6-28-2007 Switzerland (1)

Thursday 6-28-2007
The plane ride was pretty mellow. Eva thinks that she attracts kids as the flight attendant reseated the row in front of us to allow a family to sit together. We were a bit worried as the kid was a little restless and whiny for the first hour, but luckily he settled down and was pretty quiet for the remainder of the trip. The flight was pleasantly uneventful. No nosebleeds, no passing out (not that that has happened, but you never know). I was amazed that I was not even asked at the security checkpoint about the two syringes in my bag (lovenox). One part of flying makes it a little uncomfortable now are my undergarments. I now wear my jobst stockings whenever I fly for a long time and as I usually wear pants with them (so that I do not stand out), the combination can get a little warm sometimes. Also, between the stockings and the boxers, sometimes my boys do not know which way is up. We arrived on time (got to love Swiss Air), and it was really nice to see George and Miluse at the airport. It had been quite a journey, but eventually, we made it to Switzerland. We all made our way back to Rudolfstetten, and then had a big dinner at the house. We got situated in Eva’s old room and eventually fell into bed.

Friday 6-29-2007
We got up and had a nice breakfast together and George and I went to Zurich and George played tennis. After tennis, we went to pick up a new TV that George had ordered, brought it home, and set it up. It was some good father son-in-law bonding time; boys with toys.

Saturday 6-30-2007
In the morning, Eva and I got out for a little run/ride. Their house is basically on the edge of the little village and a little forest is right across the street. Surrounding the little forest, are some fields with cows as well as a bit of farmland. No joke, you can hear the cowbells when we eat on their patio or if a window is open. Here is Eva all bundled up on the patio.

Just another word on bells, every little village has a clock tower and about every fifteen minutes one clock tower or another is going off. If you ever wonder why the Swiss are so timely, it is pretty obvious once you get here. They have been hearing bells every fifteen minutes of their life since they were born. After a while it just becomes ingrained into their being. Our workout took us through the little forest, through some fields, up into another little forest, and to a small lake sort of nestled in the hill. It was really pretty and just a wonderful place to have grown up. I may have been when I was younger, but I cannot remember specifically if I had ever run or biked through wheat fields. They put a smile on my face for no other reason than that they are just calming and pleasant. When we got up to the little lake, Eggelsee, There was a mama duck with four little ducklings, adorable. I had to walk my bike up a few of the hills, but all in all I got a really good workout. The remainder of the day revolved around food and catching up. Recently, my father and I have been very proud of ourselves for finding that basically anything wrapped in bacon is very tasty. As it turns out, the Swiss have already come to the same conclusion and prewrap quite a lot of different things right there at the meat counter. Here are some bacon wrapped filets and they also had bacon wrapped chicken and bacon wrapped sausages (mmm...so good).


Sunday 7-1-2007
Sunday was similar to Saturday though this time George came with Eva and I on our run/ride. With George along it was more of Eva going for a run and us going for a ride. We would take a different way and then meet up with Eva at different points along the way. We got a little worried, as she was still not home about 45 minutes after we got back. I thought that either something might be wrong or she was just chatting it up a bit. Turns out that she said hello to an elderly couple, they got started jiber jaboring, and 45 minutes later, Eva managed to break away. It was tough, but the rest of us managed to enjoy our lunch without her. We figured that it would not be a good idea to go out searching for her on empty stomachs. Sunday evening, we went to a chamber orchestra performance in a converted church. It was really nice music and well played though I thought that leaving and returning four times during the applause was a bit much. Who do they think they are, Americans? They do not mess around with the perks here in Switzerland though, included with the ticket was wine at the intermission and a long stem rose upon our exit. Not too shabby. Here are Eva and her mom before the concert. How cute.



Monday 7-2-2007
Eva, Miluse, and I went to Spreitenbach (I am sure that I have just misspelled it but oh-well), which is the mall in the next town over. Even though their house is only about 30-40 minutes from Zurich (the largest city in Switzerland), they really do live in a little village of only a few thousand people. The villages are really defined as well and there is always a bit of farmland or forest that separates the villages. In LA, when we drive from San Pedro to our apartment near Beverley Hills, we drive through probably a dozen different communities but you would never know it because they all run up against each other. Just one of the many little differences that you might notice in Switzerland. The mall was fairly similar to any mall in America and our first stop was H&M. Last fall, we were pretty excited that an H&M was coming to the Beverly Center, though when it arrived, it was a lot different than the one in Switzerland. I do not know if they were playing to the Hollywood crowd but we prefer the Swiss version – nicer clothes at cheaper prices. The usual protocol is to take care of me quickly, then put me into a safe place, like the food court, and then Eva and her mom will go off shopping for a while. This trip stuck to the plan as I found a few nice things, got set up in the food court and Eva and her mom were off. They found a few things, though they did not come back with bags and bags as would be expected from a really good day of shopping.

Monday evening, George (the son) and Susi came over to the house for dinner. It was wonderful to see them and great to hear about what they are up to. Susi just finished her studies at the university (Congrats Susi!) and George is working to finish up his PhD. It was another nice dinner and good times.

Tuesday 7-3-2007
We got up and all had breakfast together and then George, Susi, and Miluse were on their way to Zurich. Eva and I hung out and enjoyed the house for the better part of the day. I brought a few books on instruments flying and have had some fun reading about it and then also using flight simulator on my computer. I was proud of myself when I flew from Santa Monica to Long Beach only using instruments on the computer. Eva gave me a high five, she is so supportive. We spend a lot of time out on the patio so here I am.


