The treatments start soon.. also Dave Dravecky story..

I don't update this blog nearly enough but find it hard to come up with new stuff to write.  My purpose is really to just get my thoughts down when I feel so led, today is such a day.

Yesterday I came across the story of Dave Dravesky, you can find info on his struggles and battles with the exact disease that I have.  A brief synopsis is that he was a major league pitcher for a brief time, found out that he had the same tumors that I have in his pitching arm.. Same location too, how odd.. He ended up having surgery and going through rehab to only pitch two games before snapping his arm.  The tumors came back and radiation or surgery did not work. His arm was amputated and so was his career.  Google him for more info.. It's really inspirational.

Next week I start my 6 weeks of daily radiation treatments.  This is kind of freaking me out but I know that God is in control and I should not worry.  Easier said than done, it's easy to let it consume me but luckily through my wife, family, friends and God I cope with it pretty well.  The odds are in my favor of keeping my arm but the unknown is just that.  Nothing I can control but it's still tough to not think about it.

Praying for successful radiation treatments but most of all for God's will.  Whatever happens to me, I just hope that I can glorify him with whatever outcome I face.

I appreciate any and all prayers and continue to put my faith in Him.  I hope that my small journey can be of help to someone else that may be facing life struggles.  Lucky for me that I have a great wife that supports and takes great care of me even though I can be a little difficult at times..

Enough ramblings for now.. In Christ I trust!

When it rains, it pours.. Lucky for me God taught me to swim..

In recent weeks, things have not gone so well for me medically.  I had my 4th surgery on 4/22/10 to remove more desmoid tumors from my right upper arm.  These boogers keep coming back so the doctors are trying some more aggressive treatment this time.  Under this is a bit of how life has gone the past 10 days or so since my last entry.

First thing, they were not able to get all of the tumors and cancer cells out without damaging my arm to a potentially, nonfunctional state.  They are hoping the radiation will kill the remaining tumor cells and margins, if not, the news is not optimistic for keeping my arm. Still, it could be worse so I am not giving up.  I could still function with 1 arm if that is His will.  Time will tell.

I will be doing 6 weeks of radiation,  5 days per week starting in a few weeks.  I meet the radiologist next Monday.

To make things worse, I was rushed to the ER this past Thursday night with heart attack symptoms, the most horrendous pain I have ever been in my life, hands down. 

After 3 hours of tests, x-rays, Catscans and ultra sounds they concluded that I needed to have my gall  bladder removed immediately.  I had abnormally large gall stones and an acute infection around the gall bladder.  Surgery took twice as long as expected and I just got home Sat evening.  Brutal pain with the cutting through the abdominal wall in 4 places and I have a drain tube coming from my right side to get rid of the infection.

Hopefully I'll start feeling better soon.  I see the surgeon today that did the gall bladder removal and will know more after that.  Ill be off at least 2 more weeks.  As of this morning I am feeling a little better, each day is an improvement.




I have so much to be thankful for it's not even funny.  I'm going to list just a couple of things that I can't say enough about.


First and foremost, my faith in Jesus Christ as my savior certainly helps me put it all into perspective.  Without my faith in him and a promise of a better tommorw, I'm now sure I would be able to get through it.  This is my real secret to it all, I know that things will get better and that everything I endure is part of a much bigger plan.  "I do all things through Him who gives me strength".  Phil 4:13


My wife is absolutely freaking amazing!!!  She has been absolutely amazing and has shown me such patience and love, I am utterly speechless.  Without her, I honestly, don't know how I'd get through this all either.  God has really blessed and strengthened our marriage through all of these trials too so I can already see one area of purpose for the pain and suffering.  She rarely reads these and may not read them at all but I must say, to her I owe so much.  She is everything to me.


Enough of this for now, I just wanted to update anyone that may be reading this, keeping up.  I'm pretty sure no one reads my blog because Bobbie is the only one that follows it but if that's the case, it's ok.

Thanks for my friends and family that are and have shown support as well.  For all of them, I am truly thankful as well.

By the way, it's a beautiful day today..

One day at a time

Let me start off by saying that this blog has become much more than my original intention which was about my journey as a pool player and more a out what I am experiencing.

Giving alot of credit to my wonderful bride for she has shown great strength and patience with me through this battle. I also cannot imagine going through this without my faith in Christ. Many ask me how I stay so positive but to be honest it's not all that hard. I reeky feel that all that I am going through is for a much greater purpose than I may ever understand. I'm ok with that.

