Another Quick Update On My Health
For the most part, we try to keep this blog focused on the baseball, and more specifically, on the Mariners. But, I also know that there’s something of a community here, and a lot of you are interested in how my recovery is going. So, since I haven’t been up to writing about baseball this week, I thought I’d give you guys a quick update on how I’m feeling.
I checked back into the hospital on Tuesday for my second round (of three) consolidation chemotherapy regimens. I’m still in remission, and there’s no evidence the leukemia has returned, but tests have shown over time that giving multiple rounds of chemotherapy even after a patient is already in remission lowers the chances of recurrence. So, even though there’s no cancer to be nuked out of my body at the moment, we’re not done with chemo just yet.
These treatments aren’t as intensive as the induction treatment I got when initially diagnosed, but they still aren’t that much fun. Over the course of six days, I get six doses of chemo, each lasting for three hours. They take a pretty big toll on my energy level, and while the side effects are mostly limited to just nausea and fatigue, it’s not exactly a fun week.
I get released on Sunday, and will then get approximately six weeks at home before my next treatment begins. Of that, I’ll likely be restricted to my house for 3-4 of those weeks while my immune system is at it’s nadir and I need to be kept away from potential sicklies wandering in the real world. It’s not complete house arrest, but it’s not too terribly far from it – thankfully, I like my house.
My final treatment will come right after Thanksgiving, and if all continues to go well, I should hopefully be done by the end of the year, and hopefully 2012 will be mostly normal. I’ll still need to go into the clinic twice-a-week for blood tests to confirm that the leukemia has not returned, but as long as it doesn’t return, then it will just be maintenance more than therapy.
Leukemia is the kind of disease that isn’t just cured overnight, so we’ve got about five years of having it not return before I’ll get a clean bill of health, but we’re encouraged that we’re about three months in and it still hasn’t returned. This journey is far from being over, but so far, so good. I’d had hoped that I’d been able to write more during treatment, but it is what it is – hopefully next year I’ll be able to return to a more full writing schedule here.
To everyone here who has been so supportive, a sincere thanks – my friends and family who have found the posts with your well wishes were truly touched, and your kind words meant a lot. Thanks for bearing with us through this time. I look forward to having another USSM gathering next year and getting to hang out with all of you again in person.
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47 Responses to “Another Quick Update On My Health”
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Dave, this is all good news, keeping in mind the big picture. We look forward to more of your work, but for now just get better.
Go Dave! Win the Day!
Awesome news, Dave!
Great to hear, Dave! At least you have been able to post a little. Lookin forward to you coming back full-time.
Good to hear it Dave- stay strong.
Keep up the good fight, great to hear you are winning the battle! I look forward to reading more of your posts in regards to what should be a very interesting offseason for the M’s! Get well!!
Excellent, excellent.
Watch out for the trick or treaters š
Fabulous news, Dave. Fabulous. Hang in…we’re all with you (and truth be told, it’s pretty damn crowded).
So basically it’s like watching the Mariners for a week.
Dave,
You donāt know me, and my knowledge of you is largely limited to what Iāve read on your blogs, in the WSJ, and heard on 710 ESPN. In that respect, you could call me representative of the majority of the population. Iāve enjoyed reading USS Mariner for the past several years and itās been enjoyable to see you rise to national relevance within the baseball community. Itās odd how the transformation of the infrastructure of our media has changed the way we relate to one another. We have nothing in common but a love for baseball, and specifically the Seattle Mariners. I wouldnāt know you if I passed you on the street. Iāve never met you. Iāve never been to a USSM event (though Iāve wanted to). This is the first time Iāve ever commented on USSM. However, because of what youāve created through your passionate hard work, I feel somehow connected to you. I have USSM and Fangraphs in my RSS Feeds. I download the podcasts from 710 to hear your insight. I check the āMariners Writersā twitter feed constantly. I donāt mention this to flatter you, but rather to point out that you have become a part of peopleās lives whom you have never met, nor are likely to ever come across. For better or worse, you have become a part of the Seattle baseball experience, not unlike the players, announcers, radio-hosts, general managers, stadium workers or anybody else. Thank you for pursuing your passions and following your interests. There are thousands of people like me out here in Seattle for whom you make baseball a richer, deeper and more enjoyable experience. I wish you the best of luck in your recovery.
Thank you for providing the update Dave. I’m thankful to know that you are presently without cancer even though the treatment is difficult.
Here’s to Dave throwing out the first pitch at Safeco ’12
You make the Mariners somewhat bearable, hang in there.
Thanks for the update. We’re pulling for you. Keep fighting!
So you’re still going to be able to post analysis during November and December, right? I mean, those are big months for baseball and player movement, and I’m counting on your informed opinion. It’s great that you have some downtime and everything, but sheesh. Think of your readers, Dave.
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So happy to hear about your progress. Whenever I see your byline, I give a little fist-pump and try to send good vibes your way. Here’s to your health!
