Seth's Info

It’s a beautiful holiday weekend here in State College, and it certainly feels like summer is just around the corner. We are primarily just “taking it easy”, and I’m feeling quite healthy. Sorrel is continuing to do well and fit right in, although he did manage to knock a glass tray of brownies off the kitchen counter and consume all the brownies (it turns out this is not the first time he managed this trick). High gas prices don’t seem to be deterring holiday travel, as AAA reports that an estimated 31.4 million Americans will be traveling this weekend, a slight increase from last year.

Just east of State College is the small town of Boalsburg, home to the Pennsylvania Military Museum, and a town that proudly proclaims itself as the “Birthplace of Memorial Day”. Boalsburg puts on quite a show during this holiday weekend as it pays tribute to America’s fallen war dead. Interestingly, there are about 2 dozen towns across the eastern US that lay claim to originating Memorial Day, which begs the question of how this now popular holiday came to be what it is. As it turns out, Memorial Day’s roots come from the end of the Civil War (in which over 550,000 Union and Confederate soldiers died in combat or from disease), when grieving families began to honor fallen family members at their grave sites. Naturally, these memorial events began to occur in many different towns and cities, both North and South. Memorial Day was officially proclaimed on 5 May 1868 by General John Logan, national commander of the Grand Army of the Republic, and was first observed on 30 May 1868 at Arlington National Cemetery. After WW I, the holiday took on the larger meaning of honoring all fallen American soldiers. In 1966 President Johnson declared Waterloo, NY as the official birthplace of Memorial Day. For a detailed summary of the history of Memorial Day, see here. Regardless of its origins, Memorial Day remains a special time to remember the over 1.7 million Americans who have died from combat and disease during our nation’s existence. I have pleasant memories of the Memorial Day parade and ceremonies in my hometown of Camp Hill, and of playing Taps on my trumpet during the memorial services at the cemetery. We are continuing to see young men and women killed in action, so please take a moment this weekend to remember their collective sacrifice.

Jenny and I are heading down to Philly tomorrow and I’ll be getting my 2nd infusion on Tuesday. I’m hopeful that my side effects will be minimized this time around, I’ll be sure to keep everyone posted on my progress. With any luck I’ll be home by Friday.

Take care, and have a great weekend.

Seth

It’s been awhile since I’ve been able to pass on some good news, so I’m happy to tell you about our new addition, Sorrel, pictured above. Sorrel is a 4 year old Australian Shepherd, and a very welcome addition to the family. He is very friendly and laid back, and listens well. He loves to be brushed, and is quite tolerant and accepting of the kids affection. We feel fortunate to have found such a wonderful dog, and appreciate having something to feel good about.

I am continuing to do well, and am feeling pretty energetic. The doctor has asked that I get blood counts done twice a week, which involves heading to the lab in Altoona, but it’s not a bad trip. Jenny and I have are getting caught up with various household chores and issues that have gotten pushed aside over the last few weeks. I’ll admit (with some hesitation) that Jenny and I will probably watch the American Idol finals tonight, but I was always a Chris Daughtry fan.

Hope everyone is well – I am a bit behind on returning emails and phone calls, but give me some time and I’ll catch up.

Seth

It’s been over a week since my last post, and I’m happy to report that Jenny and I are back home with the kids and things are a little bit more “normal”. It has been a tough couple of weeks, and we appreciate the multitude of support and sympathy expressed for the passing of Jenny’s mother last week. She was laid to rest on Monday, and was remembered by family and friends as a loving and generous wife, mother, grandmother and friend.

As for me, I am feeling better today than I have in about 2 weeks. After my initial bought of nausea, I was extremely fatigued and my esophagus started to act up again. This made eating difficult, which is very frustrating when you are trying to stay healthy. I had to make numerous visits to Fox Chase over the last 2 weeks to support data collection for the trial, but my last blood draw was yesterday. I’ll be returning for my next “round” the day after Memorial Day, which gives me a whole week and half to stay at home, enjoy life, and hopefully feel pretty good. These subsequent cycles of chemotherapy will not require the same level of support for the trial, so it should only take 2 or 3 days of travel, depending on how things go with side effects etc. My most recent C/T scans showed that the 6cm tumor in the pelvis was now 9cm (I expected this since it had been over 2 months since the last scan), a smaller adjacent tumor (1cm), and some bone lesions in the sacrum. The good news is that there were no mets in the lungs, which can create a whole separate host of problems. I will get rescaned after 3 cycles, which is where we will hope to see tumor shrinkage (or at a minimum, tumor stablity).