Wednesday 7-4-2007
Again, we took it pretty easy in the morning and eventually made our way out for some activity. We went to the nearby pool to do a bit of swimming. I had thought the pool was nice when I had visited on earlier trips but apparently it was not nice enough as they had redone the whole aquatic complex between our trips. Eva is wonderfully tolerant of my splish splashing and attempts at swimming. She is so graceful, smooth, and fast. I can keep up for about half of a length and then I get tired and start flailing about.

After swimming, Eva and I went to the local hospital to meet the doctor and take care of all the details for the infusion, which should be the following week. Dr. Stelzer was very kind and the whole meeting was very pleasant. The hospital we went to was fairly close the house (a bit out in the countryside) and was a pretty nice hospital. The oncology floor was amazingly quiet. It seemed as if it was deserted. Granted, UCLA and Memorial serve many times more people than this hospital (the population of LA is about half of the total population of Switzerland), but it was still a bit eerie. You could look down the hall and not see anyone for ten minutes. It looked as if you could actually get some rest there as opposed to UCLA where your vitals need to be taken every two hours and sleeping longer than that interval is unheard of. Dr. Stelzer was a really nice person and was genuinely interested in making sure I was well taken care of. I think she was a little surprised at how many different chemos I have been on over the last year. The list just got longer and longer but Dr. Isacoff has done a great job so far. I had my travel cancer binder with me and she actually took it to look over, we think, out of curiosity and interest more than necessity to care for me. I have been very fortunate to have come into contact with very caring doctors. She spoke English very well though a few of the subjects were pretty hard to translate, in which case Eva would usually step in and make sure everything was clear for everyone. You have to trust your wife very much when she is the link between you and proper medical care. Luckily, I do trust my wife immensely and am confident that she will make sure everything goes according to plan.

Before I went to bed, I called my folks and we actually had a little video chat. It was really nice to see my mom and dad as well as my aunt Karen and Uncle Terry who were over for the fourth. My dad found a little American flag to hold behind them while we were talking to give me a little sense of the holiday. The video chat worked pretty well and it was rather amazing to be looking into my living room at home from 5000 miles away. It does have its drawbacks and takes a little getting used to but it was pretty fun. My father could not resist picking his nose or putting bunny ears on my mom. It was really nice to be able to share in their celebration of the fourth a bit. After we finished, they were barbequing on the patio and then were off to the Galaxy game and were going to watch the post game fireworks from the stadium. I heard later that the fireworks were really nice and my mother said it was really refreshing to hear, even in this jaded world of ours, the “ohhhs” and “ahhhs” of genuine enjoyment of their group as well as the people around them.

6-21-2007 Week before trip to Switzerland

Thursday 6-21-2007
Once Eva and I got back from Park City, we had to make sure we took care of a number of things before heading out to Switzerland a week later. Thursday was spent tending to the house and running a few errands. I met my mother at CostCo to do a bit of large-scale shopping and then met Jairo, Carlos, and Joey for lunch at Baja Fresh right there in El Segundo. It was really good to see a few of the guys from work and catch up a bit with them. They all seem to be doing well and everything sounds pretty much the same in the lab. It was a bit amusing to hear that the most recent reorganization seems to have undone the reorganization that was implemented a few months before I left. Hopefully, everything will continue to go smoothly and I will be back there fairly soon. It would be nice to get back into something of a normal routine.

Friday 6-22-2007
This would be my last opportunity to fly before our trip so I arranged for a plane and called up my college buddy John, who lives in San Diego, to see if he was up for lunch. Turns out that grad students have fairly flexible schedules and he was up for a late lunch. It was pretty exciting as this would be the first time that I would go somewhere new without an instructor. I studied the charts and found that Montgomery field looked like a good option though it would be a bit tricky to get into their airspace as it is situated between the San Diego International airport and the Miramar military base (both are pretty busy airports). I pre-flighted and eventually got on my way and had a really nice little trip down. I flew over a little regatta in the Long Beach Harbor and had fond memories of sailing and racing with Nick (though we usually got our asses handed to us).


I was constantly checking my chart to make sure that I knew where I was and that it was OK to be there. Air traffic control routed me through to Montgomery field and no fighter jet buzzed me, which was nice. When I got near the airport, I asked for the big runway on the right but they gave me the little runway on the left and that ended up being the skinniest runway I have ever landed on. It did not look much wider than an average city street but everything went OK. This was my first time using transient parking as well, which was also a little interesting. I did not really know what to do but it seems that it is remarkably similar to a parking lot for a car. You just find a good spot, tie down the plane, and off you go. There were not even any parking fees as long as you were just there for the afternoon (parking overnight was a whopping $5). What a world. John was there when I landed, saw me circle around the “lot” a few times and after I got situated we went off to lunch. He had a nice little place in mind that he told me was a bit of alternative Berkeley right there in the middle of trendy San Diego. We drove into a little strip mall that looked like a thousand other corners all across America, and walked into a Thai Vegan restaurant.

Why I flew down to San Diego to go to a Vegan restaurant, I do not know. Actually, the food was really good, even the “chicken” in my chow mien was pretty tasty. It was great to catch up with John and he seems to be doing well. Him and his little lady were going to take a big step in the relationship as they were about to embark on a road trip to John’s home in Corvallis for a family reunion. If she stays with you after this, John, you know you have a keeper. John drove me back to the airport and I made my way back to Long Beach. The flight back was pretty uneventful, though fun and I was pretty stoked when I got back onto the ground safely. I went back up to LA and then Eva and I went out to a Happy Hour at 3rd Stop with a number of her coworkers. It is pretty amazing how much people will tell you if you just show a bit of interest. Her coworkers are all really nice people and as soon as Eva and I showed some interest they were off and running. We did enjoy it, though, as we are leading the boring married couple life and like to hear about drama as much as anyone else.

