Friday, January 26, 2018

Health Update

I was at Sloan Kettering on Tuesday of this week.  I had a CT scan that showed complete stability - no growth of the one tumor found last fall.  We will continue to do scans quarterly, but for right now, this is great news.

Overall, the expensive drug I'm taking, Ibrance, has a median progression free survival of about 18 weeks.  That means that half of the patients have seen no progression at 18 weeks and half of them have either died or seen progression.

I'm at about the 14 week mark and no progression has occurred.  There are some patients who have been followed for years with no progression.  The best predictor of long term stability is actually the first scan.  If the drug works right from the start, the odds that it will work longer term go up tremendously.  So, this is certainly good news.

The day before we left for NYC, I was informed that my last day at my current job will be next Friday, 2/2.  I knew the end was coming, but I honestly didn't expect it so soon.  In some ways, I appreciate that the company is shutting down sooner.  They are doing this while they still have the money to pay the employees for all the hours they've worked and vacation time they've accrued.  In the end, I will leave this job with the company owing me tens of thousands of dollars but I won't be the only one.  And, they made a good faith effort to pay us some of our deferred compensation.

While we were in NYC, I got a phone call from an organization I've been interviewing with for the past 6 weeks.  I've been selected as the one finalist for a final "pass/fail" interview with the state organization that funds the company I've been talking to.  So, if that interview goes well, I hope to have a new job before this job ends.  I should know more in the next business day or two.

Other than that, life is great.  I'm feeling strong in the gym, although I'm sore this week from heavy front squats on Monday.  Tonight's heavy deadlifts are going to be a challenge, to be honest.

Skiing is going great as well.  I've already skied as many days this season as in each of the past two years, and I'll be skiing into April this year.  I should easily double my total ski days from the past few seasons.

Right now, despite a few job worries, life is pretty good.

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