March 2

Good morning,

I am doing okay.

A bit of a lunch bag let down now that the NFL season and the Olympics are
over.
We are back to cheering on the Senators to hopefully make the playoffs.

I had a very good and meaningful week.

I had a catscan on Monday and Chemo on Tuesday. All went well.

I will meet my oncologist tomorrow to review my catscan and the next
course of action.
If more Chemo is needed, I am okay with that. I am doing well dealing with
the chemo treatments with minimal side effects.

The highlight of the week for me was receiving on Thursday the Prime
Minister's Volunteer Award (PMVA) in Toronto.

It was very meaningful to me but also a very humbling experience.

There were 17 awards given out, 2 nationally and 15 regionally. There were
5 regions and three different awards for each region.

I received the Community Leader Award for Ontario. Liz and our daughter
Tori attended with me.

The experience was humbling hearing the stories of the other award winners.
It was amazing to hear what other volunteers are doing to make our country
a better place to live in.

I was able to speak with Prime Minister Harper twice.

The first time was when I received the award. 

Our son Michael wanted me to ask the PM if he got his two cases of beer
from President Obama as Canada won both the Men's and Women's Olympic
Hockey gold medals. He responded not yet but he is confident that Obama
will come through.

The second time I spoke with the PM was when there was a group photo of
the award recipients. I complimented him on how he is making his
decisions, doing what is right and not what is politically correct. I also
complimented him on how his trip to Israel went and mentioned that my
Mother was on the trip. I also mentioned how wonderful it was to work with
his wife Laureen as Honourary Chair on the NAC gala for 4 years. She was
an active participant on the committee, not just an Honourary Chair.

I am truly honoured to have received the PMVA and am very thankful to
Telus for nominating me. It is so greatly appreciated.

Receiving the award makes me want to do more to help our wonderful
community of Ottawa.

Volunteerism is so important to our community.

I have been involved as a volunteer with hospitals, universities, United
Way, NAC and local and Jewish agencies and there is so much that needs to
be done.

Ottawa is becoming a center of excellence in so many ways. Our hospitals
are providing remarkable care utilizing cutting edge methods. My
involvement with CHEO, TOH, QCH, The Royal Ottawa Hospital for Mental
Care, the Ottawa Heart Institute and the ORCF gives me great confidence
that we have the leadership to continue improving the medical treatments
we receive in Ottawa.

Our local universities are improving immensely and are becoming world
renowned. I sit on the Board of Governors of Carleton University and I am
truly impressed with the leadership that Roseann Runte has brought to not
just Carleton University but to the City of Ottawa.

I have been involved with United Way and have realized the many social
problems that need to be addressed within our community. Unfortunately our
City of Ottawa can not address all of the concerns.

The Federal, Provincial and Municipal agencies can not satisfy the many
outstanding needs of our community.

Therefore we need to step up to the plate and be active volunteers to
continue to improve the quality of life in Ottawa and assist the many
causes within our community.

For me, I enjoy helping others. I enjoy meeting nice people who want to
help others. It is a great feeling. I enjoy knowing that improving our
community will attract quality people that will further improve the
quality of life in Ottawa.

Volunteerism is so important as it is what makes our country a great place
to live in.
Hopefully more people will volunteer their time.

I am very proud to be a Canadian and an Ottawan.

Together we can make a difference.

All the very best,

Arnie.

February 27

To all,

Today is hopefully a good day for me.

I am feeling well.

I had my 46 hour pump removed.

I am now on a flight to TO to receive the PM Volunteer Award. I am quite excited.

I am in debt to Telus for nominating me.

I was allowed 3 guests. Liz and Tori and a Telus representative.

Will be back tonight.

Have a great day,

Lots of love,

Arnie.

February 23

To all,

Liz and I enjoyed Florida with its warm weather. It was also great to
watch our Canadian Olympians do their best.

Tori was with us the whole time and Ariel joined us for the long weekend.

My love and thanks go to Liz for taking such good care of me.

