Camping

A relaxing evening in front of the campfire — On the upside, the smoke kept the mosquitos away. No one complained of a single bite!

William Heise Campground. Seven families. Thirty people. And one bathroom, at least for the first night.

Apparently, at some point in my distant past I was a camper, because I surprised myself and my much more outdoorsy neighbor, Missy, the organizer of the expedition, by the sheer amount of camping equipment I had stuffed into the deepest, darkest corners of garage. It was almost as if I never wanted myself to find it again. Planning ahead I had bought a brand new tent in celebration of Amazon’s Prime Day, only to find two more hidden in my garage during my excavation.

“This new tent will work out better“, I insisted, “It’s bigger and we’ll all be able to sleep together!”

Mistake.

On the first night I realized that our massive 6-person tent was a tighter squeeze than I expected. Worse, I shared an air mattress with Kaylee. Being heavier, I created a depression that she couldn’t help but roll into and subsequently, on top of me. I escaped to the van and spent a sleepless night reclined in the driver’s seat, sleeping for maybe an hour or two in 15-minute spurts. I wasn’t the only one, either. Jodie ended up reading through the night. As for my other daughter, Ashley? She rolled off the air mattress she shared with Jodie and slept, face-planted on the bare vinyl floor of the tent. To each her own.

The toilet and showers gave out early the next day. Suspiciously, the outage coincided with our fearless leader, Missy, contracting a very nasty stomach bug. Being the trooper she was, she insisted on toughing it out, to the extent of trying to follow along on a 3-mile hike in 90+ degree weather. Mercifully, she retreated back to camp only to be voted “off the island” and chaffuered home with a crate of Gatorade and saltine crackers.

A trip to Miner’s Diner in Julian and heaping scoops of ice cream cheered everyone up. Heck, I would have paid good money just to sit in the air conditioned splendor. As luck would have it the diner had an entire basement full of candy which each of the kids took turns exploring.

Survival Instincts — Some campers truly roughed it, if only by keeping their car’s A/C above 78 degrees.

“Hey, Kay! “Check these out!”, I called to my youngest, Kaylee.

“What are those?”, she asked.

“Sugar candy cigarettes!”, I announced.

“I haven’t seen these in years. Pretty inappropriate for this day and age.”, I reminisced.

She nodded in agreement.

Later that night, back at the campsite, we dined on packaged ramen, canned beans, and store-bought tortillas in an effort to hedge against any more food poisoning stemming from the BBQ’d burgers we had eaten the night before. After getting the campfire started my friend, Mike, strummed guitar while the kids all lined up on a squat fence bordering the campsite.

“Uh, what are they doing?”, Jodie asked.

“Smoking cigarettes.”, I said.

I averted her eyes.

“Don’t worry, they’re sugar. I couldn’t resist.”, I smiled. “It’s nostalgic”.

The second night was quieter. Unsurprisingly, many campers decided to hoof it rather than risk stumbling through the brush in the middle of the night to use the bathroom. My bedroom, the van, was commandeered at least once to make the journey to the remaining operable bathroom a half mile down the road. Sleep was elusive, even more so when Kaylee popped her head in.

“I can’t sleep in the tent”, she moaned, “Can I sleep in here with you?”

“You can try”, I laughed. “I haven’t had any luck.”

She was out cold within minutes in the passenger seat next to me, snoring.

I would say I was up early the next morning, but as I never really went down it’s kind of a misnomer. We managed a pretty good spread of pancakes and scrambled eggs before everyone decided to cut their losses, beat the heat, and head home early.

“Next time? Cabins.”, Jodie suggested.

“Right?”, I agreed absent-mindedly. My exhausted mind theorizing where in the garage I could re-entomb my collection of tents and camping gear so that they would never, ever, be discovered again.

Take care. Stay healthy. Live life.

-Scott

#Camping #Campfire #Smoke #Parenting #CampingWithKids #Julian #WilliamHeiseCountyPark #CuyamacaMountains #IHateCamping #IReallyDoHateCamping #RoughingIt #SurvivalInstincts #DrawnAndCoded #Comic

Six Months Later

It has now been six months since my oncologist paused my treatments for prostate cancer and it remains undetectable. My doctor calls it a treatment “holiday”, and it’s one holiday I never want to return from.

