Pub night was a success
Our pub night fundraiser for conquer cancer bike ride was a great success, over 100 in attendance and we raised over $3000.00, that is fantastic results. Thank you to all those who contributed time, prizes and donations, best of all, we all had a great time. Fundraising has become alot easier for me since I realized the proceeds are not for me but for a very worthwhile cause and all I get out of this is a sore ass. Hats off to Amanda Hill for organizing the event and seeing it through from beginning to end, it's efforts like this that hopefully one day we can live in a world that is free of cancer. Thank you all for attending and god bless.

by Ben Hsu on Tue, Jun 02, 2009 @ 11:11 AM

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Exceeded my goal
I have exceeded my goal today of $10000.00 Thank you to all friends and family that contributed. I have been feeling good and been training for the ride. Amanda, one of the members from my triathlon club has organized a fundraiser pub night to boast my total, I have come realized that my life is surrounded by a lot good people.

by Ben Hsu on Mon, Jun 01, 2009 @ 5:33 PM

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My diet
With the chain of events that took place in the last two months, many friendshave been asking about my diet, which i have to give full credit to my wife. Whom have done a lot of research and reading to put it together. No one can tell why my tumor shrunk, but i believe that by creating an enviroment which cancer cells cannot survive might be a contributing factor. To start off, I have cut out all sugar intake, I do not eat red meat or diary products anymore. Soy has replaced my need for milk, I eat fish, friuts and vegetable every day as my main food source, all of our foods are of the organic nature, my wife have learned to make a lot of the food that we eat so she knows whats going into them, she even make her own bread and even organic salad dressing. I drink a glass of very foul tasting juice every day, which consist of beets, potates, bitter melon, apples, carrot and celery. Its very hard to stomach at first, its very earthy tasting, but i've gotten to like it. I also drink coffer berry juice, acai berry juice and green tea, as you can see, I've pretty much converted into a vegetarian, I truly believe 50% of one's heatlth is relied on the food that you eat, I can't tell you if my diet saved my life, all i know is what I eat now will continue to keep me heatlthy

by Ben Hsu on Tue, Apr 14, 2009 @ 11:04 PM

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I am on top of the world....
I have been dying to update my blog since last thursday, the day i was getting a biopsy, but i wanted to get the final result from my surgeon today before I decide to write. Miracles have been known to happen but i just didn't know it would happen to me. My tumor has shrunk to 1/3 the size from 35mm to 12mm since my PET scan almost 4 weeks ago, the uptake on the left side is completely gone, the biopsy doctor felt that the tumor is not significant enough to put a needle into. My surgeon cannot explain what caused the tumor to shrunk, it's very rare but it happens, he feels that the tumor could still be a cancer inflicted infection, so he has ordered a CT scan at the end of june just to monitor the situation, but for now, he has withheld plans for surgury and just monitor the situation for now. This is the best new i've received since i found out about my condition almost two months ago. I wish I have a medical answers as to why the tumor is going away, it could be all the prayers I've received from family and friends,which i'd like to thank you all for, it could be the strict cancer diet that my wife have put me on, but whatever it was, I feel as if I have been given a second chance, i cannot start to explain how lucky i feel. I have been given the green light to do the ride, i have a lot of training to do, but it is so exciting to know i will be part of this ride afterall, to raise money for the care for those who are less fortunate, whom are fighting so bravely against this deadly decease and to Crada which I'm doing this ride for, thank you all again for your generous donations, I'm on top of the world...... It's time to celebrate!!