It seems that the family enjoys catching me sleeping anywhere I go.
Here are 2 photos, one after I enjoyed my pecan pie and one by the
pool.

I am happy to have had the opportunity to go to Florida. I hope to go
again in March.

I am not a religious person, but I believe in God. It seems with the
challenges I am facing that one needs to try to understand the big picture.

I am reading a book by Rabbi Shalom Arush titled The Garden of Emuna, a
practical guide to life.

Emuna is the firm belief in a single, supreme, omniscient, benevolent,
spiritual, supernatural, and all-powerful Creator of the universe, who we
refer to as God.

There is Basic-level Emana which teaches that God is the lone sovereign of
the universe, whose surgically-precise Divine Providence is responsible
for every single occurrence in the universe- big or small.

There is Intermediate-level Emuna which is the belief that everything God
does is for the very best, even though it may appear otherwise.

There is Upper-level Emuna which is the belief that God does everything
for a specific purpose, and that each of God's actions conveys a special
message aimed at helping us perform our task on earth.

God has given me the opportunity to understand what is important in life,
Family and Friends.
How to be happy and enjoy life. Most importantly to truly cherish what I
have.

I am happy because I am in God's hands and he is taking good care of me.

Wishing everyone, health, happiness and to cherish what you have.

Lots of love,

Arnie.

February 14

To all,

Good morning.

I am doing okay.

I had my 6th chemo treatment at the QCH on Tuesday. All went well though I was pretty tired during the chemo treatment. Sleeping though is one of my best talents.

This week I was asked to be the Honourary Chair for the QCH upcoming campaign.

My first reaction was, I did not think I was old enough to be an Honourary Chair.

My second reaction was to accept.

So why did I accept.

The QCH is an integral participant in providing remarkable medical services to our City of Ottawa.

The facility is fantastic. More importantly the QCH has unbelievable staff including doctors, nurses and the many support staff.

The QCH is on the cutting edge of providing patient services. This is so encouraging and can be attributed to the great leadership of Tom Schonberg, QCH President/CEO.

But the most important reason why I accepted was the opportunity to work with my very good friend Ron Prehogan, Campaign Chair and with Melanie Adams, QCH Foundation President/CEO.

Below is the link to the video that was presented at the QCH Visionaries Breakfast which I participated in. It tells my story. Remember to use the password QCH.

My Family has been contributors to many medical institutions in Ottawa, not knowing that today I would be benefitting from the Irving Greenberg Family Cancer Centre, a partnership between the QCH and TOH. For me I feel an obligation to give back the best way I can.

Liz and I are off to Florida tomorrow for a week to enjoy the warm weather and to be able to walk outside. We will be joined by two of our daughters.

I wish everyone a good week and enjoyment watching the Olympics. Go Canada Go!

Be healthy, be happy and cherish what you have.

All the very best,

Arnie.

https://vimeo.com/86522843

Pass: QCH

February 11 -- I Am Happy

To all,

Good Morning!

I hope everyone survived our cold January and are prepared to endure a
cold February.

The Olympics have been great to watch, Go, Canada, Go!

I am doing okay. I will have my 10th chemo treatment post operation today
which is my 6th treatment at the QCH.

I am happy!

The following are the reasons why:

I am happy to be able to endure my chemo treatments without nausea and
with little diarrhea and I am maintaining a good appetite.

I am so happy to have my chemo treatments at the QCH. The building is
great but more importantly the doctors and nurses are fantastic. A real
plus when one battles cancer.

I am happy with my oncologist, Dr. Asmis who has helped me in so many ways.

I am happy with the opportunity to help both the QCH and the ORCF in
promoting the great work they do in helping the many people who are
battling cancer.

I am happy at work. I am not a workaholic I just enjoy enjoy what I do.

I am happy chairing design meetings for a new possible development. As
chair, I feel responsible to crack a few jokes to create a fun and happy
environment.

I am so happy to have such a great Championship team of Family, friends,
QCH, TOH and the ORCF.

