Birthday Lunch on Me

So today went well. Dr. Stieg loves my progress and happy I am eating like a horse and mobile. Good prognosis. Am going back to NYC on the Tuesday, October 7th for a meeting with my radiation oncologist -- it appears I will have both concurrent radiation and chemotherapy, but no more brain removal, cool.

Since my appetite is here, I treated the family to a fine USDA grade-A steak at one of my favorite NYC steakhouses, the Post House, on East 63rd & Madison Avenues. My Dad, T.J. and I all had the cajun rib-eye, and boy did it taste good, on top of some nice wine and had to top it off with a chocolate souffle for dessert. Got home a-okay and just taking it easy. I promise to put a picture up tomorrow. The staples came out fine today with no pain, which I was glad.

Thanks for everything again. And to my fine colleauges at MPC out in Belgrade, Serbia, I hope you had a nice cake in my honor, and some champagne! Keep it going. I will be back, that I promise!

Be in touch. Mike

Michael's Birthday Tomorrow!

All - It's been some time since I've posted, but I'm glad Mikey's picked up the ball to keep you informed as to what's going on. We do have a "big" day tomorrow, as we are going into the city to speak w/ Dr. Stieg. But an even BIGGER reason is it's Michael's BIRTHDAY and he's home to celebrate!!! After our meeting, Mom, Dad, Michael & I are planning to have a nice dinner together, either in the city or somewhere local.

As we've said, we continue to be overwhelmed by the outpouring of support from everyone. Michael has clearly not lost his, ah-hem, "healthy" appetite (I'm going to hear it later for that!) from all the great food you've provided. I've even been fortunate enough to steal some left-overs! The visits, phone calls, e-mails have been great for all of us. We know that we have a road ahead, but this has already made us a stronger family and we couldn't have gotten this far without YOU. We are certain that Michael is going to get through this bump in the road...his spirit continues to amaze me.

A Preliminary Verdict

Okay, so I have some news. I am scheduled to return to NYC on September 30th, Tuesday, which is ironically my birthday, to have a post-op meeting with Dr. Stieg, and to have the 27 staples removed from my head.

I called the other day and the results of the pathology exam came back. The tumor is known as an 'anaplastic astrocytoma' and was mostly Grade 2, which is good, on a 1 to 4 scale. Their first course of action is surgery where they took it all out. However, there were some elements of a Grade 3 that crossed a boundary that they could not take out, without harming my motor functions, which I kind of like I must say.

I will have to go through a 42-day course of conformal radiation, not sure of timing yet. But I have a meeting on October 7th back in NYC with a radiation oncologist. Until I see Dr. Stieg though on Tuesday, I am not worried too much, and continue to eat like never before, and take some fine naps. And it looks like my extended holiday in the States will continue.

Thank you for everything so far. The thoughts, emails, calls, food and what not. I am checking my email and love calls, so you're not bothering me at all if you feel like calling the house, +1.203.372.2853. I can wake up!

My appetite for papers and the internet at the moment is not there, so I have have a bit of time on my hands to say the least. Look forward to seeing you and speaking soon. All my best.

Michael

White Sauce

Bring it on. When have I ever said no to free food. Especially from my Italian side of the family. I look forward to it. Swing by anytime.

...the meatloaf is next on the menu

It amazes me how quickly time passes - needless to say, I will always remember that Friday when my guy, Michael called. We have crossed over one hurdle and will do the same with whatever comes our way .... Joe and I cannot possibly tell you all what it means to have the continued support, love and blessings for Michael. He is resilent (did I spell that correctly??), strong and still retains that special sarcastic wit that keeps our spirits high. I have taken my "Florence Nightingale" uniform out of storage and hope that it still fits??!! I WILL NOT give him a bell, as was suggested by someone - who remembers ?? , but we have put ourselves on call for whatever the kid needs or wants. He keeps walking by a mirror and says, "I don;t look so bad, right Mom?"
What can I say?? He always looks pretty good to all of us ...
thank you all for everything - please feel free to call him - is he ever without his blackberry/phone?
The Whyte house welcomes you as soon as we see that he is ready for visitors - please continue to keep us in your prayers and good thoughts ..
Oh, and for those of you who do not know what a 'doula' is - I take care of newborns for new moms, so I feel pretty good about taking care of my boy - and of course, without the Commander around, where would we go for a good story - always has plenty of those ...
Mom & Dad

Mission Accomplished!

