Sunday, November 25, 2007

Hello and I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving. I was very lucky this Thanksgiving as I saw everyone in Hendersonville for lunch, and everyone in Charlotte for dinner. Just because of the travel, etc., we did not go to Kansas, where Christi's family is. We made a decision a couple of years ago that we would go to Kansas for either Thanksgiving or Christmas, but not both. I am really bummed that we did not see the Kansas family. Distance is hard.

I went to a couple of Bobcats games this week as well as seeing our PITIFUL Panthers today. They are really not good. I did see my old friend Susie Harvey. Susie is pregnant with her first, and really looked great. I have not seen her since at least 1990. We only got to chat for a minute, and it was the awkward surprised chat. You know what I mean.....

Several people have asked me about my friend Suzi Flynn and her struggle with cancer. I sent her an email tonight, and asked if she would give me an update and permission to post. We will see what she says.....

Addi and I have been learning letters tonight via the Internet. She loves Sesamestreet.com and is really funny participating. She likes to make sure you know she is doing well. She did the same think at gymnastics. It is very cute and I am glad she makes me feel very important. Christi does such a good job with Addi. She is really growing up to be a little lady.

People keep asking how I am feeling. I am doing pretty well. I am still having trouble sleeping because I am coughing. It is weird, I cough so much when I am horizontal. I have been trying to go to sleep with Christi, but instead of keeping her up, I am going to another room. My wind is getting better, but still not all the way back from the chest tube on the collapsed lung. I am feeling like it will keep getting better. My wait has leveled at 162, and I hope will trend back up. It is nice being skinny, but you know, I need my winter weight. I also still have the rash on my face, but it has calmed down. Think of Bo at 15, you will get the picture.

Last but not least, i have to tell you a funny story. I have three dogs, which I did not want. Christi brought them home without my knowledge. (I would say permission, but there are knives in the house.) I have grown to love these dogs. I still do not want them, but love them A LOT. Long story short - I am getting to my office on Wednesday of last week. As I am going into my briefcase to get some papers, I notice a smell. Kind of like a rotten smell, but faint. I pull out a plastic sleeve, and it is wet. Basically, one/two/or all three of them went pee in my briefcase.... Did I mention I love those dogs?

See ya....

Monday, November 19, 2007

So much has happened since my last post. If I forget something, sorry!

Today I went and got a treatment of Avastin. I found out that each dose cost over $10,000 and I go every three weeks. The nurse also said it was a wonder drug, and I needed to make sure I got each drop. I guess I have to thank Blue Cross and Blue Shield. I feel a little tired, but basically ok.

Sunday I hung out with Addi and just played with her until about 5:30. Christi, Brian, Jennifer, and I went to dinner and to a play, The Drowsy Chaparone. It was great. We had dinner at a little resturant downtown, and then walked to the show. I had a great time with my crew....

Friday and Saturday, I went to Hendersonville to a golf outing for Addi's Cure. It was a lot of fun. Lee B. put it together and he is such a good guy. Friday, we all went to dinner and caught up. Amy, Tippi, Steve, Steve L, and many others were there. It was fun to see my high school friends. Saturday, we went to the golf outing and it was COLD! My dad played also, and we were in the same 4-some. My group came in second, and we rasied $1500 for Addi's Cure. I was so proud of Lee, he did such a good job. Jim, Justin, Shawn, Phil, Brian, Zack, Adam, Billy, Dave, and Mike came up and really put in a huge effort.

Thanks to everyone....

Wednesday, November 14, 2007

Hello everyone, Christi here, boy is it nice to have nothing new to report. I am good with boring for a while. I am afraid the holidays will pick things back up, but you have to love being with family. Anyway, just a short shameless plug out there for everyone shopping online this Christmas. Please consider going to http://www.igive.com/ and registering. You can choose Addi's Cure as your choice of charity or any charity out there. This is a great website having the big stores give a percentage back to charity. If you download their software, igive will automatically pop up and you do not have to shop through their website, they will link it up for you and boom money is given. Thanks to those that are already using it, we have raised a couple hundred dollars for doing nothing but buying presents for loved ones. Please see the info and link below if you want to link up with Addi's Cure. Thanks for all you help and feel free to email info@addiscure.org if you have problems logging in and downloading.

Take care
Christi and Addi


Use this link if you want to register with Addi's Cure...