I had forgotten what it’s like to have energy. I started running again, something I thought I’d never be able to do after recovering from surgery, radiation, and having zero testosterone for two years. I’ve also started playing paddle ball and pickleball a couple times a week, too. On some days I probably push myself a little too hard, but for me, applying a ice pack and swallowing an Ibuprofen is more symbolic of me being fixed than being broken. Life is good.

One day in particular that I am looking forward to is Saturday, September 17th. On that day my family, friends, and I will be walking in the 2022 ZERO Prostate Cancer Walk at De Anza Cove Park in Mission Bay. Last year, we, as “Team Vandervort”, raised $4,134, making us the second highest fundraising team in San Diego. We were also the second largest team with 44 people participating in the walk. This year I am hoping that we can do even better and I have set our fundraising goal for $5,000 and would love to have a team of at least 50 people. If you’d like to join us please go here and register.

Thank you for your support.

-Scott

Previous : Three Months Later

Next : Nine Months Later

Prostate Cancer PSA — My PSA ( ng/mL ) as of 06/16/2022

#prostatecancer #cancer #prostatitis #psa #prostate #urology #oncology #radiationtherapy #radiation #ebrt #proton #radicalprostatectomy #chemotherapy #hormonetherapy #surgery #lupron #leuprolide #drawnandcoded #iwillbeatthis #prostatecancerzero #prostatecancerwalk #prostatecancer #theenedofprostatecancer #teamvandervort

Paddleball

My family and I were recently introduced to Paddleball by Jayme, my sister-in-law. Jayme and my wife, Jodie, were avid racquetball players before the onslaught of our children. A few months ago Jayme started playing a similar sport, called Paddleball, with a group at the local High School on Saturdays. She invited me to join her, and, naturally, I said “maybe”. My history with racquet sports isn’t a pretty one. I was the kid in high school that spent more time fishing tennis balls out of the bushes than hitting them. I was also the dude who screamed like a girl every time I played indoor racquetball with Jayme or Jodie. Simply put : They’re good. I’m not good. But, it’s more than a machoistic thing…

“I’m really not a fan of claustrophobia, 80mph balls, and swinging racquets in close quarters”, I told Jayme.

“It’s not a racquet, it’s a paddle”, Jayme encouraged me.

“And, it’s outdoors”, she continued.

“And, the ball is softer and doesn’t travel as fast.”, she finished.

“Maybe.”, I replied.

I eventually did join her, not to play, but because my youngest daughter, Kaylee, who had been going with Jayme, wanted me to meet “Grogu”, the “cutest puppy in the whole world” that frequented the courts. And, Kaylee was right, of course. Grogu absolutely was the cutest puppy in the whole world. But, I ended up playing a couple rounds of Paddleball, too, and, as expected, hit several balls over the wall in the process. But, everyone encouraged me to keep playing and had tips on how to improve my game. I remember coming home, sore and tired, but excited to tell Jodie all about it.

Fast forward a couple of months and Jodie and I now have our own paddles, made by Gearbox, a set of balls, portable chairs, and lots of new friends. We play Saturdays with the San Diego Elite Paddleball Group.

Take care. Stay healthy. Live life.

-Scott

#paddleball #gearbox #racquetball #paddle #tennis #comic #drawnandcoded

Unicorns, Trolls, and Breakfast

I drew these pictures for Kevin and my ongoing endeavor, a children’s book, titled “Jalapena”. If the name sounds familiar, that’s good, because my last post was over eight months ago. If not, well, it’s a story about a young troll, Jalapena, and her human friend, Raven, as they journey to save their world by means of saving a unicorn. Kevin based it upon stories he told his daughter when she was younger.

As per my last post I’ve been putting a lot more effort into drawing “au natural”, with pencils, pens, and paper. The first two drawings were done entirely on my Surface Pro using Clip Studio and Gimp. The later three were done using a blue pencil, an HB pencil, Micron Pens, and a sheet of printer paper. It takes a little more work, but is a lot more rewarding for me. At some point, if there’s enough interest, I’ll do a quick post on my process.

