Year End Wrap-Up & 2008 Goals

Another year has come and gone so I need to set some new goals as I have satisfied last years goals.

2008 Goals are:

1. Live to see 2009
2. Increase my energy level (start doing more cardio)
3. Spend more time with my family
4. Increase awareness about organ donation and defeat the stigma associated with lung cancer

Merry Christmas

Sure am glad to be home this Christmas.



I am putting batteries in every noise making toy made this year and is every Baby doll called Arial or the Bratz. I do realize that I am turning into my parents when I start looking forward to the children wearing themselves out on Christmas and taking a nap (so I can take a nap).

What a day, glad to be here.

FAQ's about BAC and Lung Transplant (patients point of view)

This is a living blog post that will be re-visited frequently as I remember new stuff to add, subtract, and other transplant/cancer hommies send me info.

Disclaimer: These are thoughts and suggestions provided by myself and others that have experienced cancer (i.e. BAC) and also undergone organ transplantation (i.e. lung transplant).


BAC (Lung Cancer) FAQ's:

1. BAC (Bronchioloalveolar Carcinoma) suck!!!
2. BAC is a type of lung cancer often found in non-smokers
3. For many diagnosed with BAC there is no way of EVER knowing how the carcinoma developed, since it is often diagnosed at such a late stage. (for me I was diagnosed at stage 4)
4. When you are diagnosed with cancer or other life threatening conditions you need to study and read medical white papers so the highly lettered doctors don't try to talk over your head. An example of words they might use that are suggestive until you really understand the true medical meaning as it applies to your condition are stage 4, metastasized, spread... I was stage 4 b/c my BAC non-small cell cancer had spread or metastasized to both lungs, in this case you don't want it to spread but the spreading was okay b/c it was contained in my lungs and I had no lymph node involvement.
5. Chemo (chemotherapy) is overrated as far as making you deathly ill. Don't get me wrong it is unpleasant but you more than likely won't be vomiting bucks or be totally out of it. The new Chemo is often time targeted for your specific cancer type based on its protein signature which means it focus on a specific area of the body. You will also be given pre-meds before chemo starts to help with nausea, you will also be given plenty of snacks during your chemo infusion (mmm MMMM mmm snacks)
6. Keep hard candy on hand and suck on it when your IV is flushed with Saline and Heparin as they will leave a nasty taste in your mouth and the candy will of-set that taste.
7. If you can get a port inserted in your chest for chemo, and blood draws it will make life much simpler; your veins will start to get worn out from the chemo eventually and the port again will make life simpler.
8. Flush your port at least every three weeks or as the doctor orders.
9. Eat what you can the newer chemo does not really alter the taste of food contrary to popular opinion.
10. Stay active work-out, walk, swim, hit the whirl pool, and get a massage as these activities help push the chemo (Ratt poison) through your system and will help with the joint/muscle pain you are going to experience.
    

Transplant FAQ's:

1. TRANSPLANT IS NOT A CURE; you are trading a terminal condition for MANY other conditions that can be monitored through life style changes (i.e. exercise, diet) and medication.
2. Some conditions that one can expect with lung transplant are; diabetes, osteoporosis, weight fluctuation, muscle mass loss, mood swings, fatigue, various respiratory viruses..... BUT YOU ARE ALIVE keep that in mind.
3. Your children / or younger relatives will be your greatest inspiration to fight on and do well with the transplant but they can also put you in the hospital as they will unknowingly give you little presents (germs and bugs) they get from daycare.
4. YES, they transplant was painful the first two days hurt like *&^% *&^%; it helps to be in shape, work on your abs, back upper and lower, possibly learn some yoga or stretching before hand to concentrate on your posture, work on your legs too as the meds will quickly eat away your leg muscles.
5. Wear your mask and get T-shirts made up to answer the ignorant questions you will get from people wondering why you have on the mask.
6. It will probably take a good year to recover from the transplant.
7. I started back to work after 6 months but that might have been to soon b/c a week after going back to work I was back in the hospital for two weeks with CMV
8. Watch your sugar intake after transplant b/c the high doses of steroids will alter your blood chemistry and you will soon develop steroid induced diabetes.
9. The diabetic stomach shoots don't hurt remember all you have been through they are a piece of cake.
10. Get your port removed if it is accessed alot it could be a source of infection; it will be accessed alot b/c you will have blood drawn several times a week. Ask for a picc line so you don't have to get stuck so much.
11. While out of work recovering find something to do to stimulate your mind as you are not going to sleep much because the medicine won't allow it.
12. Check the $4 med list that Wal-mart has b/c some of the meds you will need can be purchased there rather than paying an arm and a leg at your local chain pharmacy.

More bullet points to come as I remeber more stuff to add (prednisone brain)

Dec. 15, 2007 SMU Graduation Pictures (School of Engineering)

seasons greetings

graduation links

Seasons Greetings to you all. I have finally finished my studies at SMU now what do I do for an encore???

Attached are the links to my SMU Graduation, I don’t know what I will do next maybe medical school, or climb Mt. Everest.......

http://www.smu.edu/newsinfo/releases/07084.asp

http://www.smu.edu/flashvideo/?id=162

SMU Graduation

http://smu.edu/newsinfo/releases/07084.asp


Tonight is a very special evening for each of our graduates and their families and friends.

Mustangs, you have taken such unique paths in getting to this great achievement that we celebrate this evening.

However, for one of our engineering Master’s degree graduates, his path has been nothing short of miraculous.
And given the special season we find ourselves in, it seems appropriate to share his journey with all of you here to remind us of how life affirming the pursuit of knowledge can be.

Jerrold Dash is an accomplished individual. At 34 years of age, he has already attained two Masters degrees and will be granted a third tonight in systems engineering from the SMU School of Engineering.


Jerrold is currently a staff systems engineer with Lockheed martin Aeronautics and is celebrating tonight with his lovely wife Rhonda, two beautiful daughters – Reagan and Ravyn, and of course his extended family and friends.

Jerrold’s journey to this evening begins in February of 2006. It was in this month, less than two years ago, that he and his family learned that he was suffering from stage four broncho-alveoli carcinoma, a form of lung cancer that occasionally afflicts non-smokers.

What a devastating shock to everyone – you see Jerrold was the picture of health, an active fit non-smoker who was a gifted scholarship football player in college. Simply put, no one saw this coming.

Yet, this terrible diagnosis did not stop Jerrold – against the odds and struggling to deal with the constant miserable chemotherapy, Jerrold continued to work on his degree and to move forward with his life.
Jerrold went on the transplant list for a bilateral lung transplant at Stanford Medical School, one of the few places in the world that would attempt such a complex surgery. He moved to the bay area awaiting the call that could save his life – and this too did not stop Jerrold from pursuing his degree. In fact, during the course of his illness, Jerrold said “If I could work, take classes, exercise and receive the support of my family, I would be dead emotionally. The idle time would kill me as I would just be going through the motions of living.”

And then he got the call that a pair of lungs was found.

So tonight, breathing the fresh cool air of December, Jerrold and his family celebrate the gift of life and the passion for learning.

Against immeasurable odds, no because of immeasurable odds - Jerrold, you are an inspiration to all of us and a reminder of the sacrifices we have all made in our lives in the pursuit of knowledge.


Geoffery Orsak, Ph D. Dean of the SMU School of Engineering

Turkey Day 2007

Ate well fried a turkey, enjoyed the family only to get hospitalized the next day 11/23/07 (5 five day of isolation on what I consider the worst floor in the hospital). It seems the RSV virus has shown its ugly head.

Flashback on last Halloween

It seems like yesterday I was out in California living the single life and waiting for the transplant call to come in. This time last year I was very nervous and sick to my stomach as we (the doctors and I ) feared the cancer had spread outside of my lungs. Our fears caused me to have to get several CT scan at the hospital on Halloween night (which is right beside the emergency room). Do you know what type of THINGS you can see in/around the emergency room on Halloween night.

Luckily the cancer had not spread so it was back to waiting for the eventual call that would come on March 5, 2007.

At long last an update also I ain't dead :-)

Hello all I have not retired or expired I just have a hard time finding the time to explore my artistic talents (i.e. keep my blog site up to date). I hope as things settle down I can get back to populating the blog more often.

What has been going on the last several months: RECAP (the cliff notes version?)

