After being off of the tennis courts for nearly 2 months, I thought it would be time to see if I still have any talent left in the world of tennis. We have a tennis drill group on Sundays at 5:30 PM, so this was a good opportunity to see if I still got game. Well, after the first few minutes, I knew I was down a few notches, like from being a 4.0 player to maybe a 3.0 player. And those weren't the only notches that I was talking about. As I was thinking of the Pogo of the past with all that speed and acceleration, I decided to engage my warp engines to go after a shot and found out that my dilithium crystals were off-line. The legs turned to rubber and I did one of those patented slow motion tumbles. That was the other part of the few notches, as I took three notches out of my left knee, one notch out of my left wrist and one notch on the palm of my left hand. Since I didn't want to repaint the tennis lines with my blood the rest of the evening, I decided to rely on impulse power. Now if you really want an analogy of how fast I wasn't moving, I was playing with DJ, who is a super nice guy, but doesn't exactly cover a lot of court. When we played together, I nicknamed him,"The Flash". Being the fair person that I am on ripping on people, including myself, I proclaimed myself as" DJ Junior".
Now it wasn't all bad. The forehand wasn't too bad, and after a while I was able to use the two-handed backhand despite the limited use of my left hand. I still probably had a better service toss them Tom. And the fact that I was on the winning side of half the drills was encouraging.
More good news. When I checked with the doctor on Monday and told him about the rubbery legs, he said that it was caused by the steroids which we have been gradually decreasing. After my initial surgery in early February, they had me on 18 mg per day and now they got me down to 6 mg per day. So it is not caused by the chemo or the radiation therapy or the tumor. I'm certainly glad that I'm doing all that strength training and my thousand plus stairs a day, otherwise I'd probably feel like"Ironside".
If it works out into my schedule, I hope to keep drilling on Sundays, and with the extra time this summer to drill as often as I can, to see if I can get back to where I was before this all started.
It was a humbling experience, but at least I was able to laugh at myself. After all, once a fool, always a fool.
Pogo down but not out.
Tuesday, March 31, 2009
Wednesday, March 25, 2009
no longer a 24/7 guy
Finally, sleepless in Greendale has become sleeping in Greendale. For the past week, I've been hitting the hay between 10 and 11 PM and been sleeping in till 6 to 7 AM. Hey, I am a regular guy now, however I have 6 less hours in the day to do things and that's why the blogging has been a little neglected. I still have plenty to talk about, it is just a matter of finding the time now.
I'm trying to get more into a routine each day, instead of doing what I want when I want. Between office management, workouts, doctor and radiation appointments and phone consults, the days go by fast.
Physically, I'm getting stronger every day. I still do strength training every other day in the morning which usually takes an hour and 15 minutes. I personally feel that my strength is about 75% of what this was before this started, and considering after the first month of not doing anything, I felt like I did not have much strength at all. For my cardiovascular workouts, I was doing a combination of walking and riding a bike, but with the crummy weather I have found something that is a lot more effective. Since I'm at the hospital five days a week, I climb the stairs. By the way in the new tower there at 208 steps and in the Knisely building there are 224 steps plus they have music. I usually go up and down at least five times which takes about 25 minutes and definitely gets the heart pumping. Now that I've got this added strength, I'm hoping to try and make a tennis drill on Sunday night, to see if I still got game. My left hand is still getting stronger, and has a little bit more tactile sense, but is a long way off from being normal. The next nice day we have, I'm going way back in my backyard and try and swing a golf club, staying far enough away from the windows just in case that club goes flying. I also want to get out there and throw the old baseball around and figure out a two-handed system for catching the ball. Yes, I'm back into my do as much as I can in the day routine, and loving it.
Yesterday, my wife and I went to our first cancer support group. Sue was the one who checked into this and wanted to go in because I know this is tougher on her than me, I made sure I was there for her. I was a little concerned going in because I didn't want to be surrounded by depressed people. But that was not the case at all. What some of these people have gone through and their determination, were truly inspiring and it was a great experience for the both of us. I was the rookie and compared to what everybody else went through, I had it easy. We will both be looking forward to these meetings which are held twice a month.
I've got some cerebral type blogging I plan on doing in the near future, so stay tuned.
Everyone have a great day, I know I will.
POGO
I'm trying to get more into a routine each day, instead of doing what I want when I want. Between office management, workouts, doctor and radiation appointments and phone consults, the days go by fast.
Physically, I'm getting stronger every day. I still do strength training every other day in the morning which usually takes an hour and 15 minutes. I personally feel that my strength is about 75% of what this was before this started, and considering after the first month of not doing anything, I felt like I did not have much strength at all. For my cardiovascular workouts, I was doing a combination of walking and riding a bike, but with the crummy weather I have found something that is a lot more effective. Since I'm at the hospital five days a week, I climb the stairs. By the way in the new tower there at 208 steps and in the Knisely building there are 224 steps plus they have music. I usually go up and down at least five times which takes about 25 minutes and definitely gets the heart pumping. Now that I've got this added strength, I'm hoping to try and make a tennis drill on Sunday night, to see if I still got game. My left hand is still getting stronger, and has a little bit more tactile sense, but is a long way off from being normal. The next nice day we have, I'm going way back in my backyard and try and swing a golf club, staying far enough away from the windows just in case that club goes flying. I also want to get out there and throw the old baseball around and figure out a two-handed system for catching the ball. Yes, I'm back into my do as much as I can in the day routine, and loving it.
Yesterday, my wife and I went to our first cancer support group. Sue was the one who checked into this and wanted to go in because I know this is tougher on her than me, I made sure I was there for her. I was a little concerned going in because I didn't want to be surrounded by depressed people. But that was not the case at all. What some of these people have gone through and their determination, were truly inspiring and it was a great experience for the both of us. I was the rookie and compared to what everybody else went through, I had it easy. We will both be looking forward to these meetings which are held twice a month.
I've got some cerebral type blogging I plan on doing in the near future, so stay tuned.
Everyone have a great day, I know I will.
POGO
Sunday, March 22, 2009
Happy belated birthday
Happy birthday to me,
happy birthday to me,
happy birthday dear Pogo,
happy birthday to me. (and many moooooore)
On Thursday, March 19th, I had my 55th birthday. Now since I really don't keep track of the calendar anymore, except for appointments on specific dates, I didn't even realize that I had a birthday that day. I did have a few people wishing me a happy birthday, but if it wasn't for them, I would have gone through the whole day without realizing it. It was a particularly busy day from about 3 AM to 11 PM. Just another typical day, which is why I think I forgot about it.
Now we did celebrate my birthday on Saturday. I kept it simple by just having my mom, the kids, and their significant others, and of course the Parker. It was a nice day, and we got to play a little testicle toss. Chef Jack, my son-in-law, made one of his great meals, combined with my other daughter, Jesse and her fiancé bringing Olive Garden salad and bread rolls. It was goooood. The rest of the evenings entertainment was provided by Parker, who really knows how to captivate an audience with his antics and playfulness.
Now getting back to the double five, the 55th birthday. As usual, this is a chronological number and has nothing to do with how old I feel or how old I think I am. For those of you who know me well, I have been 12 years old since I was 12 years old. Why 12 years old you ask? It is a time in your life in which there are little worries. When you're 12 years old, all you want to do is play and have fun. That is something that I've always done. Now what makes number 12 unique and also very important to have is that if you have a slight case of dyslexia, you become 21 years old and therefore allowed the freedoms of being an adult which can come in handy for fun nights out on the town.
What would a birthday be without having a birthday wish list. (now there may be some of you out there who will be able to help me with this wish list, so if you have some connections or ideas, I'd appreciate it.)
1. 55 more birthdays. After all I'm only 12 years old. I'm also 112% sure that I'm going to get rid of that little inconvenience that is in my brain.
2. Being socially active.( sounds like I'm spreading a disease) One of my greatest joys are hanging out with people and having a lot of laughs. Some of these places involve clubs, which require membership dues. Cash flow is a temporary problem with not being able to generate income from the office at this time, plus added medical bills, among other things. It will get better. I don't want charity or cash contributions. I just don't want to be a prisoner and not enjoy being with all my friends. I've got time, so I can probably help out at the club's, with any type of volunteer work needed.
