Vince's Journey

I've been somewhat lax in keeping everyone up to date on the ongoing saga that is...Vince vs Lymphoma. In August, after 6 rounds of treatments, I was informed that I was 'as close to being in remission as I could hope to be.' At that point the plan was to go 3 months, have scans repeated and then return to Dr. Leming's office to get the results and a maintenance blast of Rituxin. Last week I had the scans and yesterday I returned for the results. I'm happy to report that everything looks great and the lymph node that had caused the initial concern had actually gotten even smaller since August. While the CT scan report always uses the word 'unremarkable', Dr. Leming says the scans are boring...and that's obviously a good thing. I actually didn't get to see Dr. Leming yesterday but Nurse Laura greeted me with a smile and the words ' I've got great news!' so there was no opportunity for me to feel the 'scanxiety' of sitting in the exam room waiting for the doc to come in and tell me everything is fine. So I'm good for another 3 months, I'll get scanned again in February and have a second maintenance blast and hopefully things will remain in check. I would expect for this routine to last for a year and then we'll see how far I can go without any treatments. As always, thanks for all your thoughts, concerns and prayers. We're over 8 years into this fight and the score now stands at Vince 3, Lymphoma 0. Let's hope that should a 4th round occur, we'll have a new drug or treatment that can help knock this stuff out once and for all. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Today I attended a beautiful event sponsored by LifeCenter. LifeCenter is a local organization which supports organ and tissue donations. As many of you may recall, our niece Morgan passed away almost 2 years ago and she was registered as an organ and tissue donor. By simply saying, 'Yes' when she was asked if she wanted to be an organ and tissue donor when she received her first drivers license, Morgan helped save 7 lives. Obviously her loss was devastating to our family but her unselfish act provided 7 other families with the gift of life and hope. This morning, Morgan's father, Jerry, was one of the speakers at the event. Shortly after Morgan's passing, Jerry became a board member at LifeCenter and he has become quite an ambassador for the cause of organ and tissue donations. Jerry did a wonderful job of telling Morgan's story and he and his family is making a difference in the lives of many people who are desperately in need of an organ donation. This morning there was a 23 year old woman who has been awaiting a double lung transplant for the past two years. I was very surprised to learn that there are very few organ donors in the Cincinnati area. Jerry actually said there were none but perhaps I heard that incorrectly. At any event, it is such an easy thing to do - just say 'Yes'! Morgan did and there are 7 families who saw their loved ones receive a second life; what an amazing gift, what a wonderful cause. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Last week, Julie had an event to try and put together a committee for her upcoming campaign to be the 2014 Leukemia and Lymphoma Society's Woman of the Year. This is an event I participated in over 10 years ago and it seems like every year since, we've been able to get a family member or friend to carry the torch for us. this year it's Julie's turn. This is somewhat out of her comfort zone - she's always ready to be a 'worker bee' but when i told her this was something she could do, she realized I was right and agreed to take on the challenge. I'm very proud of her for doing this and she has lofty goals which she'd love to reach. She really can't start collecting money until the campaign kicks off in March but she can line up committee members and potential sponsors so if you have any interest in helping Jules become the woman of the year, just let us know. I think we all know someone who has been effected by a blood cancer (after all, you all know me!) and we are close to so many breakthroughs with potential treatments and cures. Let's not wait around to cure blood cancers Someday, lets cure them Today. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Over the past couple weeks, I've attended numerous events for a variety of causes. They're all important and the events have been tremendously inspiring. At the heart of every event is a true sense of how a group of dedicated people can make a huge difference. I feel very fortunate to play a small role in helping the LLS achieve their mission and I know Jerry feels the same way about LifeCenter. It's a way to make a difference, to have an impact, to pay it forward to an organization that has done so much for me. We all should have a cause that moves us to action. Mine selected me - and while I certainly wish I didn't have to deal with everything that comes along with living with a blood cancer, it sure beats the alternative; I AM living. As I said to myself on October 4, 2005 - just minutes after being told I had lymphoma, I had to 'get busy living, or get busy dying.' Eight years later I'm tremendously busy living....Thanks for checking in....Enjoy Life!!!!