So, I am home, and it feels great to be in my own bed and have home cooking. Home-made mac&cheese has already come my way. Besides the staples on my head, as T.J. said which looks like a zipper, not much more. Am feeling okay, a bit tired as to be expected, but walking and moving around. The doctor said everything looked good but no strenuous activities. The pathology comes back around Monday and I anticipate heading into the City early next week to get the results. Thanks for everything so far: from the Sigma Chi brothers, a great tray of cold cuts; from MPC, the terrific flowers; and from HD and DW, the stellar Boston Red Sox build-a-bear. And I appreciate the visits while at the hospital- Andy, Matt, Foley, Magrans.

It has been a quick turnaround, but I am glad, and it is so great to be home. I look forward to seeing everyone, I will need a planner (T.J.??) for that one. Will be in touch. Mikey

The Eagle Has Landed

Michael and family have made it home! He was released around 12 noon today and we made it home to BPT in great time. He looks very good, the only noticeable difference being the line of staples from the surgery. We may attach a zipper to allow easy access to his brain for future upgrades!

We'll be scheduling a meeting this week to debrief the surgery w/ Dr. Stieg.

For now, we are all pretty tired, so we'll all be resting in the comfort of home! Great Job Michael!

So, we spent the day with Michael yesterday in the Neuro ICU. He is in awesome spirits! He is talkative and was watching TV and just relaxing. Needless to say, he was tired and occasionally nodded off for some shut eye. He's eating well and he even started walking around a bit. Go figure, he decided to take his "1st steps" when one of his cute nurses asked him if he felt like walking. He gladly took her arm and walked around the floor.

Visitation was extremely limited to family members. Michael should have been moved last night (after visiting hours ended) or early today to a room with some more privacy. His nurses seem to think that he could be released from the hospital as early as tomorrow. We are not clear about visitation today or tomorrow at this point.

Dr. Stieg has been in to see Michael to chat with him and see how he's doing. Dr. Stieg is happy with Michael's progress. We will have a meeting scheduled w/ Dr. Stieg sometime next week to discuss pathology and therapy.

So, what's next? Many have asked about visiting, etc. Please know that it was extremely difficult to respond to texts and phone calls yesterday as phones are not allowed in the ICU. To accomodate Michael, to make sure he gets his rest, etc., he may not be able to see you while he's in NY-Presbyterian. BUT, I know that if Michael cannot host there, he will NEED YOU as he recuperates at home in Bridgeport. We know that this is something that isn't just go away today or tomorrow, so you will have plenty of time to come up and see him there and give him (and us) your strength and support. He will be active (though I don't think he'll be able to run marathons!), but I'm certain he'll want to see his friends and maybe go for a ride or take a walk, whatever. Plus, Mom makes damn good cookies and Dad will talk to you about anything.....

We've received some inquiries about flowers, etc. Michael (being a guy) isn't a huge fan of flowers, but does appreciate the thought. Best place to send anything is:

525 Jennings Avenue
Bridgeport, CT 06610

THANKS FOR YOUR CONTINUED SUPPORT, MIKEY APPRECIATES IT!!!!

"why did you throw out the Forbes?"

One day at a time, right? Michael was very good today. He had his bandages removed and a few of this IVs. Each day he is getting closer and closer to the norm. He's got some staples in his dome, but once removed, they will be unnoticeable when his hair grows in. In fact, we were excited to hear that......he's coming home TOMORROW (yes, SATURDAY!) Unbelievable!

As is his norm, Michael's spirits are great! His sarcasm is there, and his "nerve" is fine, i.e., he asked where a particular issue of Forbes magazine was, that he had saved. The issue had mistakenly been, ah-hem, put into the trash by his younger, very neat & clean, brother. Michael asked "why did you throw out the Forbes?" with look of disgust, as if he were asking "why did you shoot that poor raccoon?" (inside Darien cop joke). I smiled, said "sorry" and thought wow, he's coming along well.

Michael was able to see a visitor or two today, which was great for us all. He did tire as the day wore on, but stayed awake all day to entertain us. Shout out to ANDY BOLT, who kindly dined with us for dinner...

For those of you wondering, our family has lent us the healing assistance of Miss Madison Poisson, aged 18 months! Madison is the beautiful girl in the pictures on the right. She, with her wonderful family, have brought us a lot of joy and smiles over these last few days. We wouldn't have the strength we needed without them (and all of you too, for that matter).

