Cycle for Survival

Hi, everyone.  We hope you all had a great holiday and were able to spend it with family and friends.  As we're sure was the case with all of you, we've had Kanik and his family in our thoughts over the past few weeks.  

One of Kanik's friends, Kent Yuen, has decided to participate in Cycle for Survival to honor Kanik and anyone who has been touched by cancer. It's a very fitting way to honor Kanik, as he loved biking so much and 100% of Kent's proceeds will go directly to Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, where Kanik was treated for nearly two years.  Kent's bike ride will take place on March 1st and 2nd.

If you'd like to donate to support Kent and cancer research, please visit Kent's site here.

Thanks so much, Kent, and everyone who donates.  

We wish you all a very happy New Year.

Kanik's Touching Obituary

It's painful to even write this post's title, but Kanik's obituary was published in The New York Times today.  An amazing life is tough to summarize in fewer than 300 words, but this does a great job of including some of Kanik's many accomplishments, as well as tipping a hat to his fanatical love of sports.  

We're missing you very much, Kanik.  

http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/nytimes/obituary.aspx?n=kanik-chung&pid=168431338&fhid=10799

Peaceful Passing

Kanik passed away today surrounded by his family and friends with love and blessings, tears and laughter.


More information about memorial plans will be posted here in the near future.

Today, please join from 2:00pm on at
708 Greenwich Street

(between 10^th and Charles Sts.)

#1A

212-627-8640

 

Directions from Sloan:

Take the 67^th Street bus cross-town to Columbus Ave. and transfer to the #1 subway downtown to Christopher Street Station

Or

Walk to 63^rd and Lexington Ave and take the F subway downtown to West 4th Street Station and walk west on Christopher St.

Bring the Love

From Andrea and Susan - The Mazel Tov Glass team

The decision has been made to remove Kanik’s breathing tube tomorrow, Wednesday, December 4th at 10 am. 

This has been a sad process but also an amazing one. It's a gathering and sharing of friends, our glass community, and a diverse family, to say farewell to an amazing person and phenomenal artist, Kanik Chung.

Tomorrow we will be gathering from 2:00pm on at 708 Greenwich Street

(between 10^th and Charles Sts.) 

#1A 

212-627-8640

Directions from Sloan*:

Take the 67^th Street bus cross-town to Columbus Ave. and transfer to the #1 subway downtown to Christopher Street Station

Or

Walk to 63^rd and Lexington Ave and take the F subway downtown to West 4th Street Station and walk west on Christopher St.

*I also suggest we take several cabs and split the fare.

Bring stories, photos, and memories. Be prepared to laugh, cry, and attempt to cope with this tremendous loss.

We will miss you Kanik. 

Once More Around the Horn

It's time, everyone. 

Incredible as it may seem, Kanik's final moments before shuffling off this mortal coil are here and will pass in the next few days.

If you haven't already made your way to be with him--so much love pouring in from all corners of the globe--now is the time to reach out.

Here's how:

1. Have something read to him or said to him that you would like him to know or hear or feel. Text here: (and include your name just in case it's not in the phone) 650.270.5553
2. Visit him:
   Main Sloan Kettering campus on York Avenue between 67th and 68th Streets in New York City. 11th Floor - Room 19. Visiting hours are 11am - 7pm.

(Apologies for not being able to articulate the collective sentiment, tone, rage and numbness but it will have to do for now.)

And in addition Kanik, no doubt, being somewhat-embarrassed-for-all-the-trouble-people-are-going-to-over-this-but-nevertheless-truly-appreciative, his family cannot thank everyone enough for the strength and support of those he loves and those who love him. 

Kanik Calling

The past several days have been a blur of developments and, although we all wish this wasn't the case, none of them have been good. The time to see Kanik is now.

Last week, his nagging cough got worse as did the pain in his foot. On Wednesday, Dr. Abou Alfa broke the news that the liver cancer cells were present in his foot and causing the problems. After a trip to urgent care on Friday because of difficulty breathing, he has been at Sloan since then as the docs wanted to keep an eye on how this was developing. It seemed as though Kanik would be able to recover without the help of assistive breathing, he made the decision to be intubated and go on a ventilator earlier this morning.

