So it's amazing that yet another year has passed since the death of "Earl" (my brain tumor). This past weekend a group of friends joined by my parents participated in the 2006 Race for Hope to support the Brain Tumor Society.
Below are a few photos from the event:
 What a terrific team! (Photo by: team member Neil Meyer)
 My parents flew out from MN to join me on the walk.
 Over 5,000 folks came out to support the Brain Tumor Walk |
|
Best wishes for a wonderful 2006! |
This morning was the Race for Hope, a 5K walk/run benefiting the Brain Tumor Society.
A huge thank you goes out to those who sponsored me on this event as I've raised over $1,200! However, I haven't quite reached my goal yet so if you had a chance to make a contribution to the event please feel free to visit: http://raceforhope.kintera.org/2005/brainblog
Here are some photos from the event.
 The race was kicked off by all the "survivors", both those who were planning to race and those who were not able to..."
 There were a lot of people running, I opted to do the walk part of the "run/walk"
 Check out the cool view of the walk with the Capital in the background!
 At the finish line with Colin... Yeah we made it, who's ready to join my team next year? |
One year ago last night I found my self in the emergency room after crashing my friend Michael's birthday party due to a rather large seizure I expeirenced during dinner... April 7, 2004 was a night to remember on several levels. A week later an MRI would discover the unthinkable, I was living with a brain tumor.
The past year has been filled with challenges, trials and tribulations and throughout all of this my friends and family have been with me on so many levels.
In two weeks I will turn 25. I would be lying to say that there weren't moments during the past year when I thought that I would not see 25, and for that reason I invite you all, my friends, family, and fellow bloggers, to both celebrate with me and support the amazing research of The Brain Tumor Society (www.tbts.org).
On May 1, 2005 the Brain Tumor Society (http://www.tbts.org) will hold their annual "Race for Hope" to support their on going efforts. I have created a team "C'Ya Later Earl" and I'm hoping that you will join me on the 1st to celebrate my 25th birthday and join walk to support brain tumor research.
To join the team go to: http://raceforhope.kintera.org/2005/later_earl
If you are not able to attend on the 1st, feel free to use the link above to make a contribution, it's my goal to raise $2,500.00 for the Brain Tumor Society and I'm hoping you will be a part of this celebration.
It's amazing what can happen in a year. With your continuous support you helped me conquer Earl and together we can help better understand brain tumors and ultimately prevent them from happening in the future.
xoxo
JM
P.S. Michael - a belated birthday last year and to this year only the best. |
|
Hello?
|
Apr. 6th, 2005 @ 05:57 pm
|
|---|
Do you know where you were 4/06/04, I don't remember, but I do remember 04/07/04, do you?
JM |
| » Happy Belated New Year! |
Happy 2005!
The year has begun splendidly (I love that word, splendid -- however I'm not a big fan of Splenda, just use sugar already.)
Last time we spoke I believe I was getting ready to head out to Colin's parent's for a holiday soiree (aka JC's Birthday Bash). The bash was unbelievable... Colin's culinary genius of a brother, Brendan, along with his loyal assistants (Colin's Mom, Step-Father, Colin and myself) put together 4 amazing meals in a 48 hour time frame, the food was unbelievable and kept flowing...
Gifts were exchanged, and fun moments were shared.
During the festivities I was treated to my first Deep Fried Turkey SEE PICTURE BELOW
It was delicious! A big thank you goes to the Higgins family for having me!
New Year's was a bit uneventful, which is how I like it! Colin and I joined a group of friends and went out to Indian food. After our meal we went home and watched Regis fill in for Dick Clark as the ball dropped in Times Square. I think I'm over Regis, he's reached the point where he has crossed the line from being funny to being annoying... It happens.
To those of you who have faithfully followed my journey in 2004, I wish you all the best in 2005 and invite you to continue reading and participating on my journey's through life.
Josh josh@joshmeyer.com
Jan. 9th, 2005 @ 05:11 pm
|
| » Fall in-to Winter |
Since arriving in DC in August life has gradually picked up, work is keeping me pretty busy, which is very good, and with few exceptions I can honestly say it's like Earl was never here!
With that being said, as promised here is a super brief synopsis of my Fall...
August - The last weekend in August my mother and sister took DC by storm, we moved my sister to her dorm at GW and accesorized her room like no other ? The "Five Fab" would've been proud had they been there.
