For Wednesday, June 29, 2011

A couple of more days have gone by and still we are waiting for my first treatment at the Burzynski clinic. After we saw the doctors on Friday, they submitted a request for a waiver so that the FDA that would allow me into the antineoplaston clinical trial. The initial request was denied however as we learned very early Monday. They resubmitted, and for a couple of days now we have been very anxious to waiting for positive answer.

I am very humbled and thankful by the actions of friends and family through all of this; things such as contacting congresspeople to request this variance be put through on my behalf. It is a very big waiting game though, and of course we are very anxious. As I had mentioned in other blog posts, the weather in Houston this time of year certainly does not make it easy to sit around. This city is enormous, confusing, and hard to navigate for the uninitiated. Combine all that with my health problems and you can see how Lorraine and I wrestle day today with keeping a positive outlook while praying for the best.

God has provided for us so well during this journey we have no reason to think he'll abandon us now!! We have to keep remembering this because there are a lot of challenges. Lorraine has been so strong both physically and emotionally through all of this that I thank my Lord many times a day for her inner strength.

I am walking with a quad cane and fighting dizziness. The dizziness is a byproduct not only of the medicines they had me taking, but of course this brain tumor. As you can imagine, being dizzy and walking with a cane could be a recipe for disaster if I forget to be extremely careful. I don't even take a few steps anymore without Lorraine being right here at my side because I just don't feel safe walking. I must remain mobile though, and being wheelchair – ridden is not an option. We both miss San Diego, it's weather, our home, and of course our friends. We must wait though, and once my treatment starts it will be well worth it! We absolutely must keep our "eyes on the prize" so to speak and keep our spirits up to get through this. There are no other options unless we decide to quit, tuck our tails and return back home. That would completely waste all the time and energy we had just spent getting here to Houston, not to mention of course putting me right back into radiation and chemotherapy which is what we came out here to avoid. I married an Italian from New York… And I am Greek… So neither one of us has quit in our vocabulary. We are going to stick this out, make it happen, and I am going to return to San Diego with Lorraine healthy and cancer free!