3. Any connections with free passes to movies, events, plays, etc. for my wife and I. I figure if they are open seats anyway we would not be putting anybody out.
As always, I want to thank everyone out there for all their prayers and positive thoughts. It is truly rewarding to have so many people in your corner.
happy birthday to me,
happy birthday dear Pogo,
happy birthday to me. (and many moooooore)
On Thursday, March 19th, I had my 55th birthday. Now since I really don't keep track of the calendar anymore, except for appointments on specific dates, I didn't even realize that I had a birthday that day. I did have a few people wishing me a happy birthday, but if it wasn't for them, I would have gone through the whole day without realizing it. It was a particularly busy day from about 3 AM to 11 PM. Just another typical day, which is why I think I forgot about it.
Now we did celebrate my birthday on Saturday. I kept it simple by just having my mom, the kids, and their significant others, and of course the Parker. It was a nice day, and we got to play a little testicle toss. Chef Jack, my son-in-law, made one of his great meals, combined with my other daughter, Jesse and her fiancé bringing Olive Garden salad and bread rolls. It was goooood. The rest of the evenings entertainment was provided by Parker, who really knows how to captivate an audience with his antics and playfulness.
Now getting back to the double five, the 55th birthday. As usual, this is a chronological number and has nothing to do with how old I feel or how old I think I am. For those of you who know me well, I have been 12 years old since I was 12 years old. Why 12 years old you ask? It is a time in your life in which there are little worries. When you're 12 years old, all you want to do is play and have fun. That is something that I've always done. Now what makes number 12 unique and also very important to have is that if you have a slight case of dyslexia, you become 21 years old and therefore allowed the freedoms of being an adult which can come in handy for fun nights out on the town.
What would a birthday be without having a birthday wish list. (now there may be some of you out there who will be able to help me with this wish list, so if you have some connections or ideas, I'd appreciate it.)
1. 55 more birthdays. After all I'm only 12 years old. I'm also 112% sure that I'm going to get rid of that little inconvenience that is in my brain.
2. Being socially active.( sounds like I'm spreading a disease) One of my greatest joys are hanging out with people and having a lot of laughs. Some of these places involve clubs, which require membership dues. Cash flow is a temporary problem with not being able to generate income from the office at this time, plus added medical bills, among other things. It will get better. I don't want charity or cash contributions. I just don't want to be a prisoner and not enjoy being with all my friends. I've got time, so I can probably help out at the club's, with any type of volunteer work needed.
3. Any connections with free passes to movies, events, plays, etc. for my wife and I. I figure if they are open seats anyway we would not be putting anybody out.
As always, I want to thank everyone out there for all their prayers and positive thoughts. It is truly rewarding to have so many people in your corner.
Wednesday, March 18, 2009
The Parker Pill-Miracle Cure
Medicines come in all shapes, sizes, and colors. They are designed to take care of a particular problem and usually have some side effects. And like all medicines, you somehow have to get it into your system through IV's, IM's, drops, inhalers, orally or any available orifice(ouch). With these medicines, it only helps the person that is taking it.
However, the Pogo's have a secret weapon, a miracle cure, which I have appropriately named,"The Parker Pill". It is a little larger than the standard size medicines, being approximately 20 inches long and about 20 pounds. You definitely don't want to use any of the above methods to take this type of medicine. This is one of the pluses of this type of medicine is that it only has to be present for it to work(although you could eat it up). Not only does this miracle cure help the patient, but its real strength lies in helping the people that are closest to me, especially my wife.
Now let's face it, this poor gal has been tortured for the past 30 years just because she has been married to me. No matter if it's somebody I just met or somebody that I have known for a long time, the most common and consistent phrase that I hear is that, "your wife must be a saint". Who can argue with a statement like that. After all, POGO, could be considered just a little bit different than most people. And now we add insult to injury by having what I call this little inconvenience of a brain tumor. I know this has been extremely tough for her, especially the first month. I believe it's a lot tougher on my wife than it is for me. After all, she is doing all the worrying, while I'm just being myself.
This is where the power of the Parker Pill comes in. When you get the proper dosage of the Parker pill, which is usually taken one to three times per week, or as needed, it lifts her spirits, and gives her that booster shot which can be a great stress relief. And the Parker Pill has a cumulative effect in that the more exposure you get, the greater you feel. I think it's safe for us to say that the timing and the positive effects of the Parker pill is definitely a miracle.
Let's talk research and development. The inventor of the Parker pill was my daughter Lisa, and her husband Jack. It took nine months to develop and went into production on May 1, 2008. There were some minor glitches in the earlier months( town crier), but that has long past. The pill now comes in the active form, always on the move whether it's crawling at warp speed or walking along the furniture and walls, rearranging the cabinets, playing with TV remotes, cameras, and phones( he's a high-tech kid, he will only plays with the real thing). He's a good natured little guy and has the face of a Gerber baby. I think this is a fine example of superior breeding and I'm sure it starts with the grandparents.
Yesterday was a great day for my wife and I. It was 70°, and we had the parker pill. We took a long walk to the park, he had his first experience on a swing and loved it. We then walked through our old neighborhood and stopped off at our old next door neighbors home. They have a whole herd of grandchildren, and we got to meet the youngest who was four months old. We sat on their rocking chairs on their deck, with me rocking the Parker pill and having a nice conversation. It reminded me a lot of the old Andy Griffith show, where they would be sitting on the front porch and having a laid-back conversation. Who would've thought two months ago that I would be doing something like this and enjoying it after the lifestyle I led. Well, all I can say is, "say hey to Goober".
However, the Pogo's have a secret weapon, a miracle cure, which I have appropriately named,"The Parker Pill". It is a little larger than the standard size medicines, being approximately 20 inches long and about 20 pounds. You definitely don't want to use any of the above methods to take this type of medicine. This is one of the pluses of this type of medicine is that it only has to be present for it to work(although you could eat it up). Not only does this miracle cure help the patient, but its real strength lies in helping the people that are closest to me, especially my wife.
Now let's face it, this poor gal has been tortured for the past 30 years just because she has been married to me. No matter if it's somebody I just met or somebody that I have known for a long time, the most common and consistent phrase that I hear is that, "your wife must be a saint". Who can argue with a statement like that. After all, POGO, could be considered just a little bit different than most people. And now we add insult to injury by having what I call this little inconvenience of a brain tumor. I know this has been extremely tough for her, especially the first month. I believe it's a lot tougher on my wife than it is for me. After all, she is doing all the worrying, while I'm just being myself.
This is where the power of the Parker Pill comes in. When you get the proper dosage of the Parker pill, which is usually taken one to three times per week, or as needed, it lifts her spirits, and gives her that booster shot which can be a great stress relief. And the Parker Pill has a cumulative effect in that the more exposure you get, the greater you feel. I think it's safe for us to say that the timing and the positive effects of the Parker pill is definitely a miracle.
Let's talk research and development. The inventor of the Parker pill was my daughter Lisa, and her husband Jack. It took nine months to develop and went into production on May 1, 2008. There were some minor glitches in the earlier months( town crier), but that has long past. The pill now comes in the active form, always on the move whether it's crawling at warp speed or walking along the furniture and walls, rearranging the cabinets, playing with TV remotes, cameras, and phones( he's a high-tech kid, he will only plays with the real thing). He's a good natured little guy and has the face of a Gerber baby. I think this is a fine example of superior breeding and I'm sure it starts with the grandparents.
Yesterday was a great day for my wife and I. It was 70°, and we had the parker pill. We took a long walk to the park, he had his first experience on a swing and loved it. We then walked through our old neighborhood and stopped off at our old next door neighbors home. They have a whole herd of grandchildren, and we got to meet the youngest who was four months old. We sat on their rocking chairs on their deck, with me rocking the Parker pill and having a nice conversation. It reminded me a lot of the old Andy Griffith show, where they would be sitting on the front porch and having a laid-back conversation. Who would've thought two months ago that I would be doing something like this and enjoying it after the lifestyle I led. Well, all I can say is, "say hey to Goober".
Sunday, March 15, 2009
The gray matter still works, except for computers.
