Final Details on Albert's Memorial on Sat. 9/20/08

Update on the Memorial for Albert Wang

Directions

Scott's Seafood, the site of the Memorial (directions), and California Canoe and Kayak (CCK), the departure point for the memorial paddle, are right next to each other at Jack London Square, at roughly the intersection of Embarcadero and Broadway.  A map is available care of the CCK website:

http://www.calkayak.com/location.cfm

For those who wish to take public transportion, the 12 St Oakland Civic Center BART Station is within 15 minutes walking distance, the Oakland Amtrak station is even closer, and the ferry arrives about 300 yards away.

For more information about the Memorial other than the paddle, please follow this link.

 

The Memorial Paddle

CCK proprietor Keith Miller will be organizing a memorial paddle for Albert following the formal memorial. Here are some details.

 

Route. The tour will start at CCK and head to the mouth of the estuary for a brief ceremony. Keith reports that this might only take 20 minutes for strong paddlers, but we are allocating an hour each way since we have  a large group of varying skill levels. 

 

Time. Since the room for the memorial will be used another group, we will be aiming to clean up by 2 to 2:30 pm. Keith would like to be on the water by 3pm, and expects us to be back by 5pm.

 

Cost. Keith has graciously offered to waive the rental fees for those needing equipment. He is unable however, to waive the need for insurance, and will be asking for $10 insurance fee and a waiver from those participating.

 

 

RSVP. Please RSVP Keith by email at keith@calkayak.com and indicate the following:

 

1) Your Skill level.

2) What type of boat you are bringing, or whether you will need to use a CCK boat. Keith recommends that some paddlers owning very slow boats use one of his.

Remembering Albert

Dear everybody,

By now we hope you've heard the sad news of Albert's passing. You can read more details here. While his family is making arrangements for a memorial (click here for the latest update as of 9/9/08), we would like to invite anyone to share stories, memories, thoughts.  Links to photos and video are okay too- here in this space called "Remembering Albert." Please use the comments link below.

This space will be moderated by the A-Team (to keep out spam and such), and we hope you'll feel moved to share with everyone else your thoughts, feelings, stories, photos about Albert.

So: 

• if you have thoughts you'd like to share please use the comments link below.
  
• if you have photos, please read the update for instructions on how to share these.
  

These memories and stories will play an important role in helping his newborn twin nieces to know Albert. 

Through them and through all of us, Albert continues to live on.

Love,

The A-Team

Update from Albert's Family

Updated on 9/9/08

Dear Friends,

 

The Wang family invites you to help celebrate and memorialize the life of Albert Wang on Saturday Sept. 20 at Jack London Square in Oakland, California, in the pavilion operated by Scott's Seafood: 

http://www.scottseastbay.com/oak_pavilion.cfm. 

Doors will open at 10 am, with a formal program starting at about 11:30 am. Food and beverage will be served. 

 

Following the pavilion event, a memorial paddle will depart from nearby California Canoe and Kayak, sometime between 2 and 3pm, and will be coordinated by CCK's proprietor and long time supporter of the kayaking community, Keith Miller.   

 

A follow up communication will provide directions and recommendations for local overnight accommodations. 

 

In the meantime, the organizers of this event ask for help on a few fronts:

 

1)  Recommendations on local hotels or other accommodations for out of town guests.

2)  Hardcopy photos.  We would like to display photos of Albert on several tables. If you have photos that you are comfortable leaving on display during the memorial, please bring them. In organizing the photos, flamboyant captions providing context are most welcome. Please also label the collection, and even the individual photos with return information, to help prevent their misplacement. We are also looking to make arrangements to scan and return hardcopy photos, so please think whether you might be comfortable lending your collection so that it can be scanned.

 

3)  Softcopy photos.  We will look into setting up a few laptops to display slideshows or videos. Again, captions and context are welcome. The family would be grateful if it could receive copies of photos/videos on disc.  Also, we've created a website, which is probably best if you only have a handful of photos or so.  That site is

http://gallery.me.com/tsesung#100016&bgcolor=ltgrey&view=grid

You can follow the directions posted there for uploading via a web browser or by simply emailing them (in which case the subject line of the email becomes the photo's caption).  You can send more than one photo per email.

