Roger and Burkitts Lymphoma 

Updated 12:19:2007

This page is being made to help everyone to keep up to date and understand the Condition that my dad  (Roger Lorenz) has: I will try to have a update everyday.

Written by me, 

Chris Lorenz (one of Rogers Sons)

If you want to email me click here

To send Roger a Message click here

We learned of another adult with Burkitts in the US  Paul Dorsett We wish him good luck, God Speed and everything else, on his Journey as he just finished his first round of Chemo. 

We hope for peace of mind for Cliff Buck and his family and friends in Springfield MO. Cliff was 29 

To learn more than what I wrote about NHL Cancers, visit these sites:

Non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma

http://www.lymphomainfo.net/nhl/

Burkitts Cancer Page

A Little background on who is Roger Lorenz

Roger Lorenz was Born on September 27, 1947 to Gilbert and Melba Lorenz in St. Louis Missouri. Roger married Sue Mundwiller on  September 7, 1968           soon later they had there first child, Craig on September 12, 1970. They moved away from St. Louis to try a new job and along the way I was born, Chris on October 8, 1972. Now a complete family we moved all over the country transferring from 1 location to another. We lived mostly in the south east area of the country only spending about 2 years in each state. During all this moving we would come back to St. Louis at Christmas and me and Craig would spend a month in the summers in St. Louis with my grand parents. The rest of the family never left St. Louis so it was always considered home to us while we were moving around. The rest of the family worked for the family printing company (Color-Art) and in 1986 Roger and us moved back to St. Louis and he stated working for the family company. That is about the way it has been ever since. 

Roger at a glance:

Weight before treatment: 231 pounds (4:30:01)

Height: 6 feet, 0 inches

Age at treatment: 53

Treatment Hospital: Siteman Cancer center at Barnes Hospital St.Louis Missouri

Favorite Food:

Favorite Pastime: Cardinal Baseball, Reading Books, Old Cars mostly Corvettes and  Women. It would say woman but roger can only handle one at a time.

How this all came about:

4:30:2001 MRI for Hernia 

Roger was going to his General Practioner Dr. Reh for a check up on his hernia and to get an idea as to what kind of surgery he was going to need to fix it. As with all hernias they performed a MRI scan of the abdominal area and when the image came back they noticed a golf ball to baseball size mass growing between his kidney and the spinal column. The hernia problem was totally forgotten about and Dr. Reh scheduled a Biopsy of the growth they found during the MRI.

5:3:2001 Biopsy 

The biopsy was performed by doing another MRI and then drawing a target on the back to help guild the needle (which takes samples) to the growth. This is done in the hospital and after it is done they just keep you there for about 4 hours just incase of bleeding. The very small samples are sent off to the lab to be studied to find out if it is cancer or not.

5:5:2001 Results of

On Saturday may 5 Dr. Reh called and told roger that He wanted to see him so Roger, Craig and Myself went down to St. Joseph in Kirkwood Missouri to meet with him. He notified us that is was in fact Cancer  and it was some type of Non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma.

Some info on Non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma (NHL):

NHL cancer to understand can be confusion as there are many sub categories and each of those sub categories have there own sub categories, some NHL cancers are so slow growing that you do nothing to them and just watch them for several years, and then there are other types like what Roger has (Burkitts) which is one of the fastest growing cancers known to man.

5:7:2001 Meet with Dr. Hildreth of Cancer Care 

Roger, Craig, Gary and Myself all went to see the cancer doctor to hopefully get some insight as to what we were looking at as far as what type of Non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma (NHL) Cancer Roger had and most of all to get a game plan on how to treat it. There are over 29 different types of NHL and each one reacts differently to Chemotherapy. after talking to the doctor we were as much in the dark as we were when we meet him. He took some blood and sent that off for more test and scheduled a CT scan for 5:8:2001 and a Bone marrow Biopsy for 5:11:2001. This test would be to check to see if the cancer was in his bone marrow. 

5:8:2001 CT Scan

Roger, Nancy and Myself went to get Rogers CT scan done today and basically it was just a picture and we will review it with the New doctor we are meeting with on 5:10:2001

5:10:2001 meeting with Dr. Nancy Bartlett of Washington University School of Medicine

Roger, Craig, Gary and Myself went to Barnes Hospital to see Dr. Bartlett She was a very nice Lady that really know what she was talking about. She told us that the initial findings from the first biopsy study that was done by a private lab said it could be 1 of 2 types which were:

Or:

Burkitt's and Burkitt's like lymphoma - A small non-cleaved lymphoma that is a very aggressive B-cell type. There are different varieties, including the endemic Burkitt's prevalent in Africa, especially in children where it is associated with the Epstein-Barr virus. In North America it is seen very infrequently. This disease in North America usually involves an abdominal mass and often the bone marrow. All types behave similarly and are treated alike.