After 19 years of coaching football I've decided it's time to call it a career. Yesterday was my last 'official' act as a head coach as we held our post season party for the 6th grade team I coached this season. We had a small team, only 14 players signed up, so it was quite a challenge to get through the season and put a team on the field every weekend. I give the boys a lot of credit; there were several occasions where we only had 11 players available but they stuck with it and finished the season on the field. Our record may not have been the best but as I told them at the end of the year, they showed a lot of character showing up at practice every day and working to get better. I made the decision to call it a 'career' earlier this season. I realized I'm no longer able to devote the time I feel is needed to coach the boys. With my job and other interests, I found myself missing more and more practices and honestly feeling like I was only giving 50%. It's hard to ask the boys to give 100% when you can't do it yourself! In addition, our trip to Scotland made me realize that I need to spend more of my free time with my family, especially Julie. I gave the St. Susanna football program almost 20 years, now it's time (actually past time!) to do more with Julie and the kids. Coaching has been a wonderful experience. I always looked forward to the new season, spending the time on the football field practicing with the coaches and the boys - getting ready for the games. I enjoyed the strategy of a game and watching the hard work pay off with triumphs on the field. But most of all I enjoyed the relationships; with the boys, the coaches and the parents. I've tried to be a role model for the kids and they've paid me back by being supportive of me during some of my more difficult times. One of my favorite St. Susanna football mementos is the 'Relentless' picture my 5th grade team gave me back in 2005 shortly after I was diagnosed with lymphoma - it still hangs in my basement, I can't tell you how much those kids and their parents helped me through a very scary and difficult time. And it's happened twice more since then, in 2010 and just recently this past summer. Every time I've needed support, the football families at St. Susanna have been there. I remember some of the games more than others. I remember far more the stories about the kids, the moments where I knew some of my long and drawn out lectures at the end of practice or a game had sunk in to a least one of the kids. That was really my goal all along - to get a life lesson across to at least one boy every time I'd go off on one of my tangents. And I also remember the underdogs, the kids that may not have had the most ability but were out there trying - I always looked for the little victories in them. And when those victories occurred, I couldn't help but feel a tremendous sense of satisfaction. In 2010 I had a young man who was new to town. He was a little behind the rest of the team in ability but he came to practice and tried hard. All he needed was a little confidence. One day we were doing a tackling drill and as it turned out, this young man was teamed up against one of our better players - I almost switched them out but then the stronger boy came over and whispered, "Hey coach, do you mind if I let him tackle me so he can feel good about himself?" I said that was a great idea...well this kid tackled the other boy and the whole practice erupted, everyone was giving him high fives and hugging him. He felt like he was finally contributing, he felt like he was a part of the team. And the coolest thing about it was this - as happy as that kid was it didn't match the happiness his team mate felt by allowing this boy to have a victory in practice. This was a kid who got what it was all about. In the second to last game of the season, the same boy finally made a tackle in a game and our entire sideline erupted - players, coaches, parents and families - it was a moment I'll never forget. One of the proudest moments I've had in my years as a coach. I'd like to thank all the coaches who supported me through the years - you've all become great friends. I know we won more games than we lost, we usually made the playoffs and actually played for a few championships. Last season we won the Division 2 championship - the only championship in my career. I'd like to thank all the parents for getting the boys to practice and the games, reading my countless e-mails and keeping me honest about the things I'd promise to do at the beginning of the season. But mostly I want to thank the boys, they were why I was out there. I wanted to teach them the game but I also wanted them to know there were more important things in the world like always giving your best, helping others in need and loving their family (Especially their moms!!) I've always said, coaching doesn't provide instant gratification, it can take many years. Some of the first kids I ever coached are now 25 and 26 years old. some are married - some have kids of their own. And more often than not, when I see them today we always reminisce about our days on the football field and every once and awhile, one of them will say, "You know, I never really understood why you took all that time to talk to us about family and helping others but I get it now - thanks!" That's the payoff, that's what it's all about. That's why I spent the last 19 years coaching the fine young men of St. Susanna. Next season I know I'm going to miss it but I also know its time for a younger guy with far more energy to step in and take my place. So thanks for the memories, the friendships and the many smiles - the only thing left to say is....GO TITANS!!!!