Chemotherapy drugs work by attacking fast growing cells during cell division. The drugs attack the genes in the nucleus during the division process (different drugs do this in different ways, but the fundamental concept is the same). Most of an adult body’s cells rarely divide, but your body has other frequently dividing cells like hair, skin, blood cells, and digestive tract linings -- these cells are also “attacked” during treatment, causing many of the common treatment side effects. Normal cells typically repair damage more quickly than cancer cells, which is why the overall treatment approach works. Monitoring blood cell counts is a big deal during treatment, including white blood cells (which fight off infection), red blood cells (which carry oxygen to your body’s tissue), and platelets (which are critical in blood clot formation). My white blood cell count was low this week, which forces you to go into “don’t touch me” mode to prevent picking up any stray germs which your body can’t fight off very well. Fortunately, I seem to have avoided getting sick, and my blood counts are back up to normal as of yesterday.

We did get some other very exciting news this week. As you may recall, we added a puppy to our family in January, a female Australian Shepherd named Zuzu. Since my sickness, the breeder, Kelly, has been graciously taking care of her. We are still not prepared to raise and train a puppy, but we have now arranged with Kelly to take ownership of a 4 year old male Aussie named Sorrell who is looking for a good home. Sorrell was trained in obedience and agility by a teenager who has now gone off to college. This might seem a little crazy right now, but we feel strongly about the positive effects of having a well-behaved, medium-sized adult dog around the house. I’ll post some pictures when he arrives this weekend.

Jenny and I will be around through Memorial Day, so feel free to call or arrange a visit (just don’t be offended if I don’t shake your hand!). Our continued thanks for all the support, prayers, cards, emails and phone calls, we appreciate it all.

Take care,
Seth

It is with a heavy heart that I pass along that Jenny’s mother Helen passed away peacefully at home yesterday after a 2 year battle with ovarian cancer. Fortunately, Jenny and I were able to visit with her mother this last Sunday. Helen was as generous and loving of a person and mother as you could hope to know, and she will be dearly missed by her family. She is survived by her husband Jim, 6 children, 14 grandchildren and a single great-grandchild. Please keep the Imgrund family in your prayers.

I apologize for not keeping the blog up to date, but it has been a tough week. I received my infusions on Monday at Fox Chase, and everything went very smoothly. In addition to the chemo drugs I received several other drugs to combat potential side effects. By Monday night I was feeling pretty fatigued, and by Tuesday I was having some major nausea. The trial requires that I return to the hospital on days 2,3,4,7, and 10 for pharmacokinetic labs (where the measure the level of drugs in your system). I was vomiting pretty regularly Tuesday and Wednesday, so when we went in to the doctor Wednesday, they gave me a couple of hours of saline and some other anti-nausea drugs, including a new prescription for home. Since that time I’ve felt MUCH better, although I am still quite tired. Hopefully the lessons we’re learning from this cycle will help us stay ahead of things next time. I’ve been able to eat some, which is also a big help. I’m heading back in today for more labs, and then will have a few days off. Jenny and I are in the process of making arrangements to cover my medical obligations and get up to Camp Hill for her mother’s funeral (which will probably be on Monday). Right now it all seems like a little too much, but we will continue to take things one day at a time. Thanks for your continued good wishes, prayers, cards and emails.

Seth

It’s been a busy week, and I’m still down in Philly. We spent last weekend here visiting with family and friends, and on Monday Jenny and I went in to Fox Chase. It was a busy day. I met with my oncologist and was happy to hear that everything is lined up for my participation in the ET-743 trial this coming Monday. I had several tests done, and had my port installed. This is relatively straightforward procedure. The port is about the size of quarter and is inserted under the skin about two inches below the collarbone. It has a convex silicon cap that allows for repeated injections, and a catheter that runs into a large vein to the heart. This simplifies the administration of chemotherapy, blood drawing etc. On Wednesday I went back for a complete C/T scan (chest, abdomen, pelvis) and some more tests. Everything looks good, so I don’t expect any last minute issues with my trial.

Jenny and the kids went back to State College on Tuesday with my Dad. My Mom and I are returning later today. Jenny and I will be returning to Philly on Sunday to start my treatments on Monday. We will probably be here most of the week since there are daily tests and checkups for this first cycle. I have very mixed feelings about starting this treatment. I am very glad to finally be starting treatment on the disease, but very apprehensive about how my body will be affected. People have a wide range of reactions to these drugs, and I am hoping that I am able to tolerate the therapy well. Believe it or not, my esophagus is still giving me trouble from the radiation. I am still limited in what I can eat and drink without pain, and I am hoping this clears up before Monday.

The picture above is Joe and Marc getting ready for their Adventure Race "The Savage" this past weekend, raising money for the ACS. They finished the race in a respectable 4 and half hours, way to go guys. You can tell from their glasses that Marc has better fashion sense than Joe.

That’s all for now, I am looking forward to getting back home for a few days. I’ll be sure to keep everyone posted on how things go next week.

Take care,
Seth