Thank you Michelle!!!

We had the opportunity today to have Michelle Wells do photos for us as a donation to help us out. Thank you, thank you, thank you!!! She did an amazing job!

If you are interested in seeing the pictures on her website, please click on:

http://michellewellsphotography.ca/theblog/

I also decided that it's time for me to accept that my hair is falling out so we officially shaved me today. Feels a lot lighter, that's for sure.

Have a great night!

The luckiest man alive!!!

My apologies for not updating this over the last few days. I've been sitting in a state of awe regarding how incredibly lucky I am to have the amazing support that I have.

I'm not sure how many of you have seen the incredible contribution we've received from a complete stranger, Brad Field, for $60,000. I have never met this man before and have no connections to him or his family. He solely saw the report in the Calgary Sun and decided that he wanted to help. This completely backs a theory that I have tried to follow for many years while listening to so much bad news - PEOPLE ARE TRULY AMAZING!!! This is on top of the other incredible support that I have HAD after the opportunity that was given for my wife Tasha and I to publicize regarding what we have been going through for so many years and how we want to help others understand how lucky we are to be here in the first place.

We have appeared on both Global TV news and CTV news, the news report on Q770 radio, the 2 front page covers on the Calgary Sun, a report in the Calgary Herald, and the radio interview on the Craig Chandler show! WOW!!! The idea of us telling our story to the public definitely interested in us, however I must admit that I did not think it would be told. There's so many things going on in this world, plus the fact that we're in the middle of the Holiday season and everyone is so busy. I was blown away with the amount of positive response that we received!!! We are so lucky and so THANKFUL!!!

Anytime I here bad news, I will always stop and remember what's going on right now and the amazing support that we're getting. THIS WORLD IS A BEAUTIFUL PLACE!

Please find attached the websites from the Calgary Sun, Global TV, CTV, and Calgary Herald if you are interested in seeing them:

http://calsun.canoe.ca/Video/home.html?fr_chl=b4d42cdb53951bc546aa2ee0099dcdab130d1255&fr_story=740bb65f5ebfd68b94eb41ebef8afc9922fc6ec9

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EgFE-OWH8O8&feature=channel_page

http://calsun.canoe.ca/News/Alberta/2008/12/20/7812856-sun.html

http://calgary.ctv.ca/servlet/an/local/CTVNews/20081219/CGY_cancer_family_081219/20081219/?hub=CalgaryHome

http://www.calgaryherald.com/Facing+cancer+with+courage/1110737/story.html

We hope that you're having a great day!!!

Home sweet home!!

Got out of the hospital on Tuesday around noon. Now that they have me on a lot of anti-seizure drugs, they're confident that I'll be safe at home. Was a little concerned to leave for "safety" reasons but feels so great to be home!

Tasha told me that they called the "Code 66" for me, which means that my vitals were going in a bad direction. The next step is the "Code Blue" which means you're on "flatline". All I can say is that I'm a very happy man that I'm here writing this blog!!!

It's so unfortunate that it takes something like this to make us realize how lucky we are to be here in the first place. I used to get so wired up over the smallest stuff that really doesn't matter. Unfortunately our society does tend to promote this. Please take the time to think about what I've just said. We are very lucky to live the lives that we do! Bad stuff is part of the contract that we signed when we were born. Accept it because it also gives you the beautiful stuff that we receive.

I wish you all the happiest of holidays. As you read this, I am sending you massive hugs!!!

4 seizures on Friday...

I've been in the hospital since Friday after a having a minor seizure at home and 3 major ones at the hospital. The first one at home wasn't too bad. Felt a little strange but no need to call 911. Luckily when the second decided to hit me, fate decided to have it when I was at the Tom Baker Cancer centre for radiotherapy. Talk about seriously good fate!!! They obviously had all of my info. What was really frustrating was the fact that I couldn't talk when they asked me questions. All I wanted to say was "wife" when they asked me who they should contact. I was able to think fairly clearly and thought that I might be "moving on". I knew that I wouldn't see our son Talyn as he was at school. I wanted to ensure that I at least got to see my wife Tasha one more time.

