Feb 26th, MRI update

I am very over due on this update.
My most recent MRI had a small blip on the radar. My Neurosurgeon had initially thought it was the cancer back. After he consulted with other neurosurgeons and oncologists, he has pulled back on that thought. Here is why. The "growth" was 1 mm. Lets start with that. That is about the size of a ball in a ball point pen. Tiny right! Lets add do it the fact that it is being measured by a human (presumably with a mouse). That could be the deviation right there. Add to the fact that the tech that read it, did not have my full history. Also, there is a lot of scar tissue and (stuff) in there that will move around a tad bit. Heck, I might have taken a breath at that exact moment causing it to be off.

With all of that said. We will take another MRI in 6 weeks (1/2 the normal time) and compare at that time. If at that time, we see progression (bad) then (quote from Neurosurgeon) "We call up the oncologist, have him fire up the microwave and hit the nuke button". 
So with all of that said, the great big sigh of relief you heard was from me.

Feb 16th, 2018 Like a bad penny, it is back.

I thought I was done with this dang blog.
First let me say thank you to Nicole for the gofundme and the people supporting me.  It truly means the world to me.  Your generosity makes me truly speechless. 

My latest MRI was Wednesday, Feb 7th.  The Neurosurgeon called me Monday the 12th with the findings.  The tumor appears to be back.  On the bright side, it is very small still.  He is reluctant to do surgery (as am I).  He is going to consult with a few other Neurosurgeons and Oncologists before we meet this coming Monday.  Hopefully we will have a plan in place by the end of that appointment.  If I had to guess, it would be radiation but that is just a guess on my part.

Again, thank you so much. 

October 11th, 2017 - Another clear MRI

I had another MRI scan done and it came back with clear results.  The NS said it is now hard to read them since the surgery and that is normal.  It is hard to see around the scar tissue and other things that are healing.  He had no reason to be alarmed at anything.

Thanks again for the support.

September 22nd, 2017

My next MRI is scheduled for early October.  I am sure there wont be any surprises on that.  

My latest battle is not health related, but health insurance related.  I wont go into details but I am torn.  I am grateful for what has been paid and taken care of but, the things that insurance gets hung up on and either wont pay, or is a pain in the ass to pay.  Out of network, non generic drugs...  grrr.

I am still walking a lot.  I can now do a mile in under 20 minutes.  It isn't pretty but I am getting it done.  I was told the other day that it appears my limp is getting to be less and less.

This past Tuesday was the first time that I have worn pants in 5 months.  No big deal right?  Nerves are a crazy thing.  I have locations on my left leg that if/when touch, cause strange feelings or movements.  When I put my jeans on, my leg was dancing all over the place.  Completely out of my control.  I wore jeans 2 days in a row (when I went into the office).  Once on, it was not too bad.

I have seen a couple of friends that I have not seen in a long time.  In a sick way, I have to thank cancer for that.  I also thank cancer for me taking a little bit more time to appreciate things and do things that I would not normally do.  

Please remember, things can change fast.  Take care of you.  Take it all in.  Enjoy the smallest of things.

Love to all. 

September 11th, 2017

Today is way bigger than me or my issues.

Sept 6th, 2017

All is good with me.
I took a couple of days off last week and took a buddy, Jeremy, around the PNW and gave him a tour.  We hit the gorge (right before it all burned down) and then over to the beach the next day.  It was a blast.  We did a few hikes and lots of sight seeing.  I think we ate our way up the coast but that is not a bad thing. 

After I took Jeremy to the airport, the family loaded up for a few days at the island.  Lots of boating, tubing, rope swinging, berry picking, a lighted boat parade, and of course food. 

Thank you to all of my friends and family that were a part of this to make this a heck of a weekend.

Love to all.

August 24th and doing well.

No blogging is good news.

It has been a couple of weeks since I did an update and that is because I am doing good and every time I think of an update, I get sidetracked.

As it goes right now, I usually have about 5 good days and then a couple of not so great.  That is much better than before when I had 3 good days and 2 bad days.

Even my bad days are not as bad as they used to be.

A lot has gone on since the last update and that is how I like it. 

We took the kids to the fair, went to Oaks Park, drove to a sunflower festival in Hood River, enjoyed the eclipse, went to the lake....  All great things.

Most recently, I went to the fire center for a BBQ.  I smoked 38 lbs of pork butt.  Even better than that though, I got to see 2 outstanding friends that I have met because of fire.  I am lucky to call them friends.  Any of my IT friends will know these guys.

I am the one in the shorts.  The other two shifty looking characters are my buds.  They have helped me out a lot in the past years in fire IT.  I am grateful to have gotten to see them again.