The best birthday present

Here we are on Avery's 5th birthday last month, four days before my 63rd. I like to say that she's five going on fifteen. Smart ? Oh yeah. I couldn't find my butt with both hands at 5...

The October,2011 CT scan is in the books and we're set for another four months. The mass continues to shrink and now measures .9 centimeters. That's 11/32 of an inch if you're talking to a carpenter, or 1/3 of an inch if you're not. It's also 30% smaller than four months ago. Where does it go I ask. Your body is eating it up they reply. Amazing. As a side note, my CT tech this month was eight months pregnant with twins and working 12 hour days to accumulate more time off after their birth - one tough young lady !

Had a very busy, great summer. Even managed to catch a few fish between honey-do projects. I did finally find that list... and burned it. Hope your summer was a great one also. Sounds like our upcoming Michigan winter is going to be a long one. Talk to you again in February.

Until then - LIVESTRONG

Ken

Admission of remission ? Not yet.

So I'll cut to the chase and tell you that this month's CT was again good. This one had Jo and I more nervous than usual since we learned that some lesions can double in size in as little as two months...yeah, let's leave it at "nervous". The one tumor that has disappeared is still missing and the other in the RH lobe that started out the size of a golf ball is now the size of a sugar cube and 3mm (about 1/8") smaller than in the last CT. Everything is going in the right direction but I still can't get my Oncologist, Dr. Mackler, to say I'm in remission. The best I can get out of him is that I'm doing "above average". He is a very cautious man. This is 180 degrees opposite of what the VA thinks of me. I was examined in the Ann Arbor VA hospital last month as part of a study of Vietnam veterans that were exposed to Agent Orange... yes, it was forty years ago (almost to the month),yes, I was there for a year, was in close contact with the planes that sprayed the stuff and had no clue what was in it. Could have been Ortho Weed-B-Gone for all I knew. Now we know otherwise... Anyway, the VA report says my condition has worsened in the past 18 months (???). Since I didn't see the report (you'd think I'd have been shown the secret handshake by now) I can only assume they are referring to the aftereffects of treatment, ie, numbness, swelling,shortness of breathe,fatigue and inability to stay on my feet for any length of time. By the way, which day was Spring this year ? Have a great summer everyone and talk to you again in the Fall.

LIVESTRONG

Ken

20% of 20% = 100% New math ?

Last week was Peyton's 1st birthday. Hard to believe. Seems like only a couple months ago we were writing about her entering our world. Peyton arrived a week before my last treatment a year ago. I remember asking the doctors "What's next ?" and they said "We wait and see if we hit it out of the park". Peyton (and Avery) made the wait easy..and hard.

Had appointments with both Dr. Henning and Mackler and all has returned to normal in the kidney department, so I assume stumbling down the hall at two, three and five in the morning is considered normal by 30-something year old Oncologists. We'll see how they feel about that when THEY hit 62. Dr. Henning, my radiologist, tells me he doesn't need to see me anymore as there's nothing on the CAT scans to see and Dr. Mackler revised my three month check ups to every four months. I hope this doesn't mean their warranty is up. Next CAT scan is scheduled in June and if all is well, we'll enjoy Michigan's twelve weekend long summer and shift to six month CAT scan intervals. Yep, 20% of 20% does equal 100%.

Life isn't about how to survive the storm But how to dance in the rain (thanks Gigi, love ya)
Everyone had enough of winter yet ? Me too.

LIVESTRONG

Ken