Ring the bell

Wednesday November 27th. Bell 1 Cancer 0.

I have now left my Emory family and am back in the care of my wife and kids. 28 treatments with Proton Therapy. I chose Emory because of the people in the picture. My life, my care was and is in their hands. They are truly amazing, at every level, on every floor. To all my brothers from the men's lounge we had some good laughs and some good times, I will continue to pray for you. To all the people who supported our family, from the little hugs, to the casseroles, the bottles of wine, the prayers, the trips, we love you all.

And my final message, please share with others my journey, that just because one doctor says one thing that is not necessarily your option, just because health insurance says no the first time does not mean you have to take that answer, and talk to other patients the ones with good experiences and the ones with bad, it is your health. And finally, get routine check ups.

I love you all.

Best part of your day

As family schedules get busier and busier, sometimes the family dinner does not happen as planned. When they do, one of the traditions we have is we go around the table and ask what was the favorite part of you day. Typical responses are, recess, getting out of school. For Aloma and I, it is typically 'right now' because the whole family is together and we are reconnecting. So Tuesday we had a big spaghetti dinner at my aunt and uncles.

And my favorite part of the day was seeing my family come up the escalator and the kids running to through the maze of people to come hug me.

You ever swim against a current

So I got to stay over my last weekend and join Dynamo for a Saturday morning swim practice. Oops, after the 4000+ set I would say I was toast, all done in a little over 1:15, who knew.

Well that was my last hurrah for swimming. On Monday I showed up and the pool was set up long course (50 meter pool) and this is when it felt like the current was against me in both directions. Fatigue had finally really kicked in. I got to the point in practice where a 100 was too much, so I would swim 100, sit 100, swim 100. I was watching the people I have practiced with and raced in practice cruising on by, my arms and legs flailing. Tuesday my last swim with my workout family was no good either, we were back to swimming yards and the turns helped some, but with 15 minutes to go the body said no more. So I took off my dynamo cap nodded goodbye and headed to my second to last treatment.

PS, Wife and kids fly in after my treatment.

mustache season

I realize it has been a while since I posted. This weekend a mustache showed up and we had a great time.  Great meaning we got our pants destroyed playing spades, but I redeemed myself on the golf course taking a few bucks from him. My buddy Chris Boswell drove down to hang out with me for a few days. I did send him my schedule, but it did not scare him away.
Wake up 4:30, on the road at 4:45, swim 5:45 - 7:00, cruise over to Emory, get Somoan Chill coffee from Thousand Islands coffee shop, head downstairs at 8:15, get zapped from 8;45 until 9:15 drive back to lake. around 10:30ish. eat, email, rest, eat dinner, climb in bed around 7:00 crazy, rinse and repeat. Not a problem he said, he would just elect to skip the 4:30 - 9:15 tasks, which I don't blame him. Boz, it means more than you know thank you.

PS, he is raising money for kids by growing a mustache, so please find a mustache in your area and support them.

More symptoms

You did not expect me to just breeze through this unscathed? At the end of the day, it's still cancer, it's still radiation, and it is still a fight.

So with seven treatments to go symptoms that are arising, my hips are sore, sore enough that when it will wake me at night if I am on my side, the silhouettes of my prostate are getting darker on my sides. Like a mild tan, just need to put aquafore on it each day. The peeing is picking up again. I cannot make it all the way to anywhere without having to stop. Last night I pulled off the interstate, was told one mile to QuikTrip (Atlanta's Wawa), so into a business parking lot and let it go. So I am now going to double my dose of Flowmax. The latest symptom is some burning as I try to empty out. They put me on a drug called Phenazopyridine, once treatment stops, I should not have to take it anymore. The cool side effect of this drug is it turns my urine orange. And it will stain anything it gets on orange. And the good doctor told me of a patient who got upset with their doctor because it will cause an orange cloud if you pee in the pool. And the patient... well you get the picture.

Should make my last few practices down here interesting.

Only 7 left.

Timing

This past weekend I was able to spend some time at home and give my superstar wife time away with friends. And she deserves more. She is my rock.