These are both very fast growing cancers but they both have different treatments. With large cell Lymphoma the Chemo is giving on a out patient therapy 1 day a week and with Burkitt's It is given in the hospital for 1 straight week out of every 4 weeks and there is a 50/50 chance you will be back in the hospital with some complications during your 3 weeks off. then after 3 treatments he will stay in the hospital for 1 month for a stem cell transplant, which is basically the same thing as a bone marrow transplant.

We all pray that it is Large B-cell lymphoma. 

We also looked at the first CT scans that showed a cross section of Rogers mid abdominal section which showed the tumor and it was a lot bigger than first expected . At first we thought it was a size between a golf ball and baseball now it shows to be about the size of 2 softballs next to each other. tomorrow we go to get another biopsy done to get a core sample to confirm the type of lymphoma.

5:11:2001

The Biopsy went fine today besides the fact that all the power went out in the building just as they were pulling the needle out of Rogers back. I was there and there are no windows in this part of the building so it was pitch dark with a lot of people standing around so it was very scary for a moment. then the power came back on and roger was wheeled out to a holding area to make sure he didn't bleed from this. the sample went down to the lab and soon later Kim (Dr. Bartlett assistant) found us and told us that in fact it was Burkitts and it was.

there are only about 100 cases of Burkitts lymphoma a year and most of those are in children so this is very rare. for more info on Burkitts go to:

www.burkitts.org

Here is a magnified picture of a burkitt's cancer cell:

Here is a definition of Burkitts from a cancer web page:

Burkitt's and Burkitt's-like lymphomas are some of the most rapidly growing cancers known to man.  These lymphomas are more common in men than women and tend to occur in younger individuals with an average age at diagnosis of about 30 years for Burkitt's and 55 years for Burkitt's-like lymphoma.  The majority of patients have extranodal involvement at the time of diagnosis. Approximately 1/3 of patients have bone marrow involvement, and many patients will have involvement of the central nervous system.  Combined, these lymphomas represent less than 4% of all non-Hodgkin's lymphomas and they are treated in a similar fashion which is described in this section.

Roger and all of us were very bummed out to find that out because Burkitts requires massive chemo therapy and is a type were you stay in the hospital for treatment. Roger will be the first person to undergo a new clinical trial to treat Burketts which requires 1 week in the hospital for chemo every 3 weeks then a month stay in the hospital for a stem cell transplant. he will have about a 50 /50 chance of being readmitted to the hospital during this time due to bleeding, dehydration and infections, It will be a long and hard road for him but we all know that he can do it and we all wish him a fast recovery and Gods blessing and protection during treatment and recovery. Roger will be going into Barnes Hospital on Wednesday 5:16:2001 to began treatment.

5:14:01 Bone Marrow biopsy

Roger, Sue and myself took roger to St. Lukes to get the bone marrow test done and it went fast but was the most painful experience of Rogers life. they use a needle to push though the skin and drive it into his pelvis bone to draw a sample of bone marrow. They only got a very small amount but we hope it was enough to find out if the cancer has spread to his bone marrow. finding this out will help the doctors to determine what stage he is in (1-4) we should know the results in 2 days.

5:15:2001 Day Off

This is Rogers last day before his long treatment begins so we are trying to have a very normal day and tonight we are having dinner (eating Rogers favorites of course) With the family.

 tomorrow we will get all our troops organized and plan for the first attack on the burkitt's 

5:16:2001 First Day

Roger, Sue and Myself went to check Roger into Barnes hospital today for Rogers first of 5 days of chemo therapy. Roger even drove himself there. Everything went fairly smoothly, the floor he is on is just Cancer patents and the nurses seem to be very nice. at first he was just given 2 IV bags of dextra to hydrate him which took about 8 hours. We could walk around with him but it was a little hard with the big IV tower that he must push around with him but that is a very small price to pay. At about 8:00 they started the first bag of Chemo so there is no turning around now and it is a relief to know that something is now fighting against the cancer in him.

