DerrickPerrin.com

Two solid work days

Posted by Perrin Derrick On October 3, 2014

The past two days have been great.. Two full days of video production work. It feels normal for once around here.

On Tuesday the Big Box Pro crew was out shooting an apartment complex commercial and today we were in San Antonio at a doctor’s office for a shoot. Since I had the gear all setup I chose to shoot my daily cancer update on the pro gear. Enjoy.

I look tired here due to lack of sleep. Tonight I will be back to 8+ hours of good sleeping. I have that scheduled for the next couple of days.

Here are a few photos from the apartment video shoot on Tuesday. We were running a three man crew. Pablo snapped some shots while Jeff and Derrick shot.

Sony FS-100 video shoot with Derrick Perrin and Jeff Durrwachter

Derrick Perrin and Jeff Durrwachter run the Sony FS-100

Jeff Durrwachter tries to high 5 a tv light

Thanks to my guys working so hard and making the back to back shooting days such a success.

-Derrick

Cold ride home – Basketball trips

Posted by Perrin Derrick On October 1, 2014

Here comes a throwback story from my childhood.

Back in the spring of 1992 I was an 8th grader and my brother James was completing his junior year of high school. Snoop Dog had just made his debut in the radio-rap world. My family has this thing for basketball and we were pretty good at it. James was invited to play in a high end league based in Houston, Texas. The basketball kids were the best of the best from the south east Texas region. Any given Friday night you would walk into a gym and there would be division 1 college scouts sitting there waiting to pick the next crop of freshmen college b-ball players. The logistics of getting out of school in the afternoon and making it to Houston on time were rough. We were prepared to hit the road running when the last bell rang. It took about 3 hours with no bathroom breaks to get there in time for James to walk in for the last 5 minutes of warmups.

To get ready for the trips I would have my pillow and blanket packed in the car so I could sleep on the way up. Once in Houston the games were always entertaining and worth watching. We would hit up Ninfa’s Restaurant and head back on the same night. That is right 6 hours of driving for a one hour basketball game. Did I mention we had a thing for basketball in our family? The end payoff for all the travel was a basketball scholarship that covered Jame’s full ride through his undergraduate degree and priceless family memories. The Houston basketball league trips evolved into a family road trip to Arizona. That trip will be its own blog post or quite possibly its own blog.

Well back to the quick trips to Houston. One night riding back I woke up between El Campo and Victoria and being a smart ass kid I popped off to my brother who was driving. I asked, “Hey James do you think it can get any colder in here?” He didn’t say anything. He just reached over and turned the A/C on to max. My mom loves the cold so there we went down the road in a meat locker. I had my blanket and pillow and it was still not enough. Being the little brother you take crap to prove you are man enough to hang out with big brother and all the perks that come with that. So I just sat back and figured, If he can take it, I can take it.

The next 2 hours home were bitterly cold. I shivered, I shook, but I did not break. I’m not sure if there was a true winner of the cold weather stand off, but we have a story to tell because of it. I was so happy to get out of that car and get into my warm bed.

Well that is the way I remember it.

-Derrick

Pic Line is good to go

Posted by Perrin Derrick On September 30, 2014

Me and the little family came up to Houston late Monday night. The kids were stoked at how nice the Crown Plaza was. They treat MD Anderson Cancer patients really nice. Kendra dropped my off at the complex and ran the kids off to the zoo. I had my pic line checked out and its all good. Happy times in IV land.

I have some video editing work to get done so I’m passing on the zoo and jumped up to the top observation deck and making that puppy my office today.

Working at the observation viewing area at MD Anderson, Houston, Texas

The purple airplane

Posted by Perrin Derrick On September 30, 2014

Here it is folks. Here is me reason for coming to Houston today. We are checking to see if the little purple airplane that crashed into my arm is doing well.

Pic Line

Kendra and the kids are at the zoo today. I will shoot a video update later today.

Shots – Twice daily

Posted by Perrin Derrick On September 30, 2014

If you don’t like watching people get shots then don’t watch the clip below. Other folks want to know what I’m doing daily. Here is me taking my blood thinner.

Thanks for watching.
-Derrick

Alan Berg is one cool dude

Posted by Perrin Derrick On September 30, 2014

Since coming up with this cancer gig I have been working from the road and shooting from the hip. I don’t get by the studio often but when I do I have nifty gifts. The photo above is a book shipped to me by the author, Alan Berg. Mr Berg has been a big help to my business over the last few years. We do a lot of video production at Big Box Pro and a fair amount is wedding video and selling to brides.
I’m not sure if you noticed but I’m not a bride and since I gave up drinking for cancer I don’t think you have will ever see me in a wedding dress. So I go out side the Big Box when it comes to marketing ideas and support. Alan Berg has been a great source for bridal marketing goods and information.
I was shocked by his sweet kind heart and act of sending me a positive attitude book. His book is called “Your Attitude for Success” Amazon it if you would like a copy of your own, or send it off to someone who might need it. Its things like that make a positive difference in the world.
Have I read the book, no not beyond the opening and first chapter. I packed it with my suplaments that travelled to MD Anderson. I had good intentions of reading during down time. That did not happen. What did happen was a good positive thought passed through my brain each time I opened my box and was reminded of Alan’s gift. It made the trip and back to our home in Corpus Christi.
Kendra is reading it today and I’m on it once she completes the read.

