Let It Snow - NOT

The prediction is for quite a bit of snow tonight and tomorrow morning. I hope we have school, one more practice will matter a great deal to my 6th graders. tomorrow night is Java & Jazz for the Edison Jazz Bands and my Jazz 3 kids are very excited.

I had an appointment with a cardiologist today. It went well, he looked at the EKG from my ER visit last Thursday Morning and said it was indeed a benign condition. As far as what caused it, he said he suspects that there might be an enlarged node near my heart that might be tickling it. He ordered an echocardiogram to see. I’ll go in tomorrow morning, weather permitting, and have that done.

I also called Ohio yesterday and expect to be able to get there in early March. Since I am already in treatment and have an appointment at M D Anderson, they wanted to have all those reports etc. a little redundancy is good, but after you’ve confirmed a test the only reason to do another is to learn something new. At any rate, I’ll have both opinions well before any transplant procedures have begun. As I said, I’ll do whatever it takes to beat this thing, but I want to go in fully confident in the course we’ve chosen.

The node on my neck is gone (to my touch anyway), but that happened before, so I’m not going to assume that it means anything. I am starting to fully recover from the last round, and I feel really good.

I was up late (if 10:00 is late…) last night with Jon Clarkson listening to Saturday’s show. It wasn’t too bad. Although, after hearing myself, I think that person who said I’ve never sounded better might have been letting the high feelings of the night suspend critical judgment. I hope I’ve sounded better. The band sounded pretty good, though. Sometimes we sounded close to how we sounded when we were playing regularly. We’ll put together a CD of the best tracks and try to bottle the night, metaphorically speaking.

Good News, Bad News

The good news: Well, The appointment at MD Anderson is set now. I’m scheduling my February accordingly.

In the short term, I’m heading down to Mattoon tonight (Wednesday) to listen to the recording from the Benefit. Then my Edison Jazz 3 group will play at the Java & Jazz fund raiser for Edison Schools on February 1. I have appointments all week February 11-15. I am trying to schedule my studio recital for the second weekend in March. Students please pencil that Saturday, March 8 into your calendars.

That day is also the day of the pinewood derby; my boys are pretty excited. We haven’t worked on the cars for a couple days. But it’s been rainy and we need to paint.

The bad news: My results came back from Barnes. None of my siblings match me. I always knew I was the odd man out! Statistically speaking, of course there was only a 25% chance that one would match me, so it really shouldn’t be a surprise. Statistically speaking, there was also a 100% chance that out of 5 kids 2 would match. And so, of course, there was a match, it just wasn’t with me. I had a whole discussion written on bio-ethics which I was going to put in at this point. But I decided the discussion was too heavy for the way I want this blog to be. So, discuss among yourselves the ethical ramifications of the technology we have to manipulate life at the cellular level.

Go ahead, I’ll wait.






Not done? I’ll wait a little more.








Everybody back?
OK, now that we’ve decided that I’m not going to try to clone myself and, since Mom is beyond child bearing age and Dad has passed away, there is no chance of having a little brother custom made through in vitro fertilization, where does that leave me? MUD - Matching Unrelated Donor. We have to find a high resolution match for my marrow type.

Remember the game of Sorry™ from an earlier blog? Here is a classic example. It would have been easiest if one of my siblings had matched, but since they didn’t, we basically start back at square one. Which is not all bad, because that means: 1. We are now a minimum of 3 months out from a transplant. I can plan on being in town for three more months. 2. A MUD donor with a high resolution, 10 out of 10 match has statistically the same chances of success, as a related donor (according to my transplant specialist.). 3. Jana can finish the school year. Before she has to take off work to be with me during the transplant. 4. The majority of my recovery time will be over the Summer, which, although it puts the kibosh on our vacation plans, keeps me from needing to do the heavy conditioning and recovery during the height of the cold and flu season. (A very dangerous time to be in an immune compromised position.)

Get the idea? I won’t give up.

Benefit: Third Post

Now for those of you who couldn’t make it and for those of you who would like to remember the evening:
Wendell Smith has posted some pictures online here.
Mike Grant has posted some pictures online here.

There will soon be a CD of some sort.