Since she would not get in until 1:30 in the morning on a Monday, Emory moved my appointment for late in the day, which allowed me time to spend with her, get to the airport, fly down and get treated.

The timing of me getting to Emory could not have been better. As I walked in, who should be there with his son, but Charles, who opened my eyes to being an advocate for this whole process. He was there with his son, who I had the pleasure of meeting a few weeks earlier. Charles had two guests with him, and it was Bob Marcini and his daughter Deb. For those who have read all the posts you might remember Bob and the gentleman who wrote the book that opened my eyes to this amazing journey, the same book that Charles had overnighted to me. It is not often in life you get to shake the hand of someone who is so influential, but I got to. We all spent the next 15 minutes chatting and laughing. For you younger folk it was like meeting my favorite Instagram influencer. Home stretch is in sight.

21 down, 7 to go.

Single digits

It’s been a rough week. Wednesday I slept 9 hours. Last night 9 1/2. Tuesday and Wednesday I didn’t leave Emory until 3ish. Which means driving home in Atlanta traffic. I think it took its toll.

I swam what amounted to 1000 yards on Thursday. Went to my 8:45 treatment then drove back to the lake to watch Cheers in my bed and attempt to email.

If I just had to drive or just had to get radiation I think I’d be sluggish. But man this is tiring

This morning I woke to my uncle making me breakfast. After missing dinner he wanted to make sure I get some fuel. It was awesome. I then went down the road to the pool and had a smooth swim. Main set was 2100 yards. So the sleep was needed.

I was able to say goodbye to my coach of the last month. She has a fun hard working group. She is off to Mayo Clinic for 10 days. She’s a breast cancer survivor and now is dealing with something else. God speed Maria.

19 down with 9 to go.

A special guest

Over the weekend I was texting with a great friend from Austin, TX. By mid day Saturday he had purchased a ticket to come see me in Atlanta for 24 hours. We had not seen each other in about six years. We go back to the day we first met, within 18 hours we were partners in the greatest Multi-sport win in the history of the event. His Uber dropped him off at Emory about two minutes after I made it upstairs to leave. We cruised out to a cool golf course, and played with two local members. To show you what kind of guy he is, on the 18th hole they are cheering for him because he is down in the match, they are reading his putts, I'm like, but I'm the one with cancer, one guy was like, yeah I'm praying for you, but I'm cheering for him. Needless to say with multiple presses and birdies and what not, he wins the final hole to make the match all square. We then went to my aunt and uncles house for an awesome dinner then some rummicube. A quick six hour sleep session, and I was driving him to masters swim practice. I introduced him to the coach as a friend of mine, she looked at me and said, you have friends? About 2/3 through practice she was yelling at me, that I was now down to zero friends. The practice was a good one, he exclaimed that his practices are nothing like those, and everyone was hauling butt. A quick ride to Emory, a one block walk to get coffee in ice cold rain and wind, we headed downstairs. We said our goodbyes and he was gone. I love you all, not sure how many of you could run that triathalon like he did. I can not tell you how much we laughed, we smack talked, we remembered our youth. Bryan I could not be more proud and thankful for the time you took out of your schedule.

So the challenge has been laid, Golf, Rummicube, Swim, who is in?

thank you

It has been a few days since my last post. Life is moving along. So many of you have reached out to help, and we are so thankful. This is my third full week down here and they have only had to postpone one treatment. Tomorrow will be my 14th treatment, so half way.

The temporary side affects have started, I got my prescription for flowmax today, it does as it's name implies, I have had to start putting aquafore on my two radiation spots, I'm getting a mild sunburn on each hip, the fatigue has started some.

I am still able to swim in the mornings, which gets my day started off so well.

13 down and 15 to go.

New way to delay

So I had to pee. But that’s not good enough. So had to wait a few minutes. Then second scan says I have too much gas.

“Mr. Holsten, do you think you could relieve it in the table?”
“Nope.”

So after walking down the hall in my miniskirt gown a few burps. Back on the table and zap zap. As I write this I’m on the Marta. Guess who is farting up a storm on the Marta?

9 down 19 to go.