In and out of the hospital a few times

Recovering, trying to work but I feel people don’t really appreciate the serious and delicate balance involved with trying to recover and get back to normal after a bi-lateral lung transplant; IT AIN’T EASY….

Finished my course work at SMU

Gave a few speeches to try and raise awareness about lung cancer, dispelling myths about the causes / cures, and the need for funding and support.

I am back

Haven't posted in some time, as I have not had anything major to report; I am still recovering seeing too many doctors each week and often very tired from all the medication.

My church home in Fort Worth, TX is holding a benefit to help with medical cost this Sunday.
www.espbc.com


Follow the link below to a TV news show I was a part of speaking about organ donation.

http://www.myfoxdfw.com/myfox/pages/Home/Detail;jsessionid=A7DE0CAA9AEC9C9640170C94057F96D4?contentId=181347&version=90&locale=EN-US&layoutCode=TSTY&pageId=1.1.1&sflg=1

Hospital again

Not much to post and being back home it is hard to find the time between doctors visits and Dora the Explorer :-)

Back to the Spa (Texas Spa) in the morn. i.e. the hospital for a few days or until I get fed up and break out like the Stanford Spa.

Video I was a part of (I'm an actor)

Use this link to get to a cancer video I was part of promoting clinical trials.

http://www.toppup.com/drive/

Back in TX

Haven't posted in awhile simply b/c I have not felt like, sorry.

I am back in TX got here Friday June 1,

Glad to be home and away from the Stanford Spa. I still have the infection in my chest and will continue home IV antibiotics.

Nervous about being home the whole adjustment process,

Free at Last Free at Last (Pseudo Free at Last)

Freedom; I am finally free from my prison (Stanford Spa) 11 days (FREED Monday Night) of sitting as a pin cushion. Still stuck in CA for several more weeks as this infection is treated with IV antibiotics in my apartment.

Note: to the public the "Free Jerrold" from the Stanford Spa campaign worked the hospital caved in :-)

Same old Song and Dance

I really have no idea when I will be getting out of this D_M hospital and am getting frustrated have gone AWOL twice now and probably will go for the hat trick soon (i.e. just put on my clothes and walked out for a couple of hours on the town) being in here since May 3 at this rate I will be hospitalized longer than I was for the transplant procedure.

Oh well back to my cell (hospital room)

Happy Mothers Day

Still in the D_M Hospital

Port was successfully removed, and a picc line was um successfully inserted to replace the port (after four painful attempts). We shall see what today brings.

Yep still here in CA (Stanford Hospital)

Yep still in my favorite place (Hospital)
making slow progress the around the clock antibiotics seem to be working but recovery from a staph infection is slow for a normal person let alone recovery for someone who just had a bi-lateral transplant less than 10 weeks ago.

Surgery today at 1000 PST to remove my port-o-cath should be routine and only take an hour, then I will get a temporary pic line place in my arm.

No talks on getting out of the hospital yet, my hope is to be out of here this weekend and back in TX within the next 2 weeks.

No Rick James ____ Still Hospitalized though

Had a long day and if I need blood/lab work done in the morn. I will set it off with the person trying to stick me, I guess you could say at 5AM with no sleep for days the Phlebotomist pulled the wool over my eyes as she stuck me multiple time to fill multiple blood draw tubes. In the morn or future like I have always done if I have a port and an active open IV line it WILL BE USED or I will be sending another Phlebotomist off in a huff with hurt feelings and a good tongue lashing :-) Rick James style don't take it personally blood draw workers of America.

Found out that my infection (in the chest muscle) is a staph infection so right now the plan is to treat it with antibiotics. I don't anticipate leaving in the hospital until at the earliest May 12/13 weekend time frame and we still have not even began to discuss release dates. TX plans have not been re-worked yet.

Still Hospitalized

It is Monday and I am still in the hospital with a pretty bad infection in my chest. I have now been stuck with more needles and had more biopsies than I ever wanted. Two needle sticks that I have had that really were not that bad was / were the fluid drain from my knees and the insulin shots I have to give me self in the stomach (in the grand scheme of things and after everything else they were not that bad.).

I don't have any idea when I will get back to TX now, as I am in an isolated room and have dealt with more doctors since I was admitted on Thursday of last week than I have dealt with all year (popularity stinks).

Hospitalized

Seems I couldn't get out of here without being hospitalized. I was admitted on yesterday with diabetic symptoms (probably brought on by all the medicine I take). I am hopping to be out of here today after more test (Jerrold going away party is tonight); also we are scheduled to fly back to TX Sunday morn Only time and more medication will tell.

Jerrold

LAST WeeeeK, LAST WeeeeK, "Rick James" LAST Weeeeeek !!!!!

LAST WeeeeK, a phrase I have sung since I finished playing football. Anyone that has been through the bumps and bruises of a college seasons knows the tune and the happiness that comes over you when you reach the last week of the season (enough said). This is the last week in CA "Ret-ta-Go" I think/ know I will recover better in TX as I will be on more familiar turf. Gotta run and get ready to pick up the wife at the airport so we can close out this last week and get back to TX.

Bell Lap

Time is quickly winding down for me in CA. Can't wait to get back to more familiar territory; not that CA hasn't treated me very well (along with saving my life) but I have to spread my wings and leave the safe confines of the Stanford Medical nest. Life goes on and I need some BBQ and Texas sports radio. May 6 looks like the day I will be touching down in Texas to bring closure to the journey I will be finishing.

Signs that I have been here far too long....

I think I have been here far too long, I can't take the Fif anymore some of my observations....

1. You have a very strong opinion about where your coffee beans are grown, and you can taste the difference between Sumatran and Ethiopian.
2. You can't remember . . . is pot illegal?
3. A really great parking space can totally move you to tears.
4. Gas costs $1.00 per gallon more than anywhere else in the U.S.
5. Unlike back home, the guy at 8:30 am at Starbucks wearing a baseball cap and sunglasses who looks like George Clooney really IS George Clooney.
6. Your car insurance costs as much as your house payment.
7. You can't remember . . .is pot illegal?
8. It's barely sprinkling rain and there's a report on every news station: "STORM WATCH."
9. You pass an elementary school playground and the children are all busy with their cells or pagers.
10. It's barely sprinkling rain outside, so you leave for work an hour early to avoid all the weather-related accidents.
11. HEY!!!! Is pot illegal????18. Both you AND your dog have therapists, psychics, personal trainers and cosmetic surgeons.
12. The Terminator is your governor.

The Stars at night shine big and bright (clap clap clap) deep in the heart of Texas ......

Virus on the loose

It seems that a few of the heart and lung transplant patients that were transplanted around the same time as my procedure are catching RSV an airborne virus that is basically not good for people/patients in our compromised, weakened health conditions. I am really living like a hermit right now restricting my access to the other people in the apartment complex, and not even speaking with the sick ones on the telephone or e-mail either for that matter :-) e-mail gets viruses too. If I get this virus then it would be a 4/5 day vacation for me at the hospital in an isolated room get heavy antibiotic IV drips; all this helps to keep your system from going into rejection of the transplanted organ.

So hard to say goodbye (NOT!!!!)

Saw the old lungs today and it was an unemotional event of my behalf. I saw how bad the old lungs were and am even more grateful for the gift, the second chance I have.


Some pictures of the old lungs are below keep in mind they are already segmented and research has begun on them. The lungs were undersized and honestly speaking with the doctors they don't see how I could even breath. The holes or nodules you see in the pictures are the cancer nodules for the BAC.





Someone please fix my hat my hands are compromised I am a doctor now; or at least for the moment I am :-)

Bad lung segment, notice the cancer nodules that starved me for oxygen I was slowly and daily suffocating, which would have been a painful death (mentally and physically)

The whole lung set-up (and yes it is segmented and cross-cut already) the right lung is on the left side and the left lung is on the right side. The lungs were small for my body, blame it on the sickness.

My wife and I will stop in and visit Ralph right lung and Larry left lung one more time before the research gods have their way totally with them.

visiting the old lungs today

Today I will be visiting my old lungs to have a heart to heart with them. Check that I will be having a lung to lung (ha ha laughing w/out coughing) with them. I hope to have another session with them in a week or so when my wife is here to escort me back to TX.

