Whoa, whoa, Mr Telephone. . . .

Three years!  World was turned upside down. Three years to the day tomorrow, Dr Evans had the results of the needle biopsy.

Cancer, the big C, the death sentence, the life changing event;  I was pragmatic about it, I mean what the hell what could I do.  I could fight Damnit!

I figured the Docs had my back I just needed to get on board with the program. Dr Evans referred me over to Texas Oncology where I teamed up with the good doctors Dr Derrick Nguyen,(Chemo),  and Dr. Ilahi,(Radiation).  These two set about to save my sorry carcass in spite of my self..

It’s been three years, My new radiation oncologist, Dr Lee informed me last week that by being in remission, symptom free for three years I have a 99% chance of not having Charlie return.

I think about the journey, and am humbled by those that stood by me and supported me in the fight.  Some may not have realized what they did, but I recognized support when I got it. The kind word, the fact you cared, it helped me fight the battles.

I was blessed with some true friends whose support was instrumental n helping me get through it, Ron, Brandon, Laynette, Josh, April, Marvin, Ron, Ben, Ms Dee next door and countless others. I survived and you helped heal me.

This Christmas is one not shadowed by fear and doubt, but one of thankfulness.  I have been given the greatest gift of all, health and good friends.

Merry Christmas to all, thanks again for all the support you provided and remember I now stand ready to fight the bastard charlie, wherever, and in whoever he appears.

Laissez Les Bons Temps Rouler

Grass Be Gone In Action

I told you I was going to tell you about the guinea pigs, and I am.

Four legged, hyper active, furry little lawn mowers.  And you thought they were children’s pets.

These things can eat their weight in all things green or if necessary anything they can get their teeth around.

Friend of mine bought a half dozen or so to see if they could control the grass in some of his aviaries.  He raises some high dollar exotic birds. Exotic not erotic, get you brain out of the gutter.

Anyway, the grass lets snakes hide from the birds and then that snake can sneak in to the nest and steal eggs, or worst case,snack on some young fledglings.

But I digress, anyway he bought a few and threw them in one of the pens. Wow talk about efficient they cleaned that grass up. All of it, roots included. We talking West Texas dry dirt, bare, grass begone in action.

So it was a choice between feed them or move them to another cage. Move em, just watch so that they don’t destroy the savanna in the next location.

One thing about Guinea pigs, they dumb, you can catch em easy. So Gary grabs up the twenty three pigs and transfers them to site number two.

Now I never said you were dumb, the guinea pigs are dumb, and yes the 6 or so are now twenty plus, and in only a few weeks.

These things are worse than rabbits. Looks like their little lives involve eating everything in sight, making little pellets and making more guinea pigs.

Gary now has over a hundred, well over a hundred.  Did you know a round bale of hay that would last a cow over a month disappears in less time under the attack of a 100 plus guinea pigs.

But they are good to eat, national dish of Peru,  I kid you not, a lot like preparing a rabbit, smoke ‘em, deep fry ‘em, BBQ, it’s all good.

Laissez Les Bons Temps Rouler

Laissez Les Bons Temps Rouler

And roll they have.  My apologies to all those that followed the blog,  I got better, am still getting better, and the need to vent passed.

But it’s not all fun and games, struggles against chemo brain(or is it old age?) and the fact my priorities changed.

Was amazed to find it’s been two years. But what a ride.  My weight has made an astounding comeback, I’m up to 210-215, dang it, those 34x30 jeans are getting dadgum tight.

In the past two years charlie has attacked the wife of a good friend, my mom, a brother and the mom of faithful minion Ron.  Three out of four held their own, but my mom’s was found way too late to do any good.

So now I’m back at work looking to get retired so as I can live the good life.  I took up the sport of competitive marksmanship again, that was one of my bucket list items I decided to do while sick. Made the great expedition to Colorado to fish and plan to do it again this year.

And I am going to try to keep blogging, after all, what would you do with the free time between facebook games?

Next post I'll tell you all about the guinea pigs

Thursday Teeth

Good day today, got me some new choppers.  Now I’ll be able to do more than gum the heck out of everything. Look out steak, look out apple, look out hotdogs, pedro’s got some teeth.

