For Benny

First off, our brave little Benny finished up round three of his chemo today.  That means one more round, then back to Portland for tests to check on what the tumor is doing.  From what Jenny told me, Benny slept a lot during treatment yesterday but was still his usual happy little self.  I haven't heard today how day three went.  I do have something else to share tonight though.  This one is another little personal effort on my part.

Before

The pile of hair

I met Bennet the day he was born.  I consider myself his uncle though I have no actual blood relation to him.  I'm lucky enough that Dave and Jenny also consider me his uncle.  When Ben was first diagnosed with cancer, I had been growing my hair out for just over a year.  By today it had been about a year and three months.  Before I continue I need to explain a couple of things that happened last night.  When I was getting ready for bed, I looked in the mirror.  What I saw reminded me a little of the look crazy Joaquin Phoenix has adopted.  I knew it was time for a change.  Jenny also happened to mention last night, that the nurse told her Benny's hair would probably fall out with this round of chemo.  So, tonight, I started to lose my hair too.  The pictures that follow here are a before, a couple piles of hair, and after.  The basketball is used as a reference for the pile of hair.  My hair is now an eighth inch long, and I plan to shave the rest bald when Ben loses the his hair.  I'm planning on keeping my head shaved until Benny's hair grows back as a statement of solidarity with the little trooper in his fight.  Here are the pictures:

I Ride With Clyde!

After

That's it from me.  Just thought I'd share.

As always, f*ck cancer, I ride with Clyde!

-Jake

Good News!

Yep.  Benny's counts were all good today!  That means round three of chemo started today.  I talked to Jenny and she said that it is a three day round, but they get to go home in between treatments.  She also said Ben did great today with the treatment, though he did have a blood clot that made it so they had to access his port twice.  That's all I know at this point.  More chemo tomorrow and Friday.  When I get updates I'll pass them along.  For now just keep good thoughts for Bennet while he works on kicking that tumor's ass.

As always, f*ck cancer, I ride with Clyde!

-Jake

Another Go Round

Hi all.  Well, they'll be checking Baby Benny's counts again today.  If they are back to levels the doctors like, another round of chemo will start today.  If I'm not mistaken this round will last three days.  So, please send your good thoughts and prayers to Medford to Ben, Jenny, and Dave.  I'll let you all know how things go today when I get home from work this evening.  Kick that tumor's ass Benny!

F*ck cancer, I ride with Clyde!

-Jake

Low Counts=No Chemo

Well a little bit of bummer news tonight.  Like the title kind of eludes to, Baby Ben had a low white cell count again today which meant no chemo.  From what Jenny said they'll wait until next week and check his counts again.  If they're back up, they'll start another round of chemo.  This means we just have to keep up the good thoughts for high counts so that they actually are up come this time next week.  Luckily, Benny is still his smiling, laughing, happy little self.  That's it for now on the Benny front.

But because, I am in charge of this blog, that's not all the asking for good thoughts I'm gonna do tonight.  I know this blog is about Bennet and his fight with cancer, but tonight, someone else very near and dear to our family needs some good thoughts.  I'm not going to name names because this person gets embarrassed and doesn't necessarily want the attention, but please send good thoughts for us up to Portland tonight and tomorrow.  One of the members of my family is having surgery tomorrow and while we know everything is going to turn out ok, we're all still a little on edge.  So good thoughts and prayers couldn't hurt and are definitely appreciated.

Thanks all!

F*ck cancer, I ride with Clyde!

-Jake

Tomorrow

Hey all, just wanted to give you all a quick heads up about what's going on tomorrow.  Benny will have his blood counts checked again tomorrow and if they've come back up from last week, he'll start another round of chemo.  So, please think good thoughts for high counts so Ben can rock the chemo and continue kicking the tumor's ass.  From what I understand this round of chemo will last three days.  I'm guessing that means it'll be a little tough on our little trooper, so keep good thoughts that it won't be too bad as well.  I'll let everyone know how tomorrow goes when I hear.