Take care. Stay healthy. Live life.

-Scott

Jalapena, Raven, and their new companions, a couple of wizards named Tholaman and Choinard as they evade the evil Bolziks in the town of Abbington.

Japapena's Family — I’m a big fan of noisy family meals and wanted to sketch what such a meal would look like in Jalapena’s household. This is what I came up with.

The Unicorn — Six years into my self-bestowed title as “amateur illustrator” and you’d think I’d have drawn a horse – uh, unicorn by now, but nope. It took some effort. Maybe I’m a little biased, but my initial sketches all looks liked long-legged dogs. It’s been said that for every good picture there are thousands of bad ones leading up to it. I have stacks of bad horse pictures, maybe not thousands, but enough to make a equestrian whinny. I hope you like them.

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Next : The Dragon King

#Maps #MapLover #Atlas #DadsWritingBooks #DadsBookClub #BeCreative #Illustration #KidsBooks #KidsFantasyBooks #MythicalCreatures #BookLover #ILoveBooks #DrawnAndCoded

Mochi, the Axolotl

An unintended but unavoidable result of our trip to Vegas a few months ago was our new pet, Mochi, the Axolotl. Axolotl’s are almost extinct in the wild and illegal to own and sell in California, but quite plentiful in the city known for loose slots, loose women, and ( as we found out ) loose pet restrictions. After experiencing Mochi firsthand, I’m honestly surprised that Axolotls still exist in the wild at all. They’re clumsy for starters. Mochi, of course, is also bright shade of pink, a color that does everything but scream “here I am, come eat me” to any predator with more than an ounce of intelligence.

Although Mochi is my oldest daughter, Ashley’s, pet, my wife, Jodie, is her primary caretaker. Honestly, I am more than a little jealous of the amount of attention she gets, too. Every morning Jodie and her sister Jayme, who adopted an Axolotl of her own while in Vegas with us, compare detailed notes of water conditions, bowel movements, and the number of worms their respective legged-fish ate the day prior. The nitrates, nitrites, and ammonia levels all have to be just right as well as the water temperature. Since we got Mochi Amazon has chartered entire truckloads worth of fans, filtration devices, sand, rocks, blood worms, and nightcrawlers, water testing kits, etc… to our house – oh, and Jayme’s, too, of course. Mochi only cost about thirty dollars, but we’ve easily spent ten times that keeping her alive.

I’ve often caught Jodie staring into Mochi’s aquarium, wondering, I assume, if the clumsy, pink, legged fish staring back through the glass has developed any sort of affection for her. I can only guess…..

On a side note, you might have noticed that my artwork has changed. Up until a month or so ago I drew the majority of my comics and illustrations digitally on my Microsoft Surface Pro 7 using Clip Studio Paint and Gimp. I’ve since gone back to basics and started using pencils, inks, and paper. My reasons are threefold. First, after spending an entire day at work in front of a computer screen, it was getting more and more difficult to motivate myself to spend even more time in front of the same screen to do my art. Second, although drawing digitally allowed me to make corrections easier, I found myself taking it to extremes. I found myself obsessing over every detail and, in the long run, I felt my artwork was loosing some spontaneity. Third, I found myself not improving as much as I would of liked. Drawing digitally was making me sloppy. Paper can only be erased so many times before you wear a hole through it. Computer pixels aren’t so limited. While using pencil and ink I find myself carefully planning each stroke.

Admittedly, I’m still working out the details. My lines aren’t as crisp, my colors are streaky, and the scanner I’ve been using somehow manages to wash everything out, but I’m enjoying the whole process a lot more. I haven’t completely ruled out digital arts, either. I just needed a little change.

Take care. Stay healthy. Live life.