Got to give Dr Stover the dentist his due, he pulled these together and got them fitted in my mouth in record time.  A great fit and they are looking good.  This is another big step down the road to recovery.

I can not put enough emphasis on the medical teams that have worked to resolve all the issues that I have faced in these past few months.  Heck, I’m in better shape than before. 

The fact I lost 50 pounds has meant that my high blood pressure isn’t and the type II diabetes is also under control.  I’m looking good and standing proud.

In twenty-four hours I’ll be headed to Colorado for a week of trout fishing and enjoying the cool mountain air. High on the list of things to do is to enjoy myself. I plan on taking a few to reflect on how lucky I have been and to be thankful for all the support I have received over the past few months.

And to show my thanks I won’t rub it in that the weather up there is going to be soooooo much nicer than Texas.

Laissez Les Bons Temps Rouler

Cool Mountain Air

 Yeah buddy, that’s right, chances are that when you read this I’ll be in the cool mountain air of Southern Colorado.  Fishing, trout fishing, and the forecast highs for the week I’m there, 69.

You guyas can suffer in the summer heat. The local temps in the North Texas area are to be in the 100’s. But I’ll be staying cool and macking on the trout.

Tomorrow I have the chance to get my new choppers.  They were supposed to be ready today but the dentist didn’t like the fit so he’s sending them back for a tune up.  I can live with that.

Only bad part of the great expedition is the fact my boys couldn’t make it. In fact several guys dropped out due to other commitments but the core of the great expedition group are true to their values and will be attending.

I’ll be styling in my new teeth and Hawaiian shirts and shorts. Pictures will be posted on my return. Picture of the ff the fish, I’m sure you seen enough of me over the past few months.

This trip is important as it was a milestone I set when I was really in the dumps and sick as a dog, it was something to look forward to and work towards. I intend to enjoy it even though my drinking abilities are still severely diminished.

At least I might be able to do some real eating with my new TEETH.

Laissez Les Bons Temps Rouler

Look out Platoro, Colorado, Pedro is on the way and he's bringing some of the Pope's finest home brew!!

Insurance Games

It’s like a reality show!  I was contacted by our HR department about submitting a claim against the medical insurance for the initial dental work.  That’s several thousand dollars worth of bills. What will happen? Will they pay or will I be voted out?

There is an exception to the not covering dental work.  If the work  is necessary to prepare the victim for radiation treatments, its covered.  So now I have to gather up all the statements of work that I have had to pay out of pocket for and get it submitted to Blue Cross-Blue Shield.

Ya gotta love it when a plan comes together.  Hopefully this will be a one time submittal and not one of those back and forth issues.  Also I am wondering if the need for the partials is going to be covered as well; after all I need me some teeth in order to be able to eat right.

Anyway, I have another visit to the dentist office tomorrow and they are going to want money so I guess I got to suck it up and pay it out. But I might even have teeth by the trip to Colorado.  I’ll be macking on some trout.

I might even post a picture of what ever shirt is worn tomorrow.

Laissez Les Bons Temps Rouler

Nasal Snake

Today was the Dental and ENT follow up appointment.

Looks like I am going to be able to buy me some teeth. Of course insurance isn’t going to be paying anything on them as I maxed out the dental insurance way back in February.  Still, it will be nice to have a set of choppers again. I am tired of looking all white trashy meth head style.

I have got to juggle some money around, need to cover the 2 grand and still have a full amount to take on the yearly fishing trip.  Maybe it’s a good thing I got me a MBA, all the financial stuff would discourage a lesser man.

After the Dentist it was on to the ENT appointment, doctor needs to make a payment on the Mercedes.

Over all went well until the end. It seems like Dr Evans needed to check out the base of my tongue. That of course was the initial site that charley chose to occupy.  Pretty easy exam, all he had to do was cram his arm up to the elbow down my throat and poke and jab the innards.

Damn lucky I didn’t puke on him.  Any way, as I recovered from that invasion of my personal space he was hooking up a nasal scope. 

I remember that damn thing, it’s long and slinky, about an eight of an inch in diameter but 18 inches long with a camera built in and it’s intended to be stuck up your nose.  I don’t like anything stuck up my nose, especially when it ends up going down my throat.

As I was gagging and choking the doctor kept admonishing me to breath, “deep breath, through your nose”. Hell of a lot easier said than done.