For those of you who thought I may have slipped into a coma since I've been blog free for the past several days, I'm happy to report that I'm still alive and kicking. My intent was there, however my ability to get onto my blog was impaired, not for medical reasons, but for this guy ain't too bright when it comes to computers reasons. My son-in-law, (Cletis, my man) saved me once again. It is tough getting help at 2 AM, so I didn't get this straightened out until yesterday. I also found out that people may have been sending me comments, but I have not received any. He did some of his button pushing things, so hopefully the comments will start coming through and hopefully I'll be able to answer them. I've tried for over an hour each one of those days to try and get onto the blog thinking I was doing the exact same thing I was doing before, but nothing was showing up. And of course it was something extremely simple. Somehow I got signed out and it kept asking me if I wanted to create a new blog which was something totally different than the pogo blog. What I didn't see was a little area to sign in again. Boy, that made a difference. So in the words of Jack Nicholson, "I'm back." For those of you who sent comments, you may want to try your luck again and we will see if it works.
A quick up-to-date on my current physical and mental condition. Positive mental attitude is still well above 10 on a 1 to 10 scale. Sense of humor well above 10, on a scale of 1 to 10. Mentality, always been questionable even before this all happened.
Have gone through two weeks of chemotherapy, and a eight radiation treatments, and have not noticed any of the side effects which basically include fatigue and weakness. I got my strength training routine down which I do every other day. I got it down to a fine science which takes about an hour and 15 minutes a day and really pushes me. I also try to do cardiovascular workouts every day whether it's long walks or just anything to get the heart cranking. I still have a ton of energy and have been sleeping a little better. Earlier in the week, I was trying the two beers and two Tylenol PM technique which would give me 4 to 5 hours of solid sleep. I have weaned myself off the Tylenol PM, but not off the beer. I figured I had a choice so what the heck. This is not a nightly thing, only when there something social going on.. The only thing you may notice is different, is that my cheeks are fatter from the steroids, and I'm not talking about my ass, so I will not take offense to people calling me hamster boy, chipmunk cheeks, Jowls( A Peter Benchley Book), or Puff Daddy.
On the social front, myself and three other people had courtside tickets to the Bucks game on Tuesday. Had a great time even though they lost. It's amazing how big those guys are that close up, and it was a great view of those dancing young gals. And if you want to put something into the Ripley's believe it or not, the person sitting behind me noticed that I was wearing Zubaz, not that that is unusual that somebody would notice me wearing this, but he was part of the company that designed and made them and he also talked about bringing them back again. I told them if you need a spokesperson, I'm your man. However I noticed he wasn't wearing any. They got to have faith in their products. On Friday, I went to a surprise birthday party for a friend of mine who turned 65, which was at TGIF at Miller Park. Had a lot of laughs, great food, and a few beers and the most challenging part of the night was figuring out how to get home based on alcoholic consumption of the people that were left. I was probably in the best shape of everybody but I'm not supposed to drive but everything worked out okay since I'm obviously talking to you now. Yesterday I took a four hour walk with my mom. I would've kept going but her feet were getting tired. She's a pretty good power walker and has the energy but her feet get sore from swelling if she goes to long. It also gives us some quality time together.
Everyone have a great day, I know I will.
POGO
A quick up-to-date on my current physical and mental condition. Positive mental attitude is still well above 10 on a 1 to 10 scale. Sense of humor well above 10, on a scale of 1 to 10. Mentality, always been questionable even before this all happened.
Have gone through two weeks of chemotherapy, and a eight radiation treatments, and have not noticed any of the side effects which basically include fatigue and weakness. I got my strength training routine down which I do every other day. I got it down to a fine science which takes about an hour and 15 minutes a day and really pushes me. I also try to do cardiovascular workouts every day whether it's long walks or just anything to get the heart cranking. I still have a ton of energy and have been sleeping a little better. Earlier in the week, I was trying the two beers and two Tylenol PM technique which would give me 4 to 5 hours of solid sleep. I have weaned myself off the Tylenol PM, but not off the beer. I figured I had a choice so what the heck. This is not a nightly thing, only when there something social going on.. The only thing you may notice is different, is that my cheeks are fatter from the steroids, and I'm not talking about my ass, so I will not take offense to people calling me hamster boy, chipmunk cheeks, Jowls( A Peter Benchley Book), or Puff Daddy.
On the social front, myself and three other people had courtside tickets to the Bucks game on Tuesday. Had a great time even though they lost. It's amazing how big those guys are that close up, and it was a great view of those dancing young gals. And if you want to put something into the Ripley's believe it or not, the person sitting behind me noticed that I was wearing Zubaz, not that that is unusual that somebody would notice me wearing this, but he was part of the company that designed and made them and he also talked about bringing them back again. I told them if you need a spokesperson, I'm your man. However I noticed he wasn't wearing any. They got to have faith in their products. On Friday, I went to a surprise birthday party for a friend of mine who turned 65, which was at TGIF at Miller Park. Had a lot of laughs, great food, and a few beers and the most challenging part of the night was figuring out how to get home based on alcoholic consumption of the people that were left. I was probably in the best shape of everybody but I'm not supposed to drive but everything worked out okay since I'm obviously talking to you now. Yesterday I took a four hour walk with my mom. I would've kept going but her feet were getting tired. She's a pretty good power walker and has the energy but her feet get sore from swelling if she goes to long. It also gives us some quality time together.
Everyone have a great day, I know I will.
POGO
Tuesday, March 10, 2009
hodgepodge
Not that the silver-toungue sleuth that I am is running out of topics, it is just that I had so much to talk about and catch up on, on the first set of blogs. So they may be a lot shorter in duration, but I still want to send them out daily so you all know that I'm still here.
After getting my standard one-hour sleep on Saturday night, I cheated, and took one Tylenol PM( not PMS) and actually slept from about 10 PM until 6 AM with only a couple pee breaks. I was amazed how short the days are when they don't start at midnight. That was about a week's worth of sleep for me and so now I'm back to normal with my one hour of sleep. I have to make sure that I take the right pill , since they are both blue, but the other one literally" keeps me up all night".
what is pogo up to.
I am spending more and more time at the office. Even though I'm not doing dentistry anymore, I'm almost putting in as much time as if I were.. Presently, I'm there about 15 hours on weekends, plus another 4-8 hours during office hours, plus an additional 5 to 10 hours a week at home going over management issues, among other things.
I have gotten back into strength training using my bow flex. I've customized a workout, which takes about an hour and a half a day and is to help counteract the effect of the radiation therapy which can cause muscle atrophy. The tricky part was designing a workout that would utilize one working hand on the right side and adapting the left-hand which has no tactile sense and very little control. But the strength doesn't seem to be an issue. I can definitely tell that I'm not quite as strong as I was before. But I will get there.
With only one good hand, it takes a lot longer to do things( okay you guys I heard those dirty thoughts), so that also eats up a little time. Thank goodness for Zubaz pants, if I had to try and unzip for all the trips to the bathroom, I would be wearing Depends.
I also get to have some quality time with my grandson, Parker. I get to see him at least 2 to 3 times a week which is a luxury I never would have had without this free time.
I'm also at the hospital five days a week for radiation therapy and occasional doctor visits plus I'm always roaming the halls there talking to people that I met when I was in the hospital and meeting new people going through the same treatment that I am keeping them entertained.
I'm getting out a lot more and it would be nice if the weather would start cooperating.
I still have a lot of energy and never seem to be bored. I probably watch less TV now than I did before, and when I do watch TV, usually early evening, that is when I get my sleep. Now how come you can fall asleep sitting on the couch, with the head bobbing and the snoring and the bad posture, and yet when you go upstairs to a nice comfy bed and you're already half asleep, nothing happens. If anyone has any suggestions, I'll gladly take them. I prefer not to rely on either blue pill.
POGO
After getting my standard one-hour sleep on Saturday night, I cheated, and took one Tylenol PM( not PMS) and actually slept from about 10 PM until 6 AM with only a couple pee breaks. I was amazed how short the days are when they don't start at midnight. That was about a week's worth of sleep for me and so now I'm back to normal with my one hour of sleep. I have to make sure that I take the right pill , since they are both blue, but the other one literally" keeps me up all night".
what is pogo up to.
I am spending more and more time at the office. Even though I'm not doing dentistry anymore, I'm almost putting in as much time as if I were.. Presently, I'm there about 15 hours on weekends, plus another 4-8 hours during office hours, plus an additional 5 to 10 hours a week at home going over management issues, among other things.