The musicians who came out included my brother Dave and the Broadway Christian Church Praise Band (known for the night as the Dave Cornell Experience.) I really appreciated their set and Dave took several of my requests. I wanted to hear them do some Eagles songs. Here are the songs they did: Jet Airliner/Swing Town, I Shot the Sheriff, How Far is Heaven, Mary Had a Little Lamb, I Keep My Fingernails Long, Free Ride, Walk Away, Desperado, Love Will Keep Us Alive, Lay Down Sally, Reelin in The Years, Five O'Clock World, Band on the Run, Keep Your Hands to Yourself, Rocky Mountain Way.

Dr. Wu came on and played a short set with the classic lineup, then began switching out players all night. We had almost every member who had ever played with us on stage at one time or another. By my count, only three people who had been regular band members were missing, not counting the string of sax players whom we used to sub for Pat when he left the band to go to law school. George Ozier was there singing his heart out. Sam Roan was back playing his trusty Fender Telecaster and for the Strat fans, we had Chris Taylor. Doug Evans, our original bass player, played an entire set, followed by JB Faires, who came on board when Sam left to form Pop Rocks.

The Drum chair was always the most volatile in the band as shown by the presence of no less than four drummers on the stage. Chris Schaff from the classic bar period of the band, Kent Aberle from the classic corporate band period, Dean Klinker from the late corporate period and Tyrone Garner who came on board from my post-Wu band, The Groove Dukes.

The classic Wu horn section of Pat Lee, Shane Pitsch and me was augmented by Kelly Corbin, Brian Warszona and Dusty Maninfior. Furthermore, we brought up the Groove Duchesses: Kaitlin Maninfior, Bethany Cornell and Becca Kaid. And lest I forget, Dale Eveland sat in the entire night on Keys.

Musicians were obviously heavily represented in the crowd and a few of my University of Illinois friends came with horns in hand, but didn’t get a chance to play (sorry Carlos, et al.). Of the other musicians in the crowd who did get the opportunity to sit in: John Arena sat in on Drums, Jon Clarkson on Guitar, Reverend Robert on Guitar. In addition my post-Wu band, The Groove Dukes, played three songs, with Tyrone on Drums, the horn section, the Groove Duchesses, Chris on Guitar and Jeff McRoberts on Bass. That was fun too.

That band never technically broke up, by the way, I just got busy with my school work and didn‘t have time to play every weekend. Tons of Fun Band (TOFB) asked me to join; they had a much lighter schedule and, most importantly, Big Daddy handled all the booking, which is the big time eater. To run a successful band, you have to be on the phone all the time.

Anyway there was a whole lot of talent in the room. So the stage was a big sardine tin, metaphorically speaking.

I wouldn’t have had it any other way.

Benefit: Second Post

Well, now that I’ve had a day and a half to digest what happened Saturday, maybe I can make some more coherent statements regarding the event.

Firstly, words can’t express how touched I am by the outpouring of love and warmth the evening entailed. I always knew I loved the band and the fans; but I guess I never realized how much I was loved by the band and the fans. So, to begin with, that totally caught me off guard. The adrenaline rush then can explain some of the next part.

I felt great. I was still the slightest bit nauseous/icky from the previous week’s chemo, but you couldn’t be in that crowd of people without letting the love take you to the next level, so to speak. One or two people said I never sounded better. I don’t know about that, but I do know that the feedback from the crowd gave me a huge boost. I even remembered all the words to “Centerfold” I had a hard time doing that when I felt good. Several people said that I looked good and didn’t act sick at all. That is a relief! I was trying very hard not to look sick. That morning, when I taught lessons, a couple people said I looked pretty tired. So I tried to nap a little. I didn’t want the party to be a downer and I didn‘t want to be the downer. I wanted it to be a good memory for everyone. I hope I played a part in achieving that successfully.

I don’t know if I’ll ever be able to watch “It’s a Wonderful Life” without crying again. Now, every time I see some sentimental bit of syrup in a movie, I am overcome with emotion. It sounds silly, but in this world we are taught to be cynical and although I never thought of myself as cynical, I never truly appreciated how good people can be when you are in need. Now all those blatant emotional manipulations don’t seem quite so far fetched anymore. I’ve tried never to feel sorry for myself, but now even more than before, I feel well and truly blessed. Had I not gotten sick, I might never have known the depth of the goodness of my friends and family. And I say this because not only did they show up with emotional support, but they gave money.