Saturday and Sunday, Weekend of 6-23-2007
I spent most of the day cleaning up the apartment, though eventually we made our way down and I joined my parents at a Galaxy game (thanks to the Pete and Sydney for the tickets). Pretty exciting game and we thought the home team might come from behind, but they just could not pull it out.

On Sunday, I got up and went to play a pick-up game of soccer with my dad. It had been a long time since I had played a bit of soccer but it was really fun. The old guys ran me ragged. I still have something resembling a touch, and I can go for about a 10 second burst of activity, but my endurance is basically non-existent. I would make a run and then need a few minutes to recover, during which I was basically useless. I did find that I could be somewhat effective by receiving and immediately distributing from the back and I actually got a second assist using that approach. A number of times I would take a knee to recover, and then, when I stood up, I would get pretty light headed. Luckily, I managed to not pass out though I felt pretty close a few times. After the game we sat and chatted with the guys and it was really nice seeing Mike Sanders and Al and Lee and Big Dennis and the rest. My dad really has a nice group of buddies. Mike was telling me about a few of his little flying adventures while he was over in England recently and Al is halfway through a remarkable summer as one of the two weddings went off without a hitch (or with a hitch, depending on how you look at it) and the other looks to be coming together pretty well.

Monday 6-25-2007
In the morning, I headed over to UCLA to pick up a month’s worth of Lovenox and Xeloda.
In the afternoon, I had to hone my skills by playing as much Street Fighter 2 as possible while still trying to get everything ready for the tournament that took place in the evening. I had prepared lasagna and cookies the night before and put together the last few details right before everyone came over. In total we had about 15 people over and almost everyone took part in the tournament. Most of them were from Eva’s work and were trying to establish the SF2 pecking order at work. We were hoping that Ariel would be the spoiler but unfortunately she lost in the semi finals. Aaron came by and it was really nice to see him as it had been a while and I had just caught up with the rest of his family. He put in a good effort though did not get all that far. After all the dust settled, the title went to Dameon and he took home a chocolate duck for his superior SF2 abilities. Eva had actually played for the first time earlier that evening and somehow managed to beat a few people. What a competitor.


Tuesday 6-26-2007
Most of the day was spent running the last few errands before our trip and taking care of things around the apartment. In the evening, my folks came up as well as Steve and Collette for a fridge clearing dinner. It was really nice to see my folks one more time before we took off and it is always fun to see Steve and Collette. They are such a cute couple. They had taken a big step recently as Steve went with Collette back to Texas to visit her family. Apparently, everything went well as they are still together (not so for Ann Marie’s boyfriend, I guess he could not keep her interested after spending a weekend in Vegas with her and the rest of the family, Steve and Joey liked him and they hung out, maybe that was the problem). After dinner, we finished our packing and mentally got ready for the early morning and long day that we would wake up to.

Wednesday 6-27-2007
We woke up early, closed down the apartment, and then got picked up by my mother to go to LAX (Thanks Mom!). We were going to Zurich by way of Dallas and our flight to Dallas took off at 8:35am. We figured getting to the airport by 6:30am would give us plenty of time to make the flight but it did not look so good once we pulled up to the curb. Fiasco became the word of the day and it all started at the American Airlines terminal. There were lines all over the place and even the employees did not know which line we should exactly be in. After being sent to three different lines, we finally ended up in the right one that was moving at a snail’s pace. We were in line at 6:45 and did not get up to the desk until 9:15am. We asked a few times if we were going to get pulled out of line to make sure that we would make our flight but they seemed unconcerned. When we finally got up to the counter, it was looking like earliest availability for Zurich was going to be at least 3 or 4 days away and this just was not going to fly with Eva or me. What had happened, was that there was a lot of rain in Dallas, which was causing a lot of problems. That morning, there were 3 flights from LA to Dallas that were all around 8:30am; two of them were canceled, ours was not. All of the passengers for all three flights were waiting in the same line to check bags. So, even though our flight was not canceled, we had to wait for the people at the counters to find alternative flights for the other passengers, which then caused us to miss our plane. Fiasco. We asked why they had not pulled us out of line to make sure that the people whose flight was still going were able to catch their plane, and their response was that there was a bit of rioting that was started by a similar situation earlier in the year, so they no longer pull people out of line. Eva and I did notice that, as the morning went on and people were getting madder and madder, there were more and more police officers standing around the terminal. We pleaded with the woman at the counter, explained that we had arrived at 6:30am, said we were willing to go be routed anywhere, I reluctantly mentioned that I have cancer, and, eventually, we got booked onto the next day’s Swiss Air flight from LA to Zurich. This was acceptable to Eva and I and we were on our way. We then went over to the Tom Bradley Terminal and were going to see if there was any space on the same Swiss flight for the same day. Swiss only has one flight a day and their counter was occupied by another carrier so we got onto the reservation line and while we were on the line, a few seats opened up. Unfortunately, because American bought the tickets, we then had to call American and get them to try to change the tickets from tomorrow to today. This was another big fiasco but eventually it got done. It had been a rough morning but it worked out pretty well in the end. Sure we suffered in line and would get to Zurich about 8 hours later than expected, but we got onto a much nicer carrier and were on the direct flight to Zurich. We called my mom again and she came and picked us up from LAX (Thanks Mom!). I think we looked as though we had been traveling all day, though it was still before noon and we still had not gone anywhere. We had about 5 hours to kill, so we went down to San Pedro, got In’N’Out on the way and took naps at the house. Eva and I each fell into a deep sleep, which recharged us a bit from the draining morning. We through our clothes into the washer for the benefit of our future traveling companions and went back up to LAX (Once again, Thanks Mom!). There was one more hiccup with the tickets but we figured it out, got our boarding passes, and had our bags checked all in about an hour (as it should be). We then grabbed some dinner with my mom, thanked her repeatedly, and went off to security to make sure that we got through in adequate time. After all was said and done, we made the plane and had a pretty comfortable flight over to Europe. Again, what a scene. American Airlines was just shooting themselves in the foot. With us, they could have pulled us out of line, made sure that we made our flight, and been done with us. Instead, they caused us to miss our flight, had to rebook us onto a more expensive carrier, and spent at least 4 times as much time and effort making sure they fulfilled their part of the travel agreement as would have been required if they had just gotten us through efficiently. Sure they say that they cannot control the weather, but if you have been having bad weather for the last 3 months, and all predictions are that it will continue, maybe you should start working on alternate plans a little earlier than the morning of. Anyways, sorry to rant a bit, I am done venting for now.
-TN