Just a little update on my current situation. I went to see Doc Sussman yesterday to get my bandages changed and get the latest results from pathology. The news was not what I wanted to hear by any means but I accept it and will continue to fight day after day.

He was not able to get all of the cancer cell during the latest surgery. He does not want to talk about going back in for now for fear of damaging the arm muscles any further. I'm at a point now where I cannot afford to lose any more without potentially disabling the arm. The tumors are getting closer to the shoulder and we are at a point that we need to be concerned.

6 weeks of radiation is the next step. The best we can hope for now is that the remaining cancerous cells are destroyed and I live with what I have left of an upper arm. Not so bad. My odds are better than 50% that radiation will be successful. That's what I'm banking on if it's Gods will.

Worst case at this point is I get really good at using my left arm as there is potential of losing my right arm. Time will tell.

More details to come.


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Location:Dian Dr,Carlisle,United States

Post surgery

As I post from my iPhone so this will be breif and has nothing to do with pool whatsoever.

I'm sending this from the wee hours of the morning just because I'm bored and can sleep no more.

Had surgery yesterday and am tired of sleeping in this hospital bed. My nurses and doctors have been wonderful thus far, I'm truly blessed.

I have also had so many prayers sent my way that I am very humbled. There are so many to thank I don't know where to begin.

My spirits are good today, I am ready for the sunshine so let's get this day going.

I has several tumors removed and so far feel pretty darn good. Praying for a quick recovery and successful radiation program.

My family and friends are wonderful too. I know I did not say much in this blog but it is more of an outlet to me as I journey down the road to recovery.

I can't wait to get back on the pool table but am sure it will be a while.


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Location:University pointe medical center

Fear of what may be....

Many of you have no idea that I have been battling nasty cancerous tumors in my right arm for the past 2 years.  I’m definitely not looking for any sympathy, just jotting down what I am going through as I find it helpful and maybe just something that can help someone else that may be struggling with a similar situation.

2 years ago, I found lumps in my right arm, around my tricep muscle.  I went to my family doctor and he suggested that I see an orthopedic surgeon.  Long story short, he was not sure what to do so he went in and removed it and part of my upper arm.  Found out that it is a localized but very nasty, aggressive & rare type of tumor that attaches itself to the nearest muscle, bone, nerve whatever. Ain’t I special??

After the post surgical testing, he found out that he missed margins.  For those of you who don’t know, margins are the bad cells around the tumor that were not removed and will most likely cause another case if not taken out very soon.  He recommended me to a specialist in Oncology and Orthopedics that did remove the margins and thought this was enough.

WRONG answer, a year later (Early Spring 2009) I found another lump in my arm. Same surgeon, same type of surgery and he said it would most likely not return..  By this point, I have been through 3 pretty nasty surgeries on my right arm.  I have very little tricep muscle left and my arm is in pain most of the time.

WRONG again Dr.., this time I found another specialist that I am currently seeing.  Had an MRI 7 months ago and it came back negative, no new tumors even though I thought I felt something abnormal in the arm again.  Went back 2 weeks ago for my 6 month follow up MRI and this time it was not good, AGAIN.

It now appears that I have up to 3 new tumors and must undergo a 4^th surgery.  After surgery he is going to be more aggressive than my previous doctors and do some radiation as well.  I’m a bit scared and worried this time more than ever.  Not so much scared for my life but scared to lose the ability to do some of the things that I love.. 

Pool is a very big part of my life and I love to play and strive to come as close to perfect as I can.  I work hard on the fundamentals, love to learn new things and I really enjoy competing at the highest level possible.  I’m afraid that the possibility of losing the function of my arm might come true.  Hitting the wrong nerve or God forbid having to lose my arm completely would be devastating.

I’m aware and cognizant that many have dealt with much worse and I can only hope and pray for the best.  Like I said initially in this blog, I’m not looking for sympathy.  It helps to share what is going on in this little pea brain of mine. 

One day I’d love to share my knowledge and hard work with students and become a highly rated instructor in the sport of pocket billiards.  Thanks for listening to my rant.  I’m not sure anyone reads my blog but that’s ok, I still enjoy writing my feeling and adventures down.  It makes me feel better.

God bless and peace to you all. Feel free to comment if you do happen to read my ramblings.

Joey

Stan's the Man!

This past Friday I had a lesson/clinic with Stan Shuffett. Let's just start off by saying that his instruction far surpassed my greatest expectations.  Stan is a tremendous communicator, great man of integrity and a fantastic teacher of pocket billiards.  Not only can he teach the game but can play at a super high level as well.  Not everyone feels that this is important but I find it to be of value when a teacher not only knows but can do as well.