I will look at the lungs, probably hold them but just try to figure out where we went wrong and why they (I) got sick, they used to be so strong but suddenly became so weak, without a proper diagnosis for years and finally no valid justification as to why or how I got BAC lung cancer; go figure some things will never be known; I am at peace with that lack of knowledge. MOVING Forward....

End in sight

Smooth sailing this week with all the doc visits. Planing to return to TX first week of May ready for some BBQ and normalcy.

5weeks and counting

Still recovering according to schedule (possibly ahead of schedule) which is good so maybe I can get back to TX sooner rather than later. Bronchoscopy at 1400 PST on Tuesday so I am up eating until 0200 PST since I must fast 12 hours before the procedure that lets the docs look at my lungs. More food..........

Doc visit

Doc visit this week went well:

• PFT (Pulmonary Function Test) went up to 71%
• Have been given the green light to drive
• Possibly may be able to return to TX before June '07
• No set backs so far

Broke a little sweat on yesterday

Broke a sweat at PT (physical therapy) on Tuesday but not much, the stationary bike made me drip a little (heavy stress on very little). The whole PT process was alot easier than I expected, I have been through worse PT when I was playing competitive sports. More PT today so maybe they will challenge me today :-) or I can just make up my own workout.

News Article: Palo Alto Daily News Story 4/2/07

http://www.paloaltodailynews.com/article/2007-4-2-pa-dash-lungs


Monday Apr 2

Melissa McRobbie / Daily News

Jerrold Dash, pictured in his apartment near Stanford Medical Center on Sunday, is breathing easier these days, having received a double lung transplant at Stanford in early March. Dash had been diagnosed with lung cancer in February 2006. On the table in front of him is an apparatus that helps him measure his progress as his lungs grow stronger.
Dash gets second wind



Double lung transplant patient wins cancer fight
By Jason Green / Daily News Staff Writer


The 33-year-old Texas resident was delivering word puzzles to fellow patients awaiting transplants at Stanford University Medical Center when his pager lit up March 5.

At first Dash ignored it. But a stolen glance confirmed it was a local number. His heart was in his throat as he asked to borrow a phone.

"It was my doctor," he recalled. "He said, 'Well, we got you some lungs.'"

Since being diagnosed last February with Stage IV bronchioloalveolar carcinoma, a type of lung cancer that affects nonsmokers, the Lockheed Martin Aeronautics systems engineer had been hoping for that kind of good news.

"It was a little surreal," he said. "You prepare yourself mentally for it. But I still got a little shaky."

A day later, the diseased organs were gone and Dash was breathing more easily than he had in months. Now free of cancer and on the road to recovery, he hopes to return to Fort Worth by June, rejoining his wife, Rhonda, and their two daughters, 3-year-old Raegan and 1-year-old Ravyn.

"I couldn't believe it," said Rhonda, recalling the day Dash called her with the news. "I started jumping up and down, crying. One of my daughters knew I was talking to daddy and she asked me what was wrong with him. I said, 'Nothing. These are happy tears.'"

Although he's beaten cancer, Dash isn't pushing it out of his life. He wants to erase the stigma surrounding lung disease which, as he discovered, doesn't always affect cigarette smokers.

"First, we have to break down that stigma that you deserve lung cancer," he said. "Nobody deserves cancer. Nobody deserves lung cancer."

Dash's oncologist at Stanford, Heather Wakelee, appreciates his outlook. "Lung cancer is not just a disease of people who smoke," she said, noting that roughly 9 to 10 percent of men and 20 percent of women who develop lung cancer never smoked.

Dash also wants to be an inspiration to other late-stage bronchioloalveolar carcinoma sufferers. Transplanting lungs into such a patient is regarded by some in the medical field as a controversial procedure because "the odds of the cancer coming back are higher than not ... and Jerrold is aware of that," Wakelee said.

But for someone as young and fit as Dash, the procedure made sense. Before the operation, he was one of two patients with the cancer awaiting a transplant, according to the United Network for Organ Sharing's Web site.

"I don't want others to give up. I want them to take a risk," he said. "If you have a terminal illness, fight it. Don't accept the status quo treatment."

As strong as he sounds today, Dash acknowledged that he needed help getting through the ordeal. Prayer and the kindness of others gave him - and his family - the strength to hold on, he said.

Sue Passailaigue, for one, provided a place for him to stay in Mountain View while he waited for the call. She offers the condominium to patients such as Dash who need to be close to the hospital in case an organ becomes available. Donations of cash, time and household items help keep it open.

"Sue calls it the compassion condo," Dash said. "If the walls could talk, the stories they would tell."

Dash is now living in an apartment a stone's throw from Stanford University Medical Center and taking his recovery one day at a time. Physical therapy begins soon, but the former Winston-Salem State University fullback is already walking and doing flights of stairs.

In short, he has traded one focus, beating cancer, for another: getting healthy enough to resume the life he was forced to put on hold.

"We won't mind being a simple, uneventful family," said his wife Rhonda, who paused to smile. "We've had enough life-changing events. Sometimes boring is OK, we've found."

E-mail Jason Green at jgreen@dailynewsgroup.com.

ON THE WEB Read about Jerrold Dash's battle against cancer on his blog at 2newlungs.blogspot.com.

Uneventful weekend

The weekend was tame. We just ran errands for items for the apartment so it was good to get out despite the fact I still get a little ticked off at the glares (comatose gazes) I get when I am wearing my respirator breathing mask. I think to break-up the gazes I will make up some appropriate flash cards that will diffuse the situation :-).

Watched a movie on Saturday: Wild Hogs and it was pretty funny. It reminded me of the time I tried to teach some of my buds to ride an old motorcycle that I had when I was working in Rhode Island years ago.

On Sunday I shattered the two mile mark with ease, and finished off the walk with several sets of stadium stairs. I also began lifting weights today; nothing serious just fitness/resistance tubes working my legs ONLY.

Wrapped up another news article for the Palo Alto Daily News.
http://www.paloaltodailynews.com/article/2007-4-2-pa-dash-lungs

Recovery plans for Saturday 3/31/07

Not much in the works today. Trying to get in 2 or more miles, some stairs, maybe a few hills if my knees don't start to bother me. The rest of the recovery is progressing nicely (my words) I am 70% lung functionality right now and hope to see steady improvement possibly moving to at least 75% by next Thursday.

That's all for now folks.

Copy of the orginal DFW news Article

In 2007, Jerrold Dash resolves to: Live to see 2008. Find a way for his family to be together. Promote organ donation and break the stereotypes associated with lung cancer.

By Mitch Mitchell

Source: Fort Worth Star-TelegramCredit: STAR-TELEGRAM STAFF

WRITERTuesday,January 9, 2007Edition: Tarrant, Section: News, Page A1

The Lockheed Martin Aeronautics systems engineer is 33 and approaching the first anniversary of his cancer being diagnosed. For the past six months he has lived in a Mountain View, Calif., apartment awaiting a double-lung transplant at Stanford University Medical Center. Dash’s wife of four years and his two young daughters live 1,600 miles away at the family’s south Fort Worth home.

"Cancer doctors are well-versed in what they do, but they don’t give you a lot of hope," Dash said in a telephone interview. "I’m not supposed to survive a year, and I’m definitely not going to be around after five, is what they told me."

Dash and his wife, Rhonda, were racing toward the good life when he began complaining of night sweats, sleepless nights, constant coughing and fatigue. Doctors suspected allergies, asthma, bronchitis, but none used advanced X-rays to screen for lung cancer, Dash said. He was working toward a third master’s degree when the cancer was diagnosed Feb. 1, four years after symptoms first appeared.

He is one of two patients in the United States with his diagnosis who have been approved by a transplant program, according to the United Network for Organ Sharing’s Web site.
Dash says the fact that he has never smoked and was athletic and health-conscious delayed his diagnosis.

He’ll never be able to pinpoint the cause, but he is convinced that secondhand smoke and pollution are two of the likely culprits. He pours out his anger at smokers on a blog that he began in September.

