kevinnowak.com

Used Needles?

So here's the story, ever since we went through all the IVF stuff back in November we've had 3 bio-hazard boxes of used needles sitting in our basement, wondering what the hell to do with them.  Doctors office won't take them and you can't just toss them in the trash! 

  

Now I know some wise guy is going to say just dump them on the beach here in Jersey....but the fact is that's only north Jersey where that stuff happens!  So that option is out. 

Bottom line...what the hell do we do with these? 

What a Great Quote!

After recieving this years Pan Mass Challenge donation of $35million dollars, Dr. Ed Benz, President of Dana Farber Cancer Institute, adjusted his now famous description of the PMC. He said, “When they write the book on how cancer was conquered, at this rate the PMC won’t just be chapter one, it will be the whole damn book.”

Now that's a pretty damn powerful statement right there folks!

Priceless.

Came across this graphic on a t-shirt at the gift shop at Longwood Gardens...very cool!

  

Deb's Tattoo.

As you all probably remember, Kel's mom, Deb, has been fighting breast cancer for the past year and a half.  She's had surgery and rounds of chemo and her final chemo appointment was yesterday morning.  About six months ago she started to think about getting a tattoo to commemorate her final round.  Of course she didn't let any of us know about this little plan!  So, last night she had to "run some errands", but that really meant, "get a tattoo".  I actually thought she was joking at first when she showed me, but then I saw the plastic wrap she had around it to keep it protected and figured out it was the real deal. 

    

      

So, that's what it looks like.  The 5/2/08 is the day she was officially told that she had breast cancer.  She said that getting this tattoo was her way of marking then end of this ordeal...and that she had always wanted to get a tattoo but never had a good enough reason to do it.  Now she did. I sure don't know many grown women who'd go out and get a tattoo...but I guess Deb really isn't your typical person!  Very cool Deb. 

   

New Building at Dana Farber.

Back in January of '07 I posted a photo of a new building going up at Dana Farber called the Yawkey Center.  It was really only a hole in the ground at that point, but now, 12 months later the steel is quickly rising and the building is taking shape.  This new building will house some research labs but the majority of it will be for treatment of cancer patients, young and old.  This is the one that is even going to have the PMC garden/plaza down at street level as you enter the front door.  So, all you folks who donate money to Dana Farber through the PMC, this is one of the places where it goes.  In a few short years this building will be a 24 hour beehive of activity with people getting better each and every day.  

The reason I bring this up today is because there was a great story [and video] in the Boston Globe showing how the iron workers take time each day to write the names of young patients directly onto the steel beams and colums of the new building as they are set in place, effectively making those kids a permenant part of this important building. This same thing was going on 12 years ago when the Smith Lab building was going up and it was so cool to watch.  Take a minute to check out the article and the video here.

This is a short video that was made back in 1996-1997 about the iron workers and the kids at Dana Farber.

And how cool is that Sponge Bob Square Pants crane hook?

Kel's Mom.

"How's Kel's mom?" is a question I get from folks several times each day and it's a question I'm happy to answer with "She's doing really great!".  And that's the truth, she really is doing great after her surgery and now with chemotherapy.  [If for some reason this is your first time here at kn.com, Kel's mom, Deb, was diagnosed with breast cancer this past May.  You can read a bit more about it here.]

She's very much appreciative of all the cards and letters you've sent over the past month as they've really helped her get through some of the rough patches. 

Deb is onto her second drug of her chemo schedule and will begin the 3rd just after the new year.  The third drug is something she gets once per week, but the side effects aren't that bad and her hair should even start to come back. 

This past weekend we were down on her farm and she had me take a few snapshots, without hair!  I think she looks pretty damn good, but perhaps I'm a bit biased since I've already been a part of the No Hair Club. 

       

Hopefully in about a year she'll be 100% healthy again and be able to look back at this photo and think to herself, "Remember when I didn't have hair..."

Thank You!

That title is from both Me and from Deb as well.  As you all know...about a month or so ago we started a little covert letter writing campaign for Deb where a bunch of people, many of them total strangers to Deb, wrote her letters and cards wishing her well during her surgeryand rounds of chemotherapy ahead.  The response has been overwhelming and she's probably gotten well over 100 cards.  Pretty amazing!  She plans on thanking everyone individually [which I told her she didn't need to do] but that's Deb...you'll probably all get a return card from her in the mail at some point.  She also wanted me to post something here for you all to read as a collective group.  I really didn't want to post the last paragraph,  cause I really don't think I did anything special, but Kel insisted I post it unedited and those of you who know Kel know that she drives a hard bargain.

This letter also goes to those on Team Xaverian who rode the PMC this year. 

If you still want to send Deb a card and didn't get our original email please let me know and I can get your her address.

Okay...now that we've got that all out of the way...here's her letter.

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How many OMG (Oh My God) moments have you had in your life? Have you had any recently? Did any of them stop your train of thought dead in its tracks? Did it suck your breath back into your chest and stop you from breathing for a split second that felt like minutes? One of those OMG flashes happened to me a few weekends ago after a phone call I made to Kelly to see how the PMC ride was going.

That afternoon I was frozen in my tracks when I realized that it was ONLY ONE YEAR ago that I had participated in my first PMC. Oh my God, ONLY ONE YEAR later, I am not part of the support but part of the supported. As most of you know, several months ago, I was diagnosed with breast cancer. My life has been turned inside-out and upside-down. Yet, amazingly, more good has come out of the experience then bad, like finding out that I have an underground world of supporters that Kevin has enlisted to help me through my battle. I must thank all of you for the awe-inspiring goodwill that you have sent me.