6-15-2007 Park City

Health wise, everything seems to be going pretty well. I am continuing to just plug away with the chemo every three weeks and, knock on wood, there have not really been too many surprises recently. I get a little nervous when there has not been any excitement for a while, it sort of feels like the calm before the storm. I hope that we have had enough excitement to last us for a while, hopefully a long while.

Saturday 6-16-2007
Eva and I woke up Saturday morning in a pretty incredible house. The oncologist does not mess around. We got up, made our way upstairs, and Dr. Isacoff made us a wonderful little breakfast of eggs and toast. It was really cute. We caught up a bit on the prior weeks happenings and discussed a bit of what we would like to do while we were up in Park City. Eva and I really value any time we get to spend with the doctor and this had already exceeded both of our expectations. A little more about the house, the doctor shares it with another woman that he has known for a long time and they sort of take different approaches towards the house. Dr. Isacoff seems to enjoy the house and enjoy having people use it and is careful and considerate but realizes that houses are meant to be lived in. I seriously doubt whether or not the woman who shares the house with him has any joy in her life what so ever. Maybe she enjoys the house herself, but she seems to worry about others in her house and tries to account for every contingency that might occur. These worries are revealed to the houseguest through a multitude of little notes scattered throughout the house as well as a four-page document that contains the rules and guidelines for staying in the house. Eva and I found the document about a day into our stay and, sadly, we had already broken about 10 of the rules. Of particular note were the instructions to, unless unavoidable, keep the shades down on the windows because it would fade the carpet and the artwork (though I am pretty sure the skylight in the roof was doing considerable damage regardless of whether or not the other windows were blocked or not), the note that food was not to be carried between floors (basically, if you make that sandwich on the top floor, you better eat it on the top floor), and, in finale, that at no time should red liquids of any kind be brought into the house. I was glad that we were there with Isacoff as he put us at ease a bit about the house.

After breakfast, we thought that it would be fun to go for a little bike ride. Of course, Sony was not going to be left at home and this proved to be a bit of an obstacle that needed to be overcome before we got out on our ride. His little legs and lack of conditioning precluded him from running alongside of the bikes for the ride so we needed a way to carry him along. For all practical aspects, we were essentially taking a baby along with us on our ride, though, somehow, the bike shop did not see it that way. They were very ready to rent us bikes but were not very helpful in figuring out a way to take Sony along on the ride. Our first thoughts were to just rent a little trailer and put him in there. The first reaction from the bike shop guys was that it would not be safe for the dog. Hmm, safe enough for a one-year-old, not safe for a dog. The next excuse was that the dog would destroy the trailer with his claws. I am not sure if they were actually looking at Sony, but I do not think he could really do all that much damage with his little manicured paws. We said that we would sign a waiver indicating that we took full responsibility for the condition of the trailer as well as the safety of the dog and also put down a larger deposit, but it was as if nothing would please the bike shop employees. Dr. Isacoff did not really appreciate the attitude of the workers, so we decided to go across the street to another outdoor sport shop. As soon as we walked in, every employee at this bike shop looked up as if they were expecting us. They were similarly resistant to renting a trailer though, when asked, they were willing to sell one to us. It turns out that the first bike shop had called the second bike shop while we were on our way across the street and tried to convince them to not rent us a trailer for the dog based on safety reasons. What struck me was that no one was really trying to work with us to figure out some acceptable way to take Sony along on the ride. We had money and were willing to pay for some reasonable solution but all the employees could say was why something would not work. So, we went on our way to a third bike shop. They also would not rent us a trailer, stating that they did think it was sanitary to have a dog in a trailer and then put a child into the trailer. I guess I could understand this, but, really, I think a kid would be at more risk to catch something from another kid than be allergic to Sony. Anyways, we moved on from the trailer idea to trying to figure out if we could bring him along using a backpack or bag of some sort. I found something suitable, we checked and Sony fit in pretty nicely, we bought it and rented a couple bikes, and, finally, we were on our way.



The ride itself was pretty nice. There was a bike path that led to a dirt road right there and that was as flat of a ride as we were going to get in Park City. Isacoff and I were not really ready to take on the mountain. We made a bit of distance fairly easily and it was really pretty riding through the rolling grass covered hills that surround the little mountain town. Sony was pretty content being taken for a ride. We realized once we turned around why our ride had been fairly easy so far. We had been going with the wind and basically downhill as the path had a very slight grade in our favor on the way out. It was pretty brutal on the way back. A decent wind was in our face, we were going on a slight grade uphill, the sun was beating down on us, and the altitude all contributed to Isacoff and myself alternately needing breaks about every 15 minutes. It was a long journey back into town but eventually we made it. The guys favorite quote on the ride was, as both Isacoff and I were panting during one of our many breaks, when Eva inquired, “Isn’t this exhilarating?” The look on the doctor’s face said it all. Between that and Eva asking us to suck in our bellies for a picture after the ride, Isacoff got a taste of the character of my wife.