September - Was marked by a visit to Minneapolis ? "Go Gophers" ? for Rosh Hashanah services and Cindy Kravitz's world famous stuffed cabbage, I'm not sure if the two go hand in hand but, both were extremely enjoyable. I must also give a shout out to Rabbi Brusso on what I would call a ground breaking and though provoking sermon on the second day of Rosh Hashanah.
October - Brought a visit to my parents to DC to watch my sister compete in a soccer tournament. The week before they arrived I had my slightly early 6 month check-up with my neurologist in DC, all my tests came back with no signs of seizure activity!!! I won't see him until next fall at which point we will begin discussion on reducing my medication levels.
Oct. / Nov. - The last week of October and first week in November found me in Philadelphia attempting to get John Kerry elected in the City of Brotherly Love. Good News: John Kerry cleaned up in Philly, and brought Pennsylvania a "Blue Victory" (I'm convinced it was only because of me handing out stickers.) Not-so-good News: Ok we won't even go there.
November - The Great "Meyer, Lite, Daivs Thanksgiving Extravaganza of 2004" - Thanksgiving was spent in St. Louis, MO with my Dad's side of the family, it was so great seeing this side of the family! There's pictures somewhere, I'll see if I can get my hands on them.
And that pretty much brings us up to the present day. (With the exception of my former boss leaving and the drama surrounding that. See: HRC's Jacques resigns under fire )
Tomorrow I will be heading over to Colin's parent's home outside of Anapolis, MD to celebrate the birthday of a good friend of the families ? I think this may be their friends 2004th or 2005th birthday I can't remember. It should be fun, we are deep frying a kosher turkey for the festivities... YUM!
For those of you who will also be attending birthday parties tomorrow night, enjoy... and for the rest of you may I recommend www.fandango.com followed by a meal at the finest Chinese food establishment in your neighborhood.
xoxo Josh
Dec. 24th, 2004 @ 12:32 am
|
| » Password |
So, I took a break from blogging, y'all probably figured that out, everyone needs a break every once and awhile, right?
About 2 weeks ago I decided I was ready to start blogging again, but I forgot the password to the BLOG... OOPS!
This week I asked my Dad if he remembered the password to the BLOG and, he had forgotten it... It was actually a rather amusing series of e-mails. On one hand you have me, the guy who had a hole cut out of his head -- which amazingly enough hasn't really effected me, the hole thing that is, with the exception that I have minor memory lapses, such as the moment last week I couldn't remember the combination to my lock at the gym at which ultimately resulted in my lock being cut off -- and on the other hand we have my father who openly admits that he has begun to have "senior moments" (those are memory lapses for mature adults).
So here we are going back and forth:
Dad - "Well does the password sound like something, like a street name, or a place you went to school?"
Me - "I don't really remember I think it had both numbers and letters."
Dad - "Is it one of the standard password you use?"
Me - "Don't you think I would have tried that already?" (I hadn't tried those yet, but they did not prevail, don't tell my Dad)
Back and forth we went until... It came to me...
DIEEARL
Couldn't have been more obvious.
I've reset the password to something even more obvious.
I'm back, I promise to catch everyone up on my Fall and my emergence back to the "Real World"... but until then it's time for dinner.
xoxo
Josh jmeyer@alumni.gwu.edu
Dec. 17th, 2004 @ 06:57 pm
|
| » 1 week and then some... |
Wow, it amazes me that I've already been back in DC for over a week. Work is going really well, I've been assigned a project that is interesting and I am very confident that I will able to succeed with this project despite my small remaining language deficiencies. My office has been so accommodating, and and just generally amazing -- it's been a pleasure to be back with all of my colleagues.
This past weekend, I ventured out to the bar scene for the first time since my send off party in DC. It was great to have a couple drinks, -- yes my doctors said I can drink, however I am bit of a lightweight which works all right since I'm cheap anyway :-) -- hang out with friends and break it down.
Tomorrow my sister and mom will arrive in DC to help Annie move into GW. It's hard to believe that she'll be beginning her sophomore year. My sister seems very excited, I'm still trying to figure out why she selected the only dorm on campus that is right in the middle of fraternity row... Ok, that might not be exactly true, her dorm is at the end of fraternity row and right by the gym where the basketball players train - Oh, Annie Meyer!?!