I have gotten back into strength training using my bow flex. I've customized a workout, which takes about an hour and a half a day and is to help counteract the effect of the radiation therapy which can cause muscle atrophy. The tricky part was designing a workout that would utilize one working hand on the right side and adapting the left-hand which has no tactile sense and very little control. But the strength doesn't seem to be an issue. I can definitely tell that I'm not quite as strong as I was before. But I will get there.
With only one good hand, it takes a lot longer to do things( okay you guys I heard those dirty thoughts), so that also eats up a little time. Thank goodness for Zubaz pants, if I had to try and unzip for all the trips to the bathroom, I would be wearing Depends.
I also get to have some quality time with my grandson, Parker. I get to see him at least 2 to 3 times a week which is a luxury I never would have had without this free time.
I'm also at the hospital five days a week for radiation therapy and occasional doctor visits plus I'm always roaming the halls there talking to people that I met when I was in the hospital and meeting new people going through the same treatment that I am keeping them entertained.
I'm getting out a lot more and it would be nice if the weather would start cooperating.
I still have a lot of energy and never seem to be bored. I probably watch less TV now than I did before, and when I do watch TV, usually early evening, that is when I get my sleep. Now how come you can fall asleep sitting on the couch, with the head bobbing and the snoring and the bad posture, and yet when you go upstairs to a nice comfy bed and you're already half asleep, nothing happens. If anyone has any suggestions, I'll gladly take them. I prefer not to rely on either blue pill.
POGO
Monday, March 9, 2009
a big thank you card
It is time to stop focusing on me for a blog and instead thank all the people out there that have helped me and my family through that first difficult month. Knowing that I have so many people that care about us is truly energizing and rewarding. It helps keep me strong.. So I don't miss anybody, my thank yous will be in general terms, and I'll let everybody that reads this decide where they fit in. That way, I hope I will not offend anybody. You can qualify for multiple thank you's, but I will not have a bonus system for extra points.
I want to thank all the people that have prayed for us. Having the big guy on your side is a tremendous amount of help. The more, the merrier.
I want to thank all the people that have called me, e-mail me, and visited me, at the hospital and at home. It really lifts my spirits, even though they're probably hitting the ceiling already.
I want to thank all the people that have brought over meals and other types of food. This has definitely helped my wife to take some of the pressure off of her about trying to feed us. The food has really been good to. My appetite is great and I've got to try a lot of things that I have never had before.
An extra big thanks to my staff at the office. As difficult a situation that this has been, they rallied together to make sure the office kept going. Not only did they keep it going, they maintained quality of care to patients and made sure that the new doctors were a good fit for the practice, by having very similar philosophies and personalities. This definitely helped make me more comfortable while I was recovering at home.
I want to thank all the people behind the scenes, insurance agents, financial consultants, accountants, and lawyers who have made sure that all the details are taken care of.
Special thanks to my practice consultants who have put in a lot of overtime to make sure that the practice keeps improving.
I want to thank all the people that have sent me info related to what I'm going through as far as treatment, nutrition, and other things that may be related. Anything I can do to improve my odds, I will do.
And last but not least, I want to thank my family. They have been awesome. We've been having a lot of fun and they are in good spirits. Family means everything to me.
Hopefully, I covered everyone If I inadvertently left someone out, I apologize.
Thanks again to everyone out there.
POGO
I want to thank all the people that have prayed for us. Having the big guy on your side is a tremendous amount of help. The more, the merrier.
I want to thank all the people that have called me, e-mail me, and visited me, at the hospital and at home. It really lifts my spirits, even though they're probably hitting the ceiling already.
I want to thank all the people that have brought over meals and other types of food. This has definitely helped my wife to take some of the pressure off of her about trying to feed us. The food has really been good to. My appetite is great and I've got to try a lot of things that I have never had before.
An extra big thanks to my staff at the office. As difficult a situation that this has been, they rallied together to make sure the office kept going. Not only did they keep it going, they maintained quality of care to patients and made sure that the new doctors were a good fit for the practice, by having very similar philosophies and personalities. This definitely helped make me more comfortable while I was recovering at home.
I want to thank all the people behind the scenes, insurance agents, financial consultants, accountants, and lawyers who have made sure that all the details are taken care of.
Special thanks to my practice consultants who have put in a lot of overtime to make sure that the practice keeps improving.
I want to thank all the people that have sent me info related to what I'm going through as far as treatment, nutrition, and other things that may be related. Anything I can do to improve my odds, I will do.
And last but not least, I want to thank my family. They have been awesome. We've been having a lot of fun and they are in good spirits. Family means everything to me.
Hopefully, I covered everyone If I inadvertently left someone out, I apologize.
Thanks again to everyone out there.
POGO
Sunday, March 8, 2009
Medical update, first week of March
Well, it's been a little over a month since this little dilemma started and after grading myself with an A+ for February, we will see what adventures will come of this month. On Tuesday, March 3, I had my follow-up visit with the neurosurgeon who removed the tumor. This is the neurosurgeon,who I nicknamed the Grim Reaper after our initial diagnosis. This appointment seemed almost the opposite. It was worth the two hour wait in the treatment room with only one magazine which I read cover to cover and then counted all the holes in the ceiling. But hey, I've got time. They checked all 12 cranial nerves, and everything is working. He removed the sutures, so I'm going to start losing that Frankenstein look. He told me he had a patient with the exact same diagnosis that I had a year ago and is in full remission right now and is on the same treatment plan that I am on. Who can argue with news like that. I will be getting another MRI in mid April and will evaluate how the treatment is going at that time.
I started my chemotherapy, and radiation therapy in the first week in March. The chemotherapy is a piece of cake( actually it's a pill), which I take before going to bed. It is supposed to make me drowsy, but guess who's up at 3 AM doing this. For you information junkies out there, the medication is called Temador. There really isn't any side effects and doesn't seem to interfere with any other meds or food which is a nice thing. I just need to take on an empty stomach at about the same time every night so I have to cut off eating at a certain time. For some reason, I always think of Tonto from the Lone Ranger series with his famous quote, "What mean, chemo sabe". Every great discovery has to start from someplace. The radiation therapy is also pretty quick. I'm in there at 10:30 AM, Monday through Friday, and it takes less than 15 minutes. They fitted me with a mask which keeps my head still then they pinpoint the areas to treat. The mask is like a mesh hockey mask but does not come with a chainsaw. They are treating the remaining tumor, plus the surgical area, and the area where they had swelling to help sterilize the area. Side effects, hair loss which is my biggest concern, ya right, dry skin, fatigue, and the slight possibility of short-term memory loss, but then again, my memory wasn't that good to begin with.
As far as other medications I'm on, they have me on an anti-seizure med, which is a standard of care when you got something crawling around in your head. No real side effects from this. I've also been on a steroid since day one. It is used for reducing the swelling and inflammation in my head which led to a lot of my symptoms. I think what they don't realize is that I had a big head to begin with. Side effects include lack of sleep, which we definitely notice, and fluid retention in the soft tissues which is just what the guy who pees all the time needs. Since I am on steroids, I guess that obligates me to play baseball this summer. Look out A-Rod, I'm swinging for the fences.
The treatments will be constantly monitored through blood tests and MRIs. If for some reason the treatment isn't working there are other options including a procedure called gamma knife which can be done at St. Luke's. As a backup, backup plan, I've been in contact with a clinic in Cleveland that has developed a new treatment called AutoLITT. They have tested it on four patients so far, and the results have been great. Based on my history and the type and grade of cancer I have, they said I would probably be an excellent candidate. The only qualification I didn't meet is that you have to have a minimum of five weeks of chemo and radiation therapy and show no signs of improving or a worsening condition. They are also hoping that this procedure will be approved later this year. So how is that for timing.
So again, nothing but positive news to start the month of March.