 

4)  Memorabilia. Please contact us if you or a group have ideas for other memorabilia.

 

5)  Speakers.  Please email us at this address if you would like to speak. There will be ample opportunity to speak spontaneously, but an initial schedule will aid in planning. Please indicate if your remarks might be shorter (2 minutes or less) or longer, and provide a little context on how you know Albert.  If you are unable to attend but would like to send some remarks for display or for reading, please also feel free to send those to us.

 

6)  Follow Up Memorials. The Wang family will make available a portion of Albert's ashes, to be scattered in the many settings where he enjoyed life. Albert's life was many faceted, so we know that we need help in honoring him in this way. What we are envisioning is that groups that knew Albert will organize and appoint a contact. The contact will receive a portion of Albert's ashes at the pavilion event. Later, the groups can organize and hopefully videotape the scattering of the ashes, add personal interviews and introductions, and talk about how Albert enjoyed that particular activity. Ideally the family would receive softcopies of any photos or videos, and they would also be loaded to the web. 

 

Thank you all for loving Albert,

 

Albert's Little Brother,

Tom

From 8/24/08:

Thank you for all your messages and well-wishes.

Albert is scheduled to be cremated on Friday morning at 10 am in a private proceeding attended by the immediate family. The family is hoping to schedule the memorial for Albert two or three weekends from now. The family has agreed to make a portion of Albert's ashes available for different groups to scatter in the settings that Albert loved. We will have more details regarding this soon.

Cards may be sent to this address:

The Wangs

3942 N Chesterbrook Rd

Arlington VA 22207

In lieu of gifts, the family would like it if donations could be made in Albert's name to one of his favorite charities. Once, the logistics are arranged we will let you know.

Albert

Albert died at 8:48 PM EST 8/20/2008. His passing was peaceful, and attended by family. The family is making arrangements for Albert's cremation, which may not occur until late next week. We will be discussing details of a memorial in the coming days.

Message from Albert's Family

***Thank you for all your continued support and patience. We will be communicating with you via this blog and via the albert6363@gmail.com email. Please DO NOT CONTACT ALBERT'S FAMILY BY PHONE.***

The family apologizes for the delay in updating you. This was due to the suddenness of the events that have occurred, the family's wish for privacy and respect for Albert.

On Wednesday August 6, Albert and his family went to see his oncologist to discuss treatment options, prognosis, and possibly get his second round of chemo. However, a variety of tests indicated that his blood oxygen level was below the target level. The oncologist was very concerned and Albert was transported to the nearest hospital, Fair Oaks.

The rest of Wednesday and Thursday, Albert was tested and given oxygen in the ICU. Tom saw him Thursday night and although Albert had to pause to breathe and think at times, he was otherwise engaged.

On Friday night, Albert's breathing had become labored and as a result, a breathing tube was put in and then later a feeding tube as well. At this point, Albert was under a lot of sedation and pain meds and was not very responsive.

The next several days were spent trying to determine the cause of Albert's reduced lung capacity. During this time, the visits were not interactive and there was no news.

On August 14 and 15, it was confirmed that Albert's breathing was irrevocably impaired and primarily due to the cancer. The lead doctor guessed that 50%-75% of his lungs were affected. The doctors asked Albert's family to consider when they might terminate breathing support.

Over the next several days, Albert's family considered and pursued all alternative options but these efforts were unsuccessful. They also discussed the possibility of visitors but decided against it for a variety of reasons including Albert's preference in his waning days.

Today Albert's family will set in motion the process of removing Albert's breathing support. This will likely end his life, but if things go unexpectedly well Albert may be transferred to a hospice facility or to a non-ICU hospital room for a while.

The family has decided that Albert will be cremated but will not announce any formal memorial plans for several days. They would like to have a large memorial in the Bay Area that would incorporate all facets of his life (kayaking, rollerblading, One Brick, poker, school, work, San Diego, UD, etc.) Having a big repository of memorabilia about Albert will not only be comforting for the family but also will give them a blueprint by which to remember him in the future.

