Saturday's Pile of Bricks

I believe the second day out of chemotherapy is the worst day. I was shocked at how I felt Thursday and Friday, but everything came to a halt on Saturday.

The entire day I felt like I was starring in a zombie movie, sluggishly dragging my body around town drooling on the people I passed. Even so, I managed to walk a great distance throughout the day (2-3 miles) and must have drooled on at least 200 onlookers.

For dinner the family went to Chinatown. There's something in Hot & Sour soup that cuts right through the chemo. It's really great and I swear there must be a correlation; maybe it's those weird stringy mushrooms or maybe it's the extra scoops of spicy paste that I add. Whatever it is, it works!

$15,000 in Research Funding, Earl Threatens Holiday Weekend!

Arriving home early after completing Round 4 and checking my blog to see that we have surpassed $15,000 in research funding, I couldn't be happier. Thank you everyone for your most generous support in fighting this disease. I've been speaking to the recipients of our funds and will have annual reports (email if interested) and will post an update on some of their more specific accomplishments. I can't thank you all enough!

Headlines boast, "Quickest Round Ever Recorded!"

I got admitted at 10:30 am Tuesday and discharged at 2:30 pm Thursday. This is in comparison to the prior round of being admitted at 8:00 pm Wednesday and discharged at 11:30 pm Friday evening. I can't believe it's already over and I don't really know what to do with myself. This'll make for some good recovery time before this coming holiday weekend!

Dad Guyer is supposed to come in town provided that Hurricane Earl behaves!

Above is a water color picture I painted from my room at MGH. It overlooks the Charles River, specifically Longfellow Bridge.

Preparing for Round 4, Ogunquit & Kennebunkport

The waiting game starts the day before a round of chemotherapy; waiting for someone in the hospital to complete their treatment so that I can start mine. No matter how much the doctors and nurses plan, hospital beds open up when people feel better and I need a bed to start my treatment. Tomorrow morning when I wake up I'll call the hospital and see where I stand. Starting on Tuesday means I get one more day to recoup before the weekend but we have to wait.

This past weekend Autumn and I closed our doors to visitors and had a family weekend. We spent all Friday evening researching dog friendly Bed and Breakfast's within a reasonable drive and Saturday morning we packed up the car towards Maine.

Our first stop was a little artist town called Ogunquit just south of Portland, Maine. We spent the early afternoon at Perkin's Cove walking in and out of the little town's shops and watching the crab boats and sailing vessels navigate through the pier.

After lunch we continued our drive north to Kennebunkport, Maine and checked into our Bed and Breakfast called the Hounds Tooth Inn. Not only was this place "dog friendly," but they actually catered to dogs. They had wide open spaces for their dog guests to run wild and jars of dog biscuits and raw hides decorated each room. Benson was in doggie heaven!

The inn keepers at Hounds Tooth also recommended dog friend itineraries during our visit in Kennebunkport and Benson accompanied every meal and every adventure. It was great to get out and about with our little family!

No canes and or wheelchairs, I felt very accomplished. It wasn't too long ago that I remember wishing to go on a vacation where I could walk around without assistance. If the next three rounds make me feel as good as the last three rounds have made me feel, then I should be in pretty good shape come October so bring on Round 4!

Below is a picture of a little souvenir Benson picked up in Kennebunkport!

The Guyer Interbody Fusion Device

Tonight I received the most notable award in my professional career.

Alphatec Spine, my previous employer in San Diego, launched the GLIF project, which was the project I had led, to the next phase of development and recognized me as one of the key inventors of the product. They dedicated the product line to my name and renamed it to the "Guyer Lumbar Interbody Fusion" technique and created a memory book of how I took the project from a napkin sketch to a fully developed product, capable of revolutionizing the way spine surgeons perceive minimally invasive spine surgery.

The executive team flew out to Boston and we had a video conference with all the team members in Carlsbad who had made GLIF a success. Placards like the one shown above were given to all team members and cakes were cut on both ends while we all shared stories. My parents and Dr. Steve Hochschuler flew in from Dallas and Autumn was by my side.

It's amazing to be recognized and honored in such a generous fashion for a project I truly poured my heart, soul and several years into. Having my family and friends both near and far away in Carlsbad to celebrate the milestone made the experience that much more meaningful. It was great to see the whole team get recognized for without their efforts, none of this would have ever been possible. Congratulations and thank you to all involved.