I started my chemotherapy, and radiation therapy in the first week in March. The chemotherapy is a piece of cake( actually it's a pill), which I take before going to bed. It is supposed to make me drowsy, but guess who's up at 3 AM doing this. For you information junkies out there, the medication is called Temador. There really isn't any side effects and doesn't seem to interfere with any other meds or food which is a nice thing. I just need to take on an empty stomach at about the same time every night so I have to cut off eating at a certain time. For some reason, I always think of Tonto from the Lone Ranger series with his famous quote, "What mean, chemo sabe". Every great discovery has to start from someplace. The radiation therapy is also pretty quick. I'm in there at 10:30 AM, Monday through Friday, and it takes less than 15 minutes. They fitted me with a mask which keeps my head still then they pinpoint the areas to treat. The mask is like a mesh hockey mask but does not come with a chainsaw. They are treating the remaining tumor, plus the surgical area, and the area where they had swelling to help sterilize the area. Side effects, hair loss which is my biggest concern, ya right, dry skin, fatigue, and the slight possibility of short-term memory loss, but then again, my memory wasn't that good to begin with.
As far as other medications I'm on, they have me on an anti-seizure med, which is a standard of care when you got something crawling around in your head. No real side effects from this. I've also been on a steroid since day one. It is used for reducing the swelling and inflammation in my head which led to a lot of my symptoms. I think what they don't realize is that I had a big head to begin with. Side effects include lack of sleep, which we definitely notice, and fluid retention in the soft tissues which is just what the guy who pees all the time needs. Since I am on steroids, I guess that obligates me to play baseball this summer. Look out A-Rod, I'm swinging for the fences.
The treatments will be constantly monitored through blood tests and MRIs. If for some reason the treatment isn't working there are other options including a procedure called gamma knife which can be done at St. Luke's. As a backup, backup plan, I've been in contact with a clinic in Cleveland that has developed a new treatment called AutoLITT. They have tested it on four patients so far, and the results have been great. Based on my history and the type and grade of cancer I have, they said I would probably be an excellent candidate. The only qualification I didn't meet is that you have to have a minimum of five weeks of chemo and radiation therapy and show no signs of improving or a worsening condition. They are also hoping that this procedure will be approved later this year. So how is that for timing.
So again, nothing but positive news to start the month of March.
Saturday, March 7, 2009
Pogos February Scorecard
A lot has happened from February 2 until the end of the month. This is my physical and mental scorecard on how things have improved over the month.
Attitude-I've always had a strong positive mental attitude, but I can safely say it's still getting stronger. On a scale of 1 to 10, with 10 being extremely positive, I am up to a 13. I think it's about time we give 13 a little bit more credit. I know there have been people who are little scared to come over because they don't know what to expect, or what to say. However, while their intent is to make me feel better, I already feel great and put the people that I meet in a great mood also. It is nearly impossible to get me down. So don't be afraid, I'm not. And if anyone needs a Pogo Booster to make them feel better, just give me a call.
Physical condition.
Vision-I'm happy to say that my vision is back to normal. The days of running into walls are over however I still occasionally trip over all my grandson's toys around the house, but that may be related more to not knowing they are there. It was definitely entertaining when I had the vision problems and it made for some great comedic stories.
Left-hand-My left hand will be a long-term project. There was no severed nerves, so it is just a matter of learning how to use your hand again. I'll try to explain to you how it feels. Just sitting here right now, I couldn't even tell you there is anything wrong with my left hand until I try to use it. It is a sensory, and proprioception problem. There is strength, but nothing tactile. I am doing my own physical therapy and it is just a matter of developing new nerve paths. I've noticed improvement over the month, it is just a slow process, but hey, I've got time. There are things I can do to adapt, but only do that as a last resort because I'd rather put my effort into improving the left-hand over the easier route.
Energy and strength-I still have a lot of energy but obviously have lost some strength due to inactivity. I'm still awake about 20 hours a day and the only time I feel a little nappy is early evening. As far as my strength goes, now that I got the green light from my doctor, I will get back into my strength training and hopefully test out the tennis game in late March or early April. I do have a bowflex at home and customized a work out to take advantage of the weakness in my left hand. Since the left hand does not grab very well and will tend to lose its grip, I can keep lighter weights on that side. We'll see how this works in the long run and hopefully I will not become distorted.
Eating-Being home most of the time makes it easier to eat a lot. But I have been eating healthier and decreasing the amount of food intake at each meal, plus nutritious snacks in between. I have lost some weight and unfortunately it was muscle mass, but I'll be taking care of that.
Brainpower-After having someone dig around in your brain you would expect that you would have some problems. I know most of you out there thought there was a lot of problems up their before I went through all of this and who am I to argue. The brain was very similar to the left-hand. It felt normal until you tried to use it. This was extremely noticeable when I was trying to catch up on my office work after being gone for two weeks. Trying to coordinate all the office work I did at the hospital, which included paying bills, payroll and payroll taxes among a few other things and not having access to my office computer which does all the above made it easy to lose things. So my first attempt to balance the checkbook for January took me about 12 hours where it would normally take me about two minutes. But hey, I've got time. I wanted to make sure January was okay before attempting to enter all the info for February. By the second weekend after being out of the hospital, things were clicking a lot better and if not 100% better, I got to be pretty close. I had also mentioned in the past how I like to do Sodukos. The first week back,I could not do the simplest ones, but am now able to do the most difficult ones.
The world of dentistry-This has obviously been a big part of my life for the past 30 years. Without the use of my left hand, it makes it extremely difficult to be able to provide a quality of care that my patients deserve. As mentioned previously, I presently have two dentists that are helping me out. They are both extremely talented, skilled, personable, and yes they both have a sense he humor. My biggest concern with having other doctors work for me was that they were not able to provide the same quality of care and that great patient interaction that I provided. Between the two of them, they are able to provide as good, if not better cosmetic dentistry and a broader spectrum of dental procedures that can be done in office instead of referring out. So all we really had to do was get rid of me.( just kidding) I plan to stay active in the practice behind-the-scenes. I will be doing the managing, marketing and the usual payroll and accounts payable. The plan is to continue to grow the practice with quality of care to the patients being the number one priority. When you are the only producer of the practice, it puts a lot of stress on you, because you feel that you have to do the dentistry 100% percent of the time, which leaves very little time for managing the practice. Now that I am not a producer, I can focus all my energy on management which is probably 10 hours more week that I've ever done in the past. I am really excited and looking forward to this.
What the heck are you doing with yourself-Good question. After having such a structured life for over 30 years, it is now completely different. I do what I want, when I want. I seem to have plenty to do, I'm never bored, I had a lot less stress in my life before, which my blood pressure confirms. As strange as this sounds, I think I am enjoying life more now, but I would not recommend using this technique of getting a brain tumor.
It looks like I'm going have to give myself an A+ on my February scorecard.
Attitude-I've always had a strong positive mental attitude, but I can safely say it's still getting stronger. On a scale of 1 to 10, with 10 being extremely positive, I am up to a 13. I think it's about time we give 13 a little bit more credit. I know there have been people who are little scared to come over because they don't know what to expect, or what to say. However, while their intent is to make me feel better, I already feel great and put the people that I meet in a great mood also. It is nearly impossible to get me down. So don't be afraid, I'm not. And if anyone needs a Pogo Booster to make them feel better, just give me a call.
Physical condition.
Vision-I'm happy to say that my vision is back to normal. The days of running into walls are over however I still occasionally trip over all my grandson's toys around the house, but that may be related more to not knowing they are there. It was definitely entertaining when I had the vision problems and it made for some great comedic stories.
Left-hand-My left hand will be a long-term project. There was no severed nerves, so it is just a matter of learning how to use your hand again. I'll try to explain to you how it feels. Just sitting here right now, I couldn't even tell you there is anything wrong with my left hand until I try to use it. It is a sensory, and proprioception problem. There is strength, but nothing tactile. I am doing my own physical therapy and it is just a matter of developing new nerve paths. I've noticed improvement over the month, it is just a slow process, but hey, I've got time. There are things I can do to adapt, but only do that as a last resort because I'd rather put my effort into improving the left-hand over the easier route.
Energy and strength-I still have a lot of energy but obviously have lost some strength due to inactivity. I'm still awake about 20 hours a day and the only time I feel a little nappy is early evening. As far as my strength goes, now that I got the green light from my doctor, I will get back into my strength training and hopefully test out the tennis game in late March or early April. I do have a bowflex at home and customized a work out to take advantage of the weakness in my left hand. Since the left hand does not grab very well and will tend to lose its grip, I can keep lighter weights on that side. We'll see how this works in the long run and hopefully I will not become distorted.