So, tomorrow looks like moving day. As mentioned, he still would love to see friends and family as he recuperates at The Whyte House. Feel free to e-mail him (his "crackBerry" will be back in his hands soon), e-mail T.J., or call the house, if necessary.

He's out of surgery and awake!

UPDATE, THURS. 0930: Alrighty! Just spoke w/ a nurse at the Neuroscience ICU, where Michael spent the night. She stated that he was alert and oriented and chatty. He had a good night overnight, a bit nauseated, but slept well. I told the nurse that if he got out of line, we could handcuff Michael to the bed or deploy pepper spray (just a joke kids, gotta have some levity here!) So, what else? Mom, Dad & I are going to visit him momentarily. As you can imagine, this has not been easy for us. We did get our rest (as many of you kindly reminded us to do), Mom and I snored and we all slept soundly. Visiting hours - ICU's are a bit more stringent, so it's only family for now, but will keep you informed as he gets relocated to a permanent bed. Total time in hospital should be 3-5 days (including yesterday, we think) We continue to need your prayers and good thoughts, know that each one is appreciated!


All - The last few hours have been trying for all of us. Dr. Stieg came in around 1:30 to tell us that Michael made it through surgery A-OK and Michael "was rock stable." Dr. Stieg feels that he was able to remove the entire tumor and that it was most likely a "primary" tumor (a GOOD thing).

We are not through the woods yet. We are awaiting pathology results (3-5 days) and will then discuss any type of therapy for Michael, if necessary. Dr. Stieg has an "idea" of what type of tumor it could be, but I'd rather not go into speculation, etc. Please understand.

We were able to see Michael, he was awake, somewhat groggy and he spoke with us. He is in some pain and has been given the appropriate medication and will most likely sleep the rest of the day and night. He will be in the ICU overnight and will be moved to a semi-private room at some point tomorrow.

This has been one of the toughest days of our lives. PLEASE keep those good thoughts and prayers coming our way. Mom, Dad & I are holding up as best we can and are pulling together to be strong for Michael. Visiting hours will be posted as soon as we know and as soon as we (and Michael) feels comfortable seeing people. PLEASE understand if that isn't for another day or two. PLEASE feel free to e-mail myself (tjwhyte@hotmail.com), but please try to not call or text unless absolutely necessary. Mom, Dad & I need a bit of rest, we're getting old, ya know?!

UPDATE @ 5:50 PM - Some have asked about his spirits going into surgery. Michael was a champ, let me tell you, cracking jokes, talking sports, and is truly an inspiration to Mom, Dad & I.

WE LOVE YOU ALL. WE CAN'T THANK YOU ENOUGH FOR ALL THOSE THOUGHTS, PRAYERS & WELL-WISHES. OUR STRONG SPIRITS TOGETHER WILL KEEP MICHAEL GOING STRONG! KEEP THEM COMING!

T.J., Mom & Dad

The Night Before........

Well, Good Evening, Good Morning or Good Afternoon, as this email flies around the world. After a week of waiting, a second MRI, two meetings with Dr. Stieg, it is now just a few hours away. My parents and brother and I are all down in Manhattan. Today was fairly hectic and stressful. As many of you can imagine, dealing with health insurance is always a lot of fun, but in the end, problem solved.

For those of you who know me well and know how much I love New York City, its pretty damn nice to be in Manhattan and staring out at the skyline and the sunset. No big plan for tonight except to have a low-key dinner and some wine – which we all need at the moment. Afterwards, I know T.J. is looking forward to shaving my head and ‘Bicing’ it.

So the Big Day, etc.
The schedule remains the same: Wednesday, September 17 – At Columbia Presbyterian at 05:30 for pre-op; Surgery begins at 07:30 and will be c. 5 hours; the remainder of the day and the evening in the ICU. The full name of the procedure I am having is a ‘Right Fronto-Temporal Craniotomy for Tumor Excision with Brainlab Navigation’.

For those of you who may want to swing by, my brother will probably put the visiting hours up on the blog later tomorrow. Preliminarily, it looks like they could be 11AM to 8PM, BUT, it could vary, so again, my brother will post. The hospital is located on East 68th Street and York Avenue and I believe I will be in the ‘Greenburg’ Wing.

Obviously the past 12 days or so have been a whirlwind and have flashed by. If anything, I have realized so much continues to happen – a major investment bank declares bankruptcy, another firm gets bought by a commercial bank and one of the largest insurance firms in the world teeters on the brink. Truly historic times. The world continues to go on and many of you have been affected by these events and others.

