Treatment Update

Hi friends...it's a busy Saturday here in Raleigh and we're expecting some strong storms this afternoon.  I know many of you have been praying for my visit to MD Anderson to go well so thanks(!) for your support.  I traveled to Houston on Wednesday and spent most of Thursday in the clinic - about half my time focused on my current treatment and the other half focused on getting preparatory tests done for the stem cell transplant (which remains a "back-up" plan in case it is needed). 

The news on my treatment was good.  While my marrow still contains leukemic cells, comparing to the original bone marrow biopsy I had a year ago, something like 40% of the cancerous cells are gone, and something like 60% remain.  So the good news there is that the treatment is having an effect on the cancer in my bone marrow, as well as on my overall blood counts, which remain at near normal levels.  We would have liked to have seen a bigger impact, but we did not expect (speaking purely medically) that the cancer would be gone in 3 treatments - the nominal duration of the treatments is 6 cycles.  So, I will continue being treated and Dr. Keating wants me to go through the next 3 cycles and then have another marrow biopsy.  The definition of remission is that all cancerous cells in the marrow have to be gone, so that's what we will be praying for.  I will start cycle 4 on Monday, assuming my counts are OK that day.

Regardless of how much of the cancer the treatment eliminates, Dr. Keating continues to develop new treatments, and in fact has several 17p patients with stubborn disease that he has stabilized with a new family of oral drugs that are called "T-cell inhibitors".  He's very excited about these developments.

The GREAT news that I got on Thursday is that my sister Laure is a PERFECT stem cell donor match for me.  There are 14 "tests" for matching and we matched on all 14 points - so this is a GREAT answer to prayer and we are all just thrilled about it.  If I ever need a transplant, this puts me in the best possible position.  Woo Hoo!  Praise God!!

Your support, prayers, notes, and cards are deeply appreciated.  Love - Dan and Fam  

Masters Week Update

On the Veranda at Two Meeting Street Inn

Greetings friends, I see that it has been 2 weeks since my last update....my medical news is very good.  After the 3rd cycle of chemo which was March 14-16, I had a checkup on March 28, and Dr. Kritz, my local oncologist, pronounced my overall response to the treatments to be "great".  My team in Houston is also very pleased.  My counts are normal again, and I feel great most of the time - although yesterday, I came down with a fever.  Standard protocol for chemo patients who get a fever over 100 is to go get their counts checked to see if they are neutropenic, i.e., a very low neutrophil count.....unfortunately the only place I could get a blood count after  hours yesterday was an emergency room.  We were in at 7:15 pm and out at 10:30 pm....my neutrophils were strong, so my body will fight off whatever infection I have.  My fever is down today so we're expecting this to run its course in a day or two.

Renee and I spent 3 wonderful days in Charleston, SC for our 25th anniversary - the weather was not great, but we didn't let that stop us from walking around the old neighborhoods, taking some historic home tours, a carriage ride through the town, and eating some great local seafood.  We stayed at the historic and gorgeous 2 Meeting Street Inn, right down on the battery.  I am blessed in many ways, but after my relationship with the Lord, my marriage to Renee is the greatest blessing in my life.  We are so thankful for God's plan for marriage and family.  Here are some pics from the trip (you will see that I "snuck" out early for a little redfish action):

Renee on the Front Steps

10 lb Anniversary Redfish!!

  As indicated above, it is Masters week, and the Masters is probably my favorite sporting event of the year, so I will be in front of the tube for that - I will also be a guest at my niece-in-law's 4th grade class on Friday - Amanda Palmer Moore, Renee's brother's daughter, asked me to come to her class to talk about the solar system, so I have been working on that little project.  I may post pics!  The 'next big thing' is my trip to Houston next week for my mid-treatment progress check, complete with bone marrow aspiration and full analysis of what my marrow is doing/producing at a molecular/genetic level....It's a one day visit to the clinic, so Renee is not going to come with me (she would have if I had asked, of course), as we don't think this visit has much risk and stress in it, compared to my other 2 trips to Houston.  I leave on Wednesday the 13th and my appointments are on the 14th.  Of course we are praying for a great report there and I will keep you posted.  I hope all is well with you, and please let Renee and I know how we can pray for you - many of you are already on our prayer list, and we would love to add anyone who needs prayer support.  Dan and Renee

Chemo Cycle 3 - in the books!

