It is hard to believe but it is true. I had the first seizure after a swimming workout at the end of the day on April 4th, 1998 and I spent the night in the hospital. I thought I had overdone it in the workout and had heat stroke, or possibly a stroke. The doctors were pretty sure after the initial CT that it was a brain tumor but only my family heard that night. The MRI was scheduled for the next morning and I went to sleep believing everyone was overreacting and expecting to be back heading to work in the morning, had a long run scheduled for the next night. I was all set to start burning the candle at both It was the next afternoon when they drew the curtains and that very stern nurse harshly said "its not good - you have a brain tumor."

Last night we had a great dinner to celebrate the milestone. I also had an MRI on Monday. I completed chemo round 6 and my tumor continues to be stable. With the scans 4 weeks apart they cannot definitively say improved, but I am feeling so much better. The swelling around the tumor is slightly improved so they are decreasing the steroids another 20%. I am very happy about that! I am very tired of being Alvin the Chipmunk and having a neck almost 3 sizes larger than normal. The agitation that comes steroids is also been hard on the family. Steroids also have another secondary effect of leg weakness. The good news for Barb & Max is that the agitation decreases quickly and predictably in most. The bloating and with leg weakness could be days, or could be a month or more. My hope is that I will be wearing my own clothes, not things borrowed from my Dad's closet, and looking like myself when I see many of you in DC on LiveStrong Day.

We have a great bottle of Italian Syrah open and salmon heading for the grill. Wishing you all a good night. Thank you all for your support these past months.

Jim