So many of you have emailed me, called me, checked the blog and so forth. If I have not personally gotten back to you, I apologize, but I promise you I will do that – AFTER they crack my head open though. I am not the most religious person, though I did go to Catholic school all my life (except college!), but if at any time I have thought of something ‘up there’ it has been now.

So many people have said to me ‘You are holding up so well’, or ‘Keep up the humor’, but as most of you that know me, that is me. Sarcastic, humorous and so forth. I appreciate everything you have done, and again, I would love to write a personalized email to each of you, but that will have to wait.

So again, thank you (for one of you in particular, I know I say ‘so’ a lot!). Check the Blog (http://michaelwhyte.blogspot.com/) for updates and/or call my brother T.J. (+1.203.521.7442). And forward this as appropriate. The family will be ‘living’ in the City over the next several days. I will be thinking of you all tomorrow – please do the same for me.

Mike

And of course, I have to mention that my UConn Huskies are 3-0 in football (yes, for those of you in Europe, American football!)

2nd Meeting with Dr. Stieg

Good day in the city today. Michael, Uncle Jim & I met w/ Dr. Stieg and his staff who were professional as usual. Dr. Stieg took his time going through how the surgery would go and answered all our questions with confidence, which was very reassuring. Dr. Stieg was satisfied with the new MRI and he does not anticipate anything unusual with the surgery. Once again, he was honest with us while remaining positive that Michael was going to get through this.

Mikey then had some pre-op testing done and it was back to the train, home to BPT.

Mom, Dad, Michael & I are heading into the city on Tuesday and can be reached via e-mail or T.J.'s cell phone if need be. We plan on keeping it low key and having a nice dinner together. Mom will be limited to (1) vodka & tonic (just kidding Mom, we'll let you have 2) & the boys may have a "glass of the grapes", as Joe Whyte says!

We'll keep the blog updated! THANK YOU for your continued support, cards, e-mails, calls, food, everything - you've all been so great for us! Please keep your prayers and thoughts coming our way!

Meeting w/ Dr. Stieg

Michael & I are going to meet with Dr. Stieg at Cornell-Weill this afternoon, to discuss his new MRI......then Michael's going to buy me lunch (he just doesn't know it yet!)

"Is he still on the phone?"

Life with Michael is never boring... I, as his Mother can readily agree that he is full of energy and laughter - of course, he is expecting his usual when he returns home - that being, a meatloaf dinner with lumpy mashed potatoes, and those endless little extras that we have always supplied. He is returning to the City that he loves - New York, for a weekend with "the boys" - he will return on Monday to finish off his favorite dessert, that is, if any is left by then ... we'll see!! R&R for all - have a great weekend.

MRI in NYC

Michael's MRI went very well today! Mom & Uncle Jim accompanied him and everything went very smoothly...The schedule remains the same: doctor visit on Monday, surgery on Wednesday.

We're all looking forward to a relaxing weekend.

As you can see, I added some pictures and links about Dr. Stieg & Cornell-Weill, enjoy!

Mom jumps online

Gail (Mom) says hello to everybody! (She was peeved that Mike and I had not mentioned her anywhere on the blog. Sorry for the oversight Doula!) And for those who know her so well, it is MICHAEL - we always kid her about that.

Also, lest he be forgotten - there is Joe Whyte - since he does not have a clue about the computer, he is a true Irishman - and if you need a story and have plenty of time, call him - we promise that he will keep you entertained ... he is following our lead and definitely helps to keep us in check.

Some interesting stuff about Dr. Phil Stieg: http://www.cornellneurosurgery.com/

VISITOR INFORMATION - will be posted as soon as we get it for Michael's hospital stay

Also, Mikey neglected to mention that he asked Dr. Stieg if he could fashion some "George Clooney good looks" for Mike during the surgery. Ummmm, yeah, not gonna happen kiddo!!!