Eating-Being home most of the time makes it easier to eat a lot. But I have been eating healthier and decreasing the amount of food intake at each meal, plus nutritious snacks in between. I have lost some weight and unfortunately it was muscle mass, but I'll be taking care of that.
Brainpower-After having someone dig around in your brain you would expect that you would have some problems. I know most of you out there thought there was a lot of problems up their before I went through all of this and who am I to argue. The brain was very similar to the left-hand. It felt normal until you tried to use it. This was extremely noticeable when I was trying to catch up on my office work after being gone for two weeks. Trying to coordinate all the office work I did at the hospital, which included paying bills, payroll and payroll taxes among a few other things and not having access to my office computer which does all the above made it easy to lose things. So my first attempt to balance the checkbook for January took me about 12 hours where it would normally take me about two minutes. But hey, I've got time. I wanted to make sure January was okay before attempting to enter all the info for February. By the second weekend after being out of the hospital, things were clicking a lot better and if not 100% better, I got to be pretty close. I had also mentioned in the past how I like to do Sodukos. The first week back,I could not do the simplest ones, but am now able to do the most difficult ones.
The world of dentistry-This has obviously been a big part of my life for the past 30 years. Without the use of my left hand, it makes it extremely difficult to be able to provide a quality of care that my patients deserve. As mentioned previously, I presently have two dentists that are helping me out. They are both extremely talented, skilled, personable, and yes they both have a sense he humor. My biggest concern with having other doctors work for me was that they were not able to provide the same quality of care and that great patient interaction that I provided. Between the two of them, they are able to provide as good, if not better cosmetic dentistry and a broader spectrum of dental procedures that can be done in office instead of referring out. So all we really had to do was get rid of me.( just kidding) I plan to stay active in the practice behind-the-scenes. I will be doing the managing, marketing and the usual payroll and accounts payable. The plan is to continue to grow the practice with quality of care to the patients being the number one priority. When you are the only producer of the practice, it puts a lot of stress on you, because you feel that you have to do the dentistry 100% percent of the time, which leaves very little time for managing the practice. Now that I am not a producer, I can focus all my energy on management which is probably 10 hours more week that I've ever done in the past. I am really excited and looking forward to this.
What the heck are you doing with yourself-Good question. After having such a structured life for over 30 years, it is now completely different. I do what I want, when I want. I seem to have plenty to do, I'm never bored, I had a lot less stress in my life before, which my blood pressure confirms. As strange as this sounds, I think I am enjoying life more now, but I would not recommend using this technique of getting a brain tumor.
It looks like I'm going have to give myself an A+ on my February scorecard.
Friday, March 6, 2009
"Sleepless in Greendale"
It seems that with this change of lifestyle and with some of the medications that I am on, sleeping is something I need very little of. I guess this all started in the hospital when they would wake you up every hour to give you pills, or take blood, or just to come in and see how you are sleeping. The first few nights home from the hospital, I thought this was a curse. I'm sure everyone out there has had those sleepless nights when the brain just doesn't shut off and you usually end up falling asleep about five minutes before you're supposed to wake up. I guess it is safe to say, that I had a few things going on. I was in a situation that I have never been in before and there were a lot of questions that I did not have answers for. The questions kept coming, but the answers didn't. When the surgeon gave us the diagnosis, it wasn't the greatest of news, but I think he was trying to prepare us for the worst. I believe that that may have been the catalyst that put my little brain into overdrive. 99% of my concerns were with my family, whom I all love so dearly. My eyes would constantly fill with tears just thinking about this. Even though those first few nights were long, I still remained positive.
"A Revelation"
My mindset was stuck in the past. My lifestyle before this was waking up early, and going 100 mph from the moment I woke up till I get back at night, trying to squeeze everything I can into that 16 hours of day time. It was what I was used to and apparently what I enjoyed. Work hard, play hard. In fact one of my biggest concerns when I came out of surgery is what would I do if I couldn't be in high gear all the time. And yet, one of the things I wanted most in life based on my past, was time. Guess what I have now.
The new POGO SLOGAN "hey, I've got time"
And when I'm talking time, I'm not talking about that 16 hours per day, I'm talking 24/7. That
initial curse the first few nights has become valuable and productive time. In fact, I do all of my blogging anytime after 1 AM in the morning and sometimes going past sunrise. It is a very peaceful time to do this and because I use a Dictaphone, I don't disturb the rest of the family while they are all snuggly in their bed.
Now I still only get anywhere from 1 to 5 hours sleep a night, and it is usually in a half hour to one hour increments. I still feel very rested during the day and still have a lot of energy. My two theories on this, the first being the steroids I'm on. They gave me instructions to take them in the morning and evening. A few weeks later when meeting with one of the doctors and telling him about the lack of sleep, he told me this steroids would keep me awake, so take them in the morning and early afternoon and take them with food. I believe that has helped a little bit and golly gee, that would have been nice to know before. The second theory is that I have a Ferrari engine and someone replaced it with a Pinto. I don't think I need to sleep as much being 90% less active. But being me, that will change pretty fast and I may become, "Sleeper in Greendale".
"A Revelation"
My mindset was stuck in the past. My lifestyle before this was waking up early, and going 100 mph from the moment I woke up till I get back at night, trying to squeeze everything I can into that 16 hours of day time. It was what I was used to and apparently what I enjoyed. Work hard, play hard. In fact one of my biggest concerns when I came out of surgery is what would I do if I couldn't be in high gear all the time. And yet, one of the things I wanted most in life based on my past, was time. Guess what I have now.
The new POGO SLOGAN "hey, I've got time"
And when I'm talking time, I'm not talking about that 16 hours per day, I'm talking 24/7. That
initial curse the first few nights has become valuable and productive time. In fact, I do all of my blogging anytime after 1 AM in the morning and sometimes going past sunrise. It is a very peaceful time to do this and because I use a Dictaphone, I don't disturb the rest of the family while they are all snuggly in their bed.
Now I still only get anywhere from 1 to 5 hours sleep a night, and it is usually in a half hour to one hour increments. I still feel very rested during the day and still have a lot of energy. My two theories on this, the first being the steroids I'm on. They gave me instructions to take them in the morning and evening. A few weeks later when meeting with one of the doctors and telling him about the lack of sleep, he told me this steroids would keep me awake, so take them in the morning and early afternoon and take them with food. I believe that has helped a little bit and golly gee, that would have been nice to know before. The second theory is that I have a Ferrari engine and someone replaced it with a Pinto. I don't think I need to sleep as much being 90% less active. But being me, that will change pretty fast and I may become, "Sleeper in Greendale".
Tuesday, March 3, 2009
Village Idiot spotted in Greendale
February 10 was my first full day home from the hospital. I was blessed with one of those unusual warm, sunny, and windy day. There was a lot of snow melting causing rivers of drainage.
I've always been a high-energy person, and am used to doing something every minute of the day, but for the first time as long as I can remember I had no plans. My days always went by very fast and I was never bored. On this first day back, I was wondering if it was getting close to dinner time, only to realize that it was only 9:45 in the morning. Now I know what it's like to live in Iowa. I love to do Sodukos so I grabbed a puzzle and went into the nice warm sunroom. This is when I realized that my vision problem was still present. I looked at the puzzle, and the puzzle basically looked back at me. It was hard to describe but basically I could not line anything up. I think it's time for a walk.
I'm going to have to set the stage for this walk. Those of you who know me well know that I dress a little different than most people.( In fact I have gotten fan mail from neon signs. ) I always wear brightly colored Zubaz pants with some type of mismatched tie-dye, or Hawiian shirt. Now add to this, a bald head with about 100 staples from the surgery( thank goodness they removed the bolts from my neck so I wouldn't stand out). And now let's add the vision problem. The best way to describe this is that I had a railroad track in each eye that didn't line up along with the peripheral vision on the left side. So when I'm walking down the street what I see and where they actually are, are not the same. This brings a new meaning to the phrase, walking and chewing gum. If I let my mind wander, I would tend to stray off course. I also needed to turn my head or full body 90° to make sure I didn't run into anything when making a turn or crossing a street. To make this more interesting, I'm also doing physical therapy on my walk by bouncing a tennis ball and trying to catch it using my left hand which only functions at that less than 10%. It makes you look, " a little special".