by Ben Hsu on Tue, Mar 31, 2009 @ 10:50 PM

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Answer to a question
I guess I've missed one very important answer to a question that have been ask quite frequently. The question is: what alarmed me to go see the doctor, well here it goes: I had developed a cough just after new year, for about 3-4 weeks it never went away, and one morning in Feb on a Saturday, I was on my way to go meet some friends to do a training ride, I coughed and spit out some blood, not a hugh amount, just a small spot on the spit. I thought to myself at the time "this is not good" so i made an appointment to go see the doctor, went in on tuesday, he listen to my breathing, it sounded fine, prescribed an inhaler for me and he prsscribed an x-ray for my lungs since i had pnuemonia a year ago,just for safety sake. I did my xray a week later and i knew something was wrong when the xray technician asked me to stay around for a second take, then she said that my doctor would likely be calling me. My doctor called and he had requested a CAT scan for me the following tuesday, I was still optimistic that nothing is wrong, are you kidding, i'm the healthest guy on this planet, but deep inside i knew i'm not under the CAT scan machine for no reason. Then the nurse call the following monday to come in and see the doctor, even on the way there, i thought he was going to tell me that everything was ok, just a false alarm. My worst nightmare came true, he beat around the bush a bit with fancy medical terms and i think he had as hard of time telling as it was for me to hear the bad news, so i said what's wrong with me? "you have been diagnose with lung cancer" I had no understanding with cancer at all at that point and the only thought came to mind was death, I started crying just thinking about my young family, then he told me about what is about to happen in the next few weeks then i started to think that i may not die. It has been a roller coaster ride in the last month and hopefully we'll know what we have to do soon and the coaster ride will end.

by Ben Hsu on Sat, Mar 14, 2009 @ 12:06 AM

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Inconclusive results
To start off, I'd like to thank everyone that send messages in regards to my results, sorry that I haven't reply to everyone as it's very exhausting to explain it all on email or phone, so here it goes. The biopsy result came back inconclusive, the lump on the right lung is still the same size and the sample taken did not provide enough information to confirm that it is cancerous. The PET scan result shows no cancer on the lymph node but it shows a shadow on the left side now which was not there three weeks ago. My surgeon called the radiologist while we were at his office to get the proper interpretation for the shadow, there is definitely something there but it could be a number of different reasons, first off, cancerous tumors do not grow so quickly, it's possible that pneumonia is developing on the left side, so he prescribe anti-biotic to see if it would clear, it's also possible that the blood from the last biopsy has entered the left side and glucose tends to cling to blood, so we have booked another biopsy in three weeks. Hopefully its one of the two theories above, then it should clear in three weeks. Best case scenerio is both shadows disappear than nothing would need to be done, worst case is cancer in both sides of the lungs and since removing boths sides is not an option, then it's would have to be radiation. 50% good news 50% bad news, by ordering another biopsy, they want to get sample from the other side of the lump to see if it's canerous, they have to probe a tube through my chest this time, it's been a rough day with fear and frustration, I just want this thing behind me so life can move on.

by Ben Hsu on Tue, Mar 10, 2009 @ 7:02 PM

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nerves
I've been so restless all day waiting for tomorrow to come, it's almost like a murderer waiting for a judge's verdict. I keep telling myself to prepare for the worst, that's the way I handle crises, anything less than worst is a bonus. One part of me want to know now but the other part is afraid of the unknown, this is one of very few occassions in my life that i feel lack of control, my friends and family have continue to give me the greatest support, my old school friend which i have not seen in 10 year is flying in this weekend to visit, i'm really looking forward to that. I just look forward to the short term events to keep my mind off my condition. I had planned a spring break vacation to Legoland in california with my family, we were supposed to be there right now, my two little boys were disappointed that the trip has been delayed, but they are good kids and they understand that their daddy is sick, the trip is one of the first things on the agenda once i get well. That is something else to look forward to.

