The South Pacific, HEFY, and garlic

Hello everyone,

I am writing to ask you all one questions. I would love as many responses as possible. This summer I will be going to the South Pacific for two months. So here is the question:

What is the best way to protect against mosquito/spider/cockroach or any other insect bites. I have research a bit (both online and word of mouth), but all of it seem to contain conflicting information. So, I figured I would take a one more survey of all of you and I will identify the most commonly mentioned approaches and go with those.

I need your help because last summer my arms looked like this:

I have been told that garlic pills help protect against insect bites (I believe this because it makes you sweat a gross garlic smell, so I may also protect against all the kiddos I will be in charge of in Fiji and Tonga). 

Please let me know if you have attempted this approach and the effectiveness of it.

Any and ALL help/suggestions will be greatly appreciated.

I am getting excited for this summer and don't want it to get ruined by insect bites, because I plan on:

Spending some time relaxing in this...

Climbing to the top of this...

Watching a lot of these...

And doing A LOT of this beginning on my flight back to The U.S. of A...

Thank you, in advance, for all of your help.

I will finally shed that 16.4 grams I have been trying to lose (average weight for a thyroid gland)

It has been a long long time since I have updated everyone on my battle with cancer (November 16^th to be exact). A lot has happened since that beautiful fall day. I have had ups and downs. In fact, the drug I started taking last October has been working! When I went for my routine 3-month scans over Christmas break I had a CAT Scan. The cancer in my chest/diaphragm had decreased in size (not a lot, but just like technology smaller is better).

However, during the CAT Scan of my chest the radiologist accidentally included my throat in the field being scanned. This in itself is no big deal (I mean come on I have been radiated more than the Hulk: see below), however after analysis a nodule on my thyroid was discovered. My doctor suspected that it was just a growth due to my thyroid overworking (once I began my new drug in August I became very lethargic and exhausted. It was discovered that my thyroid levels were out of whack). This made perfect sense.

Nevertheless with my cancer history the most amazing BEST doctor (Dr. Schiff) wanted to have a biopsy done on the growth. After a carousel of new ENT doctors and multiple biopsies and test (I was stabbed in the neck 6 times with rather large needles and to get material from the growth they jab the needle back and forth…it is one of my favorite feeling in the world…it brings me as much happiness as seeing my mother doing her world famous flat foot dance), the results came back and the genetic make-up of the nodule is 77% suspicious (of cancer). What does this mean? (Hint to keep reading).

This means that I will be having surgery lucky #13

(For some reason right after I wrote this line images of the movie Watcher in the Woods popped into my head….NERAK!!!! YouTube it if you haven’t seen it. It caused 5-7 year old Dave to have many nightmares).

My thyroid is to be removed. The surgery is scheduled for this Tuesday the 16^th of April. They will be removing my entire thyroid and I will be on thyroid medication for the duration of my life. I have had many surgeries of different magnitudes and evasiveness, so I am not nervous to go under the knife once again. In fact I oddly enjoy the anesthesia, I try to fight it see how long I can last until my next memory is walking up in the recovery room.

The main difference with this surgery is that it will be my first surgery in Utah. I will see if their anesthesia is weaker than California’s (hopefully it is not regulated like the alcohol content of beer in Utah….this would make the surgery not as HIGH a memory...sorry for the horrible pun...but not really).

I am writing this to update everyone on my cancerous journey and I will update after the surgery (once I am no longer high from morphine).

Lastly, I wanted to share the theme song for surgery #13! So listen to it for me on Tuesday as you give positive thoughts/vibes/prayers my way!

Thyroid Removal Theme Song   (Please listen) It is by the band A GREAT BIG WORLD! (They also write my theme song for life)

Cancer Update

It has been a while since I have written a cancer update. so here it is....

Oct. 4: I was put on a new chemo drug. It is in pill form and I take 4 pills (once a day). So far I have not had any side effects other than it has turned my hair (and facial hair) a weird blondish/white color. (As a result I have decided to grow out my facial hair so that I can look like a bald, homeless santa clause).

This drug I am now taking is new. It was just FDA approved to be used on patients with soft-cell cancers (which is what I have). So my doctors have me doing a lot of random test to monitor its effects on me as a precaution.

Since taking the drug I have had:

1 Brain MRI

3 EKGs

2 days of 24 hour urine collection...This is fun because you have to stay home all day and pee in a container...during the 24 hours you must keep the container in the fridge to keep your pee from spoiling. Who knew pee could spoil?

1 Heart Stress Test...this test was one of the crazier medical test I have ever had. Most traditional stress test involve you running on a treadmill while you are hooked up to all sorts of monitors. Well mine was very different.

It involved a 50 minute MRI...during the first part I would have to hold my breath for 20 seconds while they did scans. (This kept my heart from moving and getting a better image). I would do several of these until a half an hour had passed. During this whole time I was hooked up to a heart monitor.

After the 30 minutes, I was taken out of the MRI machine and the gentleman conducting the interview then informed me that I would be injected with a substance (I think it was very similar to adrenaline) and that after he injected it it would feel like I had just ran a marathon and would be very short of breath.

He proceeded to inject me and within 10 seconds my heartbeat rose from 86 bpm to 144 bpm. It was a crazy feeling, because I was still just laying completely still. I was very tired and VERY short of breath. During this time I was again had to hold my breath to do a few more scans.

Then I was taken out of the MRI machine again and received the antidote to the original injection. It was a fun way to start my day at 7:30 in the morning.

Well that is the update...I have a appointment the day before Thanksgiving to get the results!

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 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?