So at 12:30 in the afternoon, I took off for my little jaunt. I tried to cross at intersections, but every once in a while I had no option. This is where I learned about depth perception. For example, when I turned to look to see if there is traffic coming, I would notice a car approximately 500 feet away and after blinking, the car may have only been 100 feet away. So rule number one, only cross the road when I didn't see any cars. Thank goodness it's not a busy area and only once did it take over 10 minutes for me to cross. My basic plan was to take the scenic route to the Greendale Village Center, or as I call it, "Royville", after the person who bought the downtown area and turned it into a Norman Rockwell type setting. I figured going downtown would be nice since there would be a lot of people down there. Now another factor I have to bring into this walk is what I call the Pee Factor. I've had this checked out several times and they keep telling me everything is normal. I just happened to have a very efficient pump and a small storage tank. So I need to know where all the restrooms are and all the good hiding places so as not to add," The Village Pervert", to my resume. I eventually made it to the village center with only one incident of the walking and chewing gum factor when I received a phone call and after hanging up, found myself partially in the street. Thank goodness, there were no cars. I spent about a half hour at the gazebo, bouncing my tennis ball, and looking for my engraved brick which I eventually found. For the first time ever, I went to the Royville Visitor Center. It was okay, but from a vacation standpoint, there is probably 1,297,862 places that I would pick ahead of time if I were going to go on a trip. I stayed out of the smaller shops, because with my vision I didn't want to buy the whole store just in case I knocked everything over. I can safely say that I literally did not run into any people, however I did run into three parked cars. I probably saw Greendale's Finest(police cars) at least 50 times. Whether this is normal or there was an all points bulletin out for me, it's hard to say. On the way back home, I went through Scout Lake, which was interesting because of the flooding which caused me to deviate my route and end up on the snow-covered paths up on the bluffs. A little slippery going up those hills but I never wiped out. Now this is where unbelievable timing happens. My route took me past Highland View Grade School, just as the buses were coming in and the kids were running out of the school. With my lack of peripheral vision and my impeccable timing, I happen to be right at the place where the buses stopped and the kids were all gathering. Since I didn't want to run into any of the kids and end up being labeled, "The Village Child Molester", I basically stood there in a sea of kids and eventually, slowly moved away from the kids. The kids didn't seem to mind, but I believe every teacher and parent had their eyes glued on me. I eventually made it back to my street. With all the water draining, I decided to play street maintenance guy and use my shovel to open all the clogged sewers. Believe it or not, that was a lot of fun, which is why I guess I did it in the first place. It was now 4:10 PM, so I figured after being home for the first day from the hospital that I didn't want to overdo it. So the Village Idiot made it home without incident or being tazered.
I've always been a high-energy person, and am used to doing something every minute of the day, but for the first time as long as I can remember I had no plans. My days always went by very fast and I was never bored. On this first day back, I was wondering if it was getting close to dinner time, only to realize that it was only 9:45 in the morning. Now I know what it's like to live in Iowa. I love to do Sodukos so I grabbed a puzzle and went into the nice warm sunroom. This is when I realized that my vision problem was still present. I looked at the puzzle, and the puzzle basically looked back at me. It was hard to describe but basically I could not line anything up. I think it's time for a walk.
I'm going to have to set the stage for this walk. Those of you who know me well know that I dress a little different than most people.( In fact I have gotten fan mail from neon signs. ) I always wear brightly colored Zubaz pants with some type of mismatched tie-dye, or Hawiian shirt. Now add to this, a bald head with about 100 staples from the surgery( thank goodness they removed the bolts from my neck so I wouldn't stand out). And now let's add the vision problem. The best way to describe this is that I had a railroad track in each eye that didn't line up along with the peripheral vision on the left side. So when I'm walking down the street what I see and where they actually are, are not the same. This brings a new meaning to the phrase, walking and chewing gum. If I let my mind wander, I would tend to stray off course. I also needed to turn my head or full body 90° to make sure I didn't run into anything when making a turn or crossing a street. To make this more interesting, I'm also doing physical therapy on my walk by bouncing a tennis ball and trying to catch it using my left hand which only functions at that less than 10%. It makes you look, " a little special".
So at 12:30 in the afternoon, I took off for my little jaunt. I tried to cross at intersections, but every once in a while I had no option. This is where I learned about depth perception. For example, when I turned to look to see if there is traffic coming, I would notice a car approximately 500 feet away and after blinking, the car may have only been 100 feet away. So rule number one, only cross the road when I didn't see any cars. Thank goodness it's not a busy area and only once did it take over 10 minutes for me to cross. My basic plan was to take the scenic route to the Greendale Village Center, or as I call it, "Royville", after the person who bought the downtown area and turned it into a Norman Rockwell type setting. I figured going downtown would be nice since there would be a lot of people down there. Now another factor I have to bring into this walk is what I call the Pee Factor. I've had this checked out several times and they keep telling me everything is normal. I just happened to have a very efficient pump and a small storage tank. So I need to know where all the restrooms are and all the good hiding places so as not to add," The Village Pervert", to my resume. I eventually made it to the village center with only one incident of the walking and chewing gum factor when I received a phone call and after hanging up, found myself partially in the street. Thank goodness, there were no cars. I spent about a half hour at the gazebo, bouncing my tennis ball, and looking for my engraved brick which I eventually found. For the first time ever, I went to the Royville Visitor Center. It was okay, but from a vacation standpoint, there is probably 1,297,862 places that I would pick ahead of time if I were going to go on a trip. I stayed out of the smaller shops, because with my vision I didn't want to buy the whole store just in case I knocked everything over. I can safely say that I literally did not run into any people, however I did run into three parked cars. I probably saw Greendale's Finest(police cars) at least 50 times. Whether this is normal or there was an all points bulletin out for me, it's hard to say. On the way back home, I went through Scout Lake, which was interesting because of the flooding which caused me to deviate my route and end up on the snow-covered paths up on the bluffs. A little slippery going up those hills but I never wiped out. Now this is where unbelievable timing happens. My route took me past Highland View Grade School, just as the buses were coming in and the kids were running out of the school. With my lack of peripheral vision and my impeccable timing, I happen to be right at the place where the buses stopped and the kids were all gathering. Since I didn't want to run into any of the kids and end up being labeled, "The Village Child Molester", I basically stood there in a sea of kids and eventually, slowly moved away from the kids. The kids didn't seem to mind, but I believe every teacher and parent had their eyes glued on me. I eventually made it back to my street. With all the water draining, I decided to play street maintenance guy and use my shovel to open all the clogged sewers. Believe it or not, that was a lot of fun, which is why I guess I did it in the first place. It was now 4:10 PM, so I figured after being home for the first day from the hospital that I didn't want to overdo it. So the Village Idiot made it home without incident or being tazered.
Monday, March 2, 2009
the hospital days, February 3 through February 9
It is a Tuesday morning and I'm lying in a bed on the sixth floor of the neurology wing. I feel great and as usual I have a ton of energy and plenty to do. Even though I'm a temporary prisoner here, I need to take care of my dental practice and my family. Thank goodness for private room because it turned into an office and a party room.
First things first, I had to keep the dental practice running. On the Tuesday through Thursday, I probably put in over 30 hours of work to try and get everything organized before going under the knife on Friday. I have a large network of people in the dental industry including consultants, financial planners, insurance agents and placement agencies, who were all extremely helpful in helping me get through this. However, the greatest praise and thanks go to my entire staff who went above and beyond the call of duty to make sure that everything would run smoothly while I was gone. Having great people work for you, with great skills and having the patients still receive the highest quality of care, all while having fun, is exactly the way I practice.
special note: this is a time warp entry. As of mid-February, we now have two excellent doctors who are working the practice. Their clinical skills in cosmetics and general dentistry, plus their dedication to our patients, and yes, they both have a great sense of humor, have created a better practice. I have talked to and met with them personally, and I could not be more pleased. Special note: end of time warp.
Extra special thanks to my wife Sue. She was the office liaison, secretary at the hospital, mail delivery gal, office morale gal and one of the greatest huggers you'd ever want to squeeze, among many other things.
Okay, it's time to get back to hospital stories. The entire hospital staff were great and we had a lot of laughs. They liked when they were assigned to my room because they say they never get people like me in here. It was never boring here.