-Scott

#axolotl #pets #parentingfail #vegas #clipstudiopaint #gimp #surfacepro7 #backtobasics #comic #drawnandcoded

Three Months Later

Prostate Cancer Hormone Therapy Vacation

Two years ago today I had my prostate removed as a result of being diagnosed with prostate cancer a few months prior. Surgery or no it was one of the crazier days of my life. The “novel” coronavirus had just made headways into the United States and hospitals were beginning to enforce visitation limits. Jodie wasn’t allowed to stay for my surgery, or even visit when I woke up. It was probably a good thing because my daughter, Kaylee, broke her arm while I was being rolled into the operating room. In some twist of irony Kaylee and I both had operations on the same day, and likely the same time. Jodie and Kaylee were so worried about upsetting me that neither wanted to tell me what had happened, although I eventually found out. It’s incredibly hard to hide a bright pink cast, after all.

We recovered together. We had lots of time to recover, too. What eventually became known as COVID took a lot away, but it also gave Kaylee and I a lot of time to do nothing. And nothing is exactly what it takes to recover from surgery – I mean surgeries, plural.

I’d like to say that was the end of my cancer story, but it wasn’t. Less than six months later I started radiation treatment. This was in addition to two years of testosterone-eliminating hormone therapy, too.

Fast forward two years to today. Today marks three months since stopping all treatments. I had my quarterly blood work done today and it indicated that my cancer is still undetectable. Better yet, my testosterone has returned to normal levels as well. This is all good news.

I’m still not in the clear, and honestly I may never be, but every good test results inches me closer to – what? A cure? No, not cure. My doctor has made it clear that “cure” is not in the vernacular for people in my situation. At best people like me get to stay in remission. Long, happy, grateful, normal, live-life-to the-fullest remission.

Thanks for all of your support.

Take care. Stay healthy. Live life.

-Scott

Previous : That’s no moon!

Next : Six Months Later

#prostatecancer #cancer #prostatitis #psa #prostate #urology #oncology #radiationtherapy #radiation #ebrt #proton #radicalprostatectomy #chemotherapy #hormonetherapy #surgery #lupron #leuprolide #radiationtherapy #radiation #ebrt #photon #hormonetherapyvacation #psma # #drawnandcoded #iwillbeatthis #abiraterone #zytiga #prednisone

Bowl Half Empty

#ParentingFail #Dogs #Pets #HealthyDogFood #Kids #DogLover #StuffDogsEat #JunkFood #DrawnAndCoded #Comic

Viva Las Vegas

Las Vegas Cheer Competition Jam Rancho Bernardo Broncos Dead Van Chrysler Town and Country — My family and I may have lost a minivan, but we gained an adventure.

A van full of seven.
A cheerleader competition.
Through the desert to Vegas, let’s go!

With twenty miles left.
The van ran out of breath.
Worried, we grumbled, oh, no!

We rolled into a gas station.
And shouted exasperations.
As the van barfed up it’s engine and died.

And then a stretch limousine.
Rolled onto the scene.
And offered us all a ride.

We couldn’t believe our good luck.
The kids were awestruck.
We raced to meet the rest of the team.

Guess what? They won second!
And it was worth it I reckon.
I guess things are not always bad as they seem.

#LasVegas #CheerCompetition #Jam #RanchoBernardoBroncos #DeadVan #Chrysler #TownAndCountry #BadPoetry #Comic #ParentingFail

That’s no moon!

Prostate Cancer Star Wars Death Star — For my most recent appointment with my oncologist Jodie and I decided that we should wear our ugly Star Wars-themed Christmas Sweaters. My oncologist laughed when he saw us and, knowing that I draw, remarked how he would like to see the prostate as the Death Star. Well, here it is in all of it’s glory : Male reproductive organ, destroyer of planets, and 2nd most common cause of cancer. Now stop laughing and go get checked, guys!

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Next : Three Months Later

#ProstateCancer #StarWars #DeathStar #DrawnAndCoded #IWillBeatThis

The last pills ( almost )

Abiraterone Prostate Cancer Hormone Therapy ADT — My last dose of Abiraterone following two years of testosterone-reducing, lethargy-inducing, ball-shrinking, bone-weakening, irritability-causing hormone therapy,

Last night I took my last dose of Abiraterone. Two 500mg tablets. Roughly one hundred dollars worth of high octane prostate cancer killing medication. I plucked them with care from my well worn pill case and stopped just short of tossing them into my mouth. Feeling bizarrely nostalgic I pulled my phone from my pocket, shrugged, and snapped a quick picture. Then I swallowed them with no more than six ounces of water. I had learned the dangers of chugging too much water before bedtime much earlier in my cancer journey, it ain’t pretty. I had learned many things over the last couple of years.