"I am not crazy, deranged, I am just mad as hell. I am mad when I fight for breath and I see smokers lighting up not caring where or in what direction their second-hand smoke goes. In California, there is no smoking in the restaurants, businesses, stores ... however, that does not stop smokers from lighting up right outside of the entrances to such establishments. It physically hurts me to have to walk through this stuff."
— Dash’s blog, Oct. 16

Baylor All Saints Medical Center in Fort Worth, Baylor Medical Center at Southwest Fort Worth and Lockheed all went smoke-free this month. Arlington banned smoking in restaurants, some bars and many other public places as of New Year’s Day. Fort Worth city leaders have scheduled public hearings this month and next on further tobacco restrictions.
Dash, who worked for tobacco giant R.J. Reynolds for two years after graduating with a bachelor’s degree in computer science, said even stronger measures are needed to protect nonsmokers from the byproducts of tobacco.

Against the odds
About 10 percent of people who have lung cancer have never smoked, according to David Weill, head of Stanford’s Lung Transplant Program. It is one of the few U.S. programs that transplants organs to cancer patients, Weill said.

"Usually, transplanting with cancer doesn’t work. The chance of getting cancer after the transplant is pretty high," Weill said.

And while the odds of Dash’s cancer returning after the transplant are about 50 percent, the chances are small that any recurrence would be fatal, Weill said.

"I think in life we have two great vices — fear and failure. ... I have over the last several months conquered my fear of death. No one lives forever. It is in knowing that I will one day die as an old man that I am able to live without fear and try to take advantage of every moment I have. Failure is not in my vocabulary. Athletes don’t fail." — Dash’s blog, Oct. 27

Tamara Crawford, a co-worker at Lockheed, said Dash informed her of his diagnosis about a year ago while he was being tested at a Fort Worth hospital.

"I said that doctors can get the diagnosis, but they don’t know the final outcome," said Crawford, an aeronautical engineer at Lockheed who had attended classes with Dash at Southern Methodist University. "Then I walked back to my car and cried."

A former fullback at Winston-Salem State University in North Carolina, the 5-11, 235-pound Dash has struggled to maintain his weight. He lifts weights nearly every day and says chemotherapy — rat poison, he calls it — makes him hungry, weak, sleepy and angry.
"I had to call the cops today at the hospital to get three die-hard smokers out of the no-smoking area so that cancer patients didn’t have to go through a cloud of smoke while trying to get into the cancer center," Dash wrote in an e-mail Dec. 28.

Dash communicates with his family daily by phone, e-mail or webcam. His wife, Rhonda; their 3-year-old, Raegan; and 1-year-old Ravyn huddle around the computer to share news of holidays and routine events. The trio last visited Dash in California on Thanksgiving.

Raegan "cries for him. She misses him," said Rhonda Dash, an environmental investigator with the state. "She always asks when we can go back out there for a visit."
Ravyn was only a few weeks old when her father received his diagnosis. For her, Dash is a man inside the box.
"She calls the telephone Dada," Jerrold Dash said.

Timing is crucial
Jerrold Dash hasn’t been to Fort Worth since September, when he attended the funeral of his mother-in-law, who died of lung cancer. If he leaves the Palo Alto area, his name will be removed from the transplant list. That policy is driven by the short shelf life of lungs — a mere six hours after being removed from a donor. Transplant recipients must not venture more than four hours from the hospital because of the time needed for a pre-surgery work-up.
Dash completes his assignments related to the Lightning II project by telecommuting from one of Lockheed’s California offices.

He is working on a third master’s degree — this one in systems engineering, having earned graduate degrees in organizational management and computer information systems. He completes course work at Southern Methodist University by watching DVDs of his classes. His classmates graduated in December, but he is one class and one paper short of fulfilling his degree requirements.

Yet some things, he knows, are more important.
"From the time I graduated from college up to now, I did everything I could to benefit my career; a career I do not feel I will ever get back on track again. However, I am not sad to see my career take a backseat. You have to find a balance in life and prioritize the major things in your life. The things that are important to me are being able to wake-up and see another day, my GOD, and my friends and family."
— Dash’s blog, Jan. 2

SECONDHAND SMOKE

Secondhand smoke causes 35,000 to 45,000 deaths from heart disease every year. An additional 3,000 otherwise healthy nonsmokers die of lung cancer each year because of their exposure to secondhand smoke, according to the American Cancer Society.
The Environmental Protection Agency has classified secondhand smoke as a Group A carcinogen, a substance that is known to cause human cancer.
Find information online about lung cancer and secondhand smoke at Medline Plus at medlineplus.gov or at the American Cancer Society at www.cancer.org/docroot/home/index.asp
ORGAN DONATION
As of Dec. 29, more than 94,600 people were on a transplant waiting list; more than 22,000 received transplants in 2006, and nearly 11,200 donated organs.
To ensure that your decision to become a donor is carried out, sign up at www.texasdear.org.
Indicate your wishes on your driver’s license or state ID when you apply for or renew it. Tell relatives that you have decided to become a donor.
Find information online at Donate Life America at www.donatelife.net, the United Network for Organ Sharing at www.unos.org or LifeGift at www.lifegift.org.
Contact Jerrold Dash through his blog at 2newlungs.blogspot.com.
SOURCES: American Cancer Society, Donate Life America, United Network for Organ Sharing
IF YOU GO
The public is invited to comment on recommended changes to Fort Worth’s smoking ordinance during 7 p.m. meetings hosted by the city:

Jan. 16: R.D. Evans Community Center, 3242 Lackland Road
Jan. 22: Handley Meadowbrook Community Center, 6201 Beaty St.
Feb. 1: Southwest Community Center, 6300 Welch Ave.
Feb. 12: North Fort Worth Baptist Church, 5801 N. Interstate 35W

Mitch Mitchell, 817-548-5411 mitchmitchell@star-telegram.com

Walking Increase

I picked up the pace and got just over a mile and a half in today; along with a healthy dose of stadium stairs.

I think my weight is stabalizing (I lost 34 pounds in 3weeks)

Jerroldism: lessons learned so far.........

This whole ordeal has taught me a lot:

I have hopefully learned through all this more patients, and also every setback is not really a setback at all it is a setup for better things to come and just allows you the opportunity to grow the tools you need to get to where you need to be in life, love, and FAITH.

Health News

The initial pathology report is that all the junk (cancer.... BAC) was contained within my poor ol' lungs. This is good news as they have not noticed or noted any nodular activity. In short I am cancer free and hoping some good data will be gathered from the pending research that will take place on the ol' windbags.

Longest Mile

Sunday got out walked a mile around the Stanford track. The walk took a little longer than I thought but I made it through. It took a grand total of 23 minutes in lane nine so in the first lane I probably would have shaved 3 minutes off my time. I think I may try two miles this weekend when the weather warms up.

Pictures after the mile and while I was doing the stadium stairs.

News Article by the Star-Telegram

http://www.star-telegram.com/226/story/46789.html

Posted on Sat, Mar. 24, 2007

Man recovering after lung transplant

By MITCH MITCHELL

For nearly seven months, Jerrold Dash breathed uneasily as he awaited two new lungs from an organ donor.

A Fort Worth resident and nonsmoker, Dash tried not to worry about whether his lung cancer was spreading and whether he could die. While awaiting surgery in California, he relieved his anxiety by working out regularly, chatting with loved ones and chronicling his experiences on a blog -- always remaining hopeful.

This month, Dash, 33, got bittersweet news. A 30-year-old organ donor had died and his lungs were a match. Dash's wife, Rhonda Dash, arrived in Palo Alto just 2 1/2 hours before his March 6 surgery, which lasted seven hours.

"I got to the hospital just in time to talk to him and pray together," Rhonda Dash said.
Dash was released from the hospital March 15. He anticipates returning to Fort Worth by late June or early July. He had been living in California for almost a year awaiting the transplant while his wife and two young daughters stayed in Fort Worth.

As soon as Jerrold Dash can find the words, he said, he will thank the donor family in a letter he will give to a social worker at Stanford University Medical Center. Medical personnel are not allowed to reveal donor information.

All indications are that Dash's lung cancer did not spread and that his new lungs are functioning better than expected, he said.

He remains determined to help fight cancer in any way he can -- including speaking at schools and churches. The Lockheed Martin Aeronautics systems engineer donated his old lungs for research.
"In April, I will get to have a private moment with them before they slice and dice them," Dash said.
For the next few weeks, Dash must wear a mask that will help prevent infections. For the rest of his life, Dash must watch for signs of infection or tissue rejection. But the longer he remains clear of infections and the longer his body does not reject the donated organs, the better his chances are for a long and healthy life, his wife said.