Time for bed.
xoxo Josh brainblog@joshmeyer.com
Aug. 26th, 2004 @ 11:48 pm
|
| » Back to School... |
I vividly remember May 17, 2004. Our new intern was starting, and I was rushing around trying to make sure that all that I needed to do was in place before I left. I was filled with anxiety and fright as it was my last day at work before I left to head back to Minneapolis, my mind was racing, I couldn't stop thinking of the possibilities: What might happen? Will I be back? We'll I see these people again?
Tomorrow morning I will wake up and head back to work for the first time since May 17th. It will be exactly 3 months to the day since I left, and what a journey I've been though during those 3 months. There's now point of retelling the story, as you all have been there and helped me and my family through this experience, so instead of summarizing -- which I thought I might do, but then I thought that might take to long, and I'm a little bit tired, since I've been watching the Olympics all evening -- what I would like to say is THANK YOU.
For all of you in Minneapolis, Chicago, St. Louis, Jerusalem, Berlin, Ithaca, Boston, New York, Los Angeles, Fort Lauderdale, and points outside of our Nations Capital THANK YOU.
And for all of you in the Capital City -- Washington, DC (and the outer lying suburbs) -- you have been my home for the past 6 years and I can't thank you enough. From HRC, to GW and everyone in between there's no way I would've been able to do this without your support over the past 3 months. I look forward to reconnecting and sharing with you as I continue to join you in this journey we call life. (That was a little bit of a cliche, and was definitely cheesy, but I really mean it -- I really really do!)
It's time for bed, as I have to get up and go to work tomorrow, summer vacation is over, and let me tell 'ya, it's been one vacation I'll never forget.
All my best,
Josh brainblog@joshmeyer.com
P.S. - I plan on continuing my journal entries, while the past 3 months have been quite a ride, I know that there's still a little bit lying ahead of me, and I intend to share it with you.
Aug. 16th, 2004 @ 11:37 pm
|
| » He's Back! |
So, I realize it's almost been a week since I've last blogged... Time certainly does fly.
Just in case you where concerned, as my mother certainly was, I've arrived back in DC and am in the process of "catching up".
Other than that there is not a whole lot going on -- Colin's Birthday was on Tuesday, we celebrated with friends over the weekend. Nathan & Anne have arrived safety from Europe and Camp Herzl respectively. I'm getting ready to head back to work on Tuesday. The roommate search looks like it's coming to a head. -- So I guess there are going on.
I hope everyone is doing well. It was great to see all of the Minneapolis people last Thursday evening. Thank you for stopping by and giving me a send off to remember. :-)
It's time for my afternoon nap, which has been medically approved, I don't know what I'm going to do without those when I start back to work.
All my bet,
Josh brainblog@joshmeyer.com
P.S. I'm trying to figure out my e-mail situation, I've been having some issues since I came back. Hopefully those will be resolved by the end of the week. My apologies if you are awaiting a response from me. JM
Aug. 12th, 2004 @ 02:52 pm
|
| » Graduation! |
There has been a whirlwind of activity around here lately. In an attempt to update y'all, while trying to get in bed before midnight, I'm going to share some "talking points" -- which is a term I learned about when I moved to DC as I had formerly called them "bullet points".
- Last Thursday I had my last appointment with my neurosurgeon (we hope). He removed the stitches from the debriedment situation and cleared me to head off to DC. It was a great feeling, especially when the stitches came out, those things can get a little tight when your scalp begins to scratch.
- Friday, I finalized my speech therapy testing. My therapist had me repeat the same testing I underwent in June. The results were phenomenal -- of course they were, this is my narrative -- but in all honesty, my therapist gave me the heads up to head back to DC. We're green to go.
- This weekend my Father and I spent time without my mom or siblings -- everyone was away and that left us with time for a guys bonding weekend! It was a fun weekend, well I can't really tell you about it, as it was a secret ritual, I must thank those who made cameo appearances during the weekend: Irene B., The Kaufman's, and Jan & Keith.
- Today was Language Therapy Graduation. My therapist put together a phenomenal good-bye soiree for me including a cap and tassel, pictures are on their way. There is no doubt in my mind that I will definitely miss her while I'm in DC, however I'll be working with her on a case by case basis while I'm transitioning back into the real world.