The family would like your thoughts and ideas on the best way to do this. Please email your thoughts and suggestions to: albert6363@gmail.com.

Thank you once again for your patience, support and understanding.

Chemo

From Tom, Albert's brother:

"Albert reported that he didn't use his computer much or play online poker while I was gone. He complained its been hard to concentrate. He had one round of chemo, which required a blood transfusion before he was ready (not a good sign). He complains of shortness of breath and fatigues easily. His appetite is way down. The stairs are hard on him. We have a doctor's appointment tomorrow where I will directly ask the tough questions. We re-enrolled Albert in hospice, and they have delivered a lot of good services to help Albert be more comfortable." (August 5, 2008)

"I will have new update shortly, much is going on." (August 11, 2008)

Shingles?!?!?

I could not believe it a couple weeks ago when I came to DC. The rash and inflammation around my waste was not from the back support that I used, it was from Shingles!!!

After all this, I have to get over Shingles first before Chemo. Supposedly, it is a very painful disease. But, the bone cancer pain totally hid any symptoms from the shingles.

I got over it quickly and will start chemo tomorrow....

albert

Hangin' with the twins....

I am sitting here in DC with my twin nieces. They are awesome and very well behaved. They even sleep through the night, sometimes for 12 hours straight with only a break for feedings.

We have a nanny that takes care of the three babies. That includes me!

I am in constant pain now. I am weak and lost even more weight. I am off 50 lbs off my 2007 high of about 200lbs. Now, I have even registered ~150lbs on the scale. I cannot sit up straight because of pain. I spend most of my time horizontal like the girls.

It's odd how I eat my meals. I eat lying down, often on the rug or in bed. I am making do until my chemo Tuesday. Hopefully it will start fixing me.

We have a new massage chair, zero gravity chair and a memory foam bed that adjusts. These are all attempts to make me comfortable and able to function a little better. It is nice to be able to sit reclined, with my laptop and watch TV again. It seems like such a luxury! Looks like I will be spending less time on the floor...

albert

Just a Regular Joe

My cancers have started to progress again, except brain. I am in DC now.

I start Chemo next week. Back to the time lines of a regular Stage 4 Caner Patien. I am in pain now. The ride is over......

albert

No calls please, emails OK, I will call if needed.

Level 2

Well, I made it to level 2...

Unfortunately, that is not a good thing. All my cancers turned and are coming back. Tarceva's legs have pooped out.

Add to that, my docs are going on vacation, SF doc for 4 weeks and DC for 2. I am trying to get to DC before she leaves. Gotta get there for Chemo.

I am making flight plans tomorrow for DC.

I will miss a couple, of weddings... sorry.....

More when I get time one calls unless time sensitive. Emails are great.


albert

Big Brown & Down

I spent last weekend watching the Big Brown story unfold. It has been 30 years since there was a triple crown winner and Big Brown was the overwhelming favorite at the Belmont. He was all over the media with guarantees of a win, interviews of the jockey and jockey family.


After it was all said and done, I still did not have much info on the other horses. A bizaar loss created a lot of controversy.


I went down too. My radiation therapy on my spine and hips finished yesterday. My machine broke and my 10 day treatment was delayed in the middle of treatment. Hopefully, I will get better as predicted. Two of my ex-racing equine friends are rooting for me!

albert

Bone Cancer Progression

Yikes!!!

Just when I wasn't looking, my bone cancer opponent put me to the floor. It was playing Rope-a-Dope for a while and struck when I wasn't looking.

Thankfully, it is one of my weaker opponents. I am in a lot of pain and taking the narcotic, Dilaudid. My docs don't seem too alarmed and I am not either. It should be easy to zap my bones, ending the pain and progression.

I actually am counting hours til my meeting.

I am also extending the Rent-A-Lbert program to include chauffering me to Hayward. I think I may have it booked, but email if you have time one day in the middle of the day.

Ouch! That hurts.....

albert

Word!