So I left the chemo parlor a couple hours ago and I've now completed round 5 and only have one round remaining. Round 6 will take place July 31 and August 1 and Vince vs Follicular Lymphoma Part 3, should be over. To say I'm ready would be an understatement. This is the third time I've had to go through a 6 month process of chemotherapy and it just wears on you. Don't get me wrong, I'm greatful that everything is working but I'm tired of not feeling 100%, I'm tired of answering the same questions over and over again and I'm tired of sitting in those recliners at the chemo parlor for hours at a time watching the poisons drip into my port. And I have to say I'm one of the lucky ones. I can still do anything I want to do. I left yesterday's 6 hour treatment and went right to the gym to ride the Lifecycle - I went to the gym today just before I went to my treatment. I see people come into the chemo room and they look like they can hardly walk. I sat next to Coach Brockhoff from Xavier a couple times a couple months ago and I could hardly recognize him...he barely had the strength to get into his wheel chair and go to the bathroom. Sadly, he passed away a few weeks ago. And rarely does a week go by where we don't hear about someone new being diagnosed with some kind of cancer - it's almost to the point where I'm numb to it. All I know is we have to do everything we can to put and end to it. I truly feel we're getting closer by the day but there's still a lot of work to do. Anytime you get an opportunity to support cancer research, and I'm very biased toward the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society, you should do it because cancer is a hideous disease that touches us all. We've lost too many beautiful people to this disease, let's all work toward that headline we can all celebrate...CANCER IS CURED!.........Our bike training reached the 70 mile plateau last Saturday. Everyone did very well and we're right on schedule to be ready for our 110 mile ride in Scotland on September 8. This week we placed holds on our plane reservations so we're moving forward. We still have a way to go to hit our $50,000 fundraising goal so if you haven't had a chance to help please visit our TNT page, here is the link.....http://pages.teamintraining.org/soh/frndstnt14/vhopkins....we would certainly appreciate your support......So our family likes to play this game we made up called the game of lists. We all list our top 5 of a given subject and see what we have in common. We assign points (5 points for #1's, 4 points for #2's, etc. After tabulating all the points we compile our family list. It's a great way to pass time while we're driving, we actually made it up while we were on vacation in Aruba. Anyway, I'll start ending my blog with a list and if you want to add yours to the comment section, feel free to do so...here is an easy one to start, my top 5 songs....1. Let it Be, The Beatles. 2. Imagine, John Lennon 3. Loves in Need of Love Today, Stevie Wonder 4. What's Going On, Marvin Gaye 5. Yesterday, The Beatles....in case you haven't noticed, I'm a big fan of The Beatles......That's all for now. Enjoy the 4th of July holiday. I'm looking forward to the annual family picnic at my sister, Venetia's house in Vandalia. We'll also be celebrating my brother Rich's 48th birthday; good lord that kid is getting old!

Well it's almost the end of June so I guess it's time for an update! My treatment this month went off without a hitch, I didn't feel very well for a few days following the treatments but I seemed to get over the discomfort quicker than the previous month so that was a plus. I should have one or two more rounds to go and then hopefully, this will all be over. The next round will be July 1 and 2...just in time to feel like crap for the 4th of July weekend. They did give me some medicine to take to help ease the nausea - maybe if I start taking it earlier this time I'll avoid feeling like crap - something tells me that probably won't be the case. Bike training and our preparations for the trip to Scotland are going well. We're close to having $20,000 of our $50,000 goal raised and last week I rode 200 miles, including almost 70 on Saturday. I have to admit I was really feeling it late in the ride on Saturday, I think the heat and high miles finally took a toll on me. I'm going to back off a bit this week as we plan to ride 70 miles this coming Saturday - hopefully I'll have fresher legs this time around. We're also well into the plans for our benefit night at Kings Island on July 27 - it should be a fun evening and we're hoping for over 200 people to attend. With a month to go, we have close to 40 reservations so we're off to a great start. If you might be interested in attending, let me know! I'll also post the flyer on my Facebook page so keep an eye out for that, as well. I finally saw all of the 2012 movies nominated for best picture, except Amour which hasn't come out yet on video. Since Amour is foreign and I typically don't enjoy reading movies, I'll just rank the english language films and assume that Amour would be my 9th pick....I actually thought 2012 was a pretty good year for movies... 1. Argo - most entertaining movie of the year. I thought the Academy got it right this year although Ben Affleck certainly deserved a nomination for Best director. 2. Silver Linings Playbook - Bradley Cooper and Jennifer Lawrence shined in this story about a man trying to reclaim his life following a stint in a mental hospital. Robert DeNiro also adds a great supporting performance. 3. Lincoln - If for no other reason, Daniel Day Lewis as Abraham Lincoln makes this movie well worth seeing. 4. Les Miserables - Film version of the classic play was very well done even if Russell Crowe can't sing. 5. Zero Dark Thirty - The intense ending featuring the raid to kill Bin Laden were some of the best filmed scenes since the invasion in Saving Private Ryan - I just wish I would have liked the main character more - she simply got to be very annoying. 6. Django Unchained - Contained the funniest scene of the year. I don't want to give too much away but it involved a posse of the KKK complaining about the hoods one of their wives had made as they prepared to get revenge on Django. 7. Life of Pi - Ang Lee won Best Director for Life of Pi - the visual effects were absolutely amazing. 8. Beasts of the Southern - I need to watch this one again - I really wasn't sure what was going on half the time - but it was 1000x better than last years 'artsy' movie...The Tree of Life, which I will never watch again. 9. Amour. Time to head to the gym for a little exercise. As always, thanks for checking in!

