Brothers, friends, and Lund family:
Bird is back in his nest for the Memorial Day holiday. It was another case of the helping hand with Mike "Chips" Wilson and Ty Damon helping with the handoff of his bigness to Barb on Friday evening.
He made it through the first week of aggressive chemo relatively unharmed; by relatively, Bird said that "I've felt better, but I've felt worse, too." According to Bird, he owes his understanding of just how bad he can feel due to frequent indulgence in Jack Daniels (although some of you have heard that I recently gained an appreciation for this feeling, too).
There hasn't been too much nausea due to the strong anti-nausea drugs that he is taking, but the appetite hasn't been really strong, either. I talked with Bird just about every day this week and that in itself was a challenge since he had so many visitors and so many calls. It was tough to find a time where he wasn't busy.
There were many brothers this week that provided significant in-kind contributions to the Bird and his family, but now more than ever, Mark's family needs your help monetarily, too. If you've been helping them in any way you can, that is the helping hand in action. But, if you can't help out with temporary housing and transportation in the Ann Arbor area during the week of chemo, or join in a work outing at the Bird's Nest (and even if you have), then please consider using the information and links at the right of this post to send in your hard earned cash to help.
Mark's disability payments from the state of California have been irregular at best, and the very significant medical bills are starting to roll in. Bird's chemo grovel will continue for the next SIX MONTHS. Therefore, we need the brotherhood to keep The New Century Century Club going MONTHLY for the next 6-9 months. If you haven't contributed yet, please do so NOW using the links to the right. If you have already contributed, please make a note to send ANOTHER contribution in June.
Last week, brother Jim Curran told Bird and Barb that he was sending $2,000 from the Big Bird Support Fund to them right away with another $2,000 within a week. No Mercy Percy, Messiah, and I were sitting at the table when Stick told them this great news. Big Bird was immediately and completely overwhelmed. His direct comment was "thank you to everyone for taking this weight off of my shoulders."
You can help Bird focus on getting well if you will help us take care of the mounting medical bills so that he doesn't have to.
Finally, Tom Budnick sent this out via email last week. I think it will help us all put into perspective why and how much we should help with Bird's grovel:
=========================
I’m one of the guys that’s been slacking so my check is going out today.
I know some of you guys spend more than you should at the following and none of those expenditures are going to have as satisfying of an impact. This is money well spent, especially if you aren’t able to donate time to assist.
* Strip Clubs…. Bird may not be better looking than the hot double D stripper with the sweet two finger patch and the low back tat, but he sure as hell was funnier looking when he’d streak down Abbott!
* Church…not saying God and your local parish isn’t important, but how many of us donate on Sunday and never actually see the person our money helps…..here’s a chance to know where it’s going!
* Taxes…Obama is forcing us to support all the fricking losers out there who refuse to help themselves (sorry couldn’t resist the shot)….take a stand and support someone who is a winner, but in a tough spot…..if all my tax money went to help people in the kind of spot Bird finds himself in I’d gladly support Mr. O!
* Taxes 2…..I know some of you embellish your charitable expenses…here’s a chance to alleviate some of your GUILT…you lying pricks!
* The Bar…..Most of you spend way too much there….. divert some to the fund….your liver could use the break!
* All you Potheads….cutting back to a joint or two a day instead of a dime bag would do your lungs a favor and Bird could use the money to get that nasty little bastard off his lung!
* Gasoline…..shit at today’s prices $100 is like 2-4 fill ups…unless you’re a fag and drive a Prius…..again couldn’t resist J….I saw the pictures from Bird’s bash and most of you are fat and out of shape so take “ride your bike to work week” literally this year and donate your savings to the cause!
Anyway…seriously…hope you’re all well and this helps motivate you to get out your check book. Like someone said…nothing is too small!
===============
Well said, Bud!
Fraternally,
Bando
Saturday, May 23, 2009
Monday, May 18, 2009
The Game Is On...
This is a recap of Bird's posting to Facebook. He forgot his blog password at home, so I've copied and pasted his ramblings here.
===============
The game is on...I am hooked up and the poison has started the cell slaughter. So far, I feel fine. I left my info book at Kai's house, so I will have to wait until tomorrow to update the blog. There are, however, four weeks worth of emails for me to open, so I do not have to worry about being bored during the next five days.
There are many contenders for brother of the week for the last seven days. Willy came up a week ago Friday and joined the Lund family circus. We worked on a lot of projects, but more importantly had a lot of fun. It is a full time job finding activities to keep my mind away from dwelling on my condition. Willy set up his work station in my office and did the part time thing during the morning hours.