Sorry, I have not written folks, I was being lazy. I have been really trying to get some rest, though I am in a phase right now with a bad back from sitting too much. I watch TV and work on the computer.

I see a lot of election coverage and and trash TV.

Has anybody also noticed that Flavor Flav and George W. Bush must have gone to the same primary shools? They seem to make up a lot of words, and not in a good way. Flip between news and VH1 to get full effect.

Some words really scare cancer patients: tumor , death, progression, malignant, etc. I was told in the beginning many oncologists that I only had months left. My word that I grew to hate was:
Palliative

Palliative treatment: To palliate a disease is to treat it partially and insofar as possible, but not cure it completely. Palliation cloaks a disease. Also sometimes called symptomatic treatment.

I see it in my reports. I understand much of medicine is palliative. But I think it has bad connotations.

"The end is near. let's make him comfortable."

It's like succumbing in a way.

Anyway, still motoring.

albert

It's All Relative!

Nieces in da house !!!

(and brain results)

Sydney and Evette hatched this week after going full term. They are healthy and only minor complications during birth. They were worried about a prolonged pregnancy, that they finally induced, even tho it wasn't planned.

Unfortunately, I missed it. I was there a month and somehow missed it, surprising everybody. I look forward to telling my nieces when they get older that I was there, but they were late.

I cannot get over how much hair they have. Their hair has grown much more in the the last 5 months than mine has!

Final Round Two Results

The only thing left in Round Two is my MRI brain scan. It was declared a tie. The scan results matched my previous Round 1 scan Xmas eve. The scan showed significant improvement then. Three months later, we are stable.

I asked the doc to give me a count, which I never got. To give you an idea of where I am at:

- The largest tumor is 1.6 cm in size.

- There are about 14 "significant" sized tumors.

- Total tumors in my brain - ~40!!!!

Round 2 was a win with a tie for the brain.

Unbelievably, this is my improved state. It was worse at Dx. That's my excuse for whatever I do wrong!

It's all relative!

uncle albert

K.O. !!!!

I returned back to SF last weekend and started on updating my oncologist here. My nieces are still unborn. Effectively, this is the end of Round 2 with some "remarkable" results from my CT scans.

My spleen that has shown metastases is now completely clear of tumors and lesions!

My hip, the biggest problem in my bone cancer is stable. My hip feels fine. The docs cannot discern what is going on, only that it is stable. I feel very little pain in my hips and bones. In any case it feels much better than before diagnosis!

My brain status, the gumball machine, was doing well after Round 1. The largest tumor shrank from 2.6cm to 1.6 cm. The other couple dozen either shrank or melted away! I just got a MRI scan this week so I will find out my results soon.

Last but not least, my stage 4, primary lung cancer dramatically improved. The pictures are my actual CT images. The 3.6 cm tumor is gone! Better than that, there is no sign of the dozens of tumors in my lungs!!


My lungs are clear except for residual fibrotic tissue. That has been shrinking also.

That is a knock out for the spleen and lungs and wins for bone and brain.

My California doc, the Chief of Oncology, kept making contorted faces as he read my scan report. It's like he has never seen a miracle recovery before!

albert

Where's da twins?!

Names have been changed to protect the innocent

My sister in-law went into pre-labor about 2 months ago. I was just about to head back to SF for a month. She received labor suppression drugs and everything was fine.

I came back to DC to help out. I don't really have a medical reason to be here. Tho, I do look forward to be one of the first to see the twins. Against all odds, mom carried the twins close to full term. I am the driver to the hospital when the time comes.

We are happy we went to term. Now, many of us want them to make their grand entrance. I am contemplating a jumping-jacks/squats excercise program! I have plane tix to SF in a few days.

I have to also visit my hospitals the next two days. Round 2 results will be coming.

albert

ITWP!

ITWP!!!

No, not IHTFP that many of my college classmates may mistakenly read......

While at MIT, we had the largest sports program in the country. Many won't believe it, but, we had the most inter-collegiate sports offered in the country as well as the largest intramural program. They stressed participation. Heck, there were 180 ice hockey teams alone, divided into 4 divisions. I was on the intercollegiate tennis and squash teams. I was on over a dozen IM teams. It was very easy to try new sports.

