Sunday
[Journal not posted until Monday at 10:35 AM due to a return trip from Los Angeles to Virginia.]
High-Level Journal Summary: After the 2007 DCI Finals at The Rose Bowl, actually being introduced to Dave Van Dyke, who is directly connected to how I learned about neurosurgeon Dr. Patrick J. Kelly for the first time.
Dave was at this show, for all reasons, because his son's friend was the featured soloist for The Cadets. This was the weirdest of small world stories I have experienced in some time. Connecting the dots along this circuitous trail of happenings is fascinating -- to the point of being bizarre.
Countdowns:
1.) Day 7 of 28 in my 24th 5/23 Temodar chemotherapy cycle. My appetite has been very small the last few days because of chemo. I need to get my appetite back so that I can start eating some larger meals. I have lost 5-6 pounds in the past week (as happens at the beginning of each chemo cycle).
2007 Seizure Activity:
1.) Last Simple Partial Seizure, or SPS, was 3 days ago.
2.) In 2007, I have had 33 SPS's in 224 days. This is an average of 1 SPS every 6.8 days.
Actual Journal: As perhaps anticipated in my 8/11/07 online journal entry, the stories from Saturday night are extraordinary. Marching onto the field with The Cadets at DCI Finals 20 years after I "aged-out" of the activity is something I will remember for the rest of my life. I just need to emotionally and physically recover from it all before I assemble these stories to share with others. There were some powerful moments. Extraordinarily powerful moments. Amazing.
Surprising brain surgery moment
In the extended family of drum corps friends, I never know what will happen. People bring friends to the shows, alumni have new children, there are new spouses/partners, etc. Well, I have a story to add to this list after this evening, and it had to do with my brain surgery, of all things. Stick with me as all these dots are connected:
1.) At one point, I marched next to Brian Wilkie in the Garfield Cadets back in 1984.
2.) Brian Wilkie learned I had brain cancer in 2004 when the current director of The Cadets, George Hopkins, posted my health update on his personal blog, which is read by alumni such as Brian Wilkie.
3.) Brian Wilkie was living in New Jersey in 2004 when this happened, and his neighbor next door was Dave Van Dyke.
4.) Dave Van Dyke has a young son named Jared.
5.) Jared and Brian Wilkie's son, Drew Wilkie, were friends and had been friends since being little children.
6.) Jared had a brain tumor, and Dr. Patrick J. Kelly at NYU was his neurosurgeon. (See 1/4/05 online journal entry.)
7.) Brian Wilkie put 2 + 2 together and called me, telling me to drop everything and go see Dr. Patrick J. Kelly at NYU, simply because he knew so much about Jared Van Dyke's situation and his experience with Dr. Kelly.
8.) Drew Wilkie was the featured trumpet soloist with The Cadets this year. I was talking with Drew after the performance at DCI Finals. That is when Drew's Dad, Brian Wilkie, found me and grabbed me by the wrist to follow him.
9.) I was then introduced to Dave Van Dyke, who had recently moved to California from New Jersey and wanted to see Drew Wilkie in performance and catch up with his long-time neighbor and friend, Brian Wilkie.
10.) Dave Van Dyke and I had never seen one another, but we knew of each other. We were both equally surprised and just launched into conversation.
Dave Van Dyke
The chances of this
What are the chances of all this coming together on 8/11/07 in the parking lot of The Rose Bowl in Pasadena, California after the 2007 DCI World Championships? Clearly a rhetorical question. Dave and his family indirectly touched my life 2.5 years ago, and we finally had a chance to connect in person and talk for about 30 minutes.
I almost don't know what to make of this. At the very least, it was a chance to connect and check in with each another. Jared is doing fine. He is a young teenager now and progressing just fine. I also had a chance to tease Dave. Dr. Kelly had told me that Dave shaved his head when Jared had to shave his head for surgery, so they both came into NYU together completely bald. Dave laughed out loud at that one. He confirmed that this story was indeed true. What made it even funnier to him is that he is a native Californian and has always had full locks of hair, so to be bald was a first for him. But, he got into it to emotionally support his son during brain surgery, which says a tremendous amount about Dave right there.
And then, we both lauded Dr. Patrick Kelly. Neither of us had anything but praise for Dr. Kelly, admiring his intelligence, innovation, and humanity for what he does professionally.
Final thoughts
In an evening surrounded by drum corps music and lifetime memories (not a trite version of these words, mind you), all of a sudden this story about brain cancer which connected the dots between 1/4/05 and 8/12/07. 2 years, 7 months, and 8 days later, Dave and I finally met in person in the parking lot of The Rose Bowl. How about that? If I could of had a beer, I would have had one right then and there.
Two members of The Cadets Brass Section, along with their instructor Gino Cipriani. Drew Wilkie is the trumpet soloist for The Cadets and is on the far right. Gino and I actually competed against each other back when I marched since he was with the Blue Devils at that time. Now, he is one of the most prolific brass instructors in the country. Gino is genius material who loves Drew's talent.