Let me start of by saying that our day was worth so much to me as far as my pool game is concerned.  Stan was instrumental in figuring out the hitch in my stroke.  Just figuring that out and now having a game plan to fix it is of value beyond measure to me.

Stan helped me to identify some fundamental flaws in my game that I never even knew existed.  I feel that these are the small things that have been holding me back from reaching the next level, I feel as if I have been "stuck" for years without the understanding or knowledge of how to fix them.  Thanks to Stan, I now have the tools to reach my goals.

He also taught me the Pro One aiming system as well, this alone is absolutely amazing.  I'd highly recommend anyone going to Stan for help with this.  To be honest, I could have never learned it from a book or through a simple phone conversation.  Stan did a great job of demonstrating this and kept going over it until I got it.  With his help, it did not take long for me to get the system.  I now use Pro One along with Perfect aim and find that using the two together gives me the confidence that I need to progress as a player.

In the 9+ hours with Stan I gained so knowledge and insight, it is insane.  I'd say that anyone that wants to step up their game must see Stan.  His prices are reasonable, he's a fantastic teacher and a great guy too.  You cannot go wrong.  He can be contacted through justcueit.com

I'd be happy to answer any questions you may have by simply leaving a comment on this blog or emailing me.  If you want to know how Perfect Aim works, you'll need to take the lesson though.

Peace out!

Trying to figure it all out..

I am on the everlasting mission to figure this game out.. I sometimes have flashes of brilliance and play at an almost unconscious level.  The problem is, I don't think anyone out there can draw upon this state of being in "the zone" for lack of a better term, whenever they choose.

Fundamentals are the key to success in all situations when it comes to any sport, in my opinion.  If one works hard on the fundamentals and can master what works for him/her, they can use these in high pressure situations with confidence that they will get them through.

I find it difficult to do the same things over and over.  What I am looking for is something that is repeatable, consistent and what works for me.

In the past I have tried to emulate what I "thought" the top pros were doing.  Problem is, they are not all doing the same thing.  I believe stance, head position etc. change depending on body type, weight, height etc.

One thing I focused on for the longest time was my grip and trying to hold the cue very loosely but had very little success because I could not really hit the cue ball where I wanted to consistently with this loose grip.  Watching a few top players, I noticed that they were appearing to use their whole hand and it got me to experimenting.  I find that for me, using my whole hand with a firm, consistent grip from start to finish works best for me.  Now I'm not talking about choking the cue, just a firm grip.  You could not pull it from my hand easily with this grip but it is not tight enough to harm a baby bird or a hamster either.. 

I find with this grip I have more accuracy, better control of my CB and a much stronger break as well.  I have just started using this and REALLY like it.  I found this information from CJ Wiley's web site.  He has some good information there and does not look at everything like the typical instructor might do so.  YMMV

That's enough rambling for today, I hope to take my new grip to the tables tonight. Last night I played lights out, I hope it continues.  I plan to play very well at next years DCC..

Peace and God bless!

A rough night at the tourney.. I still had fun!

We've all been there, been beaten in a match or tourney by someone that can barely hold a cue.. It's frustrating, but it's life.  Things don't always go as planned.

Last night I was playing in a local tourney, Barbox 8-ball, race to two.  80% of the time, I finish in the top 3 winning it pretty often but last night was definitely not one of those nights so I'll just laugh about it and share with you all briefly.

First match, I won 2-0.  He broke first game, I played well and won.  I broke and ran the second game, no big deal, it was a typical match, things just went my way... That was all that I would get going my way as the next two matches went drastically different.

Second match, I play a very nice guy named Ray, I have beaten him most of the times that we play but he does win once in a while.  I win the first game, my safety play then a strong finish did the trick.  Last two games, I ran too many balls early and did not finish, leaving myself with one or two balls to all of his is a bad deal if you don't run out.  Sometimes I play to aggressively and it costs me.. This was one of those matches.  Ray won, congrats to him, I played well, just not up to my normal level.

Third match I played a 15 year old kid in a cookie monster shirt.. This match was embarrassing to say the least.  I won the first game easily and kind of took it for granted that I'd win the match..  The next two games I could not buy a roll in a bakery..  He had a bag full and it was kind of funny.  He missed at least 6 shots during the next two games and the balls rolled up perfectly to leave me nothing every time.