With Friends Greg Schmieding and Mark Reineman at Cypress Point's famous 16th, Sept. 2010

Hello Friends, I thought a golf picture was appropriate (though this one is slightly dated) because I am in Florida at the moment and plan to play a little bit over the next couple of days.  I drove to Orlando this morning, arriving around 3 pm, in time for an afternoon nap.  This 3rd round of chemo was a lot like the first two, but there is a noticeable 'hangover' that is lingering a bit longer this time.  My low days were Friday and Saturday, which happily coincided with the NCAA basketball rounds 1 and 2, so there were literally 20+ games on over the weekend.  Lots of chemo recovery material.  Well, with all the anxiousness about my neutrophils leading up to the treatment, I got quite a surprise on Wednesday before my 3rd day, when my "neuts" hit 3900 - that was up from 1400 and even higher then they went after my booster shot on Feb 14.  So apparently my marrow kicked it into high gear on Tuesday!  I got another booster shot on Thursday just to be on the safe side.  My lymphocytes were also in good shape (ie, lower). 

Hopefully I will feel well over the next couple of weeks, and I will head to Houston on April 13th for a mid-course assessment of my progress disease.  As you know, a stem cell transplant procedure is being prepared for as a back-up plan, and the testing for my sisters' compatibility is beginning.  I'll keep you posted on that. 

My "big sis" Laure sent me a frozen Giordano's pizza by Fed Ex from Chicago to help me get through this treatment....I am blessed with 2 wonderful sisters!

Renee and I are approaching our 25th wedding anniversary - the date is March 29th.  We are planning a short getaway to Charleston for next week, so we are looking forward to that.  I was listening to some tunes on the way down here and I started thinking what were my "top 5" songs that are "our songs".....how sappy is that?  Here's what I came up with:  "She" by Elvis Costello, "Tupelo Honey" by Van Morrison, "You're My Best Friend" by Queen, "Your Own Special Way" by Genesis, and "Until the Night" by Billy Joel.  So there you go.  Go buy them on itunes and have a good cry  :-).  Honorable mention is a song that I doubt any of you have heard of, "Angel Eyes" by the Jeff Healy Band....but I found it on Youtube! 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kag0TsZzxpw

I hope all is well with you, please let us know how you are doing via email or comments.....Thanks as always for your care, support, and prayers.........Love - Dan

Coupla' Rookers Cooking up a Storm on a Gorgeous Spring Afternoon

My sister Jill DiCicco

Greetings everyone, we had a great weekend because my younger sister Jill came down to visit from the Chicago area.  She has 4 boys ranging in age from 11 to 19, and her hubby Mark took over at home and gave Jill a weekend away.  By now you know what we Rooker like to do for fun - Rookers are Cookers!  Friday night we had an Indian feast, with Tandoori Lamb as the main course, with paneer and spinach samosas for an appetizer, a dise dish of naan bread and Dal, and a salad.....wow.....them saturday night, my young apprentice Rachel took over chef duties and we assisted her in making a wonderful beef bourguignon, and Saturday I grilled Red Snapper Chinese style........so we ate well.  Jill is a devoted and very committed follower of Jesus Christ and has been a wonderful support to me in the last year.  We had some great and very encouraging time together.

Jill was fervently praying for me, as were many others, as I went to the clinic this morning to get my counts.  There's a dichotomy to this treatment process, so if I may provide some background....on the one hand, I was told that 70% of patients with my disease characteristics achieve a complete remission (CR) with this FCR treatment.  On the other hand, low neutrophil counts are a side effect that can render the treatment ineffective, (actually excessively toxic to the neutrophils), and it can fail for that reason.  Therefore my low neutrophil counts, while they can be successfully dealt with in many instances, sometimes they cannot be corrected and treatment has to stop (and another one tried).  All that to explain why I get nervous when they are low and treatments have to be delayed.  Reviewing my Bible verses at these times is extremely helpful.  Still, I was anxious this morning.  I got good news at 8:55 am - my "neuts" were up to 1400 - my marrow had recovered and fired up production on its own (the neulasta shot I got on Feb 14 had worn off), this time, just a few days later than it did after the last cycle.  So - I was in treatment by 9 am and day 1 is in the books.  Praise God from whom all blessings flow! 

There's one other prayer burden that I will mention - it is quite possible that I will at some point require a stem cell, or bone marrow transplant.  If the current treatment is successful, this may not be for several years, but the prayer request is that one of my sisters (both of whom have been featured now on my blog), would be a donor match - a perfect match.  There is a one in 4 chance for each sibling to be a match.  We've talked about statistics, but we believe that God could miraculously "match" one of them even if there are not a match today.  He's done much more miraculous things than that, like create the Universe and raise Jesus from the dead!  The matching process will be starting soon, as a precautionary action.  I will keep you posted on this, but if you would add this to your prayer list I would be very grateful.