While some people may regard money as a crass measure of regard, as a man with a wife and 5 children, I can appreciate exactly the kind of emotion behind even the smallest gift. None of the people that came out had “money to burn.” They weren’t the idle rich, they were ordinary people who gave out of their hearts. Then when Mike Kallis offered the guitar for auction and Shane's dad bought it, Wow. I didn't see that coming. And then, later in the evening, in comes John Arena with Pizzas for everyone. What a night.

I think by now you get the idea. I am still recovering and talking about it just to convince myself that it actually happened.

I was blown out of the water, metaphorically speaking.

Benefit: First Post

I say the 1st post because you can't sum up a night like last night in just one. I am too emotionally exhausted to begin to describe. After about the first hour, I kind of shut down. It was truly overwhelming.

I got back to my brother's just before three. But couldn't sleep well. I woke up about six just bawling my eyes out. But as I digest the event over the next couple of days, I expect that will happen several more times.

The most important thing I can do in this first post is thank everyone. (When words fail, depend on etiquette!) I'll share more thoughts later, but I wanted to post something to let you all know how awesome the evening was.

Thank you.

Mark

P.S. Look in Wednesday's paper for this announcement:
Thank you to all my friends and family who made the Dr.Wu Reunion/Mark Cornell Benefit such a success. Special Thanks to Craig & Craig for organizing, Brian’s Place for hosting, Sound Source Music and Villa Pizza for their generous donations, Journal Gazette for advertising, all musicians who participated and especially the members of The Dr. Wu Rock and Soul Revue.

Sleeping Up

I'm pretty run down today, so I'm "sleeping up" so I can be ready for tomorrow's activities. I want to thank everyone for their encouragement. And I want to thank Pat Lee, for his tireless work in putting this thing together. I still can't believe everyone will be there!

I am certainly humbled by the outpouring of good wishes from my many friends and by their willingness to help me out in this difficult time.

As I've said before, I try to keep my blog upbeat and positive because it still seems to me to be the best way to deal with the trials that life can throw at you.

I am still waiting for my appointment at MD Anderson, I called today and made sure they got my charts, so that should be finalized sometime next week I hope.

Beyond that, if you are one my my students, keep practicing, and remember: time is everything, music has to feel good!

If you are going to the Benefit tomorrow, I certainly look forward to seeing you there! It'll be great!

No School In CU

No school today due to the cold.

So I had no jazz 3. I did have some heart palpatations and went to the ER this morning. Stayed a couple hours for EKG and Blood work. Then they sent me home.

Still trying to get hydrated.

Not much else to report.

Last Day Round 3

Well, this has been quite a month. I know why I was feeling so good, it was because I had almost 3 extra weeks to recover from my last chemo, so even though the nodes were getting worse, I didn't have all that poison in my system. I felt stronger than I had in over a year, which was why I was so stunned when I found out that the nodes were getting bigger.

Also earlier this month, I had the news that I will probably need a stem cell transplant, which, to be up front, is what my oncologist said when he saw some of the negative prognosticators on my flow cytology work up. But I didn't expect it this soon. If you are interested in what this procedure is like, here is a link to another man’s transplant journal. His first transplant was an auto transplant, but his CLL came back. His last transplant was a mini-allo, the kind they are looking at for me. If you want to know what I may be in for you might read through this.


I took a nap today when I got home. I needed it. My body is doing the same old stuff in relation to the chemo, even though I tried to make sure I was well hydrated going into this round.

The exciting thing for me is that The Dr.Wu reunion is coming up this weekend. I am so stoked. Some of these guys I haven't seen for years. It'll be great. And what's more, since today was my last treatment of this round, maybe I stand a chance of being physically recovered enough to play.

Don't forget to tell your friends. Here is the info again:
THE
DOCTOR WU
ROCK & SOUL REVUE
REUNITES TO BENEFIT FOUNDING MEMBER MARK CORNELL IN HIS FIGHT AGAINST CANCER
WITH SPECIAL GUESTS:
THE GROOVE DUKES
&
DAVE CORNELL & FRIENDS
WE’RE ON A MISSION FROM GOD.