He is currently sedated and comfortable with Ling Fong and others by his side. His condition is stable but tenuous; although he cannot respond at the moment, the staff and docs are confident he his aware and appreciative of the company.

If you would like to see him or want to send whatever love you can his way, please do find him at the main Sloan campus at York and 67th Street, Room 1717 (see below for more details on the location). Visiting hours are 11am - 7pm.

More as soon as we know.

Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center

Memorial Hospital

1275 York Avenue 
(Between 67th and 68th Streets)

New York, NY 10065

Phone212-639-2000

Biopsy is DONE

Kanik ended up going to Urgent Care on Friday to get a biopsy on his foot.  He was in a lot of pain and having trouble walking so, with a little persistence, he managed to get into Sloan and get the biopsy done early, which is a relief.  (His original appointment for the biopsy was scheduled for today.) 

Team Kanik really pulled together over the weekend with Andrea meeting K at Urgent Care and Victoria taking him home and running around to fill his pain meds prescriptions the next morning (which was apparently a feat, in itself).

Kanik should know the results of the biopsy at some point next week, so we will keep you posted, of course.

In the meantime, we asked Ling-Fong what, if anything, Kanik might need from his friends and here are some ideas:

The grocery store near Kanik's apartment has free delivery and has a bread he likes, if you'd like to get him a gift card:
http://www.edengourmet.com/store/brooklynheights/giftcards

There's also a Key Food near Kanik's place that has a delivery service, though they charge:
http://keyfood.biz/keyfoods/keyfoods.html 

Finally, Ling-Fong has set up an account at Montague's Cleaners : (718) 875-1590
If someone would like to put down their credit card for a period of time that, too, would be helpful.  (You can just specify a period of time you want Kanik's account to be covered by your credit card.)

Kanik will possibly spend Thanksgiving in Westchester with Amanda and Adam or his friend Vince has offered to cook for him.  Either way, we all will make sure Kanik is feasting and watching football on Thursday.

Update From Friday's Doc's Appointment

So, Kanik saw the doctor on Friday, who looked at his foot and good news thus far: the doc does not believe the growth is related to the liver cancer, since the problem only seems to be localized to his foot.  The possibilities of what the growth may be vary from an easily treatable infection to a benign growth to a malignant growth.  Kanik's biospy on his foot will be November 26th, so we'll update you a week or so after that, when they process the results.

In the meantime, we saw Kanik this weekend in Brooklyn and he's doing well.  He was out and about on his feet, though just taking it slowly.  Ling-Fong bought him some awesome Air Jordans and Rod Laver sneakers, so he's rocking those and showing that foot what's up.

More soon...

Kanik Is Waiting for a New Trial

Kanik is still waiting for a new trial with Dr. Abou Alfa to open.  In the meantime, he's taking good care of himself and working to keep his protein levels up...and they HAVE gone up in the past month.  (Thanks to all of you who helped with that by making meals for K or spending some time to go out and eat with him.)

Kanik has had pain in his foot for the past few weeks and just got some scans done on it the other day.  Although they may be benign, it looks like there is some abnormal growth in his foot.  Tomorrow (Friday the 15th) Kanik will be meeting with Dr. Maybody, who is an expert imaging techniques, such as MRI, bone scans, x-rays, etc., with the plan being to determine exactly where to do the biopsy and set the exact date for the biopsy. Ling-Fong is staying in Brooklyn with Kanik to help him while he stays off his feet. (We'll be sure to post an update, once we learn more about tomorrow's appointment.)

And, in other news, Kanik has made a huge decision in the work department of his life and that's to concentrate solely on creating art, rather than working on commission.  It's, no doubt, a big decision but Kanik feels great about it and will concentrate on making EXACTLY what he wants to make WHEN he wants to make it.  Not many artists can say they do that for a living, so it's needless to say, pretty awesome.

As always, please continue to text, call, email, fax or page Kanik your love.  Since he's off his feet, for the most part, it might be difficult for him to get out much this week, but we're sure he'd love a visit or a meal or two brought over to him.

If we find out he needs anything else, specifically, we'll let you know.  

