After over a year of misdiagnosis, Alex was surprised to learn he has Stage 4 Sarcoma. Right now the consensus diagnosis from several institutions is Rhabdomyosarcoma acting like Undifferentiated Pleomorphic Sarcoma. Both are rare, aggressive cancers of unknown cause, and are especially rare for someone at Alex’s age.
The Pancake family has been learning and adjusting to their new journey. Inpatient chemo, many blood draws, scans and appointments are the current path. But they have been working through it together, and with the support of their community through meals and childcare.
They’ve always been independent people who like and want to do everything on their own. But they’re slowly learning how to accept help too. Every bit of support, financial and otherwise, is wholeheartedly appreciated.
I spend a lot of my life thinking about things moving through the air. I think about the aircraft as a whole and smaller components of it. I use basic concepts like conservation of energy for a system or conservation of momentum for two bodies (like an airplane and a fluid) interacting. Sometimes the stuff…
Yesterday was meant to be a routine MRI scan to get something like a baseline for my right leg post-surgery. Overall, it went pretty well. I waited to be stabbed twice because my left port doesn’t always want to play nicely with blood return. I found out that the needles in my port set off…
My parents have been married 50 years as of today. 50 years ago… It was the end of the Vietnam war. NASA’s first space station, Skylab, was launched. The gold standard had ended just 4 years before. It was another 12 years until I’d be born. It’s easy to frame things like you’re the main…
I’ve sometimes had fun fantasizing how I would be as a time traveler. I’d reach into a dimension no one else could see, hidden in my pocket, and pull out a cube I could smash on the ground and preserve a moment. In that space where time was frozen, I could meet with future and…
I’ve said this a few times to friends and people I’ve met who aren’t as familiar with my situation and tried to fill them in. I have a great wife, Ambi, and three great kids. Lately, I often worry about losing them. But having this life is a blessing. It represents the top 10% of…
If you’re playing with your life, that’s like this version of Russian Roulette. There are three revolvers on the table. You can’t see if they’re loaded or not, but you know that one chamber in one of the guns is unloaded. You pick one of the revolvers randomly, spin the barrel and pull the trigger…
Worth singing about, however loud. Even humming. Even for the shortest time. I’m happy to be back home on Father’s Day to spend time with my kids even if it’s really hard and tiring.
It’s a rarely used word, but it literally means “between reigns” from its Latin origin, here referring to the reigns of kings, or regimes. Another simple definition is “period or gap in social order.” I think of it from the perspective of a layperson who might say “the old regime is gone, but we’re still…
Today I got my new custom orthopedic boot, or Ankle Foot Orthosis (AFO, in the biz, if you want to sound like a cool kid). The AFO was necessary to prevent my toes, bending forward, also known as foot drop. Foot drop would stress, my new flap and the interface between it and my old…
I have officially brought breakfast burritos to the James Cancer Hospital at Ohio State University! It all started yesterday afternoon. I’ve created quite the rapport with the lead nutritionist. She’s clearly Hispanic by appearance and accent, and I told her I came from Texas, and that I longed for the food of my people. Namely,…