Curiousity continued over the years. One highlight was in 2006, where on my first Curling session, I ended up on prime time Olympic coverage! (See 2006 review)

Alas, today marks the last day of my ITWP season.

Inner Tube Water Polo

http://www.innertubewaterpolo.com/

It is bazaar "sport" that allows players to sit back in a pool ,but not organized nationally. Tho, to play well does requires special skills. I am the worst on my team lacking some of the skills. But, it is a nice way to help get me back into shape.

albert

Happy Fool's Day!

Sometimes, I feel like maybe I am the fool!

When I got here in DC mid-March, I had a few appointments scheduled. The day after arrival, I went to the closest Kaiser and had blood drawn for lab work. The next day I saw my oncologist at a further location and got my Zometa treatment, all going as planned. Then on Monday, I went again to pick my 30 Tarceva pills. They did not have them, but they said they could get them for the next afternoon.

The next day, after calling to confirm that my pills arrived, I drove back to the hospital. I went back to the same pharmacist and he had the pills. I was checking out, and he said $3628.00!!!!

I knew they cost a lot. They went up from last year, ONLY $228.00. Not much increase percentage-wise. In any case, I wasn't paying knowing I only owed the $35 co-pay. He appologized and blamed their new pharmacy computer system.

So close! He appologized again and said he would make some calls since my information was erased. I called the next day and drove back to the pharmacy. Everything went OK, just $35 again with insurance.

Then I made a couple of trips to a different hospital with my sister in-law. Luckily, Ellie doesn't need the vet for those old hips. I am at a hospital every other day on average.

On April Fool's day I am getting my round two CT scans. But ... we already know the likely results (See earlier post).

I decided that I really don't like going to the hospital...
...too many sick people!

albert

Happy Easter!

Wow, back-to-back holidays for you western christians. Not one of my fave holidays, since I stopped egg-hunting decades ago.

I did stopped eating eggs for a few weeks and started again for their calories and protein. I also realized that a Haagen-Dazs bar is a quick and easy way to get a lot of calories.

Feeling strong but sleep is lacking recently.

Happy St, Patrick's Day!!!

I am back in DC again. I'm here basically waiting for my nieces to hatch any time in the next couple of weeks!

The SF trip went well, and I got out on the water many times. The Rent-A-L-bert program was sucessful to a limited degree. I was rented out every night, and was somebody's roommmate. But, I dreaded the long commute back home that it created.

Have a beer for me! I have not had a drink since October. Tho, my docs say it is OK within reason.

albert

Preview of Round 2

I can't keep it to myself any longer...

Last week I had an appointment with my California oncologist. After the usual oohs and ahhhs and shaking of his head in disbelief, we got down to business and I updated him on the last 6 weeks. He seemed to get excited and wanted a CT scan. I have one planned in DC for the 3 month interval. He said OK and still wanted me to get a quick chest X-ray for the hell of it.

He called me with the results:

My lungs did not show any tumors on the X-ray!!!

This was stage 4 lung cancer that spread. The largest tumor was 3.6cm. All gone (almost?)! He suspected that from my round 1 results. I am not too sure of the preliminary round 2 results though. X-rays are not as good as CT or MRI scans. But it is great news in any case. I have lung cancer on the ropes and I am landing punches. Let's hope my opponent is not doing the "Rope-A-Dope".*

Next we'll want to see how my gumball machine is doing. In the beginning, I had a couple dozen tumors in my brain. The largest was 2.6cm and 1.6cm after round one. I'll know for sure how round 2 ends in a few weeks when I get my scans in DC.

I was celebrating a little until I read that less than 2% of the stage 4 lung cancer patients survive past 5 years. Unfortunately, mine is a pretty bad stage 4. Though, I am hitting the benchmarks for the survivors.