Dash was one of two people with his diagnosis on the transplant waiting list in late December. Transplants for people with lung cancer are rare because of the chances of the disease spreading, said Dr. David Weill, head of Stanford's lung transplant program.

"I'm cancer-free now," Dash said. "I can do anything that I want to do."
He isn't strong enough to work out yet. Before the surgery, the exercise fanatic lifted weights at the YMCA; he used to be a fullback at Winston-Salem State University in North Carolina.
"Jerrold was out of the hospital in a remarkable amount of time," said Allyson Rupp, a clinical social worker at the hospital where Dash had the surgery. "He is extremely well-built physically, and he has such an outstanding attitude. He doesn't complain about anything, and he worries about everyone else around him."

At the Dash family's church, East St. Paul Baptist Church in Fort Worth, March 11 was Jerrold Dash Day. The Rev. L.S. Wilson, senior pastor, said congregants collected an offering to help offset the Dashes' medical and related expenses. Wilson said he also encouraged others to become organ donors, because "there are a lot of other families like the Dashes out there."
Speaking out in favor of organ donation is a New Year's resolution that Dash said he is determined to keep.

"This is an opportunity to effect change in myself and others," Dash said. "This game, this cancer game has gone on for far too long. If they don't hear me one way, they will hear me another way. The lung cancer statistics are grim and negative, but I would caution anyone to bet against me. You'll lose every time."
In the Know

Transplant timeline

• March 5: Dash receives call that donor lungs are available
• March 6: Receives double lung transplant in a seven-hour operation
• March 7: Moves to intermediate intensive care unit
• March 8: Sits up to eat for the first time since surgery
• March 9: Exercises for the first time since surgery (walks around nurses' station)
• March 11: Experiences a defibrillation attack (increased heart rate associated with transplant, typical in about a third of transplant recipients, according to his doctor)
• March 13: Receives keys to new apartment near Stanford University Medical Center and has another minor atrial defibrillation attack
• March 15: Discharged from hospital
  

Contact Jerrold Dash through his blog at 2newlungs.blogspot.com

Organ donation
Find information about organ donation at Donate Life America, www.donatelife.net; United Network for Organ Sharing at www.unos.org; or LifeGift at www.lifegift.org.

News Article: by Pegasus News wire

http://www.pegasusnews.com/news/2007/mar/24/fort-worth-man-gets-lung-transplant/



Saturday, March 24, 2007
Fort Worth man gets lung transplant
By Pegasus News wire


Jarrold Dash, 33, of Fort Worth had been waiting for seven months for a lung transplant. Earlier this month, he finally got the call that there was a match.
As reported by S-T Dash had lung cancer, though he was not a smoker, and while he was waiting there was always the possibility that the cancer could spread. For nearly the past year, he has been living in California, awaiting a lung donor, while his wife and children were staying in their Fort Worth home. On March 6 he received his surgery at Stanford University Medical Center, which went better than expected, and will be able to return to Fort Worth by June or July.

Transplants are extremely rare for people with lung cancer because of the high risk of the disease spreading. According to MedlinePlus "Fighting rejection is an ongoing process. The body's immune system considers the transplanted organ as an invader (much like an infection) and may attack it. To prevent rejection, organ transplant patients must take anti-rejection (immunosuppression) drugs (such as cyclosporine and corticosteroids) that suppress the body's immune response and reduce the chance of rejection." But with careful monitoring and the anti-rejection drugs, Dash is expected to live a long, healthy life.
Posted by Erin

I got flowers and cards ......

Using my artistic license I have put together a collage (MASTERPIECE) of some of the many flowers, and cards I received.

Thanks to everyone for all the calls, e-mail messages, cards, flowers/plants, and monetary offers. You all are a blessing to me keep the prayers coming.

Still on the road to recovery

Still recovering every day is a blessing and gets a little easier. I am being advised to take things slow as far as my recovery goes. I have my second outpatient clinic visit on Thursday so I hope all is still progressing according to the doctors plan (I think personally that I am doing great but lets take things one day at a time).

Leaving the Hospital

Pictures of me leaving the hospital and the mask I must now wear at least for the first year.

Additional Time line information

Some additional time line information that I was too drugged up to remember.

• March 5, 2007 Received Call (PM)
• March 6 Transplanted with 2 lungs (1:30 A – 8:30 A)
• march 7 moved to intermediate ICU, rm 341D
• march 8 sit up to eat (PM)
• march 9 walked around nurses’ station
• march 10 mother and godmother went back home
• march 11 atrial defibrillation attack (increased heart rate associated with transplant)
• march 12 blood sample, sputum sample, & urine sample to
  identify why 102.4 F. fever
  received medication list for self medication
  Received Plant #2 from Lockheed’s Executives
• March 13 received keys to h.o.m.e apts near Standford hospital another atrial defibrillation attack
• march 15 took 1st shower since transplant discharged from hospital to h.om.e apts (pm)

I'm a walking

I am walking. These pictures were taken pre-chest tube removal so you can see I had a lot of medical stuff and stuff to haul around with me.

Ugly hospital pictures

Some of the shoots of me with all types of bells, whistles and tubes going place I dare not mention :-)

The first picture (bottom Left) shows me sitting up in the bed having a breathing treatment.

The middle picture shows how sleepy you get with all the medicine along with a strong desire to catch a cat nap b/c there is no real sleeping in the hospital

The last picture (bottom right) shows my last chest tube as it is being pulled out. They asked if that hurt I responded by telling them that it was a unique once in a life time experience and come here let me bite your nose and see how that feels :-). You can also see the clam shell incision that was used to take out the bad lungs and place the new upgraded lung into my chest. Pray for my donors family and loved ones.

Congratulations (brother brother #21 Winter '07 DAD Inc.)

Congratulations I would like to congratulate my little brother and sis-in-Law on the birth one week ago on the birth on their lovely little daughter.

Little guy now you will know what it is like to leave the house on a tool tun full on testosterone and get to the Mega department store only to go to the infant girls section buying stuff for your princess and end up buying a cheap tool at the dollar store. Welcome Brother Brother #21 Spring '07 we have been waiting for you to join our ranks. :-)


DAD Inc. - dad of a daughter

Learn these by heart
Hello Kitty
Dora The Explorer
Little Einsteins
Back Yard Agains
Barbie
My Little Pony
The Proud Family
Barney
..........
..........
..........

Jerrold update (Post Transplant) and out of the Hospital

This will be a rather long catch up blog as I have for one reason or another not been able to reach my fans since March 09, 2007. This blog will attempt to bridge the time gap from March 10, 2007 up to March 17, 2007.


Let’s begin shall we
(Disclaimer this is from my memory alone that has been on heavy heavy drugs for almost two and a half weeks now--- end of Jerrold Disclaimer)

March 10, 2007
Not much happened on this day as it was a Saturday just more pain as I recover. My Mother and God Mother prepare to leave the hospital turning over my recovery support duties to my wife. I still have 4 chest tubes in me and other IV lines running all over the place along with heart monitors…..

Some walking today, it is hard to get used to the large respitory device I must wear to filter impurities from getting in my lungs.

March 11, 2007
My worst fear was reached today; I was floating along in my recover too easily. About 4AM in the morning as my vitals were being taken and I was filling up yet another urine container I suddenly felt very uneasy on my feat; I began shaking, sweating, got hot / cold, short of breath, and my heart rate jumped from 90 something to 180 to 200 in a matter of seconds. I had basically gone into Afib http://www.hrspatients.org/patients/heart_disorders/atrial_fibrillation/default.asp
Atrial Fibrillation (also called AF or A Fib) is a common heart rhythm disorder caused by a problem in the conduction of electrical impulses in the upper chambers, or atria, of the heart.

This little incident had a major impact on me. It let me know that I have a long bumpy recovery road ahead of me. I was frightened out of my mind during the whole process as I was out of control of what was happening with me. All I could do was just lay there and let the nurses pack me in warm blankets to control the shivering, calm me down, and try to stabilize me until my heart rate reduction plan had been blessed off by the doctors. Eventually my heart rate was medically controlled but I was nervous, anxious, and darn scared for the rest of the day and did not want to be left alone.

Some walking today.