5:17:2001 

Here is a picture of Roger on his second day in the hospital. He felt pretty good today and I think he looked better than he has in about a year. Tonight Roger had a spinal tap done to inject some chemo and another drug that keeps the cancer cells from migrating to his brain. It took them 4 try's to get the spinal tap in due to his calcium buildup due to his arthritis. Roger stated feeling the effects of the Chemo at about 9:00 PM In his words he felt "poky" , soon he stated feeling nauseous and eventually vomited 4 times during the night but as they say  "NO PAIN NO GAIN".

5:18:2001

Roger is feeling better after last night, he is a little more tired today but is basically feeling OK. He is scheduled to go home on Sunday night. They say the first 2 weeks after the hospital are the worst and that he must stay in a very sanitary environment as his own immune system is to low to fight off any sickness if he catches one. So if you see Roger outside or in public areas make sure he is wearing his mask no matter how silly he may look.

5:19:2001

Roger is feeling pretty good today. He is now on his rescue drug and later tonight he will be on Chemo again.

5:20:2001 

Today is Rogers last bag of Chemo and then once his blood levels out he will be able to go home. 

Roger is now home at 7:00 and just in time for his favorite show (the Sopranos))

5:21:2001

Roger went to work today and although he was very tired he made it though most of the day. 

5:22:2001

It seems the Chemo is starting to catch up with roger a little more now. he is now having mild discomfort in his lower back which is common with this type of NHL cancer. tomorrow we will start his daily shots.

5:24:2001

Chemo is a weird type of drug as the effects of the chemo don't really hit you until 7-14 days after you got the Chemo. Roger is slowing down everyday and we think he will bottom out in about 6-8 days, That is when his white blood cell count will bottom out. 

5:31:2001

Like they say no news is good news.

For the most part things are going as expected, it looks like Rogers white blood cell count bottomed out on Saturday and he developed mouth shores and skin boils. this is what was expected. He is better today and back at work. around June 15 roger will go in for his second dose of chemo.

6:11:2001

Sorry for not having a update sooner but there really isn't much new. No new test no new results we are kind of in the waiting stages and soon we will know more.

Roger started losing his hair last week and then I cut it for him. That was a little had for him to get used to as with all men hair is a important part of the body. The hair cut went good and it seems everyone really liked it. 

Roger will be going in the hospital on 6,13,2001 to start his second treatment. This treatment is just like the first but he gets a couple extra types of Chemo. After this treatment is when roger will really start slowing down and he will be very tired and lack energy. it is really great all the support roger has been getting from all the people he knows so let me say thank you.

Here is a picture of roger taken tonight with and without his new hat. He does look a little more tiered than normal because it was 9:45 at night.

6:19:2001

Roger is now out of the hospital after his second treatment of Chemo, He is doing quite well and besides being a little tired he has been leading a somewhat normal life. He has been at work everyday so far and that seems to make him feel better. here is a picture of him during his chemo:

This is Roger with his buddy BLUE (also known as the tower of power)

6:26:2001

Roger was felling a little bad last night. After each round of treatment He gives himself 1 shot a day for 10 days. These shots are growth shots to help boost his white blood cell count. The side affects to the shots are it makes your joints hurt like you have arthritis in them. His eye is also swelling up like it did after the first round. I feel his bottoming out day will be in the next 3 days or so then he will start to rebound just in time for his 3 round. 

We have now shaved his head completely and he looks like a cross between Co jack and Satan, I almost think he kind of likes it. It makes him stand out in the crowd more.

6:30:2001

Roger is feeling better now and he evened played 9 holes of golf with me, and my friends Jeff and Tim. I think he shot better than he ever did before. It looks like he is now bouncing back just in time to go back in the hospital. He is not looking forward to this trip because he is getting a bone marrow test again and that really hurts. They take a long needle and push it though your but and into your pelvis bone and draw out some marrow. not very much fun from what I have heard. this will be Rogers second marrow test.

7:4:2001

This picture looks like I am pushing Rogers wheel chair, but that was just a joke roger doesn't have a wheel chair

We had a busy and great forth of July, we all stayed by the pool and roger told us presidential trivia. then we went to Kirkwood for the fireworks. He is doing really good and he will be going back in the hospital on July 10.