First of all, thank you, Team Xaverian, for riding to support finding a cure for cancer. Along with the whole PMC organization, your personal efforts are much-admired and appreciated. Special thanks to Kevin and Patrick for riding in my honor! When I saw your support posters with my face and name on them, I was overwhelmingly moved and honored. Those posters made me feel that I WAS part of the cure NOT part of the disease.

Thank you, all of my letter/card supporters, for the time you have taken out of your busy lives to send me your encouragement, support and love. There is no way to put into words what your cards and letters have done for my morale and attitude. Every time I read one, I experience a miraculous, healing OMG moment. What an unbelievable way to start each day, unlocking my post office box and having one or many of your loving care-mails waiting.

Thank you, too, for the help your care-mail gives my husband, Steve. We drive to work together every day. He drives and I read your cards out loud. Steve used to be a big, strong, gruff bear but your kind expressions of concern have magically changed him into a sighing teddy bear. Your considerate, charitable humanity has expanded our hearts eternally.

Lastly, I want to thank my son in-law, Kevin. My heart is bursting with love and pride for you, Kev. Finding the words to make you understand clearly how much you are helping me through my struggle will never happen. I am awestruck by your strong, beautiful, ingenious spirit. It lights my path and the paths of everyone you touch. You inspire us all with your inventive, constructive and unselfish actions. I know your cancer had much to do with the man that you have become. Given that, I feel honored to join you on the walk down the path of lessons learned from illness. I am fortunate and privileged to be your friend and family. Thank you for loving my precious girl, Kelly! It is a blessing and comfort for me to know you always "have her back"!

Love,

Deb

Annual Check-Up.

I was in town this morning [and a majority of this afternoon] for my annual check-up at Dana Farber.  It's gotten pretty routine at this point, some breathing tests, blood work and quick visit with my doctor, Nick, and that's about it.  At this point I could really go every 2 or 3 years, but it's much easy to remember every year and frankly it does give me some peace of mind getting a clean bill every year.  The blood work really tells the story and that'll be back in a few days...

It was good to see Nick and I also get a chance to catch up with two of my nurses who kept an eye on me while I was there.  Of course I traversed the PMC bridge a few times, got to peruse some of the old photos, and even checked out the $33million dollar check they had on display from last year.  They've also started to construct the new Yawkey Center for Cancer Care.  It's an 11-story building that will be primarily for patient care, but of course it will have a decent portion dedicated to research as well. 

                   

Please pardon the poor camera phone quality of this photo [as I know you are use to much, much better here @ kn.com] but I thought I'd share with you the scale of the site-work that has already started.  They'll keep digging down another 40' feet or so to accommodate all the parking needs the new building will have.  The reason I share all this is that because much of the money that the PMC brings in goes directly to endeavors just like this.  So in essence, all of you who help me out through he PMC are really building this new center.  So go ahead and give yourself a pat on the back then.  You deserve it!

Donating the Goods...

Sometime last month I caught the tail end of an amazing piece on ESPN.  I didn't really catch the back-story, something about a college aged kid dying, donating his organs, helping others, etc, etc, but it prompted me to try and find out a bit more.  After a bit of searching around (yahoo, not google) I was able to find the video of the entire story. 

I'll provide you the link to the story at the end of this post, but in summary it deals with a college senior, Jason Ray, who was the mascot for the basketball team at UNC.  He traveled to NJ with the team for the NCAA tournament this past March and was hit by a car as he walked from his hotel to get something to eat.  His parents rushed to be with him, but he passed away 3 days later. 

The part of the story that will blow you away is that by his death he helped save or improve the lives of about 50 other people.  He did it simply by donating his organs and tissue.  One guy got a kidney, another his heart, and some even his eyes!  Each and every story in the piece is just amazing. Timing had to be right and the person had to be on the top of the respective transplant list.  The best part of being a donor, I think, is that the person doing the donating actually gets to live on through each of the recipients. 

The reason I chose to write about this today is two fold.  First, my boss is actually out today to have his knee worked on and will be getting a ligament from another person, a dead person.  (he's hoping its from a 6'-8" black man who can dunk)  The second reason is that so many people say they would be an organ donor but don't actually do anything about it.  After seeing this story I logged onto the web, found a site for the New England Organ Bank, and figured out what I needed to do.  I then made a quick phone call and since my license doesn't need to be renewed for a few more years the lady said I can fill out a card to carry in my wallet.  Simple as that!  (next time I renew my license I can get one of those cool "Organ Donor" designations on it!).  Honestly, how hard was that?  And to think I'd never done it before.  Now, if for some reason I (or Kelly, she signed up too) kick the bucket at an early age at least some people will benefit.

I know some people think of this stuff and nasty and disgusting, but what good is a heart or lung or liver going to do you under six feet of soil?  Not much.   Why not salvage all the goods and then get burried.   

Do yourself a favor and follow this link to watch this moving story.  (takes a while to load and is about 14 minutes long).  The part where you get to meet the people who received Jason's organs is extremely powerful.  They couldn't be more grateful. 

They also say that if you do plan on being a donor you should communicate those wishes to loved ones and people around you so that they know what to do if the time comes.  Guess I just did that!

Singing the Seasonal Blues...

I was lamenting to Kel last night about how much I hate this time of year.  Darkness at 4:30 in the afternoon.  It sucks ...and it's only going to get worse.  I feel like its 11 at night when I leave work now. 

December 21st can't come soon enough...