March 12, 2007
Routine day filled with lots of doctors visiting my room since the Afib incident got their attention too. We continue on the meds to slow the heart rate. All in all it was a good day. Walked very little today.

March 13, 2007
Routine slight temperature spike during the night; but it was nothing major. The doctors removed on pair of chest tubes today, which would allow me to have less things hanging and become slightly more mobile. (Side note on the pain involved: the chest tubes hurt like the dickens coming out it felt like someone was trying to saw out of my body from the inside out as the cords were being pulled through and finally out). More lap walking on my floor.

March 14, 2007
Slight Afib episode again but it was quickly controlled. I continued to have temperature spike that baffle the doctors so they get rid of all IV lines and check the access point tips in the lab for bacteria (none found). My mediport is accessed for all IV drugs I need. I addition to my walking the physical therapist brought in a stationary bike so I can have more diversity in my exercise.

March 15, 2007
Normal day; I got my last set of chest tubes out today. These sets of tube were far less painful to remove than the first. Now I am mobile I just have my IV pole to go where I go now. I am 10 pounds lighter this morning also I was given such a heavy dose of lasiks that I urinated away 10 pounds overnight. More walking ….

No temperature spikes in the last 24 hours; so the executive decision was made to release to go to the hospital HOME apartment possibly for 3months or until I am medically cleared to return to Texas. More walking and I am excited about popping this fruit stand (Free at last, Free at last, Thank GOD all mighty we are Free at last) by-MLKing Jr.

Took along walk in the evening just the wife and I. It was tough as I am still adjusting to the mask (note on the mask: the mask would be like your worst day of track practice and you have to run continuous sprints with a bandana covering you nose and another covering your mouth.)

March 16, 2007
Freedom (the first full one)

Got up at and got all my meds together, then the wife and I were out the door.running errarands (cable office, post office grocery store)

March 17, 2007
Up early in the AM working on the blog; could not sleep. Will probably run errands today and walk outside (masking tow / on the face) today.

on Sunday March 18, 2007 I was supposed to do the 12k race in San Francisco
http://www.rhodyco.com/07enab.html

Recovery hurts

Howdy this is Jerrold recovery hurts, I am taking baby steps right now. Thanks for all the prayers and calls.

Jerrold

Lung Transplant update

Hi there- This is not Jerrold typing, but someone who promised to update the blog on his behalf. After his bilateral lung transplant, Jerrold is doing great! His road to recovery has begun-- this morning's chores consist of sitting up in a chair, and working on frequent lung exercises. He's extubated (off the ventilator) and obeying all orders, with no complaints! He'll be back online as soon as he can bribe a nurse or two to let him at the computer! In the meantime, comments can likely be printed out and brought to him for his review...

Still waiting for the procedure

Ready to go under the knife; but couldn't resist getting on the computer :-)

The procedure will start at midnite, I am hungry and thirsty.
out now.

Got the call for TRANSPLANT just now

hey came over to the hospital to get some dinner and I might get a side of lungs. My pager just went off and it was the transplant surgeons so I am checking in. See you all on the other side, I am not nervous. So here goes.

Take a risk

Jerrold

Day after Chemo

Day after chemo; I guess I am really used to the stuff as it does not even effect me in a negative way anymore. It is time to go train; I have many miles to walk this evening and several tons of weights to push, along with prayer and meditation.

Chemo Day once again

A few images of me getting my rat poison #7 "Chemo". Somehow I feel like this is going to be my last chemo.

pre chemo (the day before the game)

Day light comes and I want to go home. I get some Chemo tomorrow eve after I take the family to the airport so they can return to TX. This chemo will be a rough one I better take my IPod so I can mentally put myself somewhere else and block out the infusion room surroundings.

CT scan in the Morn

Life as a bachelor sucks, I am back to my normal grind and I don't like it at all but it is a short term sacrifice to the long term risk I have chosen to take (take a risk and grow old).

I have a CT in the morn. and it should be routine but it seems that CT's, petscans, x-rays are never routine. I always have to answer the question about smoking, I NEVER SMOKED please stop asking; (I am going to get some t-shirts made that point to my blog) I hope such an action will stop all questions, also I am wondering if I will have to stand my ground when the tech wants to use my arm rather than my chest port to pump me full of CT contrast.

Oh well another day down and I can't complain
"The boy with no shoes never knew how good he had it until he met the boy with no feet"

Bench Press

I lost the bench press contest at the YMCA I only got 80% of my body weight 16 times but next year I plan on destroying the competition click the link below to see my new workout

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AYBe8ur4uJU

Oh yea I can give you a dozen or more legitimate excuses as to why I didn't win but excuses are paper thin and the end result would still be the same (a loss). The only thing this loss does is give me more energy to pick myself up and work harder.

quote about being sick

"If you have health, you have everything. The person who is ill wants only one thing--whole health and well-being." - by a respected member of the medical community

Post Valentine

Mom is here the Ladies are totally spoiled, and at least for this week cancer and medical issues along with other life issues are occupying my total attention. Valentines was great good food, conversation and most importantly being surrounded by ladies focusing all their attention on me (The Ladies Man) or at least the ladies man for one week; if I had chest hair (darn chemo) and this chemo port wasn't in my chest then I would have to walk around with a big collared shirt partially unbuttoned and breakout the my afro wig.

Enjoying the Visit (Tuesday)

Enjoying the girls right now, trying to spoil the ladies as much as possible. Took a nice trip up to San Fran on yesterday had a blast down at the Piers and stopped for lunch at the Rain Forest Cafe (yes Raegan is still afraid of most of the animals she has conquered her fear of the butterflies and birds since there animation is not as dramatic when compared to the others.) Unfortunately we cut the San Fran trip short due to rain so hopefully on the next trip we will do more around San Fran.

My health held up for the most part, however I do seem to get winded more easily and more frequently. I tend to tire out when I carry one or both of the girls around this never really hampered me down before as it does now.

Excited about my mom coming in on tomorrow to spend time with the my ladies and me. Her trip is blessing being provided by the Lemon Aide foundation at Stanford Universities Cancer Center. http://cancer.stanford.edu/features/patient_care_news/lemonaide.html

Hello Ladies

Hello Ladies. My wife and daughters will be here today for a week time flies I have much work to do to convert my cave back into an apartment. Of course I am waiting until the last minute to do everything it is 0330 PST they don't arrive until 1030 PST so I will start getting everything ready at 0630 maybe or 0631 ...... .... ....

I am ready to see them. I am sure Raegan and I will get in trouble for playing with toys and reading too many books well past her bedtime (also eating too much gum, and candy too). Ravyn will just be trying to figure out who I am as she really hasn't seen much of me in her 13 months. Any Rhonda will enjoy getting some rest and sleeping in.

Nap time.

I'm an Actor now y'all

Yesterday I marked my debut into the craft that calls many to California. I am an actor and, I might add a darn good one too (actually I am clueless). I have been involved with shooting a video yesterday and today for the National Lung Cancer Partnership. This video will be distributed to patients with lung cancer, and oncologist to give them a human perspective of what it is like to go through a clinical trial. My hope is that through telling my story and providing information about my clinical trial(s) I can help someone else that might be trying to stay afloat in the dark waters of cancer.

On a brighter note I won a bench press contest today. Check that I think I won; check that I hope I won. They (gym folks) tell me that just by competing I won, which may be true but that is not good enough. A moral victory doesn't come with a trophy, bragging rights, or sand to kick in the losers face. I want to win. The contest was for my home YMCA in Fort Worth, TX and you had to lift 80% of your body weight as many times as possible. I weighed in at 237.25 lbs so 80% of that is 189.792 so rounding up that means I needed to lift 190 lbs. My goal was to get between 15 - 20 reps and I would be happy since I am not my old self I got 15 (actually 15/16 I just couldn't lockout my right arm on the last rep). I was ok with 15 reps but I wish I could have done more. The contest or lifting wasn't bad though I thought I would be in bad shape afterwards (coughing alot fighting for air) but I was okay and after a minute I was ready to do more. The official contest isn't until February 15 so I might sneak back in and do the contest over again, Refuse to lose.

Fort Worth, TX YMCA newsletter

http://ry.ymcafw.org/images/upload/RY%20-%20Feb%20%2007.pdf

Pre-game (Superbowl)

Ready for some football hopefully we will have a good game on tomorrow. I am really looking forward to all the grease (buffalo wings) that I am going to be able to consume and all the Root beer I can handle.