SATURDAY, JANUARY 26,

8 PM - MIDNIGHT at
BRIAN’S PLACE,

2100 Broadway Ave Mattoon, IL 61938-3818 (map)

(217) 234-4151.
$5 COVER.

FCR

Sitting here watching Murphy Brown getting the next batch of Fludara & Cytoxan. The good news, My nurse said I only have three days with the new regimen. So maybe I'll be not so worn out for the Wu reunion. That would be great.

The Dr's office faxed my reports down to Texas today. So, I should hear about that appointment relatively soon, I think. Still trying to get through to Ohio.

My next appointment at Barnes is on the 11th, we are going to try hard to arrange the Texas appointment to coincide with that.

I woke up today feeling great. Still feel real good. We'll see how the rest of the week goes.

I read a story about a guy who would watch comedies all day everyday during his chemo therapy and laughed himself into remission. So I'm trying it.

If it works I'll sound the trumpet, metaphorically speaking.

1st day Fludara & Cytoxan

I started Fludara and Cytoxan today. It wasn’t too bad, so far. I’m quite thirsty, but no real nausea. A little headache. I was going to take a nap, but instead had Mike Jones over and played some trumpet. That did me more good that any stinkin’ nap.

I taught lessons today. Things went well. Not a lot to report.

I had my blood work drawn and sent to Barnes transplant unit. I think it will be a couple weeks before we hear of a match. In the meantime I’m still working on the appointments in Texas and Ohio.

Can't think of too much more to say, maybe it's chemo brain. My brain used to be a steel trap, metaphorically speaking.

Finding Closure: Carry a big stick.

I know when I started this blog I promised it would strictly be health updates with “No soul searching,” but, of course, that has been a bald faced lie. While I haven’t revealed too much of the inner workings of my soul, one cannot write about an uncertain future without some amount of looking inside and examining what one really believes.

I only share those moments, and they have been many, with my pastor or my pastoral friends. I’ve tried to keep things upbeat for the blog, because we all know the subtext here is eternity. But, believe it or not; long, long stretches of the day go by when I don’t think about Cancer at all. I just live.

I do think about the preciousness of time, however. I am determined not to waste a second. So when my boys and I work on our pinewood derby cars, it is because I believe it is important to complete that project, that they see me complete a project on which they too are working.

Last night, I played my last gig with TOFB (for a long while, anyway) at the Days Inn in Danville. Big Daddy (of TOFB fame) got a discount on a room there for my wife and I. It was important to play and spend time with my wife, and I didn’t play too badly: I ended the night on the D above double C. It wasn’t my best note ever, but not too bad for a guy with Lymphoma. Breakfast was great; the Days Inn has a breakfast buffet that really hit the spot (Eggs, Bacon, Sausage, Hash Browns, Pancakes, Biscuit & Gravy-GOOD GRAVY!). When we got up to eat, the locals were just getting out of early church and coming over to eat breakfast themselves. If you are in town, the Days Inn breakfast buffet is certainly worth checking out. Then we left in time to make our church’s second service.

Tomorrow I begin the new regimen. I’m a little nervous because Cytoxan is quite toxic and in combination with Fludara will surely wear me down more than Fludara alone. Although I never lost my hair with Fludara, I’m virtually assured that this will happen with the combo. But if the tumors shrink, bring it on! What does a bald man care for such trivialities?

Before we went to bed last night, my wife and I availed ourselves of the extended cable in the hotel room; we watched part of “The Godfather” on A&E, I think, then flipped around to the nature channel and found out that Teddy Roosevelt had an encounter with Bigfoot. Now we know why he walked softly and carried a big stick! Metaphorically Speaking.

Miracles

The two topics from which one should always steer clear in polite conversation are religion and politics. I already broke that rule once in advocating signing a petition. (But, hey I stopped short of endorsing a political candidate!) And now I am going to break the second by sharing a little about my faith and asking for your prayers. (Who said this was polite conversation anyway…? It’s my blog and I’ll say what I want!)

