By Jeff Ross
I was diagnosed April 11, 2014; Adenosarcoma was the diagnosis with mets to the liver. My wife, Shareen, found out about Agi’s great work so we attended a ‘Game Day’ event in Brentwood where I first met both Agi and Allison. I can’t speak highly enough about them both. They’ve been extremely helpful in getting me into UCLA.
Dr. Schwartz at Kaiser Woodland Hills has been my oncologist. He believes in me being active and doing things that I enjoy in life – things to keep me looking forward! I also see Dr. Lucy Postolov, an acupuncturist, and have had second opinions with great doctors like Dr. Lee Rosen at UCLA. Combined they have all given me hope, inspiration, and great treatments.
My “new normal” is to do something good for myself as often as I can. This includes using a trainer to get stronger, or taking yoga classes with my wife to help improve balance and get more meditative. My wife Shareen inspires me with her positive attitude. The ups are the weeks off from chemo and going out to see concerts and friends. The downs are the side effects of chemo, having neuropathy in my fingers and toes are bothersome and the G.I. side effects as well.
The new normal is to accept the diagnosis, and to fight every day against the disease but to also appreciate that life is truly a gift and to have gratitude for things each day. My wife and I are foodies, so we have a few special places we like to go to celebrate the little victories. We plan on doing a lot of traveling which we enjoy. I bought a new camera, as photography is a hobby and it gives me a lot of pleasure to get out and take pictures. I still maintain my literary management business, and reading clients’ new material helps motivate me in addition to getting them where they want to go.
My wife Shareen, my family and friends are my biggest supporters. This October my wife organized 13 people to join Team Jeff for the 17th Annual LA Cancer Challenge. Our nephew Justin designed the t-shirts with the baseball motif “we’re going to knock cancer out of the ballpark!” We raised over $2,300, my sister and her boyfriend came out from New Jersey, and we all finished the 3.1 miles!
