Shrinking Mass

Just received a call from my nurse and she said the mass is shrinking. Amen!
The doctor looked at the results and he is pleased with the progress of the chemo and how it is shrinking.
They are waiting for my first CT scans to arrive from Los Angeles so that the two can be compared.
Thanks for all the kind words and the support! We are making progress. Time to celebrate tonight and then go hit up another chemo tomorrow to get rid of this mass entirely.

CT Scan

This morning I had my first CT scan since I have started chemo. I don't know the results yet but we are praying that the mass is shrinking. As soon as I know the results I will post a blog.
I would also like to thank everyone that came to our concert on Saturday night. The energy in the auditorium was out of control and it felt great to be on stage again. Thanks for giving me an outlet to perform my new songs.

EXTRA being aired

The Extra bit aired on television last night.  If you missed it then don't worry because it will air again on Saturday.  Check your local listings.  It was a little odd watching Mario Lopez talk about me from Times Square.  Rock on AC Slater!

 Also....thanks to the great city of Crawfordsville, IN the tickets to our concert have sold out in less than a week.  Sorry to those of you that aren't able to attend the concert but hopefully you can catch a show in the future.  

  I didn't realize how many people would want to attend this concert.  Thanks C-ville!

American Idol Tour

Tomorrow I will be in Indianapolis for the Idol tour to watch the top 10 contestants perform. I just spoke with Carly from Idol and she has secured some passes for my wife and I to visit with the contestants throughout the day.  

  All of the season 7 contestants have been super supportive with me during my battle with cancer.  Most of them are great about keeping in contact with me on a regular basis.  It will be great to see them tomorrow and watch them perform again.  I'm sure they are even better now.

  If you aren't busy tomorrow and there are some tickets still available you should come check out the show.  All the performers are very talented and I don't think you would regret seeing them live.  I know from experience. 

EXTRA

Today I will be filming with EXTRA television show. They have asked to do an exclusive interview with me today and follow me around to experience what a typical day is like for me. I have tried as much as I can to stay away from media at this point in my life. However, the producer pitched the possible story to me in a pretty cool way. They want this to be an inspiration to other cancer survivors. I have agreed to participate.
The story will be a positive cancer survivor story and will show how I am continuing on with my life and how I am not letting cancer ruin my life.
We will film at my house, at the hospital where I have my blood taken as well as at the gym that I work out at on a regular basis.
As soon as I know when the story will be aired on EXTRA I will post a message so you can't miss it on TV.
The crew is here now.

upcoming concert

A Luke Menard benefit concert will take place in Crawfordsville, IN at Crawfordsville high school on July 26th at 7pm.
I will be performing with Chapter 6 as well as performing a couple of my new songs that have been written recently.
Tickets can be bought at several different store outlets in Crawfordsville, IN. Or you can call 765 376 4259.
Hope you can come out and enjoy the evening with us.

Another song

Just co-wrote with Chris Sligh today at his house. We wrote a sweet song called "Comfortable." It is about learning to be comfortable with the uncomfortablility that the Lord puts us in at times. I hope to put this song here on the blog soon so that it can be listened to.
Tomorrow I will once again write with Adam Smith. Adam is a talented staff writer at Brentwood-Benson who I have written two other songs with already.
Lara and I are really enjoying our time we get together and we have already had Sushi twice and we have only been here for 24 hours.
We have gone Sushi crazy!

Thanks to Dari-Licous

Lara and I would like to send out a huge thank you to Dari-Licous who sponsored a fund raiser to help Lara and I with our medical bills. We spent a little bit of time there after my chemo and it was amazing to see how many people showed up. I don't think I have ever seen so many cars in that parking lot at once. Thanks to all who showed up.
Lara and I have safely arrived in Nashville and we are settling in nicely and started the evening off with some Sushi.
Tomorrow morning I will start the week off with a co-writing session with Chris Sligh who was a top 10 American Idol finalist last season. He is now a well establised Christian singer/songwriter in Nashville and I look forward to meeting him tomorrow. You should check out his latest single entitled "Empty Me."
The rest of the week will be spent co-writing and recording with some of my favorite writers I have met in the Christian industry in Nashville.
Writing and recording has become great therapy for me at this time in my life. I have found some great inspiration through my trials. I thank the Lord for this.

3 down

3 chemo treatments down and 9 to go. I finished round 3 yesterday and it was a very busy day. The morning started with me waking up later than I had planned. I was supposed to be at the Fox studio at 8am and I didn't wake up until 7:25am. It was a 40 minute drive so I was afraid I would miss my spot. Thankfully not many police officers were patrolling the highway so I sped at about 85 miles per hour and made it just before I was to be on TV.
I then made the trip back to Crawfordsville to receive my third chemo. It didn't go as well as the first two but I made it through.
My day ended with me attending dairy-licous ice cream store to watch and meet the many people that turned out for our fund raiser. The store sold 2,809 milk shakes on our behalf. A big thank you to all the people that turned out!
I would also like to personally thank the people that sent gas gift cards to our P.O box. I will be taking another trip to Nashville on Monday and will spend the whole week there co-writing more songs and recording. Your gifts came at the perfect time.
God is good!
Have a great 4th of July.

Live on Fox Wednesday morning at 8:30am

Family, friends and fans-
I will be Live on Indianapolis Fox morning show tomorrow morning at 8:30am. Tomorrow is Wednesday June 2nd. I will be on the show talking about the current and future fundraisers that various businesses and local friends will be having for me and Lara here in Crawfordsville. Fox has been great to me during my time on Idol so I am looking forward to seeing my friends at Fox tomorrow morning. However, this doesn't mean that I like Simon.
If you live in Indiana, be sure to tune in to Fox tomorrow morning around 8:30am.

Good to get away

This past weekend my wife and I were in Kansas City. We attended a wedding of a good friend. I also had the chance to sing with Chapter 6 at the wedding and we also performed a short concert after the wedding. I haven't had the chance to sing with Chapter 6 since before American Idol in January so it was very exciting not only to sing with them but to be able to hang out with them for the weekend. They are excellent Christian men who continue to serve Christ with their music.
Several people have been asking if I will be touring with Chapter 6. There are a couple things holding me back from touring with Chapter 6. First, I have been spending alot of time in Nashville co-writing and recording and working on a Christian music career. Secondly, I have no choice but to be in my hometown 10 days each month because of chemo.
However, Chapter 6 fans can expect to hear me on the next album that Chapter 6 will release. But for now, I will not be on tour with the group while I work on some other projects and work on being healed from cancer.
Round 3 chemo tomorrow. After that, 9 to go.