Tentative Schedule of Events

Okay. First off, thanks so much for all your calls and emails. I feel pretty damn popular and know I have so many great friends, colleagues and family. So, here's the story. We ended up getting the call to come into Manhattan today (Mon., 9/9) at around 1PM so we trekked down to the City. My uncle had arranged an appointment with Dr. Philip Stieg, the Chairman of the Department of Neurological Surgery at Weill Medical College and Neurosurgeon-in-Chief at New York-Presbyterian Hospital (http://www.cornellphysicians.com/pstieg/index.html). He took a look at the MRI that was done in Serbia and pointed out some things. The tumor is located on both the anterior lobe and the frontal lobe and there may be a chance that it extends into the ventricular system. Surgery is absolutely necessary. He could not tell what it is, but it seems to be 'low grade' but is 'sizeable'.

Here is the tentative schedule of events:
Thursday (9/11): I return to NYC for another full-blown MRI
Monday (9/15): Consultation with Dr. Stieg
Tuesday evening (9/16): We will spend the night in Manhattan
Wednesday (9/17) [a.k.a. The Big Day]: 5:30AM arrival at the hospital; 7:30AM surgery begins. Procedure should be about 4 to 5 hours. I will spend the remainder of the day and night in the ICU. 3 to 5 days in the hospital. Pathology work will take 3 to 5 days. Then we can decide if anything remains to be done. Estimated recovery time up to 6 weeks.

During surgery, he will make an incision above the right eye, along the sideburn and behind the hairline, which will let him open a 'window' to access the brain. Basically, Dr. Stieg has said I will come through this and that its a 'bump in the road'.

I am in great spirits and I know many of you are concerned, and believe me, that means a lot. I've been laughing and being super sarcastic, but until I know exactly what this is, I will enjoy my time in Connecticut, eat a lot, watch some college football, and just relax.

Again, thanks for everything. Please let anyone else know about this site as its the best way to relay information.

Wish me well.

Mike

New York City!

All - First, I hope you enjoy sarcasm, because us Whyte's are a sarcastic bunch, and what better way than to keep things "light".

Our spirits our GREAT. Mikey, Dad & I all had our Dunkin' Donuts and are covering our bases where we can. THANK YOU for all your phone calls, messages & e-mails. Keep those GOOD VIBES coming our way, they are very much appreciated!

T.J.

E-mail from Michael

Good Morning:

This was never an email I ever anticipated I may have to write but it is very important that I let you in on some news.

As many of you know I have been living in Belgrade, Serbia, over the past 3 months where I have been working for one of the largest real estate developers/owners/operators in the country. I’ve been working with one of my best friends, Rob Schweizer, down there. He is a director at Merrill Lynch and ML has invested in the company so we are running the investment. So far its been a lot of fun, I’ve learned a great deal about real estate private equity, and overall, another experience to add to the book.

Over the past 2 to 3 months though I have noticed that I have become more tired and run-down and overall not feeling 100%. My endurance is shot and I have gotten pretty severe headaches. At first I figured it was because I have been working a great deal of hours but it’s not that. After going to a doctor in Belgrade on Thursday they ran me through some neurological exam and everything was fine. At my insistence though I asked for more tests and to have an MRI. I did that on Friday. The results came back that afternoon.

It turns out that I have a tumor in the right frontal lobe of my brain. From what the doctor told me in Belgrade, it is a Category 2, which is medium risk (Category 4 being the worst) and it is encapsulated, as opposed to having tentacles. He has told me that I need to have surgery as soon as possible to have it removed. He told me I can no longer drive either due to a risk of seizures. He could not tell me how long it has been there but that everything that I have been feeling has most likely been caused by that.

On Friday night, Rob had organized one of the company’s private jets to take me to London in order to catch the first flight out yesterday to New York. For those of you who know how much I like to fly, having a Citation XLS private plane at your disposal ain’t bad. On top of that he also organized a medical doctor to fly with me to not only London, but to be seated next to me on the flight to NY, to make sure I arrived safely. My mother, and my brother T.J., were waiting at JFK for me. I arrived fine and am at my parents’ home in Connecticut.

I do not know the exact game plan as of yet. I am leaving the logistics to my parents, my brother, and my uncle (my Mom’s brother) who resides in Manhattan. Tentatively, I will be going into Manhattan tomorrow (Monday) and most likely be going to Memorial Sloan-Kettering to see a neurologist or neurosurgeon. Apart from this I have no more details. T.J. has set up a web blog and will update it along the way to keep everyone posted on what is happening.

I know I have been out of touch with many of you and I apologize for this. I’ve truly enjoyed my work over the past several months but have been remiss in keeping in touch. Thanks for your understanding.

I ask that you keep not only me in your thoughts and prayers, but my parents and my brother. I promise you I will be in touch.

Mike