Hi_______here, along with iGive.com, inviting you to change YOUR online shopping into support for a truly worthy cause.
I'm supporting Addi's Cure, just by shopping online at over 681 online stores. And right now, my surfing can help too: when I visit online stores through iGive.com, it counts as an entry in iGive.com's Surfathon sweepstakes for a chance to win a $1,000 donation! They're giving away $1000 to 5 winning causes, every month for 10 months! I hope you'll join me for more chances to win - just join iGive.com for free and check out their stores. You don't even have to buy anything!
If you do happen to make a purchase through iGive.com within 45 days of joining, iGive.com will donate an EXTRA $5 to your favorite cause! With over 681 participating stores, it's easy to find the things you need AND support a good cause.
HOW IT WORKS:
1. Join iGive.com to support Addi's Cure It's free, safe, and easy to join.
http://www.iGive.com/html/refer.cfm?memberid=485982&causeid=38872
2. Shop through iGive.com OR just surf their stores Their online mall features trusted online retailers like Lands' End, Staples, NORDSTROM, JCPenney, eBay, Expedia.com, Barnes & Noble, QVC, & PETsMART to name just a few!
3. Watch the $$ roll in for Addi's Cure!
Up to 26% of EACH purchase is donated, plus a bonus $5 donation if you shop within 45 days. The more stores you visit, the more chances to win a $1,000 donation during the Surfathon!
So, to recap:
Join for free, shop within 45 days of joining, and you'll get an extra $5 donation, FREE. And even if you don't shop, simply visiting stores through iGive.com means more chances to win a $1000 donation during the Surfathon! This is a limited time offer - you can click the link below to learn more:
>> http://www.iGive.com/html/surfathon.cfm
----------------------------------------------------
Use this link to JOIN FOR FREE and begin supporting Addi's Cure:
http://www.iGive.com/html/refer.cfm?memberid=485982&causeid=38872
----------------------------------------------------
MORE INCENTIVES for iGive.com Shoppers:
-->FREE SHIPPING deals from great stores SALES & COUPONS to save you
-->money VIRTUAL KARMA from supporting YOUR favorite cause
-->$5 FREE donation when you shop within 45 days!
I hope to see you at iGive.com soon.
Christi
P.S. iGive.com would like you to know that all the causes at iGive.com have been listed by members for their own and others' benefit. They don't endorse the causes, and the causes don't endorse them. But I DO! So, c'mon, click on that link above.

Monday, November 12, 2007

We had a great weekend. Christi, Addi, and I went to Middleburg, VA to see an art show and spend time with Bill and Jo. Dennis E. is a person that we buy some art from, and he was having a show. He had Yuri Gorbachev in town for the show. He is from Russia and is an incredible artist. We also saw Jason K and Emily K, with their daughter Grace on Saturday. Tom and Lisa K. came to see us at the art show. We stayed on an estate that used to belong to the Warburgs. The Warburgs were part of the famed German and later New York banking family. It was really awesome.

Tonight, I spoke at a meeting on lung cancer. It was a good meeting.

Thursday, November 08, 2007

Just wanted to check in this Thursday evening and say hello. We are so busy at work. Addi's Cure is doing really well. Remember, we started this year with $35,000 from last year. This has been growing in interest all year and was have of course raised a lot of money this year. We are over $125,000 for the year, so we will be able to give Duke more than last years $35,000. I think we will do better, but we can give them at least $62,500 this year.

I will check back with everyone on Sunday. I feel good and am looking forward to the weekend.

Sunday, November 04, 2007

Make sure you look below for some pictures of me and Addi at Halloween!

This weekend was really great. I had the best time and really was surprised and amazed. I am going to start on Sunday and go backwards.

Sunday

I woke up and it was nice to be able to "sleep" in. The time change was nice, and of course Addi woke us up when she was ready. Christi fixed pancakes for Addi and I so it started off really good. We just hung around all morning, and Dr. Dan made a house call around lunch. He is the person that preforms acupuncture for me. I could not go as much as I needed last week, so he is really cool and came over. I stayed pinned for about an hour. Then Brian, Justin, Phil, Donelle, and I went to the go cart track. This is the real deal, where they go up to 60 mph. I cam in last, and Justin beat us all. It was a lot of fun. Brian and I went back, and with Christi, Addi, and Jennifer, watched the New England vs. Indianapolis game. Basically after that, paid bills, etc.