The Day after (one year)

One has come and gone without much pomp and circumstance. I spent most of yesterday 2/1/07 at the hospital getting bone density scans. The past few weeks my joints have really been bothering me (knees, ankles mostly). I was nervous hoping for the best but, expecting and prepared for the worst. In this case the worst would be that the cancer has metastasised to my bones.

Waiting....
Eating (Umm hospital cuisine Umm)
More Eating...
Waiting (Tic-Toc)...

Good news no bone metastasis I am just old and beat up. It appears that I have degenerative joint damage in both knees and my left shoulder. Looks like my new cologne will be ice hot or flex-all from time to time.

I think I will celebrate the good news, and my anniversary of beating the odds with 2 naps. There are so many statistics and myths that I am going to change and rewrite be for it is all said and done; the medical text book publishers should give me a contract.

Prelude to One

My anniversary date is upon us. What a year it has been. This year has been good, bad, and everything else in between. I think one good thing that I have learned this year is that marriage, living in a house full or ladies, the Lifetime movie marathons, the tea parties, and constantly having to redress and carry Barbie dolls and pursues has not made me soft. The time that I have spent on my own as a pseudo bachelor I have been able to quickly adapt again to those life skills that took me years build up before marriage, children, and civilization:

• Eating pizza for breakfast, lunch, dinner, then breakfast once again
• Ice – Cream (milk shakes for breakfast)
• Watching sports all day on the weekends in between naps
• Working out late at night
• Wearing holey clothes around the apartment
• Scratching, belching, and using my freedom of speech when I drive

chemo day cometh once again

Chemo Day "Rat poison #7" is upon us once again.

The side effects of this poison are finally start to come to the surface (bad skin, joint pain, vomiting / nausea), Oh well so much for this chemo being easier than the other Rat poison cocktails I have had.

Note to cancer infusion rooms everywhere we need Patch Adams. The chemo infusion rooms are dark in spirit and down right sad the doctors, nurses, patients, and care givers should be able to have some fun. We aren't at a funeral so even while getting the juice we should be able to have some fun live a little.

Stand for Something

There seems to be some confusion about information about me, about my situation, and about the message(s) I would like to convey.

About Me:
I am human I am going to have good days and bad days, bear with me. I only hope that my good days far out number the bad ones. If sometimes I sound a little bitter or sour about the hand I have been dealt; I am probably having a bad day so lets hope it quickly passes.

My Situation:
I am not alone, I am unfortunately a member of a select fraternity that I was not allowed to turn down. I am not the only person in the country or world with my condition, if I were I think I might be more accepting because it would mean (in my eyes) that other patients weren't slipping through the medical cracks and hearing the unbearable news that they have advanced, late stage, terminal cancer.

My Message:
My goal is to get the transplant so that it can possibly have transplantation as an option when dealing with late stage BAC (Bronchioloalveolar Carcinoma). I would also like to at least get people (young and old) to at least discuss organ donation and know that even in the darkest moments when life has beaten you down you can still lift someone else up. Lastly many, many (did I say many) smokers are unhappy with me and to that I say get over it. The deal is most non-smokers aren't up in arms about you all smoking, people are going to do what they are going to do. Where many non-smokers take offence is when we can't access a building, store, restaurant, train, or even walk down the city street without inhaling your second hand smoke. Smokers cry about their rights but don't known smokers have rights too??

Where's the balance???

MLK Jr. tribute

This post is a day late and a dollar short but I would be remiss if I didn’t take a minute to pay my respects to the man, the mission, the courage, the strength, and the leadership that was embodied by Martin Luther King Jr. Regardless of your race, creed, color, or religious preference or how you may have felt about him or the many shoulders he stood upon to rise to his position he fought for all of us. Martin drew a line in the sand and had the conviction to stay on difficult the course he had chosen in an effort to correct an injustice that had no place in our society. Thank-you Martin, and thank-you to the many nameless men, women, and children that aided Martin in the struggle and have kept the fight alive.

Hall of Fame

What a sad two days it has been for me. I have come to the realization that there is a goal I will never be able to fulfill. It seems I have become a victim to some of the horrible medication that I have taken in the Bay Area. No longer can I preach from my soapbox and tell young athletes that I don’t drink, smoke, or use drugs. I have not knowingly been taking steroids for about a month now; not the cream format either that is so popular in the Bay Area.

Since I am taking a steroid or athletic enhancing drug I have to make peace with the fact that I will now never be able to play in the NFL, or play MLB. I will also not be able to go in the hall of fame for either of the two sports. To top it all off I will probably lose my security clearance and have to testify before Congress. I may hire TO’s publicist to do damage control after I testify before that most moral and ethically sound body we call Congress. I hope I don’t get a cell too close to Jack Bower.

I have also been practicing taking the Fifth.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nKUTS9l2HfY

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qmDKsAuHooo

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L0p0ZllZ7Xg

DFW Star-Telegram Article

In 2007, Jerrold Dash resolves to: Live to see 2008. Find a way for his family to be together. Promote organ donation and break the stereotypes associated with lung cancer.

By Mitch Mitchell

Source: Fort Worth Star-TelegramCredit: STAR-TELEGRAM STAFF

WRITERTuesday,January 9, 2007Edition: Tarrant, Section: News, Page A1

The Lockheed Martin Aeronautics systems engineer is 33 and approaching the first anniversary of his cancer being diagnosed. For the past six months he has lived in a Mountain View, Calif., apartment awaiting a double-lung transplant at Stanford University Medical Center. Dash’s wife of four years and his two young daughters live 1,600 miles away at the family’s south Fort Worth home.

"Cancer doctors are well-versed in what they do, but they don’t give you a lot of hope," Dash said in a telephone interview. "I’m not supposed to survive a year, and I’m definitely not going to be around after five, is what they told me."

Dash and his wife, Rhonda, were racing toward the good life when he began complaining of night sweats, sleepless nights, constant coughing and fatigue. Doctors suspected allergies, asthma, bronchitis, but none used advanced X-rays to screen for lung cancer, Dash said. He was working toward a third master’s degree when the cancer was diagnosed Feb. 1, four years after symptoms first appeared.

He is one of two patients in the United States with his diagnosis who have been approved by a transplant program, according to the United Network for Organ Sharing’s Web site.
Dash says the fact that he has never smoked and was athletic and health-conscious delayed his diagnosis.

He’ll never be able to pinpoint the cause, but he is convinced that secondhand smoke and pollution are two of the likely culprits. He pours out his anger at smokers on a blog that he began in September.

"I am not crazy, deranged, I am just mad as hell. I am mad when I fight for breath and I see smokers lighting up not caring where or in what direction their second-hand smoke goes. In California, there is no smoking in the restaurants, businesses, stores ... however, that does not stop smokers from lighting up right outside of the entrances to such establishments. It physically hurts me to have to walk through this stuff."
— Dash’s blog, Oct. 16

Baylor All Saints Medical Center in Fort Worth, Baylor Medical Center at Southwest Fort Worth and Lockheed all went smoke-free this month. Arlington banned smoking in restaurants, some bars and many other public places as of New Year’s Day. Fort Worth city leaders have scheduled public hearings this month and next on further tobacco restrictions.
Dash, who worked for tobacco giant R.J. Reynolds for two years after graduating with a bachelor’s degree in computer science, said even stronger measures are needed to protect nonsmokers from the byproducts of tobacco.

Against the odds
About 10 percent of people who have lung cancer have never smoked, according to David Weill, head of Stanford’s Lung Transplant Program. It is one of the few U.S. programs that transplants organs to cancer patients, Weill said.

"Usually, transplanting with cancer doesn’t work. The chance of getting cancer after the transplant is pretty high," Weill said.

And while the odds of Dash’s cancer returning after the transplant are about 50 percent, the chances are small that any recurrence would be fatal, Weill said.

"I think in life we have two great vices — fear and failure. ... I have over the last several months conquered my fear of death. No one lives forever. It is in knowing that I will one day die as an old man that I am able to live without fear and try to take advantage of every moment I have. Failure is not in my vocabulary. Athletes don’t fail." — Dash’s blog, Oct. 27

Tamara Crawford, a co-worker at Lockheed, said Dash informed her of his diagnosis about a year ago while he was being tested at a Fort Worth hospital.

