Happy Holidays & New Year, shipmates!

Shipmates:

Thought I would post an item just before the holidays kick right into gear to wish you ALL a Happy Holiday Season & a Happier New Year! My wife, Demetria, and I thank all our friends, family, and shipmates on their support, good wishes, and prayers that will be hold for us at masses all over the world on Christmas Day. How you can you not be a happy-camper hearing all of that.

Nothing to be concerned with the melanoma cancer until our next Brain MRI appointment on 7 January..... so we can simply enjoy the holidays, and hope the same for all of you.

Many best wishes and regards,
SKCS Chuck Zwierzynski & Demetria Zwierzynski

Gamma Knife Treatment Completed

To all my shipmates:

A good day this morning recuperating at home for a couple of days. Feeling tired but the treatment with the Gamma Knife at a local civilian hospital to kick those 7 lesions out of my brain went very, very well yesterday. An interesting machine that has a wonderful 90-95% success rate, and we will find out results with another Brain MRI in about a month. All in all, shipmates, this week is going very well.

Now..... since I probably will not have any radiation or chemotherapy treatments for about a month.... time to enjoy the holidays with family, friends, and shipmates! And not have to think about cancer for 30 days. Back to work on Thursday and boy, is that ever great therapy for me as well. We have a SUPERB group of sailors constructing the PCU George H.W. Bush (CVN-77) here in Newsport News, VA.... and if you are looking for orders, you cannot find a better carrier out there, my friends. Contact your rating's detailer to release you to the PCU Detailers if interested. You will not regret it.

Have a great Navy Day and a wonderful holiday season -
SKCS Charles Zwierzynski

Good, Bad News - Just One Day At A Time

Good morning shipmates!,

Going back to work aboard PCU George H.W. Bush CVN-77 tomorrow for the first time after 30 days CONV Leave following the IL-2 cancer treatment in early November. Feels like the first day of school -- but also, will be great to be amongst Navy sailors again. My billet replacement, an outstanding fellow Senior Chief, has reported and he is taking charge at the right time when you are growing, weekly, in a PCU environment. I will remain in a TAD role to support this superb group of SKs in the Supply Readiness divisions -- guess I am now that all-around billet assignment: Special Projects Officer. As long as I can be a part of this great ship under construction, that's all I need.

Now for an update on my cancer situation: the IL-2 cancer treatment was a partial eesponse ....not as good as the doctors wanted. Although it knocked some of the spreading back, shrunk or disappeared on the small lesions, 1 has doubled in size on my brain and 1 has doubled in size on my liver. Demetria and I, when we learned this last Thursday, are doing exactly what we've done since Octoberr 2006 -- cry, support, call some of the family, give loads of hugs and say: O.K. -- what's the next option? As Demetria ALWAYS says: One day at a time, my husband, this will not consume us on a daily basis. She is right.

So we have options. Going to a consultation appointment this afternoon to have the brain spot taken care of with a civilian system called the Gamma Knife machine. 90-90% success rate -- would love those odds on the number of my SKs that advance each exam cycle! And then we will work on a new chemo package on the liver at the end of the month.

We've had successes and we've had some disappointments. But I've been fighting this for 14 months now and as my Oncologist said last week: You're not giving up, Senior Chief, and neither am I. How can that not inspire you?

One last item, shipmates: Holiday season, but I sure do hope our First Class Petty Officers are making time for a study plan for the January 2008 CPO exam. I want to be here for ANOTHER CPO Transition Season next September! We trained some great Chiefs this past one and I want to do that again!

Have a great Navy day!,
SKCS Chuck Zwierzynski

It's A Truism: Chiefs Train Their Replacements

Good Morning, shipmates!:

Recuperation from my very first round of IL-2 cancer treatments is going very, very well. Have appointment tomorrow to determine next steps and see if we will go for a second round. Not nervous actually....because of all the prayers and positive spirits that surround my family each and every day.

Now a quick comment on the title of this posting -- You bet! Chiefs train their replacements. And in the 5 weeks I have been away from my post as Supply Readiness LCPO onboard the PCU George H.W. Bush CVN-77 during treatments and CONV Leave, I cannot tell you how PROUD I am of the Supply Chiefs I work with and the Supply Petty Officers who have jumped right into the fray without Senior Chief Zwierzynski passing out schedules, advice, and just plain last-minute projects needing to be completed TODAY! They are what make that Supply Readiness department run....I just happen to be the Advisor / Consultant.

Which is what, when I return to the ship this Friday, will be my support role. My superb replacement has reported onboard, and my job will be as advisor and in supportive role, as any Senior Chief should be in this pre-construction enviroment. It's not easy, shipmates...but let me tell you, there is nothing more rewarding then assisting in constructing your own ship, and sailing it for the very first time.

That's my goal, too.

Regards and have a great Navy Day,
SKCS Chuck Zwierzynski

Recuperating Very Well

Morning Shipmates:

Has taken me a couple of weeks to post again to this Blog with some updates --- only because I was allowed to take my wonderful wife and I, after over 7 years of marriage, on a honeymoon to an all-inclusive resort spa in the Dominican Republic. Got back Saturday. Finally, and I know many husbands/wives understand this -- with deployments, work-ups, etc. over the years, we never had a chance to go on a Honeymooon. Worth every penny and am convinced this trip helped my recuperating from the IL-2 cancer treatments in early November. Now time to determine the next steps.

Schedule is a full-body PET Scan this morning (Monday) to check the results, sit down with the Oncologist on Thursday to go over the details and what we are going to do next. If first IL-2 round successful, we'll go for a second. I'll know, from this exteremly toxic treatment how the side effects will go this time, so my wife and I are ready.

Will be back at work onboard PCU George H.W. Bush this Friday with my shipmates....and I know that my fellow Chiefs, some of the greatest young Chiefs you will ever have the honor to work with/for, have taken care of business without me for 5 weeks. You should remember this: a Pre-Commissioning Unit environment is one of the most exciting, frustrating, overloading, and proud work you can ever accomplish in the Navy (this from a 21-year Senior Chief who has found that you learn even MORE than you ever have before in the SK rating). It is extremly satisfying though once you develop a GREAT team as new personnel check onboard.

So have a great Navy Day today.....will post more tomorrow on my thoughts and advice on developing a GREAT team in a PCU environment.

Many regards,
SKCS Chuck Zwierzynski