7:16:2001

Roger got out of the hospital yesterday and is doing ok. He has a sore throat and a little tired but overall he is good. the nurses have always been very good to Roger when he is there but the treatment seems a little unorganized. many times they try to give him something that he already had or they will forget about something. in about 5 weeks Roger will go in for the big one (Stem cell transplant) and then it will hopefully be over. Roger is a little nervous about this last one as they almost chemo you to death and then you have to recover in the hospital for 4 weeks. But the good news is he is doing better than any other patients that are on this treatment. Many of the others can't work, walk and have to go back to the hospital do to complications. here are some more pictures from the 3 rd round of Chemo.

7:25:2001

Yesterday me roger and Craig went to meet with Dr. Brown who is in charge of Rogers Stem Cell transplant. This is the biggest part of this whole treatment, He will have to get many test done just to see if his body will be able to hold up to the extreme chemicals. Once they collect enough stem cells (2,500,000) then he will check into the hospital to start 4 days of massive Chemo and then 3 days after chemo they will start the transplant. after that you just watch for infections and hopefully he will be out of the hospital 2 weeks after the stem cell transplant.

8:02:2001

Roger just got done having a nice 12 hour day of having test done, they did a hart test, Ct scan and a bone marrow test (Rogers favorite). the CT scans show that the tumor is smaller than when we started and his health is great especially compared to the other patients that are now on the same treatment that roger has been doing.

8:13:2001

This is the time in the treatment when a bunch of stuff starts happening. last week roger had another bone marrow test done and his bones were so hard that they couldn't get any out of him. So they will just have to test his stem cells when they start collecting them from him in a week or so. Roger also got his medaport put in his upper chest area. it is a set of 3 tubes where they can give and take fluids so you don't need a IV anymore. It is a little uncomfortable for him but he will get used to it. Rogers CT scan came back and they said the tumor was 40 % smaller than it started. So that is good news but with this type of cancer it is all or nothing.

Overview of what Rogers treatment is

Here is Rogers treatment in a nut shell:

starting last may

Round 1: 5 days in hospital with 24hrs of Chemo

home for 3 weeks but gives himself growth shoots (a shot that helps boost the white blood cell count so you don't get sick)1 a day for 10 days after home from chemo. While at home he goes and sees the doctor to check blood 

Round 2: 5 days in hospital with 24hrs of Chemo

home for 3 weeks but gives himself growth shoots (a shot that helps boost the white blood cell count so you don't get sick)1 a day for 10 days after home from chemo. While at home he goes and sees the doctor to check blood 

Round 3: 5 days in hospital with 24hrs of Chemo

home for 3 weeks but gives himself growth shoots (a shot that helps boost the white blood cell count so you don't get sick)1 a day for 10 days after home from chemo. While at home he goes and sees the doctor to check blood 

Round 4: Stem Cell Transplant

A stem Cell Transplant is the same thing as a bone marrow transplant, A stem cell transplant is just easier to do than a bone marrow transplant. in a bone marrow transplant you had to put lots of needles into the pelvis to extract a certain amount of bone marrow . with a stem cell transplant the patient is given a special shot which makes the stem cells in the bone marrow go moble and then you can get them from the patients blood. If a patients stem cells (same as bone marrow) Is not contaminated with the cancer than he can be his own donor. basically all a stem cell transplant or bone marrow transplant is is a super recovery drug which helps bring you back after they give you the super duty dose of chemo. this dose of chemo is so toxic that it kills all the bone marrow that is left in your body. about 10 days after the chemo starts they start giving you back your own stem cells by IV.

5 visits at hospital for 4-5 hours a day to collect stem cells (2,500,000)

checks into hospital for about 3-4 weeks

first 5 days are the super duty dose of chemo

after about 10 days he is given his own stem cells back to help boost his immune system.

rest of the time is for observation.

8:22:2001

Tonight is Rogers last night at home before he goes in the hospital for the stem cell transplant. I think we are going to eat Chinese food (If roger was going to pick one food to have I didn't think it would be that) Now that I think about it I have never heard roger say how great any kind of food was. tonight I will ask him what is his favorite. from hear on out there will be more updates and photos as things will start happening now.  I just want to get this treatment over with so I can have my dad back just the way he was. here are some pictures from dads last night before he went in.

8:29:2001

Roger went in the hospital last Wednesday and he finished his last round of chemo on Monday. Tuesday and Wednesday is time for him just to rest and at 2:00 on Thursday he will be given the stem cell transplant. it is a very easy procedure and will be preformed in his room. the next week and a half are the most critical at this point he has no bone marrow in his bones and can very easily get sick. Roger is feeling a little sick and is very tired at the moment. He really wants to come home. I don't blame him but they do have the best orange sorbet at the hospital and you can eat all you want. here are  some of pictures taken roger in the hospital last week.

