Cherry Blossom Bonanza!

I have been a traveling fool for the last three weeks!!  I gotta tell you, it has taken me a few days to recoup, but I definitely had a blast while I was on the road again.  Less than 48 hours after I returned from my Nat’l Park Adventure II—I was on a plane once again—this time, with the family—Randy, Brian and Tommy to Bethesda Maryland.  First of all, Randy and Brian were attending the International Mesothelioma Symposium (click here) in Bethesda and most importantly to see if I qualify for a clinical study which is being held at the NIH….National Institutes of Health.

So, while Randy and Brian were at the Symposium, Tommy and I made a day trip to DC….lots of walking for me, which is good, I have to build my stamina that is for sure….but, I do take a lot of breaks, which is new for me….cause you know I hate to be the one to slow down the group….I am used to being the one leading the charge!

We visited Washington DC at the optimal time for the annual Cherry Blossom Festival, the Mall and Tidal Basin were in their glory with the cherry blossoms  in full bloom….we could not have picked a better 3 days to be there.  Tommy and I spent the afternoon at the National Art Gallery…I was super amazed   with their impressionists collection—I have never seen so many Monet’s in one gallery—totally beautiful….pictures are great, but to be within inches and see the brush strokes from artists that are well over a hundred years old is just breathtaking!  We also spent some time at the WWII Memorial..it has been 15 years since I was in DC, so I really wanted to see the newest Memorials on the Mall, I really wanted to make it to the MLK, but I was sorta done for the day, so alas we hike back to the car and head to Bethesda.

On the following day, Tommy and I head to Great Falls National Park in Virginia (see website here) —it was a beautiful day and to spend it in the outdoors was fabulous!!  It was kinda crazy walking through a canal that George Washington engineered so many moons ago….didn’t think I was such a history buff, but I gotta say, it was very cool.  We took it for an easy day, as the following I day I would be going through a battery of tests at NIH to see if the clinical trial would be a good fit for me.

And I was totally OK with that…we all attended a mixer for the Mesothelioma Symposium that evening, which also is OK……I don’t know why, but I have not embraced this group of doctors, specialists, survivors and their families.  It is almost like….how do I fit in??  Am I really a member of this group of people that live and breath Mesothelioma day in and day out??  I believe that I haven’t truly come to terms with my disease…but how could that be…I mean I have been in treatment since September 1…..and I finally realized that I really don’t want to be a member of this cancer group…..I really want to fight this fucking disease, but at times it certainly wears on me and my family and friends….I want to turn back the clock 30-40 years, when this tiny time bomb became part of my being….but that is easier said than done.

Sooooo, my Wednesday was all about testing at the NIH…gotta tell you, getting into that place was crazy…30 minutes of scanning luggage, cars and people, we finally make it in.  Long story short, after lab work,  PET Scans and CT Scans, we meet with the doctors and find out that I do NOT qualify for the study.  But, the reasons why are the silver lining in the clouds, from the CT Scans, they determined the Gemzar chemo that I am currently having, is working….NO progressive tumor growth in a month..Yay!!  Now, I know it won’t be this way forever, I mean eventually there will be more tumor growth and I will have everything in order to be able to get into the clinical study.  So for now, I am plugging along, feeling really good and enjoying each day as it comes.

Oh!  Watch this 7-second video of Tommy and me on the Merry-go-round on the National Mall.   Click here!