SXSW Trip 3/16/08

Hello all! Today is Palm Sunday. Hosanna in the highest! I hope you are all had nice services at your churches today. I will try to keep this week a little more thoughtful and prayerful with regard to the amazing plan/mystery that God laid out for us. That, and NCAA March Madness starts Thursday. So there are a lot of reasons for praise this week!!!

The last week was a fun one for Amy and I. We flew out Wednesday night to Austin, TX to see my brother Scott and his wife and two kids, and to spend time at the South by Southwest Music Festival; something I have been wanting to see in person for years. SXSW was everything I hoped it would be. Imagine 1500 bands descending on Austin, TX, from all over the world, all trying to get their break. The only problem is that there is just too much to see. You can’t possibly see everybody, so you have to do your homework and find out where bands are playing and when, all the while leaving space in your schedule to hear new acts you have never heard of to stay in the spirit of discovery the festival promotes. Scott set up this trip and itinerary and we were in great hands… We saw about 4-5 bands per day and Scott and Amy took turns pushing the wheelchair that the American Cancer Society loaned us. The highlights: The Black Keys (I have seen them twice previously – one of my favorite bands) and a band from Norway called “Big Bang”. Big Bang was one of our random finds. They were playing at a place called Maggie Mae’s Taco Express that we stopped at for food. They really rocked and the tacos were fantastic. We marveled at the idea of such good talent playing taco joints… Later that night we Googled them and discovered they are the best selling rock act in Norway’s history. How random… Just underscores the cool vibe of the festival.

Here’s the other definite benefit of our trip: The Weather! We had 80 degree days and 65 degree nights and mornings, with the sun shining every minute. Amazing. I wore shorts and a T-shirt the whole time and got lots of sun. Unfortunately, we had to leave and return to reality. Point in fact: Despite the fact it is Mid-March, Chicago still has 30 degree weather… When does spring officially start??? Soon I hope.

We flew back Saturday late afternoon, arriving tired but ready to see the kids. I held up very well and was so glad my brother organized the trip.

As far as what’s next treatment-wise, I am still waiting… We had our follow up appointment with Dr. Maitland of University of Chicago last Wednesday and still have had no word back from the labs as far as my match for the drug Tarceva. He was promised a response tomorrow, Monday 3/17, so I should hear in the next day or two.

In absence of a response, or a negative response, it looks like I will then be a part of a clinical trial, starting chemo therapy as early as Wednesday, 3/19, of this coming week (!). I definitely am not feeling enthused by that, especially since the main purpose of the trial is to see how BIG the dose can be (above the currently FDA-approved doses) without pushing the patients into massive side effects. Unfortunately, there may be some difficult days or weeks as we find what my most “beneficial” dosing will be.

I will need your prayers for strength if we go the clinical trial-route. I am not feeling very brave about it, fearing the side effects… Call me vane, but I also have almost a full head of hair back and don’t really want to lose it again! That is actually not a real concern. But the idea of feeling sick all of the time again is not enticing.

That all said, if it will work, bring it on…

Talk to you all again, soon.

Love and Peace,
Eric