I am so blessed by your prayers and encouragement.  Whatever God's plans are for me, I know He hears prayers and answers many of them, and I trust Him completely.  I hope this finds you well.  Love - Dan

March 9 Update

The Rookers in the Canadian Rockies, July 2010

Hello friends, it has been 10 days since my last post - I've had two blood draws, a week ago and today - what has been happening is that my neutrophils peaked at 2800 (last post), no doubt aided by the shot I received on Feb 14 (Neulasta).  From the 2800 level 2 weeks ago, they dropped to 1400 last week, and 1100 today.  I was supposed to begin chemo cycle 3 today, but Dr. Kritz is recommending that we wait until my neutrophils stabilize or start back up.  In other words, he does not want to start the treatment cycle if my neuts are dropping.  So, I'll be back in the clinic Monday to check them and if they are at 1100 or higher, we'll do the chemo monday, tuesday, and wednesday.  Hopefully nothing to worry about.....but another good example of how the road, our circumstances, twists and turns, and one has to keep their mind focused on those things that do not change - God is in control;  He loves us;  He has a plan;  we know the ending, and it's a glorious one.  I pray for the strength of heart and mind to keep these facts foremost in my mind:

Philippians 4:8:   Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable--if anything is excellent or praiseworthy--think about such things.

AND - there is always a bright side, and in this case it is that when my sister Jill visits this weekend, I will not be ill from chemo, which is nice.  Jill arrives on Friday from Batavia Ill, and will be here all weekend - so you guessed it - there will be COOKING.  Don't go too far, I should have photos, recipes, and maybe even a new video by early next week!  If you haven't seen my Youtube production, check it out at

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5PVIKXiltg0

I appreciate your prayers for spiritual strength and lots of neutrohils - at least 1200!  Love - Dan        

Normal!!

Renee and I hiking near Sedona, AZ, April 2010

Hi all.....quick update...I saw Dr. Kritz and got labs on Wednesday....great news, my neutrophils were 2800, double what they were on Friday the 18th.  My overall white count was 4300, up from 3800, and my lymphocytes were down to 1400 from 2000.  Lots of numbers, but together they represent a milestone, in that the composition of my blood is fully normal - right number and proportion of lymphocytes and neutrophils, plus my red cells, platelets, and hemoglobin are in the acceptable range.  So, I have normal blood for the first time in many years!  It's too soon to tell if I am in remission - the chemo has "hammered" my blood into normality, whereas the definition of remission is that my marrow, post-chemo, produces everything in the right proportions by itself.  Still, a great set of results for 2 cycles of treatment.  Thanks to everyone for your concern and prayers.

"But those who wait on the Lord

Shall renew their strength;

They shall mount up with wings like eagles,

They shall run and not be weary,

They shall walk and not faint."

Isaiah 40:31

President's Day

Last Night's Chicken Dinner

Hello everyone and happy President's day - I will be brief today but you are in for a real treat, as the saying goes "we've got the video!".  First on the medical front, my post-treatment labs were excellent - apparently the shot I got on Monday did its work and kept my neutrophils up - they were 1400, only down 100 since treatment started.  Also, my total white count was down to 3800, which is the lowest it has been since I was diagnosed; it peaked at 95,000 on January 10th.  Platelets, hemoglobin, red cells all good.  The balance between my neutrophils and lymphocytes was also excellent, though not quite normal yet.  And, I've got 3 more weeks prior to my next treatement to keep working on this.  Thanks be to God!

As I mentioned in my last post, my sister Laure and her family are visiting on their way down to Orlando - they arrived yesterday afternoon and, of course, we cooked a meal - a recipe from the Barefoot Contessa, which I link to here:

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/ina-garten/tuscan-lemon-chicken-recipe/index.html

Grilled Tuscan Chicken with Lemon, Garlic, and Rosemary

I spent some time working with the video I took last Saturday (the 12th) with Rachel - I uploaded it to YouTube.  It's about 13 minutes long and after watching it you should be able to make an excellent breakfast burrito:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5PVIKXiltg0

Hope you enjoy that!  I see my local doc (Dr. Kritz) on Wednesday - will update then......love to all......Dan