On a side note, some kind amazing soul used on of the donation methods to deposit $800 in the Ride With Clyde bank account on Monday.  I'm not posting this as a way to get other people to donate.  Rather, I have no idea who made this generous donation.  The family is trying to thank everyone making donations and buying t-shirts, but we have no way to thank this person at the moment.  If it was you, or someone you know, please send me an email at ridewithclyde2010@hotmail.com so we can thank you properly.  That's all.

F*ck cancer, I ride with Clyde!

-Jake

T-shirts, Again

Hi all.  So t-shirt orders have slowed down and I've had a couple questions about where to get them the last couple of days, so I thought I'd repost all the links so they're easy to find.  As always, if you have questions, comments, or suggestions for new shirt designs, feel free to send them to me at rideforclyde2010@hotmail.com.  Here are the links:

http://www.cafepress.com/LUYD - Lock Up Your Daughters with Jenny's current profile pic of Benny
http://www.cafepress.com/IKOBD - I'm Kind of a Big Deal with same pic
http://www.cafepress.com/BennyLK - Ladykiller with same pic
http://www.cafepress.com/CNMH - Cancer Is Not My Homeboy (on front) I Ride With Clyde! (on back)
http://www.cafepress.com/EffCancerWC - Original F*CK Cancer! with I Ride With Clyde! (on back)
http://www.cafepress.com/IRWCDeluxe - I Ride With Clyde Deluxe
http://www.cafepress.com/IRWCH - I Ride With Clyde Hearts
http://www.cafepress.com/IRWC - I Ride With Clyde Basic
http://www.cafepress.com/BBGD - Benny's Buddies Go Ducks!
http://www.cafepress.com/BennysBuddies - Benny's Buddies Basic
http://www.cafepress.com/BSFightsCancer - Blue Steel Fights Cancer
http://www.cafepress.com/BEBS - Baby Epps Blue Steel
http://www.cafepress.com/EffCancer1 - F*CK Cancer!
http://www.cafepress.com/FECKCancer - FECK Cancer!
http://www.cafepress.com/HCEffU - Hey Cancer, F*CK You!
http://www.cafepress.com/TEAMBEN - Ducks colors, nothing on back
http://www.cafepress.com/TEAMBEN2 - Ducks colors, "We Ride With Clyde" on back
http://www.cafepress.com/TEAMBEN3 - Another variation of the TEAM BEN shirt with a single childhood cancer awareness ribbon behind the TEAM BEN on the front of the shirt
http://www.cafepress.com/TEAMBENCGB - Team Ben shirt using the Bears colors
http://www.cafepress.com/WrongBaby - This shirt reads "Cancer messed with the wrong Baby" and has three sets of hearts on the front, with I Ride With Clyde and a picture of Baby Ben on the back

F*ck cancer, I ride with Clyde!

-Jake

Check That

Apparently my information last night was not completely up to the minute.  I guess the doctors told Jenny and Dave yesterday that Benny would be doing two more rounds of chemo at home at RVMC before heading up to Portland and Doernbecher for an MRI in possibly September now.  That's the latest that I've heard.

F*ck cancer, I ride with Clyde!

-Jake

Transfusion

Well, Benny had his counts checked again today.  I think this was the fourth time in the last couple of weeks or so, but I'm not positive.  Earlier in the week his counts were low, but not low enough to necessitate a transfusion.  Today however, his platelets were low which means he had to have a platelet transfusion.  Kind of a bummer, but hopefully it will help him to feel/get better more quickly.  From what Beth has told me the gang (Bennet, Jenny, Dave, Beth, Collin, and their girls) will be headed back up to Doernbecher's in Portland next weekend.  Benny has some follow up appointments if I'm not mistaken and they'll be doing the next round of chemo there as well around the 13th.  Not sure what this round of chemo will entail, but I'll keep you posted when I hear.  That's it for now.

F*ck cancer, I ride with Clyde!

-Jake