Sorry it has been awhile since my last blog post. May has been a busy month and for some reason I was having a difficult time getting on to the internet from my Ipad at home. Since I’ve had a few questions about the stent and my progress through my treatments I thought I’d try to get something out to bring everyone up to date…so…here goes…. The stent was removed on May 13. The relief was instantaneous; I could tell a difference the second I woke up from the anesthesia. As a result, life has been tremendously more comfortable. I’m getting far more sleep, I can mow my lawn, I can ride my bike without needing to go to the bathroom every 10 minutes, I can work around the house, I am a new man (or at least the man I was before the stent was put in on February 28)! I was held hostage by that miserable piece of tubing for 75 days and since it’s been removed I have my freedom back – it’s a wonderful feeling. Of course the best part of having the stent removed is knowing that the treatments are doing the job. The node by my kidney is definitely shrinking and they’re no longer worried about it blocking the ureter. Now all I need is a couple more treatments and this episode should be behind me. I have to say that I’ve felt pretty good lately. I’ve been riding my bike quite a bit and getting my stamina back. I’ve lost about 8 of the pounds I gained while sitting around eating ice cream every night throughout the month of March. Unfortunately, I’ll be getting treatments on Monday and Tuesday so I probably won’t be feeling 100% for a few days after that. The treatments make me feel nauseous and everything tastes kind of strange. If this cycle is like the previous ones, I won’t have much of an appetite and very little desire to do anything. Simply put, the next week to 10 days won’t be much fun. But as I said, we’re getting to the end of the treatments so I’ll just suck it up and get through this as best I can. The other big news of May was Aaron’s graduation from St. Louis University! Hip, hip HOORAY! We had a great weekend in St. Louis and now Aaron is back home looking for a real job. If you know of anyone in the market for a recent studio art graduate please let us know, we have just the kid for you. In the meantime, he’s been picking up hours working at the Courseview Restaurant at Kings Island. It’s hard to believe his college days are over – seems like yesterday we were moving to SLU for his first semester. Now, as the president said at graduation – he is a Billikin…FOREVER!!! So Aaron is home but Abbey is up at UD for summer school. Since she was on co-op last semester she’s taking a full load this summer to complete her sophomore year. She’ll be back home in August and will do another co-op semester in the fall. That should be fun; both Aaron and Abbey will be living at home in the fall – fortunately I’ll be coaching football! Training for our Scotland bike ride is coming along. Our fundraising is also going pretty well. We had a beer booth at Taste of Cincinnati which pushed our raised total to over $11,000 of our $50,000 goal and the ride is not until September. If you’d like to be part of the fun, just let me know!!! I guess I’ll end here. Thanks for checking in and I’ll try to post more frequently. Just remember, no news is usually good news and if I’m not posting I’m probably out mowing the lawn or riding my bike!!

I have to admit I'm pretty excited today. Dr. Leming said it's okay to move forward and have the stent removed from my ureter which means a couple things; I'll soon no longer feel like I have to 'piddle' 24/7 and more importantly, the treatments are working!!! What a relief on both ends (no pun intended). I'm not sure when the procedure will be scheduled but I'm hoping on Friday....I think I can 'hold on' for a few more days. Should it be removed on Friday it would mark day #71 of this very difficult episode. And I'm not exagerating - I have literally felt like peeing for 71 straight days; in fact, I'll bet I've gone to the bathroom an average aof at least 15 times a day over that stretch. My Ohio State math tells me that's over 1000 trips to the 'pisser' in a little over two months time and yes, I washed my hands every time. Not sure what I'm going to with the exit time! Hopefully it will lead to more quality time on my bike, watching tv, driving to work, I can resume running and I'm really looking forward to mowing my lawn. Our neighbor, Ron, has been such an amazing help mowing our lawn while I've been going through this but I really enjoy mowing our lawn and I'm confident that I'll be able to resume that activity next week. I did get a little negative news, my white blood counts are a bit lower that usual so I'm getting a neulasta shot on Wednesday to give the counts a boost. Since I'm going one a month now, that should help get the counts to where they need to be. They're not drastically low - I was a lot lower back in 2005 - but a boost will give us peace of mind. So the treatments are working, the stent is coming out and next week I won't have to pee all the time - today was a good day. On the family front, Abbey has wrapped up her co-op semester at Amylin and will be heading back to Dayton for summer school on Mother's Day. Aaron only has two weeks left and he will be graduating from St. Louis University and Judd's brief career as a horse whisperer appears to be over. Some day I may tell that unbelievable story but I still can't truly laugh about it. My only advice is if you go to Kenneland for a day of horse racing, don't try to do your best Dr. Doolittle impersonation and try to talk to the horses, it's not worth the effort....or fine. As I announced on my Facebook page, we are training for our next LLS century bike ride - this year we're going to Scotland for a 110 mile trip through the lower uplands. We're hoping to raise over $50,000 for LLS and if you'd like to join our efforts - check out our webpage. http://pages.teamintraining.org/soh/frndstnt14/vhopkins So that's about it; as always, thanks for checking in! I'll let you know when the stent comes out...it will be a happy day!!!