I remember being in the room when my grandmother Cloia Cornell passed away. A committed Christian for many years, she was a strong willed lady who went back to school late in life to become an LPN. By December of 1990 due to a series of strokes, she had been bedridden for years, paralyzed on the right side, unable to move her lips freely, her face sagging on that side. At the moment of her passing, a look of peace came over her entire face and she smiled with her entire mouth: the mouth that had not worked for years. Explain that away all you want, but that side of her face was dead, those nerves had not been connected to a working part of her brain for years. I call that small gesture a miracle, its purpose, I believe was to comfort those of us at her side.

When I beat this cancer, no one will call it a miracle. I will have followed the advice of my doctors and received healing in some form or other. Everything will be easily explained in terms that we understand, operating by principles we understand and no supernatural explanation is needed. But I don’t believe that; I believe we should call it a blessing sent straight from the hand of God. God sends his blessings down to all mankind with out even being asked “…for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust…” When God blesses us with knowledge and we use it, it is just as surely a blessing from him as rain.

So I do want your prayers for God’s blessing to be upon me and on my doctors as I prepare for the stem cell transplant. When my doctors are examining treatment options I want their minds clear and guided by unseen hands. When I start feeling down I want to be lifted up by your prayers knowing that God is in control.

If you want to know what specifically to pray for, let me lay it out for you:
1. Pray that we find a related donor from among my brothers & sisters.
2. Pray that the tumors will respond to my latest rounds of chemo and shrink and ideally go away. The cleaner the remission, the more likely the transplant is to be a cure.
3. Pray that I do not get sick while they prep me for the transplant. I will have no immune system and will be a little like the boy in the plastic bubble.
4. Pray for no graft versus host disease. This is where the foreign immune system starts attacking my body.
5.Pray for good graft versus tumor response. This is what we want, the foreign immune system gets really mad at that cancer for being there and kills it.

It's really much, much more complicated than this, but to sum up #4 & #5 we want: an immune system aggressive enough to kill the cancer but sweet and tolerable enough to let the rest of my body alone. Which one of my brothers and sisters could that possibly describe?

What about all those, “quit hitting yourself, Mark!” episodes when I was a little kid…now who did that the most? Hmmm……

Back to Square One

Started Rituxan today and had a meeting with my Oncologist. The idea being that we are going to keep things going while we prepare for the transplant and get the second opinions.

I have a gig with TOFB tomorrow, probably the last I will be able to make for quite a while. Then next Saturday is the Wu reunion. Then Feb 1st is the Java & Jazz concert. So musically things are still going strong. This will probably be the last series of gigs until this cancer is finally down for the count. Unless something cool comes up that I can make. They don’t have the transplant scheduled but I expect it in 2-3 months, maybe sooner depending on circumstances.

I played quite a few board games with my little boys over the Christmas break. The most instructive one was Sorry™, because what they learned was: you never know whether the card you draw is going be good or bad. When one of the boys would get upset about being sent back to the start by a sorry card, I’d remind him that the card goes back into the deck and the next time it might be them sending someone else back. Or the next few cards might send them backwards to the end of the race right in front of "home alley", so each card is only good or bad in the context of the cards drawn before or after. (Which is also what makes Sorry™ a fun game for a family with young kids, no one is ever so far out of the game that they have no chance of winning).

The lesson being: when things happen in life that are beyond our control, we don’t know whether the end is going to be advantageous or not. So why be “sorry” or pout or worry about things over which we have no control? Rather, we should be making use of our time to do the things over which we do have some control and we should do it NOW, while we still have our health. We have but one life to live and that life is not a game unless you are speaking metaphorically.

I have not yet begun to fight.

Fighting cancer is a crazy weird undertaking. Because on the one hand, I never really get to actually “fight” it. I live each day pretty much like I did before I was diagnosed. The fight, like most struggles in life is really against yourself, against discouragement in the face of an unknown future. The future is not given to us to know. We only know the past, and while that is certainly a good indication of what is possible and maybe even likely, it is not an indication of everything that is possible, or what will absolutely be.

Revolutionary war hero, John Paul Jones, in a battle with the British warship Serapis, found himself in what appeared to be a losing battle, his ship was on fire and taking on water. But, when he was taunted by the enemy’s surrender demand, his reply was, “I have not yet begun to fight.” The Battle raged on several more hours and in the end it was Jones who accepted the surrender of the Serapis.