We all napped back at the house and Eva and I were pretty sure that the belly comment was responsible for changing our dinner plans from Tex-Mex to sushi. Dinner was a wonderful affair, as expected with Isacoff, and we just had a great time. Lots of different dishes were all shared and I cannot remember a meal where the flow of food was more pleasurable. We would generally have two dishes in front of us and just a one was being finished, another was brought in its place. I did wonder a bit about having sushi in the middle of Utah, but the fish was very tasty and seemed very fresh.

Sunday 6-17-2007
On Sunday, we drove down to Sundance and went on a little hike. Sony came along again and this was his first real outdoor adventure. This Shitsu has come a long way from his wolf ancestors, but still seemed to have a good time on the trail. The hike was up to a beautiful waterfall and the surroundings were so lush, it was a bit reminiscent of Hawaii (though more white people). Once we got up to the waterfall, Sony plopped down in the stream and tried to cool off.

I do not mean any disrespect to Sony, but when he was on the trail, he sort of looked like a rug with legs. He brought home a number of twigs and stickers on his belly and by the end of the hike he was dirtier than I had ever seen him. Again, Dr. Isacoff and I felt exhilarated and Eva almost seemed to gather energy during our athletic endeavors. Dr. Isacoff is just a really nice guy and fun to spend time with. Eva and I were very touched that he would spend so much time with us and we hope that we were good company. Eva does an amazing job of putting smiles on people’s faces.

Once we got back to the house, the doctor had to get ready to take off, as he needed to get back to LA on Sunday night. Sony was in no condition to fly so Isacoff washed him in the sink and then Eva and I dried him with the blow drier. This dog is amazing, he would just stand there and let us prep him and he even seemed to like it a bit. Ted, the dog I grew up with, would have freaked out if a blow drier was going anywhere near him. We saw Isacoff off and then had a quiet evening in the huge house.

Monday 6-18-2007
Most of the day was spent just enjoying the house. We are very happy in our apartment but we do not have any trouble admitting that it is very nice to stay in wonderful houses. I think we only broke about half a dozen of the rules on Monday, so that was good. Eventually, I got a bit restless and started surfing the web and checking out the various activities available to us in and around Park City. Utah is a nice place to play and there are a number of ways to spend time outdoors but I was particularly intrigued when I saw a link about SCUBA diving in midway (a town just on the other side of the hill from Park City). A unique natural formation has left a crater that has filled with 95-degree water and is something like 40 feet in diameter, 65 feet deep below the surface of the water, and the top of the crater is about 30 feet above the surface of the water. There is a small hole in the top of the crater and they drilled a tunnel at roughly the water’s surface to allow people to walk into the crater. In addition to swimming and snorkeling, you can rent dive gear and dive the crater. It took a bit of nudging, but eventually, Eva was up for it. This was the first time that I have ever dove without a wetsuit, which was a pretty amazing feeling. They had hung a couple items as visual references in the crater like a small mermaid doll and a wheel and the walls of the crater were fairly interesting, though there were no fish. It was a little intense descending down to the bottom because, though there were a few lights in the water at about 20 feet, it appeared as if you were descending into the abyss. Eventually, the bottom came into view, I touched it and then Eva and I made our way slowly back to the surface by circling around the walls. Eva had not dove for a little while, but it all came back to her and she did a great job and looked good doing it, too. It was a truly unique experience and quite spectacular looking up at the light from 30 feet down in what felt like a nice warm bath.



After the crater, I made my way to Orem to visit an old friend, Chad Durham. As it happened, the rest of the Durham clan had just arrived and I got to spend the evening with the whole bunch. The Durhams were basically my second family in high school as I ran with 3 of the brothers and spent a number of afternoons at their house. They were celebrating Vicky’s birthday and I got to join in just like the old days. Chase, Chad’s son, is just a wonderful kid and really fun to be around. He even gave me a hug before he went to bed, which was really touching. The family seems to be doing well and I think that everyone except Vicky is taller than me now. Chad was getting ready for a race later in the week. Now this was not just a weekend fun run 5K/10K, it was a 175 mile 12 man relay race that went from Provo to Salt Lake City, the long way, though the hills. The BYU team has won it the last two years and finished it in around 17 hours. What a way to spend a day. The other exciting news was that Bethany, Chad’s wife, was pregnant. I heard a week later that, though she was due in September, the baby just could not wait that long and made a break for it. Chad said that the baby and Bethany were fine though they will keep the little girl at the hospital for a couple months. How exciting. For all you knew parents out there, there may be tough times and sleepless nights, but just know how lucky you are. Hopefully, this part of my journey will come to a close sometime and Eva and I will be able to think about little ones. Just don’t ever take for granted the ease of creating children.

Tuesday 6-19-2007

Eva and I hung out and enjoyed the house most of the day but eventually got out to play a heated round of minigolf. The course was not in the best shape, actually it was the crappiest minigolf course I have ever played, but we still had a good time. If your putt was a little off, you could stamp down onto the board and sort of guide it in. The windmill was not in the best of shape, probably some punk kids.

After minigolf, I went into the human maze, I mean how could I pass that up. I started out going for the record but tired fairly quickly. Eva enjoyed the spectacle from an elevated observation deck. Later, we got take-out and relaxed with a movie before packing it up for our early morning departure.

