three hours north to Dallas, Texas to concluse our baseball trip. We went to the Rangers Baseball Stadium in Arlington, Texas. Arlington is a city just outside of Dallas.

Here is a few pictures. 

The Outside

The inside

The view from outside was very impressive; however, both me and my father were disappointed with the architecture beauty on the inside. We were not impressed with the look or the food at this stadium.

However, Rangers Stadium did have the most expensive item I have seen at a ballpark so far. It is the called the Champion Dog and costs $26.

You would be surprised by how many of them they sell each ball game. You see people all over the ballpark carrying them and eating them.

A visit to Galveston Island

Galveston Island is about an hour or so drive Southeast from the City of Houston, TX. It was interesting to go see the "beach" at the Gulf of Mexico. I stuck my feet in the water and it felt like a jacuzzi. It was crazy how warm the water was.

We made a pitstop for lunch at the restaurant shrimp & stuff

I order this fish and chips and it was really good!

The fish was cooked wonderfully. the fish was moist and tender, and breading was crisp, flavorful, and not overly oily. 

I give the fish a 4 out of 5 bald heads. 

(I am a hard critic here because I grew up in San Diego where I have had many a delicious fish and chips).

I give the chips a 1.5 out of 5 bald heads.

The chips were nothing special. A step above the frozen one you can buy at the grocery store.

After lunch we went to and watched a short film about the great hurricane that destroyed Galveston in 1900.

Here are some pictures of the aftermath:

It was cited that it was the worse natural disaster in American history. You can read more about it READ ME PLEASE!

Afterward we drove to the Houston Space Center and took an awesome tour; followed by another baseball game. 

Pictures of Fiji

For those who don't know....I worked for about three weeks in Fiji during the month of June. It was terrifically awesome! Meet some amazing people, had a life changing time, worked hard, and got more mosquito/spider bites than I had gotten in my entire life up to that point.

Anywho, here are some pictures.....

this is a picture of the resort that we stayed at for the first three days on the island of Waya Leilei. This island is about a 1 and half hour boat ride from Latoka (a city on the main island)

the huts that we slept in

on the morning of the last day we hiked to the top of this rock and had an amazing 360 view of the beautifully blue Pacific Ocean.

Our bus got stuck in the village that we were building toilets

here is a group working on a toilet. The Fijian in the forefront with the blue shirt is named Billy. He was a preacher at the local methodist church.

here is a tie that a good friend from Italy gave me. I wanted to give her a thank you shout out!

Summer Update

This summer has been absolutely amazing so far! I have been traveling, eating, serving, driving, flying, sleeping, and getting pretty gross spider bites.

So here is the update so far:

Driving:

Utah to Washington D.C.: aprox 2,122 miles

Utah to Phoenix, AZ: aprox 632 miles

Utah to Vista, CA (Roundtrip): 1372 miles

And countless driving around town and to and from airports.

Flying:

Dulles, VA to SLC, UT: 1,842 miles  Flight Time: 3 hours 39 minutes

SLC, UT to Long Beach, CA (Round Trip): 1188 miles Flight Time: 2 hours 23 minutes

Los Angeles, CA to Nadi, Fiji (Round Trip): 11,004 miles Flight TIme: 21 hours 5 minutes

Totals:

Driving: 4,126 miles

Flying: 14,034 miles

Flight Time: 27 hours and 7 minutes

There is the update of my traveling so far this summer. I still have Houston and Dallas, Texas; Calgary, Canada; Rhode Island; Baltimore, Maryland; and a road trip from Virginia to Utah before my summer will be over!

Also: My birthday was yesterday and I listened to my favorite song as a both reflected on the past year and planned for the upcoming one. Life is so EXCITING! even with cancer.

Here it is:

"Embrace the past so you can live for now!"

Cornish Pasty Company

To end my time in Arizona, I had to go to my favorite Arizonian Restaurant. This place!

The Cornish Pasty Company! 

This and gay bar tacos are my two favorite places to eat in Arizona and are a requirement every time I am in the state.

The best way to describe it is "Gourmet Hot Packet" it sounds weird, but it is delicious.

5 out of 5 bald heads!

There were 8 people who accompanied me on my visit and they all love it. I have yet to take someone there who did not fall in fancy hot pocket love.

I even made new friends Connor and Shannon Coffin. They were great dinner conversationalists. I hope to meet up with them again during my next AZ visit.

Breakfast in Scottsdale, AZ

After flying from D.C. to Salt Lake City to go to a dr. appointment (which I slept through)...I got into a car and drove through the night to Scottsdale, Arizona to attend my good friend, Emily Baird (now Schramm's) wedding. I was specifically asked to attend so that I can "light up the dance floor" (all the mirror dancing has begun to pay off as I grow older.

So to the start the day off right I needed to have a good breakfast.... So, I went to Butters breakfast cafe.

I got the eggs benedict...which is one of my favorite breakfast dishes.

Rating: I give this dish 2 out of 5 bald heads.

The reason for the low rating was because they used a sauce known as Sauce Moutarde or Sauce Girondine. This is traditional hollandaise sauce with dijon mustard added to it. The fact that mustard was added was not the problem, because I enjoy myself some mustard now and again. However, their version of the sauce was a little Hollandaise sauce with A LOT of mustard. Also, the english muffin was soft and soggy.

But, I had a bite of the dishes others with me got and they were all very good. The pancakes were very good, and their syrup was of course on the Buttery side. (hence the name)

Overall Rating: 3.5 ouf of 5 Bald Heads.