BTW, the lowest survival estimate I originally had was 4 months from initial diagnosis. I just past that and speeding towards the average, which was still less than a year.

albert

*Rope-a-dope is a boxing fighting style used most famously by Muhammad Ali (who coined the term) in the Rumble in the Jungle against George Foreman. The idea is for the boxer to lie on the ropes of a boxing ring, conserve energy and allow the opponent to strike him repeatedly in hopes of making him tire and open up weaknesses to exploit for an eventual counter-attack.

Biggest Card Ever

The Canadians, Welsh and Americans all signed a card for me in Edmonton at a recent competition. Biggest card I have ever received!

Thanks-eh!

albert-eh

Good Eats...

My side effects have turned out to be most annoying. I can eat little of what I used to eat.

Back in college, I shared a suite with a kitchen and two refrigerators, one for me and the other for the 4 other guys. I usually bought the largest economy or institutional pack of food. My philosophy used to be:

If people are willing to pay money for it, I am willing to try it.

It has been a struggle keeping up with eating. I often am out eaten by women nearly half my weight. I force down food and am still maintaining my post hospital weight. Things that are tolerable to eat:
Fruit, sweets, bagels and general bland, raw foods.

Justing waiting for my tastebuds to come back.

albert

Bones

I am on the West Coast for a few weeks. After, it is back to DC to deliver my nieces.

Before I left, I was put on Zometa, a drug that that is also used to treat osteoporosis. It helps in rebuilding bones. The major concern was for my hip. Side effects are relatively mild. I only need to get an IV once a month for treatment.

My bones feel stronger already! You can catch me in the osteroporosis section in the pharmacy shopping for calcium and vitamin D supplements.

albert

Happy Valentines Day!

Happy Valentines day to all! I have finally written my Year Review 2007. It's cleverly disguised as a Valentine's card.

Thanks for the prodding guys.

Click on 2007 Review on the blog or go here:

http://home.comcast.net/~albertwang1/YearEnd%20Reviews/AlbertXmas2007.pdf

albert

Rent-A-Lbert

escorting one of my friends on her first swim from

Alcatraz last summer when life was "normal"

I am heading home to SF next weekend for 5 weeks! My life will not be back to normal, nor will it ever be. But I have convinced my family that I am good enough to travel alone. However, this does not include living alone at my place. Many saw me at my worst and are careful about letting out the leash.

So, for this trip I've instituted the "Rent-A-Lbert" program. I presented this as a solution to having daily contact with friends. Effectively, I will be staying with various friends. I will move around so I can see a variety of people and continue on with my activities. During the weekdays, I will "reverse commute" to my place and use it as an office. Weekends are likely going to be mini road trips.

Then I head back to DC and wait for delivery of my twin nieces in early April. My turn to give back to the family.

Contact me if you want to apply to Rent-A-Lbert. Slots are quickly filling up and I should be mostly booked by the time I arrive. Let me know you have any ideas.

albert

Blecccchhhhh!!!!!

My side effects are relatively minimal. Mild rash, weakness, slowgrowing hair and worst of all, a shift in taste buds.

Foods which used to taste good, don't anymore. I eat a lot less than when I was on the steroid. I can often stomach a few bites before I get tired of the taste. I don't go out and eat much since it often isn't worth it. In the end it is only an incovenience.

Bad tasting food is a small price to pay...

Me 'n Mini-me

I am settling into a resting mode. Not as stressful as before the holidays. I 'm tying up some loose ends with initial treatment. In any case I am stuck with this for life.

Mini-me has kept me company (see Dec 16 post) Over 60 lbs of steel sits next to my brother's fireplace. Anyway starting to get creative in finding ways to entertain myself.

albert

Albert-1, Cancer-0

TARCEVA

The first round of this epic battle between good and evil is over. In one corner are the cancers: stage 4 lung, metastases in brain, bone and spleen. In the other corner are Albert, his medical and support teams and a relatively new cancer drug, Tarceva.

After all the counting of tumors in my head and lungs, the judges have unanimously awarded the first round to team Albert. All tumors have shrunk. The largest marble in my head shrank from 2.6cm to 1.6 cm. The largest in my lung looks like it shrank from 3.6cm to 1.2 cm, though the reports are slightly ambiguous. Many of the smaller tumors disappeared! My hip, which sent me to the ER has not hurt throughout the whole ordeal. This is without any pain killers.