My day typically begins at 11:00 am, so after my breakfast time, we would head out and work on miscellaneous projects. On Tuesday the Big Guy Club (Bullwinkle and Kai)+Wally T Grovel arrived to take on some of my larger projects such as a storm drain pipe with no outlet, the 4'x4'x75' ditch and associated piping (including stubbing water and electric into the cabin), and placing and energizing the radio dog fence.
All projects were finished and the four of us left Wednesday night. I stayed with Bullwinkle and his family Thursday and Friday while going to U of M Cancer Center for treatment preparation. Talk about a skate, my own room, shuttle service to and from, and the sausage and pepper pasta dinner. On Friday, No Mercy Percy snatched me from the hospital and after a brief visit to his office, started north toward Maple City, and along the way we plucked Messiah from the side of the road to join the caravan. Of course company was a-plenty considering the fourth passenger, No.7 AKA Dr. Jack Daniels. After a very fun ride, we arrived at our destination where we spent the next two days working on the garden area and doing what we still do best. In fact, Air Bando arrived Saturday afternoon to join the Garden Fest and showed us how to do things best, in his own special way. Allen's waste basket will never be the same.
So Sunday came way too quickly, but we all loaded up to install the folks dock at the lake as well as experience (for those who dared) Dad's fiery chili burgers. However, there was no time for desert as a critical and much anticipated event was nearly to transpire (see Highlights-mobile uploads on Facebook). Now during the previous night, Messiah had been painstakingly working on me to shave the head, but this plan of attack was temporarily put to rest as Barb informed him the kids wanted to be present. However, after dinner on Sunday there was no more time and no more excuses.
Cameras rolling and clicking, children a giggling, and razor a buzzing, my four plus years of hair growth started to become forever detached. My oldest daughter Christine first braided it into a long rope with bands at either end to keep it intact, then, while I held the braid straight up into the air, the Lawnmower man, sporting a 1960s vintage razor/trimmer began to cut the tethers connecting the braid.As you can see in the picture the rest is history.
Anyway, Air Bando skated me to a landing strip less than one mile from Kai's house and the Jensen family has now adopted me for the first few days of this treatment. The flight was awesome, unlike the holy caravan of No Mercy and Messiah, the latter of whose newly acquired vehicle decide to take a dump out of the transmission tail shaft, leading to a prompt return to home base via the same flat bed that plucked it from the side of the road two years ago with another problem.
In a nutshell, the last week or so has once again shown me the power of the brotherhood and its abilities to make a terrible situation much less painful and scary. I think it was Bando I was talking to when I mentioned "when I get better, I am going to have a lot of cars to wash and shoes to shine". I am still trying to find the right words to express my thanks and appreciation for everybody's support.
In a nutshell, Thank you.
===============
The game is on...I am hooked up and the poison has started the cell slaughter. So far, I feel fine. I left my info book at Kai's house, so I will have to wait until tomorrow to update the blog. There are, however, four weeks worth of emails for me to open, so I do not have to worry about being bored during the next five days.
There are many contenders for brother of the week for the last seven days. Willy came up a week ago Friday and joined the Lund family circus. We worked on a lot of projects, but more importantly had a lot of fun. It is a full time job finding activities to keep my mind away from dwelling on my condition. Willy set up his work station in my office and did the part time thing during the morning hours.
My day typically begins at 11:00 am, so after my breakfast time, we would head out and work on miscellaneous projects. On Tuesday the Big Guy Club (Bullwinkle and Kai)+Wally T Grovel arrived to take on some of my larger projects such as a storm drain pipe with no outlet, the 4'x4'x75' ditch and associated piping (including stubbing water and electric into the cabin), and placing and energizing the radio dog fence.
All projects were finished and the four of us left Wednesday night. I stayed with Bullwinkle and his family Thursday and Friday while going to U of M Cancer Center for treatment preparation. Talk about a skate, my own room, shuttle service to and from, and the sausage and pepper pasta dinner. On Friday, No Mercy Percy snatched me from the hospital and after a brief visit to his office, started north toward Maple City, and along the way we plucked Messiah from the side of the road to join the caravan. Of course company was a-plenty considering the fourth passenger, No.7 AKA Dr. Jack Daniels. After a very fun ride, we arrived at our destination where we spent the next two days working on the garden area and doing what we still do best. In fact, Air Bando arrived Saturday afternoon to join the Garden Fest and showed us how to do things best, in his own special way. Allen's waste basket will never be the same.
So Sunday came way too quickly, but we all loaded up to install the folks dock at the lake as well as experience (for those who dared) Dad's fiery chili burgers. However, there was no time for desert as a critical and much anticipated event was nearly to transpire (see Highlights-mobile uploads on Facebook). Now during the previous night, Messiah had been painstakingly working on me to shave the head, but this plan of attack was temporarily put to rest as Barb informed him the kids wanted to be present. However, after dinner on Sunday there was no more time and no more excuses.