8:31:2001

On 9:30:2001er got his stem cell transplant at 2:00 pm. He felt sick all day and the anxiety of the upcoming transplant didn't help. They brought in his frozen (Crio) stem cells in a metal cooling tank and then the doctor put the bag of stem cells in a heated bath of water for 5 minutes and then they hooked the bag up to his IV and with in 5 minutes his stem cells were in his body. as they were going in he felt very dizzy and flushed. due to the chemicals in his body during the stem cell transplant for the next 2 weeks or so his body will radiate a smell of old cold tomato soup from his skin. his blood counts are still going down and Sunday (9/2) he should be bottomed out and that is the most critical time. here are some pictures from the transplant.

9:01:2001

Roger is feeling very sick today and doesn't even want to read because it makes him sick. His back is also hurting so today is not a good day. for the past couple of days he has been in and out of sleep/resting all day.

9:17:2001

Sorry for the delay in doing a update but I lost my digital camera and we were trying to get thing ready for roger coming home. Roger is now at his parent house resting up and trying to get some of his strength back. My parents new house wont be ready for about 3 weeks so Roger will most likely stay there until the move is over (lucky him) for the most part he is doing good but does have a little fever at this time. If it gets to 101.5 then he most go in to the hospital so we are watching it closely.

10:02:2001

Roger has been home for about 2 weeks and is doing great considering everything. He is so happy to be back at work and he can't wait for his health to get back to were it was which may take up to a year to get all your strength back. We wont know anything about the cancer until mid December and that is when he will get his first CT scan and we will know then if it is gone or not.

10:18:2001

We thought we were going to wait until December to get a CT scan done to see if the cancer was still there and for some reason they want to do it now. so yesterday roger me and Craig went to Barnes Hospital and waited 2.5  hours to get the scan done. roger was not very happy to be waiting. That is the one thing about most hospitals, they treat you like they are doing you a favor. They don't seem to know that we are the customers and are paying for this service. 

next time you have a doctors appointment show up 1/2 hour late and see how they feel.  

anyway, so we got the scan and will know something today, this scan will be the cross roads of this whole thing as if it is still there I don't know if there is anything we can do since all of Rogers energy has been used up during the fist treatment. I will post info as soon as i know.

10:29:01

The results were back and like always it is never a straight yes or no answer but the did say that the cancer was in remission which means that it is still there but is inactive and the doctors said that is the best news anyone would get at this time. our next scan will be in December to look again. So roger is getting stronger everyday and his hair is starting to grow back all the time. I will try to get some new pictures of him soon, He and sue are now living in there new Villa (don't call it a Condo). If you want to know the difference it is in a condo you don't own the land and in a villa you do own the land.

1/7/2002

Roger had another CT scan last week and everything looked ok. they said the tumor is still there but it is in remission. They also said there were 2 spots on his lungs and 1 on his kidney but they may have been there for many years and may just be some kind of growth. like most of the time it is never a straight answer. i will try to post so pictures of Roger once i get some more time.

He really thanks God for all the support he has gotten from all of you. I thank you to.

1:28:2002

Roger has been a little sick lately but then again who hasn't been sick this last month, I don't feel it is related to the cancer. I think it is just from the holidays and then we all went to las Vegas and that really wore him down. sorry there have not been many updates lately but I guess no news is good news. I have talked lately to many people with burkitts that have found this web page and I just wanted to tell everyone we all wish you the best of luck and we are all thinking about you

.

Here are 2 picture from my New Years eve party. In the first picture is roger flanked by his back-up singers amy and cindy and in the second picture is Roger and his wife Sue

It has been awhile since I posted a update on roger but that is a good thing. Not much has happened lately and roger seems to be in good state physically and mentally . Today Roger is getting a CT scan done and many other test, When these test come up it is always a very nervous time for everyone in our family. I pray that everything works out great and should know something in a few days. 

Roger is back to traveling alot at work and I think he really likes to be back in the swing of things as to the day to day business life.