Obviously that didn't happen. They were able to get me under control by drugging me up. I woke up in the Emergency and was there until Saturday evening. I've got my own room now and am probably going home today. I talked to my Radiation doctor last night to ensure that I'm still going to be doing the radiotherapy. Seizures like this are caused by swelling of the brain. This was a warning they told me about. There's no way in hell that it's going to stop me!!

I had a lot of emotion go through me after this about killing me but I've popped through the "cloud" like I used to do when I was a pilot and will continue the fight.

Holy tiredness Batman!!

Wow. It's only been 6 treatments and I am already feeling the need to sleep a lot more. I usually feel groggy after each treatment but by the time I get home I'm back to "normal". That doesn't last very long now before I need to lie down and rest. This is definitely a serious side effect of radiation to the brain. I've read reports where people have gone back to work but I know for myself that I'd be falling asleep at my desk. Don't think my clients would be cool with that. :)

I've got a safety system set up for me now after the scare that I had last week. A company called Lifeline has set up a system in our house where if I feel that I'm going to have a seizure, I push the button on the necklace that I wear and they call me on the intercom system to see how I'm doing. If I can't respond they automatically send an ambulance and give the paramedics all of my info to ensure they know exactly what I'm dealing with. It's unfortunate that it's come to this but at the same time a relief to ensure that if I'm home alone, Tasha and I don't have to worry about my safety if she's not here. As my flight instructor in 1991 always said (with his heavy Arnold Schwarzeneger accent) "Safety first".

Hope that you're all doing well!

Started radiotherapy

Hi everyone,

Started the radiotherapy on Tuesday morning. Have had 4 treatments now. So far, so good. Always feel a little groggy afterwards but that goes away after 15 minutes. My hair hasn't started to fall out yet. The doctors say that it'll be a couple of weeks before the hair loss and fatigue will start to hit me. By the time I'm done everything, I'll have shaved the rest of my head and will probably sleep quite a bit. Good thing that it's winter because I know me and I would definitely try to golf as much as possible. The cold will ensure that I'm inside resting.

I'm always pulling out the bright side of everything. At least now I can catch up on what's happening on the Young & the Restless!

I'm focusing on staying as relaxed as possible while I'm going through this. I have to ensure that my healthy cells are recovering ASAP so they're there to fight the rebellious cancer cells. I've thought about what it would be like to be working right now. As much as I enjoy my job and helping my clients, that would mean that emotion would be controlling my path. As I've explained to my clients many times, we cannot allow emotion to control our decisions. Especially when the market is such a pool of fear. It is such a great time to be buying and letting it grow. I know that if I was working, I'd be dumping in as much as possible.

Still have the thought of this cancer winning the battle go through my mind a few times a day. Totally expected and very normal. Luckily I don't let it hang out for very long. After all, if we were going into war, it would be very natural to fear the loss of life. If we let that linger, we're sure to lose the battle!

A great scenario that I often have go through my mind is the opening scene in the awesome movie "Gladiator", when Russell Crowe is going into his first battle. His enemies feel that they will easily win this war, however Russell's strategy is to have part of his army start the battle and then he goes around with others to attack from behind. After they win the battle, the look on his face of confidence and victory confirm that he always knew that they would win. This is a picture that I draw many times per day in my mind to ensure that I have the confidence (not cockiness) that as challenging and life-threatening this situation is, I will prevail!!!

Have a great weekend everyone and please give someone near you a massive hug. If they ask why, the answer is simply "why not".

New email address

Forgot to include this in the last posting. My new email is ryan.westerman5@gmail.com Feel free to send me emails anytime. Would love to keep in touch with everyone now that my Investors Group email account will be shut down until I'm back at work.

Scary situation

I was watching Prison Break last night when I started to get this feeling that something wasn't right. I decided it would be wise to come upstairs and tell Tash what was going on. Had a hard time walking (wasn't drunk :) ) and by the time I got upstairs, my left ear was pounding. I turned on the lights to wake up Tash and found it really hard to put words together to tell her what was happening. I thought for sure that I was going to have a full on seizure and went to my knees to be ready to fall down. Luckily the ringing and pounding in my ear started to subside and after a few minutes I was able to put words together again. I explained what was going on and decided it was time to hit the sac. Had a good sleep and woke up feeling totally fine. Harsh reality check regarding what's going on with me right now!!! Put me back in the "I might not be here in a year" frame of mind. Luckily it only lasted for 5 minutes before I pulled out and thought "Yes that is a theory. It could very well happen. However as long as I do everything that I possibly can to take care of this, I will decreased those odds."
It's so sad that it takes something like this to open our eyes to how lucky we really are.
I have definitely realized that on a crappy day, we must remember how fortunate we truly are to be here.