Wednesday 6-20-2007
We were up and out of the place by 6am to get back to Salt Lake for our flight back to LA. My father was kind enough to pick us up at the airport and take us to our car that was parked at his office. Eva and I stopped in for a minute to say hi to everyone at the office and, as always, it was really nice to see everyone. We then made our way back up to UCLA and I went in for a chemo session. It had been a while since I had gotten a full round of chemo and it felt good to be in the office for more than a half hour. I got epirubicin, taxotere, and erbitux. Sony seemed happy to see us and he was much cleaner than when we left him (even after his bath). Everyone was really nice as usual and the session was over before we knew it. Afterwards, we cruised back to the apartment and relaxed during the afternoon. It was nice to get back home.

6-12-2007 Portland

My parents came by pretty early to pick me up for our trip to Portland. Eva got up early and we had a nice little breakfast together. It is so hard to leave her. We made it down to LAX with plenty of time (mom was along) and the flight was mellow. I picked up an aeronautical map of the North West and was picking out different landmarks on the way in. It was pretty fun. When we got in, we picked up a car, and made our way out to Gresham, where my Great Aunt Zel lives. She lives in a retirement community (old folks home), which was really nice. I have to say that I am looking forward to retirement. It reminded me a lot of college. Everyone has his or her own room (though the suites there were much bigger and nicer than the tiny dorm room I was in at Berkeley) and there is a lot of common space for everyone to enjoy. There is a nice little library on the 3rd floor and there were two huge puzzles laid out on a big table (both about 5% done). Meals are served in a large dinning room, which sort of brings everyone together, though I am sure that there are some tense times when you are new and you are new and trying to find some nice people to eat with. The residents have all sorts of activities lined up and the staff organizes little excursions during the week as well. For example, there is bingo Mondays and Fridays, poker Tuesdays and Thursdays, Bridge on Wednesdays, and Cribbage, Canasta and Rummy are mixed in, as well. Recently the home bought a limo that you can reserve if you are going some place fancy, like a doctor's appointment. All in all, it was pretty neat, and pretty hilarious. Just imagine college dorms, except that one third of the people are in rascals (motorized wheelchairs) and another third use walkers.

Tuesday 6-12-2007
Once we got to Zel’s community, we met David and Betty (Zel’s daughter) and visited a bit in Zel’s apartment. That evening, we headed over to Betty and David’s place and had a really nice dinner. They are in the process of building a new home and it was neat to see the blueprints and hear about the various hurdles that are inherent in the process. They have a wonderful garden and there were so many flowers in bloom. It was really pretty. After dinner, we cruised back to Courtyard Fountains (the retirement community) where we were staying and turned in. Some might think it would be odd or interesting, actually staying at the retirement community, but they were actually really nice accommodations and pretty fun. Though we would get some curious looks as we just strolled right in and went up to our room.


Wednesday 6/13/2007
My folks got up early and went for a run. I got up a bit after them and had a wonderful breakfast with my Great Aunt Zel. She is truly a remarkable person. There were a lot of things that reminded me of my Grandma but there were so many things that were uniquely Zel. She is really funny woman and I had a great time at breakfast and any other time we were just sitting around talking. She is just a character. We had nice breakfast of bacon and eggs with pancakes. The staff is really wonderful and they know what Zel likes and just bring it over to the table. I had never seen this before, but Zel likes cream cheese and applesauce on her pancakes. People thought Elvis was crazy when he put bananas on his peanut butter sandwich.

After breakfast, Betty, David, my folks, and I headed over to the Oregon Museum of Science and Industry (OMSI to the locals). We met Birken, my cousin, at the museum and all went in to check out Body Worlds 3 (the third installment of the Body Works Exhibit that is touring). Birken will be a senior next fall and already has more facial hair than I had at the end of college. It was really nice spending the day with him and catching up on his various activities. The exhibit was pretty impressive though I was amazed that I did not feel squeamish walking amongst the bodies. It was done very well and very tastefully and was quite educational. It hit a bit close to home seeing a liver with metastases and finding the pancreas within the abdominal cavity. It was pretty clear to see how hard it is to get to the pancreas. It is situated behind almost everything, right up against the backbone. You have to go through a lot of important stuff to even see it and coming from behind is not really an option as people generally need their backs intact and like to be able to walk and feel things below the waist. There were a few spleens on display, which really served to show the difference between mine (which weighed in at over 4 pounds when it was removed) and a normal spleen (usually less than 2/3 a pound). Some of the poses of the specimens were really impressive and the largest specimen on exhibit there was a camel, pretty wild.

After Body Worlds, we had a bit of lunch (and managed to keep it down) and then we took a tour of a submarine, which was pretty cool. A couple times I had to muscle out a few kids to get to the periscope or torpedo tube. Don’t worry, eventually they will grow up and then be able to do some muscling of their own. There were some other cool interactive exhibits at the museum similar to other science centers. Here is Birken exploring the effects of static electricity on long hair. My dad could not resist touching him and shocking them both. Who do you think is demonstrating more maturity?


Later in the afternoon, we all headed back to Zel’s place and met my uncle Tom there. We visited a bit and then went down and had a big dinner in something of a private dinning room that is available for just such an occasion. It was steak night at the home and they know how to cook up a tasty meal. The two kids, Birken and myself, got to sit on either side of Zel and we all had a really pleasant dinner. One of Zel’s friends joined us for a little while though I could not get her to divulge any amusing stories about my Great Aunt. I guess there is something of a code between residents. Well, the code may be intact in the common areas, but once we got Zel back to her apartment, we got some pretty good stories. Walkers being taken, drama in the laundry room, and people being asked to leave the home for somewhat scandalous behavior (though scandalous for 80 year olds is not really the same as scandalous for 20 year olds). It was really great to see uncle Tom and to get to spend a bit of time with him. Sounds like a lot is going on as school is winding down and things seem to be going pretty well.