Dave my 16 year old son is now 2 years into remission. I was with him for every treatment and every day through the pain, nausea, depression, and exhaustion. It is truly a rough row to hoe. In the mean time he has grown into a great young man that I am very proud of. We have high hopes that he will go on to have a full and happy life. I guess the point of this is that there is light at the end of the tunnel. Great news and keep your chin up.
Get healthy, Dave. We need you at full strength for the 2012 Mariners season.
Great to hear you’re doing well Dave. Keep your chin up. I look forward to you challenging my faulty pre-conceived notions about baseball (and sports in general).
So glad you’re doing well. One of my best friends went through throat cancer a few years ago, survived the truly awful treatment, and is back to complete health now riding his mountain bike and doing all sorts of outdoor stuff.
Here’s hoping that everything continues to go well for you
Good to hear, Dave. I find it difficult to think about the Mariners without thinking about USSM — “What does Dave think about that?” — and thus, wondering how you’re doing. Really happy to hear that you’re still in remission.
Would be great to throw you a party at Safeco at some point. You can disguise the get together however you want, but we would be there for you.
Great news! Hope there’s more to come!
I want to echo what Joe_Z said. I too rarely post here, and any interaction between us has been one way, but you have definitely become a welcome part of my routine. Every morning the first websites I usually check are fangraphs, LL, and USSM. I also have your twitter feed bookmarked. Needless to say I have read a ton of your work. In fact, over the last 5 years I bet I have read the vast majority of it, and I have probably read more of your words over that timeframe than anyone else’s.
When you announced your diagnosis, I must admit it hit me pretty hard, especially considering we have never met. I am also the same age as you, and as the father of two boys under the age of 3, your diagnosis was a sobering thought.
I know many people who have beaten cancer (my own mother for one) and I look forward to the day when we can all celebrate that day with you.
Wish you well, Dave. If it wasn’t for you I wouldn’t care about the Mariners (as much).
Just don’t go making meth to support your family…
This is great to hear Dave, thank you.
The chemo treatment sounds tough indeed, but undoubtedly beneficial. Best wishes on your continued full recovery!
Glad to hear that everything’s going well! Hopefully it won’t screw with your holidays too much.
I’m glad things are going relatively well Dave. Keep on fighting and we’ll keep praying for you.
I’d also like to thank the other USSM guys – Marc, Mike, Jay, Derek, (argh I’m probably forgeting someone) – for all the extra work you’ve been putting into the site with game threads, analysis, etc.
Thanks to everyone for making this such a great place to hang out!
Great to hear!
Dave, I don’t often post but I do read. I also could echo much of what Joe_Z said but I wouldn’t have written it as well as he did. We’ve never met but you’re teaching me another aspect of baseball. I really appreciate reading about your insights and how you use data to back them up. Thank you. I hope you’re better soon.
Daaaa-aaaaaaaaaaave. (Like Edgar, but hard with just 1 syllable.)
We’re rooting for you, dude! Feel better!
So happy to hear this, Dave. I’ll continue to keep you in my prayers.
Thumbs up, Dave! Stay healthy, whatever it takes. (We can do with fewer posts this season, if it means you’ll be here for WAY more years, and way more posts down the line.)
Get well, Dave, and stay that way. Baseball will be here when you get back, and we’ll anxiously await what you have to say about it when you return.
Good to hear you are doing well.
This news made my day. Keep your chin up, Dave.
Keep it up, Dave!
Great news Dave, thanks for sharing the latest update.
I’m pulling for you, Dave. Never give up the fight.
Woohoo good news! Keep on fighting DC!
Right on.
Godspeed and good health, sir. Godspeed and good health.
This is wonderful news. Good luck.
I’m so happy for your relative health during this fight, Dave. Sounds like you have some amazing people around you to help, too.
Get all the way better soon.
Dave,
I have never felt the urge to comment on this site before today. I am a pretty regular browser of the site as it helps me get my dose of Mariners baseball while the Navy has me stationed outside of WA. Your post today brought a smile to my face. While I’ve never met you in person, or even had a correspondence with you, your story of success against this disease is incredible. My God continue to bless you and your health as well as the family that you have that supports you. God bless you, and I’ll be praying for continued recovery.
We lost one Dave a year ago, and I’m glad things are looking up on getting to keep this one. Your courage and good cheer throughout all of this, and your genuine gratitude at simple reactions like my own, are awe-inspiring, knowing what you’ve been going through. Zei gezundt, as my grandmother would say.
Fantastic news, Dave. Keep plugging away at the recovery.
Great to read this–wishing you the best. Looking forward to attending my first USSM event next summer after five years of enjoying the blog. (I’ll be the guy wearing the Detroit Tigers Curtis Granderson jersey.)
I just read this today (had a lack of computer for the past month or so). Glad to hear that remission has come so quickly. This is the best news I’ve heard all week. š