Breaking Bread With Kanik

Kanik had a doctor's appointment last week to find out more about the clinical trial he's hoping to soon join.  He found out that the trial will not be open until October, which could be a blessing in disguise, since Dr. Abou Alfa would like Kanik to raise his protein levels before this trial begins.  So, Kanik is making a concerted effort to get more protein in his diet but also just eat more in general.  

So, to make this task easier for Kanik, some friends will be cooking meals for him and dropping them off at his apartment.  But it would also be helpful if others went out to eat with Kanik, just to make sure he eats well and, of course, to spend time with their favorite glass blower.  One thing to note: in order to consume enough food, Kanik will eat slowly.  So, it would be great if some of you could spend time with Kanik at a restaurant and keep him company, while he takes his time to have a great meal.  If you can do this, please call, email or text him to arrange that.  (If you need K's contact information, click here.)

We'll, of course, keep you posted on Kanik's next doctor's appointment (which is October 7th).  In the meantime, we hope you can break bread with Kanik.

A New Treatment on the Horizon

Kanik has been feeling pretty good and doing some great things this summer (please see the masterpiece mirror below).  And the latest chemo treatment that he's been receiving for the past couple months has definitely caused fewer negative side effects than the last chemo treatment he received.  However, according to the results of Kanik's CT scan this morning, the newest treatment is not effective enough.  The scan showed growth in Kanik's lung tumors, though they are still small.  (Kanik's liver function is still really good.)

So, Kanik will stop this latest chemo treatment, but the good news is that he is in place to begin a new trial, which is designed specifically for liver cancer.  In order to start this new trial, Kanik has to be drug-free anyway, so stopping this latest chemo treatment is actually not such a bad thing.  Dr. Abou Alfa does not have an exact starting date for this new trial, however he thinks it will probably begin sometime next month.

As always, we'll keep you posted on the latest developments and give you more info on this new trial.  In the meantime, feel free to text, call, email, fax or page Kanik to send him some love.  

Current Chemo Treatment Sucks Less Than The First Time

3 weeks in to the new treatment and it sucks. K is having another treatment today and he says that so far this one "definitely sucks less than the first time". This time around, K is often light-headed and has "two-to-three-on-a-scale-of-one-to-ten" stomach pains. All in all, this is great news and we're hopeful that with continued treatment--the next of which July 9th--the scan on August 1st will show some positive results. 

(Sidenote on K's overall health: He knocked out what proved to be a run of the mill summer cold that he was fighting last week and is back on track and with his Hepatitis B levels going down he's going strong!)

And a happy development for those of us on the right coast: Ling Fong switched up her travel plans so she can fun it up with the kids in Cali over the Fourth of July holiday so New Yorkers can see her now: she's in town for today's treatment so track down the Chungs and embarrass them with some public displays of affection!

Kanik is the Six Million Dollar Man

Kanik's new chemotherapy treatment is still scheduled to begin this Tuesday.  This new treatment requires Kanik to be infused with the drugs for two straight days, so he got a small tube (called a mediport) placed into one of his blood vessels.  (Here is a picture of a mediport: http://lymphomasucks.files.wordpress.com/2011/10/mediport.jpg)  So, Kanik received the mediport implantation on Friday and all went well.  He's now physically ready to get this new treatment and, in Kanik's words, become "a cyborg." Steve Austin ain't got NOTHIN on Kanik!

Kanik's good friend, John West, just visited him in NYC and wrote this about the time he spent with Kanik:  

Kanik looked great, was walking from one end of Brooklyn to the other and working like a fiend in the studio! Landed a new commission of vessel work, designing for some new pieces for somewhere in the Middle East.. and excited for Mazel Tov [Glass], and schedule is slammed...

We'll be sure to keep you posted with more information about this new treatment but, in the meantime, feel free to send Kanik emails, texts and love in all its messy, sloppy and sappy incarnations this week.

KANIK'S NEW TACTIC

As many of you know, Kanik was evaluated last week to see if he was eligible for another drug trial (to take the place of the once-quite-effective now-not-so-much-effective treatment). Unfortunately, the doctors determined that, given his specific medical profile, he was ineligible to take part in this particular trial. (It must be said, however, that this trial included drugs that have not yet been tested on humans--making its safety unknown--so it's not actually a terrible thing that Kanik will not being going down that road.)