“Interesting”, that was the way he described it, “your larynx clamped down and sealed off your throat just like it is supposed to do to keep foreign matter out of the lungs.” Well that damn scope is about as foreign as it can be.

Overall it was a pretty good morning, two doctors visits, two new prescriptions, and still had time to get a tire repaired and make it to the office by noon.

Everyday above ground is a good day.

Laissez Les Bons Temps Rouler

Happy Birthday America

Last week, Americans everywhere were celebrating the birth of our nation.  It was more than fireworks and parades, it was a time to celebrate and honor the Americans before us that helped create this country of ours.

It was also my sisters’ birthday, she’s old.

I have been trying this week to awaken earlier than I have been.  I need to get back to the schedule I kept before treatments.  I’m still running out of energy early in the afternoon but it’s getting later and later each week.  If I can catch the earlier train I can be in the office by 7, makes it easier to make an eight hour day.

Today it’s the dentist and the ENT doctor.  The dentist is going to tell me when I can expect the extraction sites to fully heal and when I can expect to get some teeth.  There are some rib eyes out there that are waiting on me. 

The ENT needs to make a Mercedes payment so he decided he needs to see me. Did I mention I hate dentists?  And don’t get me started of so called dental insurance.  Would you buy car insurance that only covered two oil changes a year and flat fixing with everything else capped at $1,500.00 dollars?

Things are getting better, food is tasting better, dry mouth continues to be a problem, but on the other hand I am staying hydrated. Dry sockets are painful but we get them evaluated today.

Less than 12 days to the trip to Colorado, fishing awaits, Still don’t know if warrior child can get off o attend, nephew in Air Force might be coming, I guess I’ll find out right at the last moment. 

This post will be updated with treatment shirt picture later today.


Here it is:

Quote of the day:

For disappearing acts, it's hard to beat what happens to the eight hours supposedly left after eight of sleep and eight of work.

Doug Larson

Weight today - 187.5

Laissez Les Bons Temps Rouler

Happy Hour

On the fourth Thursday of every month the Tuaca group meets for a happy hour.  I haven’t made too many of them since last January but tonight I was there.

Had a reason to be happy – PET scan results were clean.  There was a sub MM nodule but the doctors agreed that it was most likely scar tissue as it was not active.  Pretty much this means I’m out of the woods for the near future.  Next scheduled check is in three months.

Hearing the words was a real load off my mind. I was getting a tad bit anxious and the relief was pure bliss.  All this set up the stage for a celebration this evening.

The happy hour was interesting, beer still burns but not as bad as a couple of weeks ago. The shot of Tuaca was unbelievably painful, the burn was liken to eating habanera peppers, nothing short of pure pain, but thankfully short lived.

So for a 4 hour happy hour, three beers and one shot, a new record for me for the least amount of alcohol consumed at happy hour.

It felt good to get out again, a lot like a normal social function. But I am very much aware of how lucky I am to have such great friends.  My main chemo buddies, Ron and Laynette were out of town and couldn’t make it but others were there and I appreciated them for all the support they provided over the last 90 days.

24 days to GE2K13 and the cool mountain air of Colorado.  I am really looking forward to trout fishing and outside temperatures of 70  vs 100.  Life is slowly returning to normal and I am glad for it.

Thanks to my nieces and nephews for the fine Hawaiian golf shirt that I wore to the doctors today.  The picture does not do this fine shirt justice, I need a new camera.

Quote of the day:

"Aequam memento rebus in arduis servare mentem."

Laissez Les Bons Temps Rouler

Anticipation

Just like Christmas Eve, wondering what the morrow will bring. At 10:30 tomorrow I meet with Dr. llahi, the radiation Oncologist to review the results of the PET scan.

The best we can hope for is that it’s negative, with nothing showing up.  The worst is to have to come up with a new treatment plan.  I’m ok with chemo but that radiation was a butt kicker.

The PET scan was a pretty easy procedure that starts with an injection of radioactive glucose followed up with a pint of water to drink.  Now I carry a water bottle around as a defense for the dry mouth, so I am pretty much drinking non-stop.

All that drinking means I visit the facilities quite often. Any way, after drinking down the water I was escorted to the head to take care of business then in on the table for the scan.  The scan required that I lay there not moving for about 25 minutes. 