I am happy that I have been working out with the She-Devil. I am a 140
pound weakling so I do have a long way to go but I will achieve getting
back into shape.

I am happy to be able to assist my children with their challenges of life.
Mind you my reward is them taking pictures of me sleeping. 

I am so happy to being able to spend so much quality time with Liz. Liz is
my rock and she has been unbelievable. I feel like her 7th child. Liz is
remarkable in satisfying my needs.

I am so happy to hopefully go to Florida on Saturday for a week. I will be
spending Family time with Liz, Ariel and Tori.

So why would I be concerned about my battle with cancer? I am not!

 My battle with cancer has taught me so much good.

I am concentrating on being happy and cherishing what I have and it has
been great.

I wish everyone all the very best.

Be healthy, be happy and  truly cherish what you have.

Lots of love,

Arnie.

February 2

Good Morning to All,

I am doing okay.

On January 28th I had my 9th post operation chemo treatment and my 5th
treatment at the QCH.
Following each treatment, I come home with a 46 hour pump.

My treatments are now Tuesday mornings for 5-6 hours and my pump is
removed Thursday afternoons.

My special highlights that have occurred since Tuesday are I started
exercising on Friday and went to a movie on Saturday with Liz.

I go to movies really because I love theatre popcorn.
As each time I go, again I ate too much popcorn.
I did enjoy the movie, Labour Day.
It was a chick flick.

But really starting to exercising was my great highlight.

I woke up on January 19th asking myself what I am doing for my body's
health.

My chemo treatments were dealing with my cancer.
My work and starting back to some volunteer work is great for my mind, but
what about my body.

I heard of a lady who 6 months after a whippel procedure ran a half
marathon and all I am doing is walking up and down stairs.

Light bulb goes on, I got to start exercising. I sent an email to my
personal trainer.I can only imagine the shock I gave her.

Before my diagnosis, I hated exercising. I have had a personal trainer for
14 years twice a week and I hated getting together.
My office is 2 minutes from my house but I was usually late for most
sessions.

People know I recognize my personal trainer as the "She Devil".

Now she is one of my angels, though the identification of She Devil will
remain.

I contacted the the ORCF and they arranged for the She Devil and I to meet
with an expert on dealing with exercising while battling cancer.
It was a very informative conversation and helped us out on what to do and
more importantly what my expectations should be.

So I started last Friday and it was great. The session included 15 minutes
on my bike. I hope to ride my bike now each day depending on my strength.
Here is a photo to prove it.

It is clear that one has to have a comprehensive game plan and a
Championship team to do battle with cancer.

I know I am on my way to be a Champion and I thank you all for your
participation.

Your notes of encouragement, your contributions to my Father's memory,your
thoughtfulness and your your love is so much appreciated.

To those who love football, enjoy the Super Bowl tonight, to those who are
exercise freaks continue and to those that do not exercise regularly, if I
can do it so can you.

Be healthy, be happy and cherish what you have.

Lots of love,

Arnie.

January 26

To all,

I hope everyone is enjoying their weekend and staying warm.
I have good news and bad news.

The good news is I listened to Liz today.
The bad news is by listening to Liz I did not walk in the Walk for
Memories today due to the germ environment.
As has been the case many times, Liz is right.

Liz, Danya and Jordana are walking for me.
Ronnie's and Jennifer's two sons, Daniel and Matthew joined them.
Here is a photo of Team Arnon which includes Kim.

The great news is 145 people sponsored Team Arnon and $20,231 was raised
for the Alzheimer Society Walk for Memories.

I am so proud of my Championship team.

I thank all of the sponsors for their contribution in memory of my Father,
Zeev Vered. Zeev was a great man and a magnificent role model to all.

Tuesday I have my next chemo treatment which will be my 9th post operation.
I hope to have a catscan February end and will find out how many more
treatments I will have.The chemo is my insurance policy so I can not
complain.

All the very best.

Be healthy, be happy and cherish what you have.

With much love,

Arnie.