Cameras rolling and clicking, children a giggling, and razor a buzzing, my four plus years of hair growth started to become forever detached. My oldest daughter Christine first braided it into a long rope with bands at either end to keep it intact, then, while I held the braid straight up into the air, the Lawnmower man, sporting a 1960s vintage razor/trimmer began to cut the tethers connecting the braid.As you can see in the picture the rest is history.
Anyway, Air Bando skated me to a landing strip less than one mile from Kai's house and the Jensen family has now adopted me for the first few days of this treatment. The flight was awesome, unlike the holy caravan of No Mercy and Messiah, the latter of whose newly acquired vehicle decide to take a dump out of the transmission tail shaft, leading to a prompt return to home base via the same flat bed that plucked it from the side of the road two years ago with another problem.
In a nutshell, the last week or so has once again shown me the power of the brotherhood and its abilities to make a terrible situation much less painful and scary. I think it was Bando I was talking to when I mentioned "when I get better, I am going to have a lot of cars to wash and shoes to shine". I am still trying to find the right words to express my thanks and appreciation for everybody's support.
In a nutshell, Thank you.
Thursday, May 7, 2009
Update - 5/7/2009: The Good and the (mostly) Bad
Brothers:
I just received the following in an email from Bird's sister, Anne. the news is not very good, but hope springs eternal.
Please remember to help out with the New Century Century Club. Big Bird needs our help now more than ever.
Also, my wife had a wonderful idea. Since Bird has to stay in a hotel in the Ann Arbor area, are there any well-traveled brothers that might be able to share some hotel points with Bird to defray this cost?
Regards,
Bando
===========
Hi Tim;
I just spoke with Mark and Barb - they are on their way back home after Mark's appointments today. I'm afraid the news is not good. Mark's sarcoma is very rare and aggressive. He has been enrolled in a nation-wide trial wherein he gets double one of the chemotherapy drugs that has been used for sarcoma in the past - because his cancer is so rare, there are only 12 patients enrolled nation-wide. Unfortunately, he has to do chemo in Ann Arbor, his therapy will begin in about 10 days. He will do 5 days of chemo, then get 2 weeks off, then have another 5 days of chemo. MPNST does not respond well to chemo - we all need to pray very hard that this buys him some time.
They will not be addressing his lung mass until after they see how he responds to the chemotherapy - it may shrink making the surgery much less invasive. He feels very well, but his spirits, hearing such heavy news, are somewhat depressed.
Phil and I have offered to put him up in a hotel room near the hospital, as he will not be admitted for treatment. There are plenty of brothers (and family) nearby, but I think the rigors of the treatment will be too much for him to commute back and forth to the hospital on his own. There are 5 or 6 hotels in the area that offer complementary transport to and from the hospital - I am hoping to find him something with a small kitchen, so he doesn't have to worry about going out to eat. We'll let you know what his decision is so you all know where to find him.
We are absolutely heartbroken, but we thank you so much for all of your support,
Love,
Anne
I just received the following in an email from Bird's sister, Anne. the news is not very good, but hope springs eternal.
Please remember to help out with the New Century Century Club. Big Bird needs our help now more than ever.
Also, my wife had a wonderful idea. Since Bird has to stay in a hotel in the Ann Arbor area, are there any well-traveled brothers that might be able to share some hotel points with Bird to defray this cost?
Regards,
Bando
===========
Hi Tim;
I just spoke with Mark and Barb - they are on their way back home after Mark's appointments today. I'm afraid the news is not good. Mark's sarcoma is very rare and aggressive. He has been enrolled in a nation-wide trial wherein he gets double one of the chemotherapy drugs that has been used for sarcoma in the past - because his cancer is so rare, there are only 12 patients enrolled nation-wide. Unfortunately, he has to do chemo in Ann Arbor, his therapy will begin in about 10 days. He will do 5 days of chemo, then get 2 weeks off, then have another 5 days of chemo. MPNST does not respond well to chemo - we all need to pray very hard that this buys him some time.
They will not be addressing his lung mass until after they see how he responds to the chemotherapy - it may shrink making the surgery much less invasive. He feels very well, but his spirits, hearing such heavy news, are somewhat depressed.
Phil and I have offered to put him up in a hotel room near the hospital, as he will not be admitted for treatment. There are plenty of brothers (and family) nearby, but I think the rigors of the treatment will be too much for him to commute back and forth to the hospital on his own. There are 5 or 6 hotels in the area that offer complementary transport to and from the hospital - I am hoping to find him something with a small kitchen, so he doesn't have to worry about going out to eat. We'll let you know what his decision is so you all know where to find him.
We are absolutely heartbroken, but we thank you so much for all of your support,
Love,
Anne
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