So that's about it, I'm in the process of packing and getting ready for the "Earl's in the Trunk" party tomorrow that my parent's have graciously put together. I'm very excited that I'll be heading back to DC on Friday, however I must admit I have a few butterflies in my stomach... but let's be honest, it'll all work out in time -- it always does.
Good Night.
xoxo Josh brainblog@joshmeyer.com
Aug. 4th, 2004 @ 11:58 pm
|
| » Surprise! |
As I mentioned last week, I've been working on a surprise for y'all, actually 3 surprises, so with no further ado here we go:
I'M DC BOUND
After extensive conversations with my medical team and my personal advisors, (FYI my advisors are much better than Kerry and Bush's) it's been decided that I'm ready to head back to DC. I'll be arriving on Friday, August 6th, I'm so excited to be back in our nation's Capital. I'll be taking the following week to take care of Dr's appointment and to get back in the groove. The week of August 16th, I'll begin working at HRC on a part-time basis as I continue strengthening my language skills while working with a new language therapy team at GW.
IT'S TIME TO CELEBRATE
The highly anticipated Minneapolis "Good Bye Earl" celebrations has been set! All those close enough to the Twin Cities are welcome to join me and my parents on Thursday, August 5th, from 7 - 10 PM for an evening of champagne and desserts as I head back to DC. As we continue to say, thank you for your continued support and gratitude during the past 3 months. Questions or concerns e-mail Brainblog@joshmeyer.com
JOSHMEYER.COM Version 1.2 is UP!
Finally, JOSHMEYER.COM Version 1.2 is up and running. Check out tons of photos from the hospital to my recovery as well as the updated design of the site. Should you have any questions or concerns with the new site, such as spelling errors or errors in general, please send me an e-mail at Brainblog@joshmeyer.com and I'll try my hardest to fix 'em.
All right it's time for bed, I hope enjoyed the weekend. Have a great week.
xoxo Josh Brainblog@joshmeyer.com
Jul. 25th, 2004 @ 09:55 pm
|
| » Time flies... |
Whoa, things have been flyin'! Wanted y'all to give you a quick update...
Last Thursday (7/15) cousins Bonnie & Brad Bates of Chicago, IL stopped by on a road trip to visit their daughter at summer camp. It was so nice to spend time with them and catch up! Bonnie & Brad thank you for visiting, especially going out of your way to visit in Minnesota, -- see it's not always cold there.
On Saturday (7/17) my Dad, Mom and Colin surprised me with a weekend visit, that is to say Colin flew into Minneapolis. It was a great surprise and a very relaxing weekend. Dad and Mom thanks for making this happen.
Monday (7/19) was full of fun and excitement as I was treated with the opportunity of debriedment (note: debriedment is actually the formal medical term used for removing debris in a wound). The procedure actually turned out to be a little bit more complex than we thought. Instead of local anesthesia they got me pretty sedated and they basically reopened the wound along the top of my scull where it was becoming infected. While opening the scull they removed a "burr" which is a little metal disc. Burrs are placed at several points along the incision so that when the scull and skin heal there are no divots in the skull. The reason that they removed a burr on Monday was that they think one of the burrs used from my second surgery was causing my wound to become infected. Once they removed the burr, they cultured my wound and stitched me back up. All in all, everything worked out alright, the burr is gone, I'm back on antibiotics, I got a new haircut and a new prescription of vicidon... That's a good day.
One last thing before bed... There is going to be some forthcoming news from the blog, I can't say at the moment but definitely stay tuned!
Night!
Josh brainblog@joshmeyer.com
Jul. 21st, 2004 @ 11:55 pm
|
| » "Debris" |
Unfortunately we have a little debris "situation" -- we're not talking about cheese and crackers, nor the stuff that fell on Omarosa's head during an episode of "The Apprentice" -- what we're talking about is an unusual amount of scabbing that is occurring at my surgical site. I'll try and be as concise as possible without grossing everyone out, here's the situation.
When someone like myself has two craniotomies back to back there is a large amount of "stuff" such as, sutures, staples, stitches, tape and glue (ok they don't really use tape and glue), which is used to make sure that my head is pieced back together. Most often there are no complications with the surgical wound and the head begins to heal. However, occasionally there are minor complications with the healing process, which brings us to DEBRIS...
