Monday, September 06, 2010
The Wait is Almost Over...
This is a big week. On Wednesday I'll have my first treatment of Bendamustine. If all goes well, this will be a six month phase - I'll have two treatments on back-to-back days and then be 'off' for another 4 weeks. So by early February the hope is the treatments will have done the trick and we're back to watching and making sure everything is kept at bay. I continue to feel great. I still find it hard to believe that I have this serious issue brewing around in my body. I guess I should feel fortunate that I've never really felt the symptoms of this disease but it's still very frustrating that I have to go through another treatment phase.
A couple weeks ago I had a new port put in. The old one basically quit working so we had it replaced. It's a bit bigger than the old one but I'm getting used to it and as long as it makes the treatments go a little easier and they're able to get blood samples without going through a vein in my arm, it should make the next round of treatments a little easier to get. The old port was so bad they had to hook me up to a machine to pump the drugs into the port. It wasn't painful but it was quite a hassle. Things should go a lot smoother now.
The boys are back at school - Judd's a senior at UD and Aaron is in his second year at SLU. The house has stayed a bit cleaner in their absence and we have a lot less laundry but I do miss having them around. Judd stopped by on Saturday to pick up a car to take back to school; we have four cars now and only three drivers at home so we thought it would be nice for him to have a car for his senior year. Hopefully we'll be able to go over to St. Louis in a few weeks for Family Weekend to see Aaron. Abbey has a field hockey game but we should be able to work out the trip.
Abbey's senior year has started off well. Her field hockey team started off the season with a loss but hopefully they'll bounce back this week and get in the win column. They're playing a couple teams up in Detroit next weekend - I hear there are more teams that play in Michigan and they're supposedly playing a couple of the top teams in the state so hopefully it's not a long trip home. Jules will be making this trip - I went a couple weeks ago to Pittsburgh. I'm planning to go the Ohio State/Miami game in Columbus next weekend - that is if I can find a ticket.
Finally, the Big Ten Network is counting down the top 50 Sports Icons from in the history of the conference. This is a wide open category when you consider the Big Ten has been around for a very long time and it would be hard to estimate how many athletes have been a part of the conference. Here are my Top Ten and I'm sure I'm leaving out some very obvious choices...BTW, I'm not including coaches or Penn State players who played prior to the Nittany Lions joining the conference.
In no particular order....
Jack Nicklaus, Ohio State - golf. The Golden Bear is easily one of the top 3 golfer of all time and given Tiger Woods' recent problems, he very well could maintain his major wins record of 18.
Jesse Owens, Ohio State - track and field. Owens single-handedly humiliated Adolph Hitler and his Nazi regime by winning 4 gold medals at the 1936 Olympic Games in Berlin.
Red Grange, Illinois - football. Grange was one of the first Big Ten sports heroes and continues to be the most iconic athlete ever from the University of Illinois.
Michael Phelps, Michigan - swimming. Phelps is the most decorated athlete in Olympic history. He knocks Mark Spitz of Indiana, who held the previous mark of most Olympic Gold medals in a single games, from the top ten.
Archie Griffin, Ohio State - football. Griffin is the only two-time Heisman Trophy winner in college football history.
Magic Johnson, Michigan State - basketball. Revolutionized the point guard position and his battle with Larry Bird in the NCAA championship game change the scope of college basketball forever.
Bronko Nagurski, Minnesota - football. Another player from the golden age of college football. One of great NFL players of all time, as well.
Dan Gable, Iowa - wrestling. Gable was a Big Ten, NCAA and Olympic champ. Also an iconic coach at Iowa winning numerous National Championships.
Dick Butkus, Illinois - wrestling. Simply one of the great linebackers in the history of the game. He was nasty, mean and a prototype of what a linebacker should be.
I'll leave #10 open for a female athlete - although I'm not quite sure who it might be. My guess is there will be at least one female in the top ten.
That's it for now. I'll be back on Thursday to let you know how the treatment went.
A couple weeks ago I had a new port put in. The old one basically quit working so we had it replaced. It's a bit bigger than the old one but I'm getting used to it and as long as it makes the treatments go a little easier and they're able to get blood samples without going through a vein in my arm, it should make the next round of treatments a little easier to get. The old port was so bad they had to hook me up to a machine to pump the drugs into the port. It wasn't painful but it was quite a hassle. Things should go a lot smoother now.