Life goes on. I start my next chemo regimen tomorrow. I received my testing kit for the transplant via Fedex today. I am still trying to finalize my other appointments with the foremost CLL/SLL experts in the country. I am trying to make sure that both my boys complete their cub scout badges by the Blue & Gold Banquet in February, we also started on their pinewood derby cars yesterday. I am ratcheting up the intensity on all my students (Yes, I’m not just being moody, I am applying pressure on purpose, kids.) because Jazz 3 has a concert on February 1, and late in February my private students will have Solo & Ensemble contest. So now is not the time to let up kids. Neither is it the time to be overcome by our own nerves. The battle we fight is with our very own wills.

I know that the days of living as if I weren’t in the battle are coming to a close. I know that the new regimen and the transplant will force me to reduce my activity level. I know at this point the battle will be uphill, every step of the way, but I also know that I will not surrender. In his song Oh, Daddy Adrian Belew just may have said it best , “The Opera's not over yet, and I aim to make the fat lady sweat,” metaphorically speaking.

Siteman Cancer Center

Well, the news at Barnes, although not unexpected, was certainly unsettling. The Dr. there seems to think the best hope is a bone marrow transplant.

We have basically used biggest chemical guns we have. If there is no response now, there is little chance that adding another chemical will help. That being said, I start my next round of Chemo on Friday and we'll add a new chemical, Cytoxan. This will be the classic FCR regimen. We’ll do this for two months while my transplant is being organized.

During this time I will also be seeking 3rd and 4th opinions from MD Anderson Cancer Center and University of Ohio Medical School, both of whom have multiple specialists in CLL/SLL. The advice there will be good, I am sure.

So, this cancer wants to play rough, eh? Well, we’ve still got a few tricks up our sleeve.

Transplants are dangerous, but they are also the only real possibility of a “cure.” If that’s what it takes then, so be it. Amen.

Benefit Information

I don’t know what the next few weeks will involve, as I try to get several opinions regarding the course of my disease and how best to treat it. I feel so “lucky” to have the “good” kind of cancer (note the rare use of sarcasm!) I will try to keep everyone updated.

Anyway, since I have no news to report until after my appointments at Barnes et al., I thought I would share the information I have regarding the Dr.Wu reunion/benefit, the proceeds of which will probably go toward travel expenses to get to St. Louis, Houston & Columbus. Brother Pat Lee has been working tirelessly to put this thing together, and I'd like to publicly thank him for taking on the project, and the rest of the extended Dr. Wu family (and everyone participating in this event is part of the family as far as I'm concerned) for donating their services and talents and for everyone's concern for me and my family. Please post this information in as many public places as you can.

THE
DOCTOR WU
ROCK & SOUL REVUE
REUNITES TO BENEFIT FOUNDING MEMBER MARK CORNELL IN HIS FIGHT AGAINST CANCER
WITH SPECIAL GUESTS:
THE GROOVE DUKES
&
DAVE CORNELL & FRIENDS
WE’RE ON A MISSION FROM GOD.

SATURDAY, JANUARY 26,

8 PM - MIDNIGHT at
BRIAN’S PLACE,

2100 Broadway Ave Mattoon, IL 61938-3818 (map)

(217) 234-4151.
$5 COVER.

Bad News. Sorry...

Well, I just got back from the Dr. and the news is not good. My last CT showed that the lymph nodes have gotten bigger. Which is wild because, I felt so good. But the trouble I’ve been having swallowing is probably related to that. I had a bad feeling when I felt that original node pop back up on my neck.

Obviously whatever good the chemo did, if any, is over now.

So the question is what to do now. Right this minute, it would be an under statement to say I’m depressed. So I don’t feel like doing any research, but I need to do just that. I have an appointment at Barnes for Monday. I hope the Dr. there has some more options. I’m also going to contact MD Anderson.

That’s it for the time being. I hope I’m well enough to participate in the Dr.Wu reunion now, but job #1 is beating this thing!

16 days until the Dr.Wu reunion.

Just heard more about the reunion, it looks like almost everybody who ever played with the band will be there! Good times.

