Probies

How sweet. The probies mom since flowers on his first day. Yeah that won't get him any crap from the guys. Tulip or Pansie are nicknames already kicking around.

Christmas

All in the Christmas spirit now. My tree is up and the stockings are hung by the fireplace with care. I even put water in the tree. And it snowed. Today is a good day.

Memorial Dedication

I know that it has been a while since I have posted anything. I apologize for the delay. The following are photographs from the Memorial Dedication at our Cross Street Fire Station. The memorial was designed and constructed by members of the Middletown Fire Department. It was a labor of love to honor the fallen brothers of the Middletown Fire Department.

I would like to thank Matthew Kabel for his time and photography of such an important event for the Middletown Fire Department.
**All Photographs of The Middletown Fire Department FF Memorial Dedication Cermony by MATTHEW KABEL 124 Murray Street Middletown Connecticut**

SCUBA

These are my fellow Scuba classmates. It was a very small class. Only the three of us.Myself, Kim, Emily, and our instructor Ed, aka Special Ed.

Damn I make this look good but I don't think the blue hood goes well with the black suit. Was looking for something a little more my style.

This is my dive instructor Ed and I exiting the water at Eastern Point Beach in Groton, CT on our first day of diving.

Close up of Ed and I. I guess he did a good job, I am still alive.

Our second day of dives were on Sunday. Sunday's dives were are Fort Wetherill in Jamestown, RI.

Ed, Emily, Kim, and myself on day two.

Just the three of us. My classmates are such schoolies! Always studying.

View of one of the two coves we dove in. The views were awesome underwater. Can't wait till I go again.

Oktober Fest 2008

Went to a party near by to celebrate October. Since I couldn't make it to Germany this year, this will have to do. We had a lot of fun and a few of us got out of hand at times. Nothing new.



FIGHTING 1's!!!!! This is my engine crew minus the driver. Getting ready to kick some ass and take some names.



Vinny showing us his mad skills at the drive through window. "Can I take your order?" Yeah Vinny! How about that damn coffee!

Making friends everywhere I go.

The new guy talking to the new new guy still in the academy. Easy Vin, that's his girlfriend.

One of the lovely hosts of the party.

Making friends.... Did I mention that I like meeting new people.

Two of my newest friends. For all of you emergency service providers out there, these two lovely ladies make your Whellen warning equipment.

Thank you for the beer. That game sucked. Can't say that I am a fan of the games east of the river.

Soon after this Vinny and I became scared. It is amazing what seems like a good idea sometimes. It is evenings like this that build memories for a life time. I just wish I had the 30 pack back. Sometimes sacrifices need to be made for safety reasons.

Work Party

On Sunday members of the Berwick Fire Department and Somersworth Fire Department came to my parents house to help cut, split, and stack wood for the winter. We had 24 people show up to help. In three hours we were able to cut all the trees into logs, split 70% of the wood and stack it all. I could not imagine how long it would have taken my brother and I to do all of this work.

I have been at a loss lately how to express my appreciation for the outpouring of support. All I really have been able to come up with is THANK YOU! So again I would like to say THANK YOU to everyone that was there on Sunday.

More Decorations

This week my father is undable to have visitors due to his white blood cell count being 0 and his absolute neutrophyl count being 0 as well. These are the blood cells that fight infections. My family received a call from the chief of Somersworth Fire Department letting us know that they had some shirts at the fire station to add to my father's walls at the hospital. Below are pictures of the shirts mounted on the wall. It drives my mother crazy when I hang the shirts with thumb tacks on the walls.

Thank you SFD and SCFOA.

Want to do something?

Today was the second day in a row that my father received platelets. I learned today that platelets have a five day shelf life and the first two days are spent being tested in a lab to make sure that they are safe for infusion. This whole process I have felt that there is little I can do to make any difference. So while I was bored today I called the American Red Cross which has a donor center down the street from Maine Medical. I wanted to schedule an appointment and they advised me that if I could be there in 15 minutes I could donate today. So off to the donor center I went.

it is a very painless process. Just two small IV's stuck in your arms. I have good veins they say so they were able to use both arms at the same time. This is me near the end of donating my platelets. The bag hanging just left of the screen is my plasma which is used to keep the platelets alive. The process of donating took less then 57 minutes. At the end you do not feel tired at all as they replace the fluids they take out during the process.

I encourage anyone who has the time and ability to donate blood or platelets. I was surprised to learn of the short shelf life of platelets and the sometimes critically low level of blood at times. I now know someone very close to me who has needed both blood and platelets. I plan on donating as much as possible in the future.

Decorations

We have used T-Shirts to decorate my fathers hospital room. The first two are T-shirts representing where my brother and I work. These are located adjacent to my father's bed. The remaining fire department t-shirts are from the Portland Maine Fire Department. They have been great to my family. The white T-shirt is of super heroes. Thank you Roger.

The rooms are very boring without decorations. It makes the hospital staff ask questions.

How Life Can Change

Some of you out there have learned by now of my father's illness. On September 21, 2008 my father went to the emergency room after weeks of dealing with his doctor for a persistent cough that would not go away. The emergency room drew blood and learned that his white blood cell count was 121,000. This apparently is a sign that he had Leukemia. The emergency room could not provide any further assistance to my father and advised him that he had to either go to Maine Medical Center in Portland Maine or Dana Farber (not sure of spelling) in Boston.

My parents choose Maine Med since it is closer to home. We have all been here ever since. We have learned a little more information about what my father has. It is called Acute Lymphyocytic Leukemia, ALL for short. We are still waiting for more test results so we can learn which cells are involved so the doctors can create a detailed treatment plan. The staff at Maine Med have been great and I can not thank them enough.

My father and my family have all been blown away by the outpouring of support and prayers we have received. It has been amazing to see so many people who have contacted us and offered support.

I would also like to send a special thanks to the Portland Fire Department of Portland, Maine. The guys from PFD have been great. They have visited my father several times since he was admitted. They have dropped off T-shirts and a job shirt. He has been visited by several captains, the deputy chief, lieutenants, and many firefighters. I just can't get over the support from them and owe them a debt of gratitude.

Thank you again everyone for the prayers and wishes. I just don't know how to let everyone know what it means to me and my family. THANK YOU!

UConn! UConn! UConn!

It has taken me a little while but I wanted to update the posts. Went to a Uconn with Alberto and some friends. Here are the pics.