by Ben Hsu on Mon, Mar 09, 2009 @ 6:44 PM

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All done.
All my tests are done, my surgeon will give me the plan of attack on march 10th. The Pet scan is the most relaxing test I've experienced so far, i arrived at 4:20pm, I had to sign a consent as it is still considered to be a experimental test, even though it's been in use for the last 5 years, government redtape to avoid liability I assume. Then I was led into the waiting room where the nurse started an IV, took blood sample to determine sugar level in my blood, the level was satifactory due to fasting for 6 hrs, then she injected the radio active glucose in through the IV, it was the strangest feeling as she injected 50ml or so into my IV all at once, I felt the stuff enter my bloodstream due to temperature differential, most IVs drips with such small amount that the liquid is warmed by the time it enters the blood stream, my whole arm felt the cold as she pushed the solutions in. Then i had to lie there for 45 min without moving at all, i could not even read a magazine. Had a good nap then she came in and it was time for the scan, I enter the room to see the massive machine which look the same as the CT scanner, but it has this runway looking strecher on it where i lie, with my arms over my head, I was send through 3 inches at a time until it covered my entire body, the scan lasted 22 min. This is the only time I'm grateful that I'm short, it takes longer for a taller person, I was released after that and I felt well rested.

by Ben Hsu on Thu, Mar 05, 2009 @ 1:03 PM

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PET SCAN
I'm scheduled for a Pet scan today at 4:30pm, PET stands for Positron emission tomography, this is the test where they inject sugar with dye into the patient's body, since sugar is what cancer cells like, they'll suck it all up before the body has a chance to absorb it, then they send you through the scanner. The scan will show the location of where all the cancer spots are since it will show up with the dye, it a great test to detect if cancer is localized or if it has spread. Generally, this test is not prescribed for every patient due to cost, i'm very fortunate that my surgeon had prescribed it. I had to fast for 6hrs, no chewing gun all day, no sugar intake, which i have cut out completely, drink 4-6 cups of water an hour prior to the scan, i also have to lie still for 45 min. BTW, my legs are back to normal today, i'm so surprised of how quick they recovered, i thought they would hate me for days considering the abuse and torture they took on sunday.

by Ben Hsu on Wed, Mar 04, 2009 @ 12:23 PM

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I did it!
I'm happy to report that I finished the marathon, and i didn't finish last. It was such a personal trimph, its all about mind over matter, the mind is such a powerful thing that when it says go the body has to follow, that prove comes in the way my body feels right now, but feels better than i thought it would for not training for this at all. I had to dig deep on certain parts of the race to found the drive to keep going. I was greeted by family and friend throughout the run, I also like to thank my entourage for keeping me entertain and looking after me, Colin, Nicole, Jim, Don, Linda and Jeremy you guys are the best.

by Ben Hsu on Sun, Mar 01, 2009 @ 11:44 PM

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Bring it on.
My lungs has been bleeding for the last few days since my bronchoscopy, but it stopped last night, it caused a bit of concern for me. I skipped spin class on wednesday night, which i think was a good decision, i want to be 100% on sunday. Such a different mindset this time around with this marathon, I'm actually looking forward to it, all the races I've done in the past has been stressful right up to race day, it's the pressure i put on myself to excel, try to run faster and faster each time. Reasons for doing this one is completely different, I just need to finish it, and not finish last. I have some good friends that are running with me to keep me company, friends and family are coming out to cheer me on, I'm actually excited to do it, bring it on.

by Ben Hsu on Sat, Feb 28, 2009 @ 11:12 AM

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Lung capacity test
I did the lung capacity test this morning at UBC hospital and it all went well, it's different than doing V02 max where you go at maximum output, this one is more of different breathing excercise to measure capacity, all the tests they performed required complete exhale of the lungs until there is nothing left than exhale some more for an extra 2 seconds, I never realize how hard that is, try it sometime, it's tougher than you think, and there is no way of cheating as the computor graph shows how much air you took in, which forms a circle, so if you didn't deplete all the air from your lungs, the technician can see it and you have to do it again, they also check for any other blockage within the respirtory system, i always thought the more capacity your lungs can produce the better, but not so, there are lung deceases out there where the lungs take in air and keeps it in, therefore the patient cannot breath in anymore air, the result is having a hard time breathing. The whole test lasted 1 hr, my lungs function normal, which I'm very happy about.