Takes about 5 for the dry mouth to set in.  Now I’m trying to not choke, and the rest of the water I’ve consumed is letting me know that intake means output and I need to get that taken care of pretty soon.

Long 25 minutes, but I made it and all is good.

Another day of triple digit temps, but it’s only 67 in Platoro and that’s where I’ll be in about 25 days. It was 108 at the ranch so I am glad I’m not up there. 

Quote of the day:

ab actu ad posse valet illatio 

Vital stats:

Weight 190

Throat 80%

Blood Pressure 106/74

Laissez Les Bons Temps Rouler

Cochise the Wonder Dog

For you who don’t know him, Cochise is my blue heeler. He’s a $70,000 dog.  Most of that was the result of him tripping me and causing the need for reconstructive surgery on my right shoulder. Since he cost me that much I put that price tag on him in case you are interested.

He’s a good dog and evidently has powers I am not fully aware of. Today I do the PET scan and since he is the only pet I got I guess he gets to do it.

History lesson – Cochise was a nantan, (chief) of the Chiricahua Apaches, a real bad ass, the dog Cochise was originally going to be named coach, after the brother-in-law who gave him to me. But I knew it would be confusing to talk about coach crapping in the yard and doing other things, people wouldn’t know which one I was talking about. 

Anyway to show a modicum of respect I changed the dog’s name to a more formal one, Cochise. 

Anyway, today is PET scan day, this is the first of many (I Hope),  results will be ready in 2-3 days.  If nothing shows up then we wait another 6 months or so and do it again.

I am now at about 80%, still having issues swallowing, mostly due to the dry mouth, which is in of itself causing trouble with the few remaining teeth.  But not to worry, I have a dental exam scheduled for the first week in July.

Planning continues for the great expedition, I am hoping that the high altitude isn’t going to be an issue. I think I can manage to tote my daily limit up out of the valley. Right now it looks like a pretty good group is headed up to Platoro. I’ll take lots of pictures so you guys stuck back here in 100 degree heat can see what it was like to be in the mountains in 65 degree days J

Time to roll, I’ll follow up with a shot of today’s shirt.  The count of used shirts stands at 53.  There are 16 still available in the closet.  Looks like I made it, thanks to the help from all you guys.

Mighty fine shirt

Quote of the day:

Humor is also a way of saying something serious.

             --T.S. Eliot

Vital stats:

Weight 188

Throat 80%

Blood Pressure 117/78

Laissez Les Bons Temps Rouler

Satisfaction

I’m really late posting this update. Maybe that is because I am doing so much better than I was.  The first part of what follows is what took place across the memorial day weekend.

Memorial day was.  After a hiatus of 90 days I made it back to the ranch.  Being there is one of the most relaxing things I can think of doing.  Plus being there was a milestone I had set for myself about 45 days ago.

Lot’s of smaller milestones since the last update.  I can swallow with almost no pain.  For the first time since mid-February, I woke up without a sore throat.  That happened Sunday, and it meant that I was able to almost double the amount of food I would try to consume at a meal.

Meals were interesting as well; when at the ranch we tend to eat rather well, one of the hunting buddies likes to cook and does.  You’re not going to be eating kippered snacks on saltines.   And while I asked for mac-n-cheese what I got was homemade gourmet mac-n-cheese with real bacon, it was  awesome.  

We managed to accomplish quite a bit of maintenance work, I didn’t run out of steam too soon or over do it.  But it wasn’t all work, we took weapons so we did some shooting and I was able to meet another mile stone,

The mask was the worst part of the treatment. I found I really hated being locked in that damn thing. Those were the longest 20 minuets each day. So since I was finished with treatments I got the mask and It was dealt with at the ranch.  Take a shot at this video, I did:

Since that day I have made small improvements each day getting back towards normal.  I still tire really fast and when I run out of energy it’s crash time. This past weekend I went back to bed about 7Am and slept until 5PM, guess I  had been running on empty.

Tomorrow is PET scan day – this is the first big milestone in the recovery process, it will tell the tale on rather or not charley is really gone or if I need to follow up.  Wish me luck.  I’ll post tomorrow with shirt and a treatment update.