Started my radiotherapy today. Don't feel anything when I'm lying there. Takes about 20 minutes and then it's done. I'm at the Tom Baker for about 30 minutes total. Nice that we're only 8 minutes from it. Takes less than an hour from leaving to coming home.
Felt a little tired afterwards but didn't last very long. My hair will start to fall out soon. Now I have a great excuse for hair loss, poor memory and needs for afternoon naps. :)

I looked further into a product called Careseng for follow up treatment after radiotherapy. Definitely something that can be very beneficial. Will keep you all posted.

I hope that you're all doing well!!

Over and out.

Potential......

Saw a great news report on Global BC about a guy who's 32 and lives with the same style of tumour that I have.

He's undergone 2 surgeries (like me), radiation treatment (like me), chemotherapy (temozolide like me) and his tumour has grown significantly recently (like me). He found a Naturopath in Richmond, BC who he's been dealing with for the last 5 months and his most recent MRI shows a 50% decrease in size from the resources that the Naturopath has him on!!! Huge massive beautiful change!!!

I have sent all of my info to this Naturopath and have a phone meeting with him tomorrow to see what he has to say.

Will keep you all posted.

Dates of radiotherapy

Looks like I'm starting my radiotherapy on December 1st. I go in to have everything finalized to start the "zapping" on December 2nd. Not sure how long it will take for the side effects (tiredness, loss of hair, scalp redness, nausea) to set in. I'll finally have good excuses to take afternoon naps. SWEET!!!

Huge relief that they're able to get me in that quick. Had a session of "holy crap, this could very well kill me sooner than later" today. Lasted about an hour before I finally got those thoughts to go away. Can't let that stuff hang out too long. It will not happen!! Got so many more years to live and so many more rounds of golf to play. After all, I always told my brother Colin that the day will come that I will kick his butt on the golf course.

As the Vulcans say....Live long and Prosper.

What's going on....

Hi everyone,

As you all know, I found out back on September 11th (ah, the irony) that my small tumour had started to show signs of aggression. The doctor told us that I am in "tiger territory"...ie - not a good scenario. Since then I have been doing everything possible to put myself in the best position to fight this big time! No more fooling around.

I have been on a fairly strict diet to clean me out and build up my immune system to fight. Lost about 20 pounds so I'm pretty happy about that (as is my beautiful wife Tasha :)

Tash and I have gone to Edmonton to see a Medical Intuitive who tells me that this is probably not cancer and that I will get through.

Tash and I flew out to Vancouver to see a Natural Healer who also feels confident that this is not cancer and that I will get through it.

I would love to truly believe that what they are saying is for real, but it is definitely hard considering what the latest 2 MRI's are showing.

The last MRI results that we saw on Tuesday show significant growth in just over 2 months. It is definitely making a strong statement!

As hard as it was to see this, after having a good cryfest and pondering it for a day, I now feel like I'm back in the driver's seat taking control. Reminds me of my old days of flying when I was teaching students and using the term "I have control" when I had to take over because they were about to crash the plane.

I am scheduled to start radiotherapy in the next couple of weeks. Will be going in every day to have my head zapped to try and kill the cancer cells. Should be doing that for 6 weeks. Getting ready to watch my hair fall out. You can call me Mr. Bald. Reminds me of my brother Sean.

Will most likely follow up with chemotherapy for 6 to 12 rounds. Crappy part is that it isn't covered by the Alberta Government as it is still in a trial mode. The cost is $10,000 monthly. Ouch!!

What happens after that will be determined when the time comes. I'm literally living day to day.

Sad that it takes something like this to remember how important our time here truly is. We get so wrapped up with the craziness of life that we often forget how valuable every day is.

I'll be updating this as time goes on to keep you posted. I send you all massive hugs and look forward to talking to you soon.