"I said that doctors can get the diagnosis, but they don’t know the final outcome," said Crawford, an aeronautical engineer at Lockheed who had attended classes with Dash at Southern Methodist University. "Then I walked back to my car and cried."

A former fullback at Winston-Salem State University in North Carolina, the 5-11, 235-pound Dash has struggled to maintain his weight. He lifts weights nearly every day and says chemotherapy — rat poison, he calls it — makes him hungry, weak, sleepy and angry.
"I had to call the cops today at the hospital to get three die-hard smokers out of the no-smoking area so that cancer patients didn’t have to go through a cloud of smoke while trying to get into the cancer center," Dash wrote in an e-mail Dec. 28.

Dash communicates with his family daily by phone, e-mail or webcam. His wife, Rhonda; their 3-year-old, Raegan; and 1-year-old Ravyn huddle around the computer to share news of holidays and routine events. The trio last visited Dash in California on Thanksgiving.

Raegan "cries for him. She misses him," said Rhonda Dash, an environmental investigator with the state. "She always asks when we can go back out there for a visit."
Ravyn was only a few weeks old when her father received his diagnosis. For her, Dash is a man inside the box.
"She calls the telephone Dada," Jerrold Dash said.

Timing is crucial
Jerrold Dash hasn’t been to Fort Worth since September, when he attended the funeral of his mother-in-law, who died of lung cancer. If he leaves the Palo Alto area, his name will be removed from the transplant list. That policy is driven by the short shelf life of lungs — a mere six hours after being removed from a donor. Transplant recipients must not venture more than four hours from the hospital because of the time needed for a pre-surgery work-up.
Dash completes his assignments related to the Lightning II project by telecommuting from one of Lockheed’s California offices.

He is working on a third master’s degree — this one in systems engineering, having earned graduate degrees in organizational management and computer information systems. He completes course work at Southern Methodist University by watching DVDs of his classes. His classmates graduated in December, but he is one class and one paper short of fulfilling his degree requirements.

Yet some things, he knows, are more important.
"From the time I graduated from college up to now, I did everything I could to benefit my career; a career I do not feel I will ever get back on track again. However, I am not sad to see my career take a backseat. You have to find a balance in life and prioritize the major things in your life. The things that are important to me are being able to wake-up and see another day, my GOD, and my friends and family."
— Dash’s blog, Jan. 2

SECONDHAND SMOKE

Secondhand smoke causes 35,000 to 45,000 deaths from heart disease every year. An additional 3,000 otherwise healthy nonsmokers die of lung cancer each year because of their exposure to secondhand smoke, according to the American Cancer Society.
The Environmental Protection Agency has classified secondhand smoke as a Group A carcinogen, a substance that is known to cause human cancer.
Find information online about lung cancer and secondhand smoke at Medline Plus at medlineplus.gov or at the American Cancer Society at www.cancer.org/docroot/home/index.asp
ORGAN DONATION
As of Dec. 29, more than 94,600 people were on a transplant waiting list; more than 22,000 received transplants in 2006, and nearly 11,200 donated organs.
To ensure that your decision to become a donor is carried out, sign up at www.texasdear.org.
Indicate your wishes on your driver’s license or state ID when you apply for or renew it. Tell relatives that you have decided to become a donor.
Find information online at Donate Life America at www.donatelife.net, the United Network for Organ Sharing at www.unos.org or LifeGift at www.lifegift.org.
Contact Jerrold Dash through his blog at 2newlungs.blogspot.com.
SOURCES: American Cancer Society, Donate Life America, United Network for Organ Sharing
IF YOU GO
The public is invited to comment on recommended changes to Fort Worth’s smoking ordinance during 7 p.m. meetings hosted by the city:

Jan. 16: R.D. Evans Community Center, 3242 Lackland Road
Jan. 22: Handley Meadowbrook Community Center, 6201 Beaty St.
Feb. 1: Southwest Community Center, 6300 Welch Ave.
Feb. 12: North Fort Worth Baptist Church, 5801 N. Interstate 35W

Mitch Mitchell, 817-548-5411 mitchmitchell@star-telegram.com

Happy Birthday

Happy Birthday little one I will be home soon.

Chemo Day (comes again)

Had an interesting ride into the hospital this morning. Some guy was on the road and was already having a bad day taking out his frustration on the other drivers on El Camino Real. This guy offered me a chance to get in an early morning workout as he decided to challenge other drivers on the road, I unfortunately gave him a pass and came on into the hospital but I am not so sure the other drivers on the road did not take him up on his challenges. There is a lesson that I am trying to pass along to the early morning drivers near cancer centers wherever you are located. It is in your best interest not to challenge cancer patients on their way to chemo, don't make any sudden movements toward us, and don't look us directly in the eye in a challenging manner b/c we are already tense, on edge, and ready to "Pop the Pop off". Unknown driver please know this I am 5 pounds short of bringing Sexy back my pre-cancer weight of 240 so in three weeks when I ride in for my next chemo I might not give you a pass Mr. 8 A.M. angry driver.

Disclaimer: I don't advocate violence but, you are not of a normal mindset on treatment days; your thoughts and actions are different so you can make it through.


Another day, another hit of rat poison #7, with a vitamin B-12, and steroid chaser.

CT results were stable.

Lung Functionality is down.

That is about it time to head to the apartment and sleep.

farwell Charlie

This post is not about me it is a tribute to a fallen member of our transplant support group that ran out of time as he was not able to get his much needed transplant. I am posting my farewell and my condolences on my blog as I will be unable to attend the life celebration for Charlie Stockley. Charlie and I never got to meet each other and hang but through the stories his family, friends, co-workers have shared I was able to know the man, the humanitarian, the musician, that was Charlie Stockley. I hate that Charlie ran out of time while waiting for a donor because everybody deserves a chance at life.

For more information on Charlie please visit his website www.charliestockley.com

For more information about organ donation please visit this site www.donatelife.net

Rest in Peace Charlie, breathe long, breathe free, breathe deep

Last year and Today

Happy New Year. Out with the old and in with the new. My thoughts and some long overdue pent up feelings about 2006 along with hope I have for 2007.

2006
2006 was filled with the good, the bad, and the ugly but; through it all I can’t complain because I am still vertical, upright, breathing, and my family is healthy, happy, and provided for. The sickness that blindsided me and my family was unexpected but we are dealing with it and hope in 2007 I can get a transplant.

The sicker I become, the more I see the two worlds that I am existing colliding (the world of a terminal cancer patient and the world of the not sick who pressure you about stuff that in the grand scheme of things is not that serious). I am torn as from the time I graduated from college up to now I did everything I could to benefit my career; a career I do not fill will ever get back on track again. I however am not sad to see my career take a backseat for you have to find a balance in life and prioritize the major things in your life. The things that are important to me are being able to wake-up and see another day, my GOD, and my friends and family. I still have a lot of my engineering savvy, and training but I can’t waste my time worrying about professional administrative things that I can’t control, I fight for breath daily that is my concern. I struggle to keep my family afloat daily, I struggle satisfy the heartless creditors that demand their payment regardless of what is going on in your life. I can’t control the direction my career takes from this point on since I will be nervous in the future working around others especially working around the office super hero’s we all know that come to work sick rather than burning sick leave.

I still hold a lot of anger toward the office of my former primary care doctor’s office. I have learned that lung cancer is a hard catch for the professionals that engage in the practice of medicine. I am disappointed that I was mis-diagnosed for so many years, and that the symptoms that I was experiencing fell on deaf ears as they never really heard the words that came out of my mouth. The incident that angers me the most is that after I was diagnosed and had switched to another primary care physician I placed a call to the offices of my former primary care physician at All Saints City View and got one of Dr. B’s physicians assistant. I simply asked given all we know since I was diagnosed do you think you did everything you could medically speaking. The answer was yes (expected because they were being legally correct) I was hoping for a human answer that would have expressed the fact that medically they could have done a better job at diagnosing my condition by running more test outside of their patient profile protocol, or just saying they are human they aren't perfect and that they will learn and try to improve their medical practice from my situation.

2007
My New Years Resolutions are as follows
1. Live to see 2008
2. Find a way for my family to be together
3. Promote organ donation and break the stereo types associated with lung cancer
4. TBD
5. TBD