by Ben Hsu on Thu, Feb 26, 2009 @ 2:37 PM

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Big stick down my throat!
I did a bronchoscopy today, arrived at the hospital just before 6:00 am, i have never spend any time in any hospital in my life, except when my son jacob was sick, sat around for an hour waiting then they started an IV for me, gave me a needle in the right arm and some syrup to drink, they wheeled me into the operation room after that which felt really strange, i haven't felt like a young man for yrs but this morning i did, most patients there were so old which gave me a strange type of confidence, if these old dudes can heck it out, should be no problems for me. They gave me oxygen and stuck another needle in me, gave me this pipe to suck on which looks like a marijuna pipe, after about 10 mins then my throat didn't feel anything, the doctor came in and the nurse installed something in my IV and that was all i remembered, i woke up about two hours later and cough my guts out, recovered for an hour, then Liza took me home, i cannot legally drive for 24hrs and been sleeping at home since, have a bit of a fever, but i guess that's normal, First round over with many more to come.

by Ben Hsu on Tue, Feb 24, 2009 @ 7:24 PM

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turning in early
I'm going to the vancouver general hospital at 6:00am tomorrow to do a EBUS test, it's the test where they stick a tube down my throat into my chest to take a peek, the test starts at 8:00am and should last for 2hrs, doctor has warning me that i will cough for probably the duration of it, I just hope I don't puke.

by Ben Hsu on Mon, Feb 23, 2009 @ 10:10 PM

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my friends rock!
I ran 12.5km today as training for next week's marathon, over training would not be an issue with this one, hehe. I have been overwhelm with love and well wishes this past week from family and friends. I feel exceptionally fortunate to belong to the triathon community. Four of my friends from this community have signed up for this ride in my honor after getting the news about my fate, i've been so deeply touched by their gesture, some have changed plans this summer so they can train and participate in the ride, it mean so much to me to see how friends want to be part of my battle with cancer. One of my good friend's son have contacted me tonight to inquire about the ride and asking me to help with training, he is only 15 yrs old, being so young and wanting to do something so meaningful has deeply moved me,it'll mean so much to me to see him successed, i will do anything i can to help him. Another triathlon friend is doing even a crazier ride, 400km from Kelowna to vancouver, over 2 mountains, climbing over 10000ft in one day, I just feel so honor to have these friends.

by Ben Hsu on Sun, Feb 22, 2009 @ 11:26 PM

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sunny morning ride
I went for a ride with my triathlon buddies this morning down 0 ave, it was so beautiful and somehow i appreciate everything more now, as if it feels like my last ride, the trees are greener and sky is bluer. They always put the hammer down and this morning was no exception, I did my best to keep up and finished the ride with 60km. I want to be as fit as i can before my surgery hoping that will help me recover quicker. I also got the green light from my doctor to do the marathon next weekend,i received an email from him this morning and this is what he wrote: Hi Ben,I think you can certainly do another marathon if you feel up to it. There's no medical reason why you can't. Just stay in shape and maximize your lung capacity , stay optimistic.
I was so happy to receive that email as i started to dance around the kitchen, it was what i needed to convince Liza that it's ok for me to do it. She has been so understanding and supportive throughout this whole ordeal, i just want to put her mind at ease. So i've decided to go do a training run tomorrow before the big race next weekend, i better go dust off the cobwebs off my running shoes, i hope they still fit.