The boys are back at school - Judd's a senior at UD and Aaron is in his second year at SLU. The house has stayed a bit cleaner in their absence and we have a lot less laundry but I do miss having them around. Judd stopped by on Saturday to pick up a car to take back to school; we have four cars now and only three drivers at home so we thought it would be nice for him to have a car for his senior year. Hopefully we'll be able to go over to St. Louis in a few weeks for Family Weekend to see Aaron. Abbey has a field hockey game but we should be able to work out the trip.
Abbey's senior year has started off well. Her field hockey team started off the season with a loss but hopefully they'll bounce back this week and get in the win column. They're playing a couple teams up in Detroit next weekend - I hear there are more teams that play in Michigan and they're supposedly playing a couple of the top teams in the state so hopefully it's not a long trip home. Jules will be making this trip - I went a couple weeks ago to Pittsburgh. I'm planning to go the Ohio State/Miami game in Columbus next weekend - that is if I can find a ticket.
Finally, the Big Ten Network is counting down the top 50 Sports Icons from in the history of the conference. This is a wide open category when you consider the Big Ten has been around for a very long time and it would be hard to estimate how many athletes have been a part of the conference. Here are my Top Ten and I'm sure I'm leaving out some very obvious choices...BTW, I'm not including coaches or Penn State players who played prior to the Nittany Lions joining the conference.
In no particular order....
Jack Nicklaus, Ohio State - golf. The Golden Bear is easily one of the top 3 golfer of all time and given Tiger Woods' recent problems, he very well could maintain his major wins record of 18.
Jesse Owens, Ohio State - track and field. Owens single-handedly humiliated Adolph Hitler and his Nazi regime by winning 4 gold medals at the 1936 Olympic Games in Berlin.
Red Grange, Illinois - football. Grange was one of the first Big Ten sports heroes and continues to be the most iconic athlete ever from the University of Illinois.
Michael Phelps, Michigan - swimming. Phelps is the most decorated athlete in Olympic history. He knocks Mark Spitz of Indiana, who held the previous mark of most Olympic Gold medals in a single games, from the top ten.
Archie Griffin, Ohio State - football. Griffin is the only two-time Heisman Trophy winner in college football history.
Magic Johnson, Michigan State - basketball. Revolutionized the point guard position and his battle with Larry Bird in the NCAA championship game change the scope of college basketball forever.
Bronko Nagurski, Minnesota - football. Another player from the golden age of college football. One of great NFL players of all time, as well.
Dan Gable, Iowa - wrestling. Gable was a Big Ten, NCAA and Olympic champ. Also an iconic coach at Iowa winning numerous National Championships.
Dick Butkus, Illinois - wrestling. Simply one of the great linebackers in the history of the game. He was nasty, mean and a prototype of what a linebacker should be.
I'll leave #10 open for a female athlete - although I'm not quite sure who it might be. My guess is there will be at least one female in the top ten.
That's it for now. I'll be back on Thursday to let you know how the treatment went.
# posted by Vince Hopkins @ 11:01 AM 
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Hey Vinnie...
As far as lists go... that's a darn good one! I can't argue anyone you've included... and you're right as far as a female athlete goes... I'm drawing a blank. Katy Smith... wasn't she the brutishly unattractive basketball player from Ohio State who went on to play in the WNBA? I just don't know how iconic she is.
Rich
As far as lists go... that's a darn good one! I can't argue anyone you've included... and you're right as far as a female athlete goes... I'm drawing a blank. Katy Smith... wasn't she the brutishly unattractive basketball player from Ohio State who went on to play in the WNBA? I just don't know how iconic she is.
Rich
# posted by 
: 2:44 PM
: 2:44 PM
Well, Stoney, I doubt Katie Smith would merit a top ten ranking but who knows. You are right in one regard; she was not (and still isn't) an attractive woman. A volleyball payer from Penn State was on the list around #49...she almost beat out Spielman and Drew Brees who appeared in the mid-40's. That would have been a huge mistake.
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