I really had no clue what to expect going into the awards ceremony and am still in disbelief about the recognition to the entire team over video conference, the dedication of the product line and the memory book. Everything was so nice, so very nice. Alphatec went above and beyond fathomable expectations which goes to show as Dr. Hochschuler stated, "they've got their hearts in the right place!"

From my end, developing the project and the job was the easy part. I was just doing what I love to do. What a great honor!

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A little background in as close to laymen terms as I can find: The GLIF technique is a method for acheiving a full circumferential fusion of the spine (fusion to the front and back of the spine) while the patient remains in the prone position (on their belly). Previously this type of fusion required the patient to be moved during the surgery, either starting on their back then flipped to their belly or starting on their side and flipped to their belly. Moving the patient requires additional operating room time, more anesthesia and theoretically increases blood loss, etc. The technique also avoids dangerous approaches around the intestines and can allow procedures to be simulatenous implemented to really add a new element to spinal fusion.

Ipswich, Clam Box & Apple Pies

Thank you so much to all those who have donated so far! I can't begin to express how much your support means to me and my family. We feel so privileged to have such a great and widespread support group of friends and family spanning across countries and continents! You all raise our spirits and keep us going and for that we thank you!

Waking up after my week of chemo-spins I felt great! Following round 3 I felt as if I was fighting more the effects of the chemotherapy drugs instead of the physical pain + chemo drugs I battled previously; before I was struggling to walk with a cane whereas this round I mainly battled fatigue with little pain.

By Friday afternoon, after a week of homemade soups and meals compliments of our friends Zac, Richard and Jesse, I was back on my feet.

Autumn and I went sailing to kick off the weekend! It was the first time she came out on the water and we had a blast exploring the Charles, racing through the gusts and dodging the "ducks" and other boats floating around in the cool summer air.

Saturday we ventured to Ipswich, MA. Known for their fresh clams, we found a restaurant called the "Clam Box" and feasted on whopping plate of fried clams, onion rings and coleslaw, worth only 3 heart attacks. Afterwards we followed our noses to Appleton Farms entranced by the smell of fresh apple pie and then ventured back home.

Yesterday our Boston friends, the Kapsons, had a BBQ at their new home in Newton. We brought a fresh apple pie from Ipswich which was amazing. It was one of the first social events for us to attend since my diagnosis. In the beginning it was a little hard to stomach conversations of houses, kids and errands that seem so insignificant after all that we've been going through, but life does go on; this has been an important lesson for us to learn. In the end, it was really great to see our friends and socialize outside our home as a normal couple again. Did I mention the pie?

It was a great weekend to officially conclude Round 3. I feel better than I've ever felt going into this week, which should make for productive and enjoyable times at work and at home with my Autie.

Breathe in Hope, Breathe out Love

A month ago my sister manufactured bracelets that display our new family mantra: "Breathe in Hope, Breathe out Love." My mom introduced these bracelets on a comment back in June and we've had a very positive response. Thank you to everyone who is presently wearing the bracelets and supporting my fight.

I wanted to officially introduce the bracelets on the blog and add a fundraising element; we just ordered more bracelets and are happy to send them out to you (wherever you may live). We ask in return that you donate to Sarcoma research.

This time I'm not running a race or biking across a state, this time the donation WILL go towards research for my survival! Please donate whatever you can.

Here's how to Receive your Bracelet and Donate to Support Sarcoma Research:

1. Write an email to my parents being sure to include your Name, Address and # of Bracelets. They can be reached at guyerdfw@aol.com.
2. Click the "donate link" on the right of the screen and follow the instructions or follow below link: www.together4cures.org/mypage/jeffguyer
3. Don't forget to sign the guest book on the donation site and leave a message.

Thank you so much for your support!

Jeff

p.s. If you had donated before, rest assure that your contributions went to the same site that these newer donations will filter into. The new donation website, sponsored by Dana-Farber, allows us to designate the contributions to the same organizations I had previously linked with the added benefit of a specialized interface. Please do visit the new site, sign the guest book and leave a message.

p.p.s. If you previously received a bracelet but haven't donated, I ask that you donate now.

p.p.p.s. Autumn and I are now accepting hand modeling gigs :)

Two Haiku

Routine gets easy,

The treatments hit me harder;

I see a new day!

Spinning on the couch,

My body now recovers;

Round 3 is over!

Special thanks to SpikeHD for the Star Wars Marathon weekend!
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