3:28:2002

Roger got his results back and like always it is not just a yes or no answer from the doctors but they did say the tumor is in remission which means the cancer is still there but is not growing (which is a great thing). Does this mean it will never get smaller or that if it is not growing then it is as good as gone? these are the questions there just is no answer for at the moment. Roger just got back from New York and got to see the Twin Towers site from the airplane which must of been something special. from here roger will get a CT scan every 6 months for about 5 years. For right now we just take 1 day at a time.

5:22:2002

Sorry it has been awhile, but not much has happened, Rogers cancer has stayed in remission so far and he seems to be doing good, the best way I can tell that roger is doing good is with the amount of time he spends at Rich and Charlie's. He has been there allot lately so he must be doing good.

this memorial day weekend Roger is going with me and some friends to the Indy 500 which Roger missed last year. It will be great to have him back.

It not has been just over a year since he was first diagnosed with Burkitts. I am so grateful things have gone as good as they have so far.

Roger is finally ready (heath wise) to get his hernia repaired he will be doing that in July

6:11:2002

Roger Is still doing very well almost a little to well as the doctor says he needs to shed some weight before the Hernia surgery. at the moment he is in Florida at his condo, I am sure he is very glade to be there as it has been over a year since he has seen it.

8:05:2002

Well it has been awhile and that is a good thing as roger has been doing good and just got his 3 hernias fixed last week. He is now working to get his energy back but seems to be in good shape. Now is the time for roger to take advantage of the extra time he has been given and to get in better shape mentally and physically

10:26:2002

Roger has been doing good and the cancer in what the doctors say is in "remission". There are a couple of spots that they are watching which are about the size of a pin head. roger has had a hard time with energy lately so he went to the doctor and they did a angioplasty and put in 2 stints in the arteries around the hart. one of his arteries was 95% blocked and the other was 90 % blocked. I Hope all of his bad health lately will be enough for him to get his physical life into better health. I told him 40 years ago he would be dead right now so he is on bonus time so lets take advantage of it because you only get one shot at life and we don't want to waist it.

1:10:2003

For the past month Roger has been having some more chest pains and we thought one of the stints that where put in collapsed, which happens in about 20% of the cases. So we went back in the st.joes hospital and they did a angioplasties to look at everything and they notices that 1 stint was partially collapsed and there happen to be a smaller vain that was 95% blocked. they didn't do anything that time because roger was due for a CT scan to check the cancer and they thought they may want to do a bypass instead of the stints since the stints where really just patchwork anyway.

Now the problem is that because of all the chemotherapy his heart has some damage. This puts Roger in a high risk category for having bye pass surgery. It looks like we have painted our selves in a corner. it is all,  Damned if you do Damned if you don't. Hopefully the stints will work to give roger some time to turn his health around and then have by-pass when he is healthier. as of today he is schedules to have a new stint put in on 1/9/2003. Roger is also getting a second opinion on Monday from Barnes on what options there are from him. 

Roger came over a little for New Years this year again and did some more of the Karaoke he likes so much. here are some more pictures

12:31:2002

5:30:2003

It has been a long time with no update. all of Rogers test have gone good the last couple of months. Now we just live for today and let tomorrow take care of itself.   me and roger went to the Indy 500 this year. actually we go every year. it is nice to somewhat have life back to how you remember it before cancer. But we still know that his general health in worse due to the heart damage but he is walking around very well and I wish he would walk a little more.

11:28:2003

It has been along time again since I made an update. Roger is doing good,  the stints they put in his heart seem to be helping and all test have showed up good with the cancer in remission, I don't think I will ever say he is cancer free because once you do then it could be right around the corner. today Roger is actually out duck hunting with his father Gilbert.

I wanted to mention that a good friend of the family's father passed away last Friday after many months of fighting lymphoma cancer. His name was Thomas Payne form the Jefferson city Missouri. I personally never meet the man until I was at his funereal but learned so much about him that I feel like I knew him for years. He lived a very complete life and had 3 great kids  and a very strong wife named Terri,  At the funeral there where many great stories of all the thoughtful, wacky and funny things that each person there experienced with Tom. It was a moment where you cried and laughed at the same time and  knew that Tom was in a good place now.  After the funereal and great food at the church me and my wife went back to Tom and Terries home as I wanted to see more about Tom and these dulcimers (musical guitar instrument)  I heard so much about during the day. As I looked in his workshop I noticed not only was Tom a good family man but a great craftsman witch is something you don't see everyday.  I Know every one is very sad to see Tom go but he is only graduating to the next level and sometime we will all be up there to help him with his next woodworking project.

