Seth's Info

I’ve been watching the World Cup matches consistently and have been forming some thoughts on the goods and bads of the whole affair. Overall it’s been very entertaining and some big matchups are forming in the brackets (e.g. Germany-Argentina and France-Brazil). The US had an early departure after a pretty dismal performance -- they just never got things going. Most people probably don’t have the time or interest to watch, but right now I have that luxury (in fact, it’s kept me sane this past week). FIFA has a good web site with lots of interesting features here.

Goods

1. No commercials during play: While the world cup is as commercialized as any American sport, at least ESPN has the decency to provide continuous coverage for each of the 45 minute halves. In soccer the clock just keeps running, which means no timeouts or excessive attention to off-the-field activity.

2. Quality of Play: World Cup soccer is continuous and dynamic, but it can also get pretty boring. On the other hand, things can get exciting real fast, and there have been some amazing goals scored. Almost all of the players in the Cup are skilled professionals in the international arena, which means that the soccer is at its best. It is hard to appreciate the ball handling skills of these players, but even the average players can do things with the ball that amaze. They are also highly motivated since winning the World Cup for your country is considered soccer’s greatest prize.

3. No sideline interviews or “human interest” stories: I’ve long been unimpressed with the “sideline” interview so common in American football, particularly the halftime coach interview (they are often painful to watch, honestly). The World Cup has none of that, and aside from a little color commentary from the announcers, little is revealed about the player’s personal lives or interests. The focus is almost entirely on the players’ skills and the game at hand.

4. Fans: The fans at the games are colorful and energetic, almost to a fault. The singing makes for a particularly festive atmosphere, even though you can never tell what they are saying.

Others

1. Overdramatic players: Anyone who watches a World Cup game can’t help but notice the great effort that players make to communicate great pain and injury every time they fall to the ground. Clutching of feet, ankles, knees, and the head after incidental contact is common, and easy to see on the instant replay. 9 out of 10 times they are ready to get up and keep playing, without a scratch or limp to be seen. This has always been one of my biggest problems with the game – it makes the players look like wimps, and leads to unnecessary fouls and cards from the referee (see below). If you want to see real pain and suffering, just watch an episode of America’s Funniest Videos.

2. Referees and Yellow Cards: One of the hot topics this Cup has been the record number of yellow and red cards given out by referees (cards are given for flagrant fouls and unsportsmanlike conduct). I don’t for a second envy any referee (in any sport), it’s a tough and thankless job where nobody thinks you’re doing things right. That being said, there have been some pretty poor calls and poorly officiated games where the referees have been instrumental in the outcome of the game. The threshold for cards has been set pretty low, and players with 2 yellow cards have to leave the game and miss the next game. It’s a tough price to pay for aggressive play. In the end, I imagine the best teams will make it through to the final, and the refs will stay on top of things.


I am hanging in there, but it has been a very long week for Jenny and me. My blood counts are low again, and I just don’t feel that well. I’ll try to post again this weekend, we haven’t made any definitive plans for the 4th yet and I’m not sure what we’re doing or where we’ll be next week.

Hope you are all staying dry and cool,

Seth

We've returned to State College and are very glad to be home. I'm feeling pretty poorly and am resting quite a bit. We get lots of positive feedback from the pictures I post, so here is another one from the other day. You can see my hair has thinned out quite a bit, but its not all gone either!

Seth

We are back in Philadelphia and I had my 3rd infusion at Fox Chase this morning. So far I am feeling fine, but it usually takes a day or two for things to kick in. As expected, they lowered my doses because of issues with my liver enzyme response in week 1 and low blood counts. It’s not a big deal, and I’m hoping it helps with tolerating this medicine. I return tomorrow to get my Neulasta and Aranesp shots, which help put blood cell production (white and red, respectively) into overdrive. We should be heading back to State College on Wednesday if all goes well.