“Good news!”, Dr. Stewart smiled as he walked into the exam room. “No Lupron shot today!”

“Right? And, I took the last of my Abiraterone pills last night.”, I agreed.

Dr. Stewart then instructed me how I should go about weaning myself off of my last medication, a steroid named Prednisone. Unlike the Abiraterone pills I downed the night before, Prednisone cannot be stopped cold turkey. Abiraterone affects the adrenal glands. Prednisone is prescribed along with it to replenish what would otherwise be produced naturally by the gland. Stopping Prednisone too fast would make me feel lethargic and tired. I would have to keep taking it daily for two weeks followed by every other day for an additional two weeks.

“So, I’m not really off medication. Not yet.”, I said aloud to no one in particular.

“When will my testosterone start coming back?”, I asked, changing the topic.

It was then I learned that it could take 6 months or more and that the timeline varies from person-to-person. Fortunately age is a big factor, and I’m relatively young at 45. Two years without testosterone has had a remarkable effect on my body. Body hair – gone. Libido – gone. Grumpy and tired – check. A lack of testosterone has even affected my bones; this year I was diagnosed with early onset osteoporosis. Weight gain, man boobs, and muscle loss are the only side effects I’ve managed to sidestep, and I credit my plant-based diet and exercise regimen on dodging those bullets. Boobs are cool, just not on me.

“So, how will I know when my testosterone is returning?”, I asked.

Dr. Stewart told me that he would monitor my testosterone as well as other markers through monthly blood tests. As my body recovered the tests would be stretched out to every three months. My PSA, a marker used for detecting prostate cancer, would be tested at three-month intervals rather than the monthly tests I had become accustomed to.

“You should start noticing things returning to normal as your testosterone levels increase.”, Dr. Stewart continued, “Your libido will get better. Morning wood, maybe …”

“Should I call you if I wake up with morning wood?”, I interrupted, laughing.

Dr. Stewart laughed. I took that as a solid “no”.

“Hey!”, I asked quickly in an attempt to break the awkwardness of the moment. “Do you mind if we get one more picture?”

“Sure”, he smiled.

Ugly Christmas Sweaters Prostate Cancer End Of Hormone Therapy ADT Abiraterone Zytiga — Dr. Stewart, Jodie, and I at my end-of-hormone-therapy appointment at UCSD.

And, for those of you who have been following my cancer journey here’s a picture from two years ago during our first appointment with Dr. Stewart.

UCSD Moores Cancer Society Prostate Cancer — Jodie and I with Dr. Tyler Stewart at UCSD. Since it was Halloween we decided to come in costume – as a couple of Nerds.

I’m not naïve. I know cancer, especially aggressive ones such as mine, have a tendency to rear their ugly head again – sometimes long after treatment. Dr. Stewart told me as much during my previous appointment and I’ve read about such reoccurrences on the multitude of forums that I follow as well. I’m a realist. I know that my treatment “vacation” and so-called “last pill” could very well be temporary. I know that I’ll be anxious every three months when I get my bloodwork done to check my PSA levels. I know that every time I have an ache or pain I’ll wonder if my cancer has returned. I know all of this, but for now I just want to be a cancer survivor. I want to take off the gloves and figure out how to be me again – not the cancer warrior, but just me.

And, if my cancer ever does decide to come back? Well, I kicked its ass before and I’ll just have to do it again.

Take care. Stay healthy. Live life.

-Scott

Previous : The Last Shot

Next : That’s no moon!

#prostatecancer #cancer #prostatitis #psa #prostate #urology #oncology #radiationtherapy #radiation #ebrt #proton #radicalprostatectomy #chemotherapy #hormonetherapy #surgery #lupron #leuprolide #radiationtherapy #radiation #ebrt #photon #hormonetherapyvacation #psma # #drawnandcoded #iwillbeatthis #abiraterone #zytiga #prednisone