Thanks again to Mr Alan Berg for doing something he didn’t have to. It has been like Christmas around here with all the Amazon and FedEx drops at the house. Books, supplements, food and get well cards have all added to the success of life right now.

Much love,
Derrick Perrin

MDA Giftshop

Posted by Perrin Derrick On September 29, 2014

They sale a lot of great things in the gift shop, but this cool sticker is not one of them. To get one of these you have to go in for a few days of iv fun.

Going to Houston and were going to have a good time

Posted by Perrin Derrick On September 29, 2014

So we are packing for a trip to MD Anderson and we are taking the kids with us to Houston.

The doctors in Lymphoma say clots are common but want me to have it checked out just for fun. So we are headed to Houston and will be back in Corpus Christi late on Tuesday.

I’m shooting a commercial on Wednesday in Corpus Christi and then will be shooting a pharmaceutical video in San Antonio on Thursday. This is looking like it will be a good week…. well minus the blood clots in my arm.

We will keep you posted.
-Derrick

Fun words from doctors notes

Posted by Perrin Derrick On September 29, 2014

Here is a section I’m going to post in. These are the words from the doctors reports. Some of you might wan more technical info so here it is.

1. A bulky right hip mass with a pathological fracture, with the epicenter at the level of the acetabulum, with a significant extraosseous skeletal soft tissue component. Some of the sclerotic changes of the right ilium could be associated with ischemia or post treatment change. A clinical correlation is recommended.

And here is another fun one:

Musculoskeletal: Intensely hypermetabolic osteolytic mass lesion in the right iliac bone involving acetabulum and ischial tuberosity with mild adjacent soft tissue density. The lesion demonstrate SUV of 23.2. Two metabolically active right internal iliac lymph nodes noted measuring 2.1 x 1.2 cm with SUV of 5.9 and 1.3 x 1.2 cm with SUV of 3.9 (image 223 and 230). Other metabolically active lymph node is noted in the intramuscular plane around right hip joint measuring 1.2 x 0.9 cm with SUV of 4.8 (image 226).

Abdomen and Pelvis: Physiological distribution of tracer is noted in the liver, spleen, pancreas, adrenal glands and kidneys. The gallbladder is present. No abnormally enlarged or metabolically active abdominal lymphadenopathy.

I’m so happy that with all the technology I have been scanned with they were able to tell me “The gallbladder is present”

And from my biopsy

Core Biopsy: A(n) 14 gauge needle was used to obtain samples for surgical pathology evaluation. A total of __ samples were obtained.

If you see a blank in there it is because they left it blank.

So those were a few items that were of interest. The Bulky Right Hip Mass is what was making me limp.

That is all for now. Back to MD Anderson on Monday.

2 clots can’t keep me down.

Posted by Perrin Derrick On September 28, 2014

Sorry for not updating you sooner. I’m ok and lived to enjoy my family another day. We did, and still do, have a major concern regarding my right arm. I have an IV line that was set to stay in me till the end of all my chemotherapy rounds. We have been carefully flushing and caring for it since we left MD Anderson. Two days ago a few spots in my arm got soar. I grew up trying to be tough but life with cancer doesn’t afford me the opportunity to take one for the team and keep trucking. Any little issue is a big issue in my life. So I checked my pride at the door and went to the minor emergency center to be examined. They had concerns and bounced me for a sonogram. The sonogram tech can’t say anything but the way the scan went I could tell something was not right. They bounced me back to the urgent care clinic and they to the ER. The ER folks differed to MDA and after a while I got a blood thinning shot in the gut and a prescription to have 2 per day till I get my line checked at MD Anderson.

So my blood is working at anticoagulation. We hope this reduces the clots and won’t lead to the clot moving to another location. I shoot up morning and night to make all this happen. I had to get over the fear associated with jabbing a sharp needle into my tummy fat and pushing a drug. Once you realize it is tummy shot or more blood clots you stick it and forget it.

So it’s somewhat normal now in Perrin Land. We were not planning on a trip to Houston till chemotherapy time, but it looks like we will be there on Monday. Plans are for me to get the pic line pulled and then catch up with Kendra and the kids at the Houston Zoo. We might make it to the Big Thicket on Tuesday if things go well. If we plan anything than being in Houston often our plans get tossed out the window and we are needed back in Houston.

Hope this fills you in. If cancer was only about taking your medication and eating right this would be easy. You have medication for you medications and a big road of unknown hurdles you have to jump. You don’t know when or if you will start to have side effects. Just a lot to learn and there is no manuals for me.