We had a great week in Sea Bright, NJ, the weather was terrific. The kids had a great time and spent a few days learning how to cast a spin cast rod. The kids also locked the keys in the minivan, but AAA came to help us out. Jenny and I headed to NYC on Wednesday and Thursday and met with my radiation oncologist and surgeon. I had a spinal MRI done and they were both very pleased with the response of the remaining tumor in the vertebrae. This is great news and a testament to the efficacy of IMRT in regions around the spine. We’ll go back in 4 months to see what things look like then. We also had a nice (but brief) visit with our friends Kurt and Lisa out in Long Island, thanks so much for the hospitality.

That’s all for now,
Seth

We're off to the shore today, with a trip to NYC later in the week and then on to Philadelphia next Monday.

The pictures are from this weekend -- Spencer's soccer game.

Take care,
Seth

The week seems to have passed by quickly here in State College. We were fortunate to have a friend from our San Diego days visit us with her 3 children this week, which was a lot of fun for the kids and allowed us to catch up with an old friend. Jack and Spencer had their last day of school today, Jack will be starting 2nd grade in the fall and Spencer will be starting kindergarten. Nathan will be starting preschool this fall as well. It’s been said a million times, but it’s hard to believe they are growing up so fast.

I watched the two World Cup matches today, which by normal standards were high scoring games (Germany beat Costa Rica 4-2, and Ecuador surprised Poland 2-0). I don’t normally have the patience to watch a 90 minute soccer game, but there is something about the World Cup that really makes it exciting. The US has a tough bracket, but they have a solid team with lots of talent. Brazil is the clear favorite, with enough talent to field two solid teams. I usually like to root for the underdog, and a friend of mine from Scotland informed me that under no circumstances was I to root for England (and gave me a long list of good reasons why this is so).

My blood counts (both red and white) have been very low again, which means I am trying to avoid human contact as much as possible. There are several different types of white blood cells that serve different functions, but one common type is called a neutrophil. Neutrophils play an important role in fighting off bacterial infection. As an example, my neutrophil count from yesterday was 200 cells per microliter, where a normal range would be 1800 to 7800 cells per microliter. I suspect that my chemotherapy drug dosages will be reduced slightly for my next treatment as a result of all of this. The good news is that I have avoided getting sick so far, and am feeling reasonably well despite the low counts.

Jenny and I will be doing a good bit of traveling over the next week and a half. I have two follow up appointments in NYC at Sloan Kettering on Wednesday and Thursday of next week. I’ll get an MRI of the spine to check out my vertebrae and see how things look after the radiation treatment. Since the kids are done with school we’ll head to my grandfathers house at the beach in Sea Bright and spend the week there. Jenny and I will ferry in to Manhattan and have plans to spend Wednesday night at a friend’s house in Long Island. We’ll finish the week in Sea Bright and then head to Philly for my next infusion on the 19th. The weather looks promising for a week at the beach, and it should be relatively quiet there. So if you’re trying to get a hold of us it will be best to call our cell phone.

All for now -- take care and be well

Seth

A quick note to let everyone know that I am back in State College and doing “OK”. We returned Thursday afternoon without any major difficulties from my treatment. I am feeling completely exhausted, but my nausea has been less severe this time around. Today is the first day that I even felt like typing on the computer. Jenny and I watched “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Wolfe” yesterday, which I really liked, but its deeper meanings were probably lost on my engineering brain.

I received some inspirational magnets from a friend this week, one of which included the Winston Churchill quotation “If you’re going through hell, keep going”. I am taking this one to heart this week, since at times I think I can feel the flames around me. Not to worry, I know there are better days ahead.

I added in a feed from Gullible Info on the left hand side of the blog, if only to give people something to read when they find there are no updates to the page. I can’t state with any certainty that the info posted there is actually true, but it might make you think.

Hope everyone is enjoying the warmer weather, there is certainly more to come. Please drop me a line and let me know how things are going, I could use some e-company!

seth.edmondson@gmail.com

Seth