Hello everybody!
Some of you I have not talked to in a long time. I have some life changing news, about a week before Halloween I was admitted into the emergency room and later I was diagnosed with lung cancer spreading to the brain, Both are very bad and in late stages but I have responded almost miraculously to treatments to where I am mentally almost all the way back. I am sprinting through treatments to fight the two headed monster.
I am not depressed or even sad, maintaining the same albert personality that has been locked in since HS. I approach this objectively and without emotion like a scientific case study calling on my biotech and medical skills from over 15 years ago..
It is going to be a hard battle and I have certain advantages given my genetic and non-smoking background. My medical team is top notch put together with some top people from SF, Boston MGH,, Johns Hopkins, DC and even experts in the area on the cutting edge. I am in good hands with 3rd, 4th or more opinions. One big problem, everybody is vacationing!
Only a few social groups know about my condition, mostly local, are SF Bay area and few of my foreign friends. I apologize profusely for either not telling you, not letting you visit or even call me. Also, I am often asleep random times a day. The implications are too great; if I let one of my friends call then I would have to let many others call too, Right now I am booked with medical meetings, treatment, managing my life... and oh yeah I should be resting. Somehow I am behind my computer or on the phone 8-10 hrs a day and on the phone on hold a couple hours! My background, biotech, medical and engineering helps me quickly understand the technical reports. I have a lot of old colleagues that work in the area.
As far as not telling most of the closest people to me, those I have known for decades, I am sorry. It went so fast. By the time I was diagnosed, (a week later btw) my condition dropped significantly for a week and a half to the point of being an invalid, hallucinating and just out of it. I could not dress or feed myself or even hold a fork for over week dumping food on the floor like a 2 year old. I barely can remember 5% of that time period. It was a very scary time for my family and the "A-Team", but I was so drugged out and affected by the cancer I did not realize what was going on. I was projected as having a lifespan of a few months... by ALL the doctors and specialists who saw me, giving me less than a year at most.
The hospital, at first , could not figure out what I had for almost a week. The A-Team was very effective in "protecting" me from my closest friends, fighting for my rights, questioning medical decisions, etc. I just let them handle everything and they delivered big time. I knew I was not thinking straight and my support team could make better decisions than I could.
They thought originally that I had something contagious like TB or worse. I was locked in a special negative pressure room and all visitors had to wear masks the whole time. At least one member of the A-Team stayed with me in my hospital room 24/7 with no notice for the entire week wearing these uncomfortable masks the whole time. I was the inverse of the Bubble Boy. I had an escort into the emergency room the first night and another A-Team member (MD) came later once they locked me in and would not let me leave.
I started treatments the very next week after my release from the hospital. Wide Brain Radiation and a targeted drug called Tarceva. My brother who was with me for two weeks, was replaced by my parents. He went home thinking this was it and took a bunch of cloths for me, life mementos, cell phone, etc. 5 days into treatment I suddenly "woke up", becoming coherent again. Everybody was looking at me saying "Who is this guy?" I was gaining about 10-20% mental capacity every day for almost a week.
My coordination came back after a few days in the middle of the night. It was weird like I was putting on a skin tight "coordination suit", I could feel coordination coming back into my limbs. I was so excited at 4 am I got out bed and tested my skills. In pitch black with sunglasses on I started to flip a TV remote and catch it without being able to see it. I also walked up and down my room jumping, spinning and walking backward, I could do all of it. Another check off the list. Initially I felt like a 3yr old with Alzheimer's since physically and mentally I still had problems. I had very little short term memory, but long term was intact, remembering decades back very well. But now I have recovered most of my mental capacity including a lot of short term..
Anyway I am fighting 2 deadly late stage cancers, I have lots of tumors in my brain and lungs, largest is golf ball size. I am surprised there is room for brain matter at all with the number of marbles in my skull! Initial prognosis by one of the oncologists: "As bad as it gets". Unfortunately, you can only treat one at a time, so I have had to treat the biggest problem each step. We just ignore the spleen cancer for now, too small of a problem.
I am recovering phenomenally to the first treatment and I am surprising the doctors.They keep stretching out my life expectancy now. The also want to torture me with the most effective treatment possible since they think I am in great shape, so it looks like chemotherapy next.
Obviously my hopes are to push back the line. I am working overtime now to do that. It is hardest job I have had in years. You can't tell by the way I look or act now that I have a huge medical problem... except maybe by my shaved head.
Check out:
http://www.blogger.com/You can track my recovery or get information there. Right now I am in DC at my brothers recovering getting ready for the next stage of treatments. Sorry Scott, Steve, Debbie, Chris, MKP club, and all my other DC friends. I hope to see you soon. Please no calls, Email or text me first. I will try to find time to call back. Sorry....I feel like I am trading life expectancy just to chat these days. Every time I see a doctor/specialist, they give me more time than the last.
Please pass this on to other members of our group who may not know. I have only sent it to a few people, those whose emails I can easily access. Sorry if you get multiple copies of this announcement or it was forwarded to you. I have had major problems with my email for 2 weeks now.
always,
albert
working hard for you today to provide you with a better albert tomorrow...
:)
Looks like I'm gonna make it to 2008!
If you saw me, you probably could not tell today that I am fighting for my life. I feel and move better than I have since last summer. This is only after rest, I tire quickly in a few hours and start falling apart, but that is normal when you are dead tired. I am relatively weak to before but comparable to the average non-athletic guy now lifting heavy bags and such.