I am always taking recommendations of where to eat. Feel free to email or leave suggestions in the comments below. I will be going to San Diego, Las Vegas, Fiji, Calgary, Canada, Rhode Island, and Baltimore before the summer is over. I will also be driving from Virginia to Utah going through St. Louis.

Please share your suggestions!

Medium Rare

My last meal in Washington D.C. needed to be a good one, so I called and made reservations at a fine dining steak place called Medium Rare. It is a quaint, little steak shop in the Cleveland Park area.

It was also a lovely opportunity to meet some of my dearest friends from college who have since grown-up and now work full-time jobs ( I am still trying to avoid this part of life).

Here is the stunning and beautiful Zach & Heidi Barnes!

We of course cannot forget a picture and rating of the food served at Medium Rare. This restaurant is unique in the fact that they only serve on entree. The only choice one must make is how your steak should be cooked. For a indecisive person like myself....This is a heaven send. So here is a picture of their food.

 

As found on their Website--Click Me! 

Here is the menu:

Artisan Rustic Bread

Mixed Green Salad

Award-Winning Culotte Steak & Hand Cut Fries

The steak is then served with their wonderful award winning secret sauce.

The Ratings:

Bread: 5 of 5 Bald Heads

Salad: 3 out of 5 Bald Heads 

(the ingredients were fresh and flavorful, but the dijon mustard vinaigrette was too mustardy for my taste)

Steak: 5 out of 5

OVERALL: 4 out of 5 Bald Heads

Until Next Time....Happy Eating!

A Live Show

Last Night I saw Imagine Dragons Live...It was most excellent and triumphant. 

I was smack-dab center stage, second row...the concert ended with my helping Dan Reynolds (the lead singer) pictured above crowd surf...most epic

I got some fellow concert goers to take pictures of me dancing during the concert so that my moves could be immortalized here on my blog!

                                         Move 1                                          Move 2

Feel free to get inspired by my awesome dance moves....they are legendary following a most glorious dance party in Scottsdale, Arizona last weekend!

A Decade Since.....

This upcoming October will be my ten year anniversary since I was originally diagnosed with cancer. The ride that my life has been since that day has been better than any roller coaster you can ride at Six Flags, Knott's Berry Farm, and even Cedar Point. (Apparently ever world record involving roller coasters is there)

My hair, color of my skin, weight, eye brows, appetite, social life, brain, family, urine, vision, friends, dating life, endurance, and everything in my life has been directly or indirectly effected by cancer since that day.

However, this is not a time to be sad, but rejoice in the great things that life has to offer. One of my blog readers and friend, the wonderful Joy Jenkins, has decided to raise money( in my honor) to benefit the American Cancer Society. It is because of this society and their desire to rid the human race of cancer that I am still alive today and able to write these words.

My wonderful sister Emily made me an awesome tribute video to celebrate my 10 years of victory against cancer.

Please go watch it on YouTube at the link below.

Please Click Me

I would ask you to help me celebrate my 10 years of victoriously fighting cancer by clicking on the link below and donating to the American Cancer Society. I have never asked you, my faithful blog readers to donate money, and it is not in my personality to do so. But, this is to good of a chance to help a friend of mine raise money to fight the ugly desease that is cancer.

Click Here to Donate

Donate to celebrate my 10 years of victory, donate to prolong my fight, donate to help the millions of people out in the world that face cancer everyday. We (cancer patients) want nothing more than to be cancer free. It is a single small wish. We are tired of being sick. Help against the fight.

Here is a poem I often reflect on during my "down" moments.

"What cancer cannot do"
it cannot steal eternal life
conquer the spirit
suppress memories
Kill friendship
cripple love
corrode faith
shatter hope
destroy peace
silence courage
and invade the soul


and I add...It cannot and will not kill me. 


One dollar goes a LONG way. Please donate and spread the word!

How do you do it?

I am often asked the question, How do you do it?

This question is in reference to keeping up with the stresses and high demand of graduate school while fighting cancer.

My initial response is that I know no difference. Since I was 16 I have been fighting cancer and trying to live as 'normal' a life as I can.

During deeper contemplation on this question I asked myself, WHY DO I DO IT? I could easily coast through life with small aspiration and as long as I fought cancer no one could blame no for no having high asprations or expectation of myself. It was during this thinking that I was listening to one of my favorite artist Ian Axel. The song entitled 'Gone' started playing and I feel it best describes the WHY behind why I fight  so hard against cancer to extend my life and do not use cancer as a crutch to coast through life.

Here is the video of the song with the lyrics:

PLEASE TAKE THE 4 MINUTES TO LISTEN TO THIS SONG AND LISTEN TO THE LYRICS.....IT IS THE BEST WAY TO CONVEY THE "WHY" AND "HOW" OF MY FIGHT AGAINST CANCER!

I fight because I want to make a lasting impression on the world no matter how small it is, who doesn't. The harder you fight the stronger impact that you make. That is Why and How I do it?

I got Chemo Brain...What's your excuse?

A fellow cancer friend of mine name Caroline keeps a daily blog about her fight with cancer. Her latest post is about CHEMO BRAIN.  HER BLOG

I found it an interesting read and I now have an excuse when I have a lapse in memory. It is comforting to know that I know have a medical excuse if I forget some important i.e. people's names, tasks I am asked to do, and now I just need to convince my professors that this is a legitimate excuse for extra time on homework.

Here is some reading on Chemo brain to better understand my "craziness" --

Article One

Article Two

I also went to my Utah doctor yesterday and I everything is on course for chemo to continue!