2:26:2004

I guess this will be the last entry into the story, this morning my dad passed away, looks to be from a heart attack in his sleep. Times could not of been better, He just got a big job promotion and was to start the new job today. last night I decided to stop over at his and my mom house and saw him giving my mom a pedicure. which meant he was in heaven as he always  had a thing for feet.  I will never forget 2 Sundays ago when he wanted to go drive around with me to look for a lot to buy and start a car dealership with me. we drove for 3 hours just talking about nothing and it was great.  We also had a nice lunch which was rare since my dad was always busy at work.

I will miss you dad.

Chris Lorenz

2:29:2004

I guess the last post was not the last, It was hard to see dad for the last time but me and my brother got to close up our dads casket and lock it which made us feel good as we could do 1 last project together with dad before we sent him on his way.  Roger had around 900 people at his wake and it really showed how many people he touched.

3:4:2004

 it has been 1 week now and I made it this far but it was not easy at all, to tell you the truth dads funereal was the easy part. It is the days after everyone goes home that it becomes very hard. also since I was looking into a new career I am a little in limbo on getting back to normal life.

for those of you that lost someone here is a few links to help out with healing

http://www.atimetogrieve.net/index.html

http://www.geocities.com/losingaparent/losing.html

8:19:2004

Things are better now and like they say time can heal anything. I will never fell exactly the same as I did before, but day to day activates are back to normal. I have learned more about who roger (dad) was now than I did when he was alive. even my relationship with Dad is alot clearer now and in a strange way it makes me feel better.  When Roger was alive I used him alot for support and now that he is gone I have been forced into that next stage of adulthood which is a good thing. today I live my life more for me and not for others. I really miss Roger and I talk to him all the time, sometimes I even have small arguments, but the arguments are good because it helps bring closer to lose ends we may of had when he was alive.

Soon this story will not be on this web site anymore, because the story is about over and I don't know if anyone reads it much anymore.

Here is a great picture of dad giving me a hand at the race track.

3:9:2005

It now has been over a year since Roger died, It still is hard to believe he is gone but I have learned alot about how life works in the last year. Dealing with losing a loved one is a very delicate issue, If you work at it and try to understand what happened you will be back to normal life faster, but sometimes people get lost in the healing time and become a prisoner to there own emotions. There are many good books out there to help the healing and you will be amazed how much of the story sounds familiar.

Here is a picture of Rogers Plaque on his crypt, note the signatures, it took along time to find a good one of Rogers, Sue went ahead and put her saying on the plaque since someday she will be next to Roger.

9:11:2005

Since My dad died I have had a great daughter named Lucia but we call her Lucy she is now 14 months old and now I understand why my dad was protective of me when I was young. I love my daughter more than anything in the world and I think that is what my dad felt for me and my brother.

I think about Roger everyday and his passing becomes part of everyday life much like losing a leg or arm. me and my brother are working on a DVD with pictures and video to give to family and friends. hopefully it will be done by this Christmas.

here are a few pics of roger from history.

Dads favorite place Bonita Spring Florida, In Florida he was a different man and didn't let work pressure get to him

2000 Indy 500 Race (From right to left) Chris Herter, Me, Craig (brother) and Roger

Chris and Craig  supported by dad, sometime in the 70's (maybe 1974)

Chris (me), Roger and Craig at our last trip to Las Vegas, I know it is a small thing but

now that i look back i wish i would of had my arm around him like my brother did. 2002

roger , me and John Goodman at a charity event 1993

this is a important picture because this was the weekend my dad was getting his first Chemo treatment and he insisted that we still go to the INDY 500 with out him, it was hard to leave him behind but he wouldn't of had it any other way. (roger is on the far right)

This is the group of guys me and my dad meet up with every year at the Bloomington corvette show. Me and my dad went together every year from 1989 until the year he died. (roger is on the far left)

Roger heading to work in his 1972 corvette.

great picture of roger watching the sunset. when he was in Florida he would never miss one of them.

12:19:2007

It has been along time since I updated the web site. I still think of dad everyday. We just finished his video which was put together by Scott Larson who was a good friend and co worker of Roger's. many times I have had questions about stuff and the first person I always want to ask is dad. Mom (sue) is doing good. Christmas time is the worst part of the year for her but she said this one has been the best so far so I think with time things will get better for her. Overall things are great and we all love to tell stories of roger and laugh a little.