Kanik's doctors DID decide that he will now switch back to chemotherapy (he'll be regularly infused with two chemotherapy drugs, as well as with vitamin B to enhance the effects of the chemotherapy).  The combination of these two chemotherapy drugs Kanik will be receiving have been used as a treatment for colon cancer and clinical trials in China have shown this regimen works for liver cancer.

This new treatment is scheduled to start on June 4th, however it is a temporary treatment.  Kanik's doctor, Abou Alfa, wants to put him in another clinical trial, though that trial probably will not start until September. 

Kanik, again, needs continued love and support during this new phase of treatment.  And a reminder: Kanik (surprise, surprise) does not check this blog or Facebook, so please call or email directly if you want to get any messages to him.

Of course, cookies in the mail are always nice too.

CLICK HERE FOR MORE ON HOW WE KAN HELP

Solid Start to Spring with Changes Ahead...

This post has been a long time coming, due, in most part, to the authors' inability/unwillingness to honestly say what has been going on with Kanik and his treatment for fear of angering any or all of the gods of religion or whim. For many months now, K has been on the same treatment and it has been as successful as anyone could have imagined.

The Man and Amanda at Mets v Nationals on April 19th

After his latest scan last week, however, it looks like it's time to change course and come at this another way. From what we understand from all available resources, this is the way it works with aggressive cancers that people live with for as long as we know K will: you leap from treatment to treatment as each one becomes less effective, staying ahead of developments as much as possible.

Here's what this means right now: overall the number of cancer cells is approximately the same as before but the CT scan did reveal some new, small tumors in the lungs.  Dr. Abou Alfa said he reviewed the scan carefully with the radiologist and they decided that the cancer has progressed and is not eligible to stay on this current trial despite some SHRINKAGE OF THE TUMORS IN THE LIVER.  

Over the next few weeks, K will surely be looking to keep himself as strong as possible both mentally and physically (read: LOTS of playoff basketball, A's baseball, glass blowing and meal devouring). Keep that love coming and we'll update once new treatment begins in a week or so.

Gung Hay (Ph)at Choy!

Happy New Year indeed.  This week kicks off the Chinese Year of the Snake and it also brings some good news for Kanik.  He had his regular CT scan on Tuesday and his doctor informed him that Kanik's cancer is stable.  The tumors in his liver are about the same size but the largest liver tumor is "largely necrotic" (or made up of dead cells).  In addition, the tumors in Kanik's lungs are smaller AND he can continue on the same medication he's been taking, as long as it keeps working its magic.  Oh!  Also, Kanik's gained three pounds, since his last check-in.

So, let'sssssss hope for great thingsssss this year.  It's off to a good ssssssstart, sssssso far.  (That's my sad tribute to the snake.)

February First = K Day





It's that time of year folks: KMan's Bday on Friday the First!

 

February will mark another year beginning for K and looks to continue the trend of a fantastic start to 2013: he's keeping the weight on and the current treatment is still having a positive effect, all the while he is busier than ever with work.

 

Want to give a shout out to John "Now on the" West "Coast". He and his family have been unwavering in their support of K and making sure he gets the best care possible while doing everything they could to keep K's mind and spirit locked in on a goal beyond surviving: it has to be all about THRIVING. The Wests are now residents of Orange County California but us right coasters are thinking of you and send lots of love your way.

 

So reach out and send K your birthday wishes (and presents!); with the constant good vibes sent his way from all of you, I know that the coming year will see K as happy as the newest addition to those Swingin' A's in Oakland!

Hiroyuki Nakajima after signing with the Green and Gold

 

 

 

New Year Brings Good News

Kanik spent the holidays in New York with friends, eating cookies and being merry (as evidenced by the photo below).  He also caught Annie on Broadway and may or may not have considered it a sing-along show.  

Kanik also received his regular treatment today and was given some great news by Dr. Abou Alfa: there is shrinkage in the tumors and some of them are necrotic (meaning they are dying).  Needless to say, Dr. Alfa is very happy with Kanik's new treatment. 

Here's to the upcoming Year of the Snake!