May 25th, 2023. Well today was day 1 of chemotherapy, and don’t worry there were no straws! I must say I slept really well last night and woke with an clear head. Took a walk with Aimee and the dogs to start before we headed out for my first appointment at 8am.

Before I go too far into my day I wanted to mention the amazing gift bestowed upon me by my colleagues yesterday. Late yesterday afternoon a coworker and great friend of mine, Kate, showed up unexpectedly at my home ( for the second time in a week btw. Don’t worry I changed the locks last night. Third time Kate we call the cops!) and proceeded to start a video call with about 25 of my teammates, who were spread out all around the world to surprise me with words of love and encouragement before my first day of treatment. They had customized a Zoom background that said DG’s Pit Crew representing my love for cars. On top of that they each were wearing a hat they had made with the same logo. I was blown away. Never in my life have I had such an amazing family of colleagues and more importantly friends who went out of their way to make me feel better and show their love. I am truly honored and grateful to have these amazing individuals in my life.❤️ I plan on wearing my hat to each chemo treatment over the next 12 weeks and will feel that support each time I put it on my now close to bald head 🙂

My new routine on chemo data starts with a blood draw which at this point are pretty routine. From there I meet with the doctor or someone from my oncology team and given today was my first it was filled with info. First we reviewed all the drugs I will be getting and the likely side effects. From there we spent a good amount of time discussing the drugs they use to combat the side effects, nausea and vomiting being the most common. Over medicate versus under medicate is the phrase of the day. After close to an hour with the doc I moved over to the infusion lab. Had to wait about an hour before they saw me as apparently they mix the chemo cocktail real time in the lab downstairs, think less Breaking Bad and think more ‘Pharm to Table.’ Oh come on, that was clever, admit it!

Got hooked up with a pretty choice room by the window for my first infusion. Sat back in my “Delta first” like chair and got shot with some chemo juice. In all seriousness totally anti-climatic. Today is day one of two in this first cycle. Apparently day 1 is one drug (Methotrexate) which takes about five minutes to infuse. Day 2 is when they really pump me up with 3 drugs (Cisplatin, Doxorubicin, Vinblastine) plus all the

antiemetics and steroids. Those are the doozies. And day 3 is when S*#! is supposed to hit the fan. So we shall see.

Anyway, pretty easy day. 3 hours at the doctors, one needle, one infusion and three vials of blood and no straws!!!!

Oh and the best part of the visit was FREE SNACKS. This place was loaded with goodies! Tomorrow I’m going to need to bring a backpack tomorrow to load up!

Even traded funny face photos with my dad. (Who wore it best?). I get it honestly at least.

Rest of the day has been pretty relaxing. Took another walk with Aimee. Went to grab a sandwich at my favorite Italian deli and sat outside, even took a nap.

But that leads me to the one unexpected and not documented symptom of the infusion today. Around 5pm I had an unexpected urge to play basketball. Yes, I actually had the desire to go out and use the 5 year old basketball net that may have been used four times in its history. This is concerning, very concerning. What I can promise is that I will stick to my day job.

Overall, today was a win! But hands down the best part has been all the amazing texts, calls, and emails from my friends, colleagues, loved ones and doctors who have shared such great words of encouragement and love. Like the text below from my urologist who first diagnosed me and found the tumor on April 14th. Let me say he is an amazing example of not only tremendous medical practitioner, but of a true thoughtful and compassionate soul who cares about his patients, treats me like a true friend, and is there for me even when I am no longer in his direct care. Hats off to you doc, you’re one of the great ones!

I am truly blessed to have so many amazing people in my life and am mindful of all the people out there who don’t have what I have in terms of access, friends, family and the overall quality of care. It has reinforced my passion to continue to try and help others that may need an extra little bit of something to help them on their own journey. I hope my journey helps create or reinforce that passion and sense of urgency for all of you.

Lots of love and gratitude today.