Well, the trip to New York City is over and I'm back home. Jules went from NYC to Orlando for a business conference - she'll head home tomorrow. As luck would have it, we'll cross each other in the sky as I'm heading to Orlando tomorrow for a Leukemia and Lymphoma Society volunteer meeting. Why couldn't the conferences been held at the same time - that would have been fun! At any rate, I'll head home Saturday afternoon and then we'll head up the highway to see the Dayton Dragons play later that night...it's the annual Xavier Alumni Night at the Dragons game. We had a great time in New York...we made our way around Manhattan several times on the double-decker tour buses visiting Soho, Chinatown, Battery Park, Little Italy, Hells Kitchen, Central Park and of course; Times Square. On Saturday we went to see a play on Broadway staring Matthew Broderick called 'It's Nice Work if You Can Get It'. The show was set during the prohibition era of the 1920's and featured the songs of George and Ira Gershwin...it was very, funny and Matthew Broderick was great. The featured actor and actress were also great - they actually won the Tony award last year for best featured actress and actor in a musical. Of course, as I mentioned in my previous post, we decided to go to NYC to celebrate our 28th wedding anniversary...hard to believe it's been that long...seems like only yesterday we were in the basement of St. Antoninus Church exchanging our vows! 28 years later I'm showing some wear and tear but Jules is looking as great as ever...she's been on an excercise kick lately and has gotten herself into great shape! (I have to say Jules has never really been in bad shape but she's been working hard to 'tone-up' and she's done an awesome job!) She asked me recently if she's getting too skinny to which I replied, "You don't hear me complaining, do you?" I'm biased but she really does look great! I know once I get through my treatments I'm going to need to step up my training game because I'm looking a bit flabby...nothing a couple hundred miles per week on the bike can't take care of! I'm really looking forward to putting some miles in as we train for our Scotland ride in September and feeling my pants get looser and looser in the process! As I also previously mentioned, I've been in a lull with my treatments. My next day at the chemo parlor will be May 6 and it's been a couple weeks since my last treatment. I'm feeling a lot better and have been able to do some light work on the bike. I typically like to mix in some running with the biking but due to the stent, it's difficult to stand for an extended period of time without needing to go to the bathroom. The urge is pretty much constant but standing only intensifies the feeling. This is day 54 of my life being held hostage by this stent and I'm afraid it may get close to 70 days before I actually get relief. I'll get CT scans on April 30 and if things are where they need to be, Dr. Leming will let Dr. Bennett (the urologist) know he can take it out. That is a date I can't wait for. Things have gotten a little better but it is still a very uncomfortable situation to have to deal with. Thankfully, our neighbor - Ron Vogler - has been kind enough to mow our grass for us this spring. This time of year it needs mowed twice a week and Ron has one of those riding mowers that makes the lawn look like a baseball field - it really looks great. So thanks to Ron for all his help - I look forward to being able to mow myself but his generosity has been most appreciated! I guess I'll end for now. I hope all is well with everyone reading this. I appreciate you checking in. One final thing, we are going to be manning 3 beer booths at the Taste of Cincinnati over Memorial Day weekend as part of our LLS fundraising efforts. If you have some free time and would be interested in helping, just let us know. It really is a lot of fun and the Taste provides a great avenue for people watching. Best of all, it's a great way to raise money to support LLS! Shoot me an email at hopkinsv@xavier.edu if you'd like to help. I'll be posting again soon....