When complications occur with the wound a common thing that happens is small pieces of debris, such as sutures and stitches, may possibly infect the wound causing it to puss and scab which ultimately feeds into a vicious cycle creating infection. GROSS! In an effort to clean everything up and make sure that the head heals correctly sometimes the Dr.'s will set up an appointment so that you can come into the OR where they can clean up the scab and culture the puss to make sure it's not getting infected. Sounds like fun right?
So basically what I'm trying to say is that on Monday, I get to have this really fun procedure where they are going to put me into the Operating Room because it is a very sterile and clean environment, numb my head, shave a little of my hair off, remove the scabbing, culture the puss, and then put a little band-aid on my head, I'm hopping for the Snoopy kind. Not the most fun in the world but hey considering where we've been this is a bump in the road and I'm better off fixing this now than later.
With that in mind, I'm signing off for bed... have a great weekend and we'll talk to you after I get my Snoopy Band-Aid.
xoxo Josh brainblog@joshmeyer.com
Jul. 16th, 2004 @ 11:02 pm
|
| » Chicks Rule! |
Upon arriving home this morning, after my language therapy session, I was pleasantly surprised to find a large package in the mailbox. I must admit that I was rather perplexed as I was not anticipating any sort of package, especially one from a return address from Los Angeles, (I don't really know that many people from Los Angeles, except for my friends Noelle Ito and Matt Damon). After ripping the package open I was in so incredibly overwhelmed when I found that the contents were several different autographed items from The Dixie Chicks!
What an amazing gift, and what is equally more amazing to me is that I know somehow or somewhere, one of you, or possibly several of you, my friends and family passed this greeting on to me from the Dixie Chicks. THANK YOU to the mysterious individual(s) as well as THANK YOU to the Chicks for these gifts!
On a side note, while it's not important, I am slightly curious to know how Natalie, Martie and Emily managed to send me this incredible gift? The envelope was addressed by a business called "the Firm" and had the initials of "MK". If you know how this may have occurred please drop me an e-mail at brainblog@joshmeyer.com.
All right y'all, it's time for bed as I have fun Dr.'s appointments in the morning!
All my best,
xoxo Josh
P.S. I'm a little tired tonight, and I think my language may have been a little bit off tonight... my apologies. ;-)
Jul. 14th, 2004 @ 11:42 pm
|
| » Movin' on Up! |
Hey all! This past weekend brought guests from St. Louis, Missoura' (that's how they say it there). My Aunt Arleen, the famous Aunt Arleen, for those of you questioning, and equally famous Uncle Phil, both spent the weekend. It was such a treat to see them and be able to spend time with me and my parents while I continue to recover.
FAVORS
Actually just one favor, but I'm hoping that several of you will be able to help me out...
As many of you know my roommate, the esteemed Amy, will be leaving me at the end of August as she'll be beginning a new chapter of her life when she moves to NYC and starts a masters program at Columbia University. While I'm so excited for her, I'm also in a bit of quandary as I'm still recovering in Minneapolis and need to try and find a roommate starting at the end of August or early September.
So, here's the scoop... our current apartment is a 2 bedroom, 1 bathroom, kitchen & den located slightly north of Dupont in Adams Morgan, (I should really go into realestate.) Our current rent is $1,450. It would make me so happy if you or any one you may know of anyone who is looking for a place in the area could send me an e-mail, brainblog@joshmeyer.com , I'd be happy to follow up with additional questions and arrange a tour with Amy, for those of you who may not have seen the place. While the bottom line here is that it would be such a huge help to find someone to live with as opposed to trying to move in with another roomate or appartment, I'm a really good cleaner and cook a really amazing dish of mac'n'cheese!
Thanks again y'all, the days are going faster and I'm sure that that is an indication that I'm healing.
All my best,
Josh xoxo brainblog@joshmeyer.com
Jul. 13th, 2004 @ 07:05 pm
|
| » For Goodness Sakes! |
Being back in Minnesota has truly helped me to redefine my Midwestern roots. Minnesotans are so nice and so kind, they don't use the horn while driving, they never use cell phones during restaurants and always end a conversation with "Hope you have a good day there, dontcha-know!" ...(ok maybe not all the time, but most of the time conversations are ended that way.)