Just think of all the hours we spent together in smoky bars and back rooms of some the best private clubs in Illinois. Interesting how most of the millionaires I know, I know through Dr.Wu. Like the day we played for the owners party at the Preakness in Baltimore, it stunned me to think that most of those people had more money in their horses than I have in my house! We played on the set of Homocide which was an old police station at Inner Harbor. Then here was the time we went to that “special” beach in Puerto Rico. I think someone has pictures somewhere… Mental note: coral beaches really aren’t meant to be “special,” OUCH!

Anyway, I have an appointment tomorrow with my oncologist and we’ll review my CT scan, and I’ll ask him a couple questions, they’ll draw blood and if everything is cool, I’ll start round three. Tomorrow is mouse day. (I’ll be getting mouse antibodies.) It’ll take most of the day.

I’m trying to get into better shape before the next decline. So, I’ve been playing quite a bit the last few days, playing along with the records. Note to my students: this is a good thing to do (find something easy to start with.) When you put on an album side an play along, your practice time really flies, metaphorically speaking.

Could I have some fries with that shake?

I've been trying to make use of my time at home to do some good. I believe I mentioned that I got a used turntable for Christmas. In order to make the best use of it, I started sorting my LP collection. I haven't had a turntable for 4 years and we've moved twice in that time. So, they were really disorganized. In addition, Ken Krejci has been letting me have quite a few of his old albums. So I've tripled my Count Basie collection, doubled my Maynard Ferguson collection and acquired quite a few "unusual" recordings that Ken had. (Does anybody remember Uncle Lar' & Li'l Tommy's Animal Stories?)

So as I sit here writing this Blog, I'm listening to VSOP because Freddie Hubbard plays so great. (This was actually in my collection already.) But, I've also been listening to some old studio brass recordings (Spectacular Brass, Brazen Brass and a few other with similar names), the ones you'd here on easy-listening stations. The music makes me laugh sometimes, but WOW, those trumpet sounds are to die for. And when you read the credits, if they list the players, it is usually a who's who of the studio trumpet world of the 50's & 60s: Bernie Glow, Conrad Gozzo, etc... There were some PLAYERS, what great sounds they had!

VSOP is over, and while writing the last paragraph I put another "Brass" record on. The sounds are BIG and that vibrato is wide enough to drive a truck through! That is one of the reasons I like to play with bands like Sammy Kaye, I don't get a chance to use that sound except in those "sweet" bands. Days like this I fall in love with trumpet playing all over again! Literally...no metaphor. No kidding.

Record over, I need more vibrato, I think I'll put on Harry James!

CT Scan & Lessons

I had a neck & chest CT today. I'll know the results on Friday. The difficulty swallowing is still present. I hope the CT reveals what it is.

I started this semester's private lessons tonight. And I think this semester will see some amazing improvement in all my students.

That's basically it for today.

OH yeah, I forgot the cool story.
So, I'm in the CT scan machine, the tech has gone into the control room after getting me hooked up. She had already given me the spiel about how the machine will tell me to hold my breath etc....

So, I'm waiting and the machine starts talking to me in Chinese!

I can only assume that it was telling me to hold my breath because I knew the routine. They changed it to English eventually, but the techs got on the intercom and translated for me.

I have had so many scans I glow slightly at night. It keeps my wife awake sometimes. It may not be a metaphor, but it's a funny story.

“Patience and shuffle the cards.” - - - Miguel de Cervantes

G’day and welcome to my Health Blog. In a stunning turn of events, they delayed my chemo for another week. My platelets were a little low, so they are giving me yet another week to recover. I thought I would be happy but, of course, I’m not. I want this to be over ASAP, so any delay feels like forever. In the meantime, I told my Dr. the very few problems I’ve had: trouble swallowing, fever blisters and the little lymph node on the back of my neck seems a little bigger to me.

So he went ahead and scheduled my CT scan for Monday, instead of waiting until after this next treatment. The thing that gets me is: now I won’t have quite as much recovery time before the Dr.Wu reunion. If treatment had begun today, it would have been almost perfect, now I’ll be on the lower end of the curve.