by Ben Hsu on Sat, Feb 21, 2009 @ 6:09 PM

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Running a Marathon?????
My good friend JJ Hill, also the race director of the Richmond e-venti Marathon came by yesterday for a visit since hearing about my condition. At first, we talked about me with a bit of awkwardness then the topic quickly turn back to running, which was how we met and still very much our passion. I mentioned that the doctor is threatening to take out my lung, we chuckled at the fact that since i probably wouldn't be able to do any more marathons after my fight with this beast that i should do one last one, at first we were joking around then he turn to me and said that the race is sold out, which happens in March 1st, but he will make one extra spot just for me, being a challenage driven person as i am, i started to think seriously about it. I have not done any running for almost 4 months, this would be strapping on a pair of runners and go. The whole idea sounds cool, but Liza is against it, being the fact it will run down my immune system and taxing on my lungs, my doctor seems to think it's ok but i still want to respect my wife's concern, afterall, she's the one that will have to look after me. My thinking is, having done 10 marathons, numerous triathlons and ironman, 50% of doing any kind of endurance sport is mental toughness, since i haven't been training for this, being tough mentally will be the only driving force to push me to the finish line, it will toughen me up for the challenages ahead with cancer. Stay tuned

by Ben Hsu on Fri, Feb 20, 2009 @ 11:06 AM

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My update through this blog.
Hi friends: news travels fast whether its good or bad, thank you for all the messages in the last few days, it's easy to realize the strength of my family and friends at the time of crisis. I want to use this blog to communicate with everyone centrally. Cancer is something no one wants to talk about, one often doesn't know what to say or don't want to say the wrong thing to the person affected and their family, i felt some people were awkward around me in the last few days. I'm still the same person, still going to work, still working out and living a normal life for the time being, i'm positive and i will win this fight. I want to use this blog to express how i feel and what i'm going through. Now that the initial shock has subsided, the real fight begins, i had a consultation with the specialist on tueday and he explained my condition and what's in store for me in the next month, assured me that things should go smooth due to my physical condition, all of the physical activaties that i do as hobby is finally paying off, not a waste of time afterall. i have two appointment next for tests next week and one the week after so far, hopefully my doctor would have a conclusive report by the 17 of march, which would decide the type of surgery or treatment i need.

by Ben Hsu on Thu, Feb 19, 2009 @ 12:03 PM

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I've been hit with some bad news
Hi Friends,
Thank you again for supporting my quest to fundraise for cancer research, i'm so overwhelmed by your generosity. My life have taken a turn this afternoon, I too have been diagnosed with lung cancer. Life will be very hectic for me with treatment and surgery in the next while. I was doing this for my friend's wife and now I'm facing the same fate. I'm very disappointed to tell you that there is a good chance that i will not be well enough to do this ride. However, the money you have donated will still be going to the cause. Please keep your thoughts and prayers to my family, God bless.
Ben Hsu

by Ben Hsu on Mon, Feb 16, 2009 @ 11:30 PM

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feb 7 & 8
Went for a ride with my old triathlon buddies and i had a hard time hanging with these guys now a days, i have definitely lost some fitness through my inactivaties in the last year, average speed was 32-34kph, hitting high of 43kph! ouch. The torture session ended at 58km. Sunday was a beautiful day, got up early at 7:30 to have a head start before meeting with my cancer group training friends, great low heartrate zone 1 ride, 51 km, total mileage for the week, 149km.

by Ben Hsu on Mon, Feb 09, 2009 @ 10:03 PM

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jan 31 feb 1st
Sat morning was a beautiful ride sunny & calm, rode 54km. Sunday was monsoon, rode in the rain with my new friends that i meant through the message board, rode 52km and soaked, total mileage for the week with spin class, 144 km.

by Ben Hsu on Thu, Feb 05, 2009 @ 5:43 PM

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jan 24 & 25
Been going to spin classes on wednesday nights, getting my biking muscles back in shape, rode 85 km over the two days and it was damn cold, -2 on sat morning, burrrrr......

by Ben Hsu on Thu, Feb 05, 2009 @ 5:05 PM

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jan 17 & 18
I've been riding on the trainer to get ready to start my training, haven't been on my bike for 3 months & the body is not co operating, rode 70km in the thick fog for the two days in the weekend. Certain parts i could barely see 10 feet ahead of me, everything was soaked as it was so humid.

by Ben Hsu on Thu, Feb 05, 2009 @ 5:02 PM

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