While the circumstances have not been the best, that is to say having dealt with the whole brain tumor thing and stuff, I must admit that it has been an absolute treat having been recovering amongst my native people. All too often I realize that I don't appreciate the Midwest, and my upbringing from one of the most gorgeous cities in the country, Minneapolis.
So today, I dedicate Minnesota and in particular the people of Minneapolis. Many of our friends and family from the Twin Cities were so gracious to put their lives on hold during the "Earl" saga. Additionally, there were tons of Minnesotans who I don't even fully know, such as the nurses and hospital staff, were so committed to helping me recover. To all of these individuals I send a HUGE dosage of "Minnesota Nice" and thank you for your continual effort in my recovery.
All right it's time for me to go to bed, I have a Dr.'s appointments tomorrow, hooh-ray!
All my best,
xoxo Josh brainblog@joshmeyer.com
P.S. As I continue to work on blog entries, it is my intention to try and recognize all of those who have helped me out during the past several months... :-)
Jul. 7th, 2004 @ 10:45 pm
|
| » I'm Baaaack... |
Hey y'all... Waz up?
So here it is, my first blog entry since I was in the hospital, and things are absolutely coming together. As my father mentioned last week I'm still recovering from surgery, this still leaves me with lots of needed nap time, and I'm continually working on language therapy.
It takes me about 30 minutes to write 3 paragraphs, but just like every thing else, my progress is getting better and better.
Please keep in mind that I'm hoping to begin bloging once or twice a week as this helps me with my language therapy. Finally, I've decided to intentionally leave the blog uncorrected as I'm hoping to use it as a record as I continue to recover my language skills (however we are recruiting a troop of monkeys to assist me with my nightly composition... just kidding.)
With that said I'm going to sign off for the night with one last comment. Please know that there is no way that I could have possibly faced these recent challenges without all of the support from you my friends and family.
All my best,
Josh xoxo
Jun. 28th, 2004 @ 10:36 pm
|
| » Father's Day |
Helicopter ride ....$xxxxxx Five days for a room at Abbott Hospital .....$ Thousands Having your first born home for father's day......priceless
Josh has asked that I bring you up to date on his progress. After the surgery, he began to experience some difficulty in communicating. This has gotten much better in the last several weeks, but it continues to be an issue that he has to deal with. Josh has been going to speech therapy three time a week and it has been very helpful. He has what is medically described as expressive and receptive aphasia. And now a word from Dr. Google.
As the parent of a 24 year old, when I have a problem finding the right word my friends refer to it as a "senior moment". When Josh has that problem its called expressive aphasia. Expressive aphasia means that Josh is having difficulty finding the words he wants to say. I'm sure you have all experienced this at one time or another...you know, its on the tip of your tongue, but you just can't get it out. Well, Josh has been experiencing this since the surgery. Now, don't panic. This has been getting much better each day, and we expect that it will be a minor irritant soon. Expressive aphasia also presents itself as a difficultly in writing. Writing is the hardest thing for Josh. But that too is getting much better.
He also has a little bit of receptive aphasia. This means he has some difficulty with processing directions and questions. If you asked Josh, as one of his doctors recently did, to stick out his tongue and point to the ceiling, he might stick out his tongue and point it up towards his nose, which is an interesting bar trick, but not exactly what the doctor meant. What the doctor wanted him to do was to stick out his tongue, and point his finger to the ceiling, not as interesting, but more functional.
The other two issues he is working on, is focusing on a project while there are distractions (like background noise) and improving his reading comprehension. I need to tell you that these functions are really improving every day.
This is all really hard work, so don't consider his stay at home to be a vacation. He has homework each night. One way all of you can help is to send him emails. He would prefer links to out of the ordinary web sites to read as well, but just remember that the dad will be censoring your correspondence. Really, the more he reads, the quicker he heals. He is actually helping me to compose this entry, so it is the first step to .........THE RETURN OF JOSH. Coming later this week, I will relinquish my control of the keyboard to our boy. He has promised his speech therapist that he will resume blogging. No pressure,..... speech therapy is pass fail. He is also trying to remember the passwords to update joshmeyer .com. So stay tuned for new developments, Just as he is under reconstruction, so is the web site.
The happy dad.
Jun. 20th, 2004 @ 10:29 pm
|
|