Thursday 6/14/2007
Thursday morning I scared my folks by looking into what it would take to rent a plane and fly around Portland a bit. The plane I would have liked was booked for most of the afternoon so it did not really work out. My folks and I had breakfast with Zel, and the stories kept coming. I never knew of the various shenanigans that some of my relatives were involved in. Needless to say, it was another entertaining breakfast. Later in the morning, my folks and I drove down to Corvalis to meet up with a couple of friends of mine. We meet up with Kami, who lives in Eugene, and Nick Martin, who lives in Corvalis. We met at a brew pub and had a wonderfully lazy lunch outside. I guess we just got lucky, but the weather in Portland was pretty spectacular during our whole stay. It was kind of like LA. Kami and Nick seem to be doing really well and it was really nice to catch up with both of them. Kami has finished law school and is now studying for the BAR. Nick left his job at HP earlier this year and is working on a couple interesting projects of his own. I am sure both of them will do very well. After lunch, we went to a minor league ball game back in Portland. The Beaver’s stadium is right in the middle of the city and it sort of reminded me a bit of Fenway park in Boston. It was a decent game between the Beavers (who feed into the Padres) and the Salt Lake City Bees (who feed into the Angels). I was about 2 rows away from a foul ball but was actually a little glad that I did not get my hands on it. The guy one row in front of me spilled his girlfriend’s beer going for it and the guy two rows in front of me got his hands on it but then dropped it. The ball then rolled down two rows in front of him where a woman picked it up and gave it to her kid. The guys made a good effort, though, and the beer man came by pretty quickly so the girlfriend's beer was promptly replaced.

Friday 6/15/2007
We showed Zel some pictures on my computer before breakfast. I think that this picture should be an ad for apple with a caption to the effect of "The computer of choice for the old folks home is the computer of choice for you. Apple."


David and Betty joined my folks, Zel, and I for another breakfast at the home before we were off. It was really wonderful to spend time with Zel, Betty, David, Birken, and Tom. I know that Grandma loved to see her boys together and that she would have been really happy that we all came together like that. Again, Zel is such a character and I really had a blast. After breakfast, we made our way back to the airport and then headed home to LA. We went back to San Pedro where my wonderful wife was getting things together for out trip to Park City later that day. It was so great to come back to her. I really missed her on the trip and just cannot be away from her too long these days. She had prepared a tasty dinner that we all enjoyed on the patio as my parents and I recounted our trip. After dinner my dad took us over to Long Beach and Eva and I made our way to Park city to spend the weekend with Dr. Isacoff. Needless to say, after the two flights and the drive up to Park City, I was pretty spent. Though I did get a bit of a boost from playing with Sony once we arrived at the doctor’s place.

Beginning of June 2007

Sunday 5/27/2007
After Eva and I got back from Catalina, we cleaned up the boat and then hung out at the house and readjusted to civilized life. My parents were back east at a wedding so Eva and I got to sort of play house in an actual house. I guess we are living the game “house” in our own apartment but it is also fun to pretend in actual houses. I restrained myself from running around naked, though it was tempting. I am sure my father scares the neighbors enough already. In the evening, we headed up to the Home Depot Center to check out a lacrosse game. The tickets were free and neither of us had ever seen lacrosse before. Lacrosse is a hilarious game. It was pretty fun to watch though the ball is a bit hard to follow. The highlight of the evening was the halftime entertainment. A number of different mascots were at the game to welcome the LA Riptide’s new mascot into being. They all took the field for an impromptu game of mascot lacrosse. Seeing an anteater fending off a robin with his lacrosse stick while passing the ball to a shark that had just run over a matador was pretty amusing.

Week of 5/28/2007
Most of the week was spent studying my flying materials and finishing up the last few flight requirements. The end is in sight for my pilot’s license. I had wanted to fly Tuesday night, but, during pre-flight, I noticed that the anti-collision light was hanging on by its wires. I came back on Wednesday and it was back in place with some fresh duct tape. I did my last few night landings on Wednesday night and did a stage check with the chief pilot on Friday. The stage check went well and I was scheduled for my FAA check ride for the following Friday. I feel confident about my flying abilities but there is a lot of knowledge that could potentially be tested during the check ride. Somehow, reading about performing maneuvers is just not as much fun as actually performing them.

On Wednesday I went in for an infusion. I got Mitomycin C and Erbitux and it was a pretty quick session, maybe 2 hours in the office. My parents took me and it was really good to see Dr. Isacoff and Sony. The premeds were exciting as always. I am sure I have mentioned it before, but getting an injection of Decadron (a corticoid steroid) is quite an experience. Usually an IV has already been started and Joan (the chemo nurse) injects it right into the line going into my bloodstream. She usually injects about one third of the total dose at a time and now there is something of an anticipation element to the whole event. About 10 seconds after she pushed the drug in, there is a very dramatic sensation right in my anus. It feels like I am being stabbed with a flaming dagger. Whoever is with me will usually see some pretty funny expressions on my face as I shift in my seat until the sensation is over. It only lasts about 30 seconds but it certainly does pack a punch. It is a bit of a thrill and I am sure that some people would probably get off on it a bit, but it really just is not my cup of tea. As usual, the infusion went well and, as I only got 2 chemos, I felt pretty good for the remainder of the day. Mitomycin does not seem to really affect me on the day of the infusion, though I have noticed that I am a bit irritable and just not exactly myself for a few days after the infusion.

Friday 6/1/2007
Once I got back to the apartment after finishing my stage check, Eva and I headed over to Holmby for a bit of golf. We started pretty late and only finished about half of the course though we ended on a pretty good note. She birdied the 9th and I birdied the 10th. Just for the record, there were also a number of errant shots and I believe it took me 4 shots to get onto the green for the 5th. As Eva would say, “Even a blind chicken finds a kernel.”