Now to tell you the other part of my weekend, I have to start on Friday. Friday the family headed down to Myrtle Beach for Richard Berry's client appreciation event. That meant I got to spend a lot of time with Addi and Christi in the car. Unfortunately, I was on the phone a lot. We got down to the hotel, and it was on the beach, so we took Addi to the beach. She found several shells and was highly upset to leave for dinner. We met the Berry's for dinner. Have you ever met someone and knew it was right? This is how it is with the Berry's. They work with my company, but our relationship is far from business now. It is truly friendship. We have done this with several people that work with us. For me, I can think of Kevin S., Larry G., John K., and that is off the top of my head. Very blessed for these relationships. We had dinner at The Brentwood in Little River, SC and it was awesome. Food was awesome as well, but company was better. All of the Berry's (Richard, Jan, Jana, Jamison, and Jordan) were there, as well as Jim and Jamie, Tracia, Caroline and Mike, Bill, and Jo. After dinner, we all went to bed.

On Saturday, we woke up and had breakfast. We went to the Berry's Client Appreciation Day at The Dixie Stampede in Myrtle Beach. Now, whatever i say from this point will not do justice to what happen. The worse part is I know I will leave things out as well. Trust me, it was really amazing. The Dixie Stampede probably holds about 1,000 people, and over 800 were there. There was a horse show and lunch, and it was really good food and fun. Addi loved the horses. Richard came out of the ceiling in a super man outfit and proclaimed himself the safe money man. It was hilarious. Addi called him the "money bird" and really laughed and thought he was funny. Then they called us down and made a presentation. They had raised $7,505 for Addi's Cure. I have never really put numbers with people, but I was amazed at what they had done for us. American Equity was there and they presented Addi's Cure a check as well. Last but not least, Michael C. and his company gave a donation as well. All in all, I was overwhelmed. Christi was too.

There is really not much I can do to show my appreciation for what everyone has done for Addi's Cure. I try to tell the stories of what the Berry's and others do for the cause, and I hope it is not lost my admiration for all the help I have been given. Addi's Cure has been a great distraction for me, and your support has made me believe that anything can be done. I will post soon and let you know the total for 2007 as well as since inception, but it will make you cry. Every dollar, I mean every cent, will be used for research. I hope we can make a dent where the government is short. Did you know that the government approved a study for yellow bees and pumpkins that will have more funding than lung cancer? What in the world!

This weekend was special and I hope I did some justice to it..... Thanks again to the Berry's for a wonderful weekend.....






Sorry to take so long here are some Halloween pictures...

Friday, November 02, 2007

I am sorry it took me so long to post this week. I want to say first that I am really pumped about my doctors visit on Tuesday. I think everyone can agree that I thought the results were not going to be good. A lot of people were concerned I was down, but I just felt there would be a negative reaction because of what my body was telling me. When I had the last collapsed lung, the procedure they did really is taking a long time to heal which is giving me real symptoms, but it seemed like it was from the cancer.

Susan, one of the doctors I see, came in because we had been waiting awhile. She could not see us right then, but she did say the scans are good. Later she came in and talked more. I wanted you to know this part of the story because that is an example of why I am so happy at Duke. She did not have to do that. I really believe they truly care about me.

I do want to say I am still going to go for the lung transplant. While I am stable, science tells us that eventually, the Avastin may not work. I will always try to do something to make me stable, but in the end, I think I will have to go for it.

Three great things from this week. First - Charlotte Business Journal picked FIG as the 3rd best place to work in Charlotte. We were in the medium category, and there are over 1700 businesses with 50-175 employees. This is something that our employees were surveyed for this honor. This is not something we paid for, it is really a big deal and I am very proud of our company. Second - this weekend, one of my clients is having a client appreciation dinner. One of the things they are doing is having a fund raiser for Addi's Cure. They have already donated themselves and had many of their clients donate also. The Berry's are a great family. I could go on and on. The third thing is very exciting as well. There is a Bush Series driver named Jennifer Jo Cobb (http://www.cobbracingteam.com) and Addi's Cure will be on her car. One of the companies I work with is The Annexus Group. These guys decided to sponsor her car. Out of the goodness of their hearts, they decided to put my charity on the car. I was so touched, it was crazy.... She is the only female driver, and she is from Kansas. Watch the PHX Bush race and look for the Annexus Car with Addi's Cure on it...... Thanks Don and Ron!

Last, but not least, THANK YOU. I know there are a lot of people out there thinking of me and praying for me. We all know that is why I am still here. I have had some good times and bad during the crazy time, but the bottom line is the support I have is awesome....