So far a clear victory.

Even better, there was a clear consensus amoung the doctors to forego/cancel traditional Chemotherapy and stay the course with my single agent targeted treatment, Tarceva. Through clinical trials, Tarceva has shown some good results for never-smoking, asians with adenocarcinoma, right up my alley. Funny, results for most others are poor.

All I do now for treatment is take ONE small pill a day. Which is basically what I have been doing after the initial Wide Brain Radiation. It causes a slight rash but very easily taken care of. I basically eperience very little of the side effects of that even a stage 1 cancer patient experiences. Looks like I will skip all the discomforts of chemotherapy and risks. Though, the price tag on just 1 Tarceva pill is $113!!! That is an expensive pill.

It looks like I am going to ride the Tarceva wave for the foreseeable future.

Scan scan scan scan...

. "My brain on drugs"

Well, I am back in Arlington with my brother after a brief stint in my SF home. I cancelled a lot of appointments and basically only went out with a few groups to save time. I am back in DC to effectively complete my "initial" round of care at Mid Atlantic Kaiser. I finally saw my first medical oncologist before Xmas and she sorta freaked seeing how Mid Atlantic ignored me. She ordered a barrage of tests to finally set my baseline, ... two months and a lot of stress later.

I also got a referal to another specialist, Radiation Oncologist from my new Medical Oncologist that I see tomorrow. I originally asked for a referral to a Radiation Oncologist to cover my second opinion outside the system, $426 for the meeting out of my own pocket. Getting denied was the expected result, however the front office denied me in spetacular fashion. In a form letter they wrote:

"Radiation therapy is not medically necessary..."

Odd since most of my initial specialists were Radiation Oncologists and I was recovering from Wide Brain Radiation. It's like getting your totaled car fixed at a mechanic and being told half way through by your insurance company the you aren't covered for any more fixes. Obviously nobody with a medical background read the letter, maybe the janitor did. All my doctors wince when I tell that story.

I was running around a few days before xmas trying to get the testing done. I had about two hours worth of MRIs just hours before I was leaving on the last flight to SF. The MRIs were torture. Lying still for 20min at a time. The noise amazingly was like a construction site. So many sounds and very loud.

We were allowed to bring CD's to play through cheap plastic headsets. Of course I brought a 3 CD set of my brother's infamous band:
shamelessly exploiting tragic events, human foibles, and the absurd, through loud music and other media for fun and profit

http://users.erols.com/mlaird/shbangers/

They got world wide coverage on CNN, ABC, the Economist and wrote songs for the local #1 rock station.

All I heard most of the time was the MRI machine pumping out a lot of noise.

~50 of my closest kayaking friends


2008!!!!

I made it to 2008! As many of my kayaking friends would say after an adventurous trip:

"Cheated death once again!"

To celebrate the new year, I paddled on the Oakland Estuary like I've done the last few years. The owner of the local kayak store graciously hosted the "Paddle with Albert Wang on New Year's Day." I got to see a lot of old friends and then participate in what turned out to be a Roast/Eulogy. Thanks Keith for putting it all together.

See pics in following links:

http://kayak6.blogspot.com/2008/01/alberts-new-year-paddle.html

http://paddler.smugmug.com/gallery/%204094942/1/238681327

http://gallery.mac.com/bbstender#100012

We talked a bit about a few of the recent holiday adventures over the last few years. One of the favorites was " Santa's San Diegp Surfin' Safari". I invited a few of my friends to a last minute party in San Diego over the holiday break at my empty 3bd place. No furniture, but carpeted, and was a cushy indoor campsite. I only had two weeks notice but about a dozen of my paddling friends came down for a week over xmas. We surfed a lot, paddled Sea World, dinner parties with my San Diego friends, etc, Over all a great time.

But the hands on favorite was:

"I'm dreaming of a Black Xmas" So good that many of us repeated the trip the next year.

Read about it here:

BlackXmas2002.pdf

See ya in 2009!