If I did something to undermine my platelet count during the holidays, it is too late to undo it. But if so, I will find out what it was and avoid it in the future. Although this is a bummer, we don’t know whether it is good or bad until we get a little further on, so no feeling sorry for myself. I’ll just keep plugging away with my life, trying to achieve the elusive balance between what is important and durable and what is ephemeral but urgent, between what I know and what I cannot know: knowing when to hold ‘em and when to fold ‘em, metaphorically speaking.

Back to Work, Slacker!

Well, today was my 1st day back with Jazz 3. It wasn't terrible. Some kids had been practicing, some hadn’t. As far as basic technique goes, we’ll stay on major patterns until after the Java & Jazz concert February 1. Then there is quite a big break before our next concert, which will give us time to work on minor patterns. If they can leave Jazz 3 hearing and understanding the difference between major and minor sounds as well as being able to play those patterns in all 12 keys, that will be pretty good work for 45 minutes 3 times a week. But in addition, they will have played four concerts, learned to play the blues in 3 keys, and have a repertory of 12-15 tunes as a band. I’m so proud of those kids! A year ago they didn’t even know how to hold their instruments.

The break was great, as I’ve said, mostly because I feel pretty good. But I’m ready to get back to work and totally ready to start kicking my cancer while it’s down. I don’t mind playing dirty when it comes to fighting lymphoma!

I’ll have an appointment with my oncologist before they begin tomorrow. I expect he’ll schedule my next CT and we’ll talk about how the treatment is progressing and the results of my FISH test. The only real trouble I’m having right now is a fever blister that popped up Christmas Eve, I was just getting over it and now I’m getting another. It is that time of year. I haven’t done anymore reading about my disease for almost a month, so I’m not any smarter on that front.

The main thing I’ve realized is that when you feel good it is easy to get complacent about living, that is: being alive. The one thing I’ve learned is that I can’t let that happen. Every day is indeed a gift and you should wring every last little bit of good out of it before it passes into yesterday. Do it while you are well, because you are not guaranteed even that.

Speaking of which, tell everyone you know about the Dr.Wu reunion on January 26, at Brian's Place in Mattoon. I'll post directions, address etc. later. Our humble and lovable saxophonist/lawyer Pat Lee has been putting this thing together and really burning the midnight oil, metaphorically speaking.

New Year's Resolution: More Posts

New Year.

Well, it’s been a busy month. No time for cancer! I start my next round this Friday, which is a week longer than my regular 28 day cycle. This extra week has allowed me time to get my energy back and I feel really good, if a little out of shape. The holidays have been good to me, I put on more weight!! Probably not a good thing, but at least I’m hungry.

Now that I feel so good, I’m not looking forward to this round of chemo. It’s one thing when I knew I was sick and had been feeling bad, etc. But it takes a different kind of determination to walk in feeling good, even though I know I’m still sick. Still, I am blessed. I’ve only missed a few gigs with TOFB and haven’t had to say no to too many pick up dates. As I shared earlier, I played a Christmas date for Marie Osmond in Springfield and I played New Years Eve last night with TOFB.

So, as you can see, I’m starting to give myself the pep talk. I’ve had so many friends have so much harder of a time than I have had, I’d feel like a real weenie to want to give up now! I also keep reminding myself how good I’ll feel when I know this thing is in remission and I can start getting back into shape.

Christmas was good to my family, on the 22nd we went to see Jana’s mother in Du Quoin, then ate supper with her brother Eric and his family. We spent Christmas Eve with my extended family then went to the Broadway Christmas Eve service and caught up with our old BCC friends. (Many of whom complained that I wasn’t keeping this Blog updated!) We spent Christmas Day at Home. I got a turntable and a subwoofer from my wife for Christmas so I’m listening to my vinyl collection for the first time in about 4 years. Last Saturday the 29th my longtime friend Dave Alumbaugh and his wife treated us to the Chris Botti Concert at The Rosebud Theater in Effingham. Great Concert! Botti studied with Bill Adam at Indiana University in the early 80’s, I started making the trip over to Bloomington in 1988 and continued every few weeks through 1994. It’s been a couple years since I’ve been over to take a lesson.

Ok, now that the Holidays are over, I’ll update my Blog more often. I’ll be on it like stink on a skunk…metaphorically speaking.