I did miss position and one shot that I should have made but other than that, I could not have gotten out of a wet paper bag.. It was too funny and my buddies gave me a lot of crap over that one.  Hats off to the cookie monster, I'm pretty sure it made his night winning that match..

Lesson to learn here, take no one for granted.  Don't take it too seriously and have fun no matter what the outcome.  I have won more than my share of the cash in this particular tournament and if it brings joy to someone else to beat me once in a while, that's cool too.  I'll never lose on purpose but it does not always go our way either.

I do need to really focus on my game.  My mental state as of late has been weak but I plan to get better, lots better.  That's it for today.  I have league tonight if they need me to play, if not I'll stay home and practice.

Peace for now!!

This Blog thing is a bit tougher than I thought it would be.

Today's blog is going to be little more than my rambling about my inconsistencies with the game..

First of all, our AA league team had a horrible night last night, as did I.  First two rounds went great, I played very strong as did most of our players.  This is VNEA by the way to those who care.

We were tied for first place going into last night but now we must be a bit behind but that does not bother me too much.

The last two rounds could not have gone worse, rolls were bad, I missed two shots that I should have made and my concentration was crap..  We ended up losing the last two and the overall by a smidget too.

I am getting really tired of league play to say the least.  Tired of the smokers, which should not be smoking in Ohio bars but that is not enforced at all!  The smoke kills me.  Tired of the hassle of league play and feel that I am just spinning my wheels playing in leagues that just are not very challenging any more.  That makes me a lazy player which takes away the fun of the game to me as well.

I seem to go through the "tired of league" mode every couple of years or so, but am really feeling it bad right now.  Not even looking forward to state competition this year but I will go and try my hardest since I committed to the team.  That's how I roll.

For the next year, I play to focus on my concentration.  Really focus on developing sound fundamentals, hopefully with the help of Stan Shuffett instruction.  My attitude is good, I just need to really focus on every shot, I tend to get lazy and that's when my game falls apart.

I know this was just some random rambling but that's what a blog is about, I am pretty sure?  I do believe I will not play league next year, at least not every week.  I would not mind being a sub or playing enough to qualify for BCA state, etc.  But I do not want to be committed to playing every week.

I'm not sure if anyone at all looks at this Blog, probably not.  But if you do, any comments would be appreciated..

CPPA needs to grow

I am working or reworking the design of the Christian Pool Players logo for future shirts, patches, hats etc..  I did this in Adobe illustrator as vector based graphics work much better than a typical jpg or gif image but I won't bore you with the technical stuff..

The CPPA was started by Jim Mazulla and it is going to hopefully start to grow soon.  If you have any interest, let me know or visit the site at http://christianpoolplayers.com/

I love the game and am passionate about my faith as well so this seems to be a good fit for me.  I hope to be the example that Christ has called me to be.  If you ever see me at a tourney please just drop me a hello!

Peace, Joey

Stuck in the snow

Left work early to try and avoid this mess. Guess I should have done it sooner.



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The magician

This was from the DCC 2010 where Efren Reyes, the best player in the world punished me 3-0 in the banks division.

It was quite a thrill to play him though.



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It's a start..

A little bit about me to start off..

I am a 40 year old married man of 17 years, we have a son of 13 years that is our pride and joy..  Won't get too detailed as that is not what this blog is about, it's all about the sport of pocket billiards..

Having played the game off and on for around 25 years but only recently taking it seriously and trying to get to the highest level that I can attain with my current resources.. 

I get a lot of information from fellow players, pool forums such as AZbilliards.com as well as friend, magazines etc.. You get the picture.

Also, I have been blessed to have some folks that are very knowledgeable about the game such as Jack Madden, Joe Villalpando, Scott Lee and Tom Simpson.  I had lessons with a couple of those gentleman and have been lucky enough to call upon others such as Jack or Joe whenever I have a question about the game. 

Recently I have really started to focus on the game and try to work out the fundamentals so that I can give myself the strongest chance to improve at a rapid rate.  That sounds good but where do I start??  I have been video taping my practice sessions to see where I may have flaws in my stroke, stance etc.. Problem is, I am not sure I know what to look for, it's a battle that I may fight the rest of my life, time will tell.

I realize that this is just a rambling blog at this point but it will become better, I have a ton to say but don't want to throw it all into my first post..

Coming next, I'll tell a little bit about my DCC 2010 experience where I got to play both Efren Reyes and Rodney Morris.  I won one of those matches, details to come in the next blog..