Mike Judge vs Ewing's Sarcoma

Hi everyone, its been a while. I think this might be the largest time gap between posts. I've had a tough time with this entry, coming back to it from time to time over the last several months. Every time I finished editing I just did not like it and scrapped it. Hopefully take 4 is the charm, lets get into it. Late in 2023 I became a 10 year survivor and also turned 30. It was a deep time of reflection for me. There were many questions I asked myself, but the most challenging ones included:  Why am I still here?  Am I happy?  What changes do I need to make to become happier?  Am I ready to make those changes?  What are my goals?  What has gone well these last 10 years?  What do I want to do better going forward? Very deep, uncomfortable topics and questions I had been stressing about, but avoiding for years. It was both empowering and deeply saddening to reflect on these topics. I hated to admit it at the time, but I was very unhappy. I was going through the motions. I was survivi

Since my last post I have had visits with the Cleveland Clinic and VCU. As I mentioned in my previous post Penn recommended no chemo and left it up to me as to whether or not to have radiation. The same conclusion was reached at VCU and the Cleveland Clinic, so the treatment for this 4th recurrence is complete. Aggresive local control (surgery, radiation) has been the key with my case of Ewing's. My response to chemo has been more of mixed bag so I'm much more accepting about not doing chemo vs when I had my first relapse. So what's next? Very close monitoring with scans and a new diagnostic test that has been added to the schedule. More on that in a second. First off, the arm is going to be much more closely looked at than before. I'm not sure on the exact frequency schedule, but I have an MRI and followup at Penn scheduled in mid March. My guess is that the arm will be scanned for at least the next year, but I'll find out more in my next follow-up visit. My finger

This year things were going so well. I had clear scan after clear scan. We moved the scan frequency to every four months because I was 3 years out from last finishing treatment and we were feeling like I was "safe". I was feeling the best I have since being diagnosed. I had a great streak going. Three and a half years of an anxiety inducing scan every three months that was fortunately clear every time. Unfortunately that streak just ended. With this being my fourth recurrence, it would seem that this would become easier, but this one was as hard if not worse than them all. Let's walk through how we got here. In late September I was laying in bed watching tv when I happened to feel a lump in my arm. It wasn't too large of a lump; around the size of peanut. Immediate panic set in. So many questions/doubts/concerns filled my head as I layed there for what must have been hours. Could it be back? How long has this been there? How could I not notice this earlier? It's b

Coming up in a month will be my two year scans. It will really be two years and one month, but who's counting? With that intro I guess I probably already answered your main question. Am I still cancer free? And the answer is a resounding yes In the year since my last update nothing has really changed on the health front. I got my port taken out in May and that went really well. One thing that was different about getting it removed this time versus the last was that this time they didn't put me under. They just gave me a local anesthetic. Though I was draped and couldn't see what was going on, it was still weird to be fully awake while they were removing this thing from my chest. They gave me status updates on the whole procedure which helped. Overall the whole process was much better this time because it went faster and I was able to drive myself home. I was in and out of the outpatient facility in under two hours. I felt uneasy about getting it removed because it was kind

I recently had my routine scans and ...(Drumroll), I am still showing no evidence of disease. Very exciting and relieving news. I am so lucky and fortunate to be in this position. Lets keep the clean scan streak going. I am still having scans every three months, but will transition to every four months when I'm two years out from completing treatment. The next one is at the end of April. I still have my port installed. Occasionally I will notice it when exercising or my seatbelt rubbing against, but for the most part it does not cause me any discomfort. It is annoying having to get it flushed every six weeks. It is a simple procedure and only takes like 5 minutes, but it is an extra trip I have to take. We are a bit hesitant to remove the port due to my recent track record. The last thing we want is to remove it and have to reinstall it soon-after. To reduce the chance of this happening the best solution is to wait. During my last appointment we talked about getting it out in the s

Around the middle of June I had a full body bone scan and chest CT scan and both came back clear. That puts me at six months cancer free. The last time I could say I was six months cancer free was..., October 2014. Great news! In late March I began having a difficult time breathing. Horrible timing on that one. Remember I had radiation for a lung nodule last May? One of the side effects that can occur up to a year later is radiaton pneumonitis, and that was the cause of my problem. The main treatment consists of steroids, but with the coronavirus going around my oncologist advised against them because they weaken the immune system. As an alternative, I performed breathing treatments with an incentive spirometer and a balloon. I also made sure to drink lots of water and took advil twice a day. Not sure if the water and advil part made a difference, but it took about a month to resolve and I have been good since. A week after my last post, my employer sent us all home, and I have been wo