Weekend of 6/2/2007
Eva and I mostly putzed around the apartment and attended to various things that needed attention. Saturday night, we went down to a Galaxy game with Nick and Ariel with tickets courtesy of Steve (Thanks Steve, also I never thanked Mark Carpenter for some incredible tickets to a Laker Game back in April. We got to enjoy the game from a really nice luxury box and the company was even more enjoyable than the accommodations. Eva and I had a great time and I had not mentioned because for some reason it just happened to be during a blogging dry spell, sorry about that. We had an incredible time). Back to the Galaxy game, Rosemarie, her son Karl, his wife Jen, and my dad also went to the game and we all had a really nice time. The non-soccer fans may think 90 minutes of play resulting in a 0-0 tie would be a waste of time, but there were many incredible plays and decent soccer. OK, I will concede that I would have enjoyed actually seeing a goal but oh-well. It was the opening game but Beckham will not be playing with the team until later in the season. The tickets Steve got us were pretty nice and only 5 rows up from the pitch though there was an interesting crowd in the luxury seats. The woman sitting in front of us had a pretty meager understanding of the game and for some reason, found it prudent to wear copious amounts of perfume. This would not have been that big a deal if the perfume had an acceptable aroma though this fragrance was fairly close to nail-polish remover. Perhaps she bathes in acetone for that extra fresh chemically feeling. On Sunday, Eva and I ran/rode in the morning and then met Karl and Jen for a late lunch before they made their way back to Mariposa. They are such a great couple, so positive and optimistic, and we always get a boost after seeing them. Sounded like they will be pretty busy this summer though I am sure they will enjoy thier various activities and do plenty of living.

Week of 6/4/2007
I spent a lot of time at the library studying for my check ride on Friday. I did my last flight lesson before my check ride on Monday. It went pretty well though big burgers and small planes do not go very well together. I was fine but I could not execute a few maneuvers to the standard that I would have liked to. All in all, I felt ready for the test. In the evening, Eva and I went to watch a play "All about Walken" which was 9 actors and actresses impersonating Christopher Walken and sort of doing a review of almost everything he had done during his career. It was really funny though it would have been even better if I had been a little more familiar with his work. After the show, we had a good time youtubing him and saw a number of the clips. If you have never seen the video for “Weapon of Choice” by Fatboy Slim, I highly recommend you youtube it. The playhouse was situated amongst a number of erotic shoe stores so if you find yourself in need of some 5 inch stripper heels, head up to Hollywood Blvd and check out the play once you have all the shoes and boots you need.


Tuesday marked 11 months since diagnosis. Wow. Again, I just feel so lucky to be doing as well as I am doing. Right after diagnosis, it was a big question mark as to whether I would still be around in 11 months and here I am. Eva and I kid, “11 months down, 79 years and 1 month to go.” My folks came up and we had a nice dinner at the apartment. We started off with some bacon wrapped shrimp on the BBQ and then we got sushi and tempura delivered. How decadent. The bacon shrimp were more than just delicious and provided a bit of entertainment as flames occasionally rose about a foot above the grill and the smoke could have signaled people at least a few villages away. Eva finished the meal in a very nice fashion with some chocolate and raspberry filled crepes. I just feel lucky to be alive.

The rest of the week was not all that exciting until my check ride on Friday. It turned out that the examiner grew up about four houses away from my folk’s house in San Pedro. Needless to say, that was a nice bit of commonality to chat about. James, my instructor, had thoroughly prepared me and the oral and practical portions of the exam went well. There was a bit of a cross wind at Long Beach so the examiner decided to do all the landings there. The plane is only rated for a 12 knot direct crosswind (90 degrees) and we were out there with a 10 knot wind at about 70 degrees off of the runway heading. My landings were by no means perfect though they were safe and acceptable. Hopefully, as I continue to fly, they will just get smoother and smoother. All in all, the check ride went really well and I am now a private pilot. I know, pretty crazy. The roads got a little scarier about 10 years ago and now the skies are no long a safe retreat. I was pretty excited and so thankful for the great instruction I have received from James as well as the support I have received from my friends and family and especially Eva. We had a great BBQ at my folks home that night to celebrate a bit.


Weekend of 6/9/2007
I had thought that I would be content for a while once I got my private pilot’s license but it only fueled my desire to learn more in aviation. I picked up a couple books on instrument flying and soaring and delved into them over the weekend. Eva and I did get out and stretch our legs a bit and rode around the peninsula both Saturday and Sunday. It was a beautiful weekend and nice to be outside. Otherwise, we kept it pretty low-key.


Monday 6/11/2007
Spent the night in SP and read a bit more before getting out for a run (actually a jog, I no longer consider what I do running). I had been wanting to get into the air since Friday, but there had been some clouds in the morning and it just did not work out over the weekend. Monday was looking pretty good and the first victim of the family was my mother. I was really stoked that she was up for it and really proud of her. She admitted that she was a little nervous the night before but was fine on the way over and when we were in the plane. We just took a short trip out of Long Beach over to Torrance, up over Palos Verdes, and then to the Harbor and back into Long Beach. There were a few clouds that we had to fly around and the visibility was deteriorating a bit on our way back to Long Beach but it was still really fun. We flew pretty close to my folk’s home in SP though there were a few other planes out that afternoon so Eva and my dad did not know which one was us. My mom was a great little passenger and even flew the plane for about five seconds. She is such a good sport. Hopefully, we will make our way up to Camarillo for some shopping in the near future.

Here we are in flight. As you can see, the 152 is not all that roomy.


Mom at the controls. Love that flower hat.


Mom showing off the plane.