On the day before the surgery, they had someone shave the area I was to have surgery on. I preferred the whole head but since they had some markers on my head for the surgery, I had to wait.
This is the space for everyone to fill in the standard brain jokes.
For example: they did a CT scan and found nothing up there. When they opened my skull, a farting noise came out, so we can assume this guy has shit for brains. I think you get the idea. Have fun with it.
I had surgery late afternoon on Friday. It would have been earlier but the doctors were at a cocktail reception. (joke)
They removed about a 3 cm tumor just under the skull and had to leave the smaller ones alone due to location. I came out of the anesthesia rather quickly and was cracking jokes almost immediately. They only had me in ICU to the next morning and once again kicked me out to the same room I was in before. I really didn't have any pain except for the fact that felt like I was sleeping on the edge of a board against the back of my head.
Obviously, I wasn't quite as spry as I was before the surgery, but that didn't stop me. I needed a barber to finish the head look and found a nurse's assistant named Justin who look fully qualified to handle this since he was bald. He did a fine job. Next on the agenda, I had to find a cute nurse to shave a large letter 'P' on my chest.
One of the side effects of the surgery and also from my wall walking into days, was that I had peripheral vision problems on my left side. They had the hospital room booby-trapped because the main hospital door to the room when open was halfway into the bathroom doorway and to no surprise I must've run into that door 50 times based on the amount of times that I have to pee. Which reminds me of a nighttime story there. They hooked me up to an IV when I was sleeping that first night and when I woke for my nightly visit I found I was trapped. I reached for what I thought was a catheter container and almost urinated in a breathing apparatus. When the nurse got into the room, it looked like I was slow dancing with the IV stand. She was able to unhook me and save the day and I did it without running into that damn door.
On Saturday, the physical and occupational therapist checked me out. They made me use a walker and placed a belt around me. That didn't last for a long and I was cruising the hallways in no time. I still have that vision problem and tended to walk into things on the left side. They gave me exercises for my left hand and passed all their tests including stairs. They had put a sensor in my bed so they knew if I got out of bed, but they gave up on that because I was always going somewhere. I had a lot of family and friends come and visit plus a lot of phone calls and I thank everyone for visiting. Like I said before, it was the party room. We played games, had a dart gun, and had a lot of laughs and stories.
On Monday morning, they gave me my walking papers for escaping the hospital. I just had to wait to meet all the doctors that I would be involved with from here on out which ended up taking until early evening. The neurosurgeon, based on the biopsy, stamped reject on my head and basically gave me the quality of life speech. He said that this is the same type of brain tumor that Ted Kennedy has but in your case you're younger, you're in a lot better physical and mental condition then he is, and you're much better looking. Initially I thought these were words of encouragement, but then I realized that he just described 99% of the population of the United States. The Pogo is a survivor and I am 100% sure that I will beat this.
I finally escaped that evening and they let me walk out of the hospital. When we got to the main entrance, my wife pulled the old disappearing person trick. When I followed her outside for the valet parking, she was there one second and then completely disappeared. In other words, she was standing on my left side. It was just like magic.
POGO
First things first, I had to keep the dental practice running. On the Tuesday through Thursday, I probably put in over 30 hours of work to try and get everything organized before going under the knife on Friday. I have a large network of people in the dental industry including consultants, financial planners, insurance agents and placement agencies, who were all extremely helpful in helping me get through this. However, the greatest praise and thanks go to my entire staff who went above and beyond the call of duty to make sure that everything would run smoothly while I was gone. Having great people work for you, with great skills and having the patients still receive the highest quality of care, all while having fun, is exactly the way I practice.
special note: this is a time warp entry. As of mid-February, we now have two excellent doctors who are working the practice. Their clinical skills in cosmetics and general dentistry, plus their dedication to our patients, and yes, they both have a great sense of humor, have created a better practice. I have talked to and met with them personally, and I could not be more pleased. Special note: end of time warp.
Extra special thanks to my wife Sue. She was the office liaison, secretary at the hospital, mail delivery gal, office morale gal and one of the greatest huggers you'd ever want to squeeze, among many other things.
Okay, it's time to get back to hospital stories. The entire hospital staff were great and we had a lot of laughs. They liked when they were assigned to my room because they say they never get people like me in here. It was never boring here.
On the day before the surgery, they had someone shave the area I was to have surgery on. I preferred the whole head but since they had some markers on my head for the surgery, I had to wait.
This is the space for everyone to fill in the standard brain jokes.
For example: they did a CT scan and found nothing up there. When they opened my skull, a farting noise came out, so we can assume this guy has shit for brains. I think you get the idea. Have fun with it.
I had surgery late afternoon on Friday. It would have been earlier but the doctors were at a cocktail reception. (joke)
They removed about a 3 cm tumor just under the skull and had to leave the smaller ones alone due to location. I came out of the anesthesia rather quickly and was cracking jokes almost immediately. They only had me in ICU to the next morning and once again kicked me out to the same room I was in before. I really didn't have any pain except for the fact that felt like I was sleeping on the edge of a board against the back of my head.
Obviously, I wasn't quite as spry as I was before the surgery, but that didn't stop me. I needed a barber to finish the head look and found a nurse's assistant named Justin who look fully qualified to handle this since he was bald. He did a fine job. Next on the agenda, I had to find a cute nurse to shave a large letter 'P' on my chest.
One of the side effects of the surgery and also from my wall walking into days, was that I had peripheral vision problems on my left side. They had the hospital room booby-trapped because the main hospital door to the room when open was halfway into the bathroom doorway and to no surprise I must've run into that door 50 times based on the amount of times that I have to pee. Which reminds me of a nighttime story there. They hooked me up to an IV when I was sleeping that first night and when I woke for my nightly visit I found I was trapped. I reached for what I thought was a catheter container and almost urinated in a breathing apparatus. When the nurse got into the room, it looked like I was slow dancing with the IV stand. She was able to unhook me and save the day and I did it without running into that damn door.
On Saturday, the physical and occupational therapist checked me out. They made me use a walker and placed a belt around me. That didn't last for a long and I was cruising the hallways in no time. I still have that vision problem and tended to walk into things on the left side. They gave me exercises for my left hand and passed all their tests including stairs. They had put a sensor in my bed so they knew if I got out of bed, but they gave up on that because I was always going somewhere. I had a lot of family and friends come and visit plus a lot of phone calls and I thank everyone for visiting. Like I said before, it was the party room. We played games, had a dart gun, and had a lot of laughs and stories.
On Monday morning, they gave me my walking papers for escaping the hospital. I just had to wait to meet all the doctors that I would be involved with from here on out which ended up taking until early evening. The neurosurgeon, based on the biopsy, stamped reject on my head and basically gave me the quality of life speech. He said that this is the same type of brain tumor that Ted Kennedy has but in your case you're younger, you're in a lot better physical and mental condition then he is, and you're much better looking. Initially I thought these were words of encouragement, but then I realized that he just described 99% of the population of the United States. The Pogo is a survivor and I am 100% sure that I will beat this.
I finally escaped that evening and they let me walk out of the hospital. When we got to the main entrance, my wife pulled the old disappearing person trick. When I followed her outside for the valet parking, she was there one second and then completely disappeared. In other words, she was standing on my left side. It was just like magic.
POGO
Sunday, March 1, 2009
Groundhog Day
February 2, 2009. Like Bill Murray in the movie Groundhog Day, this also happens to be my life changing day. This could be a long blog, so if interested you may want to grab a cup of coffee as I get you up to date on what happened this day. I went in to work Monday morning and started noticing some tingling in my left hand. As the morning went on it started getting worse and I just assumed it was a pinched nerve. Later that morning, I started running into little things, like desks and walls. Being the brilliant diagnostician that I am, I assumed it may be a little bit more than a pinched nerve. I called a family physician who got me in right away. So this same guy who's walking into walls drives the 2 miles to get to the doctor's office. Not too bright, but as far as I know, I didn't run anybody over. The doctor ran numerous tests including the first of many EKGs and determined that I'm in great health but there's something wrong and we need to get you to the hospital. For those of you with hairy chest, having multiple EKGs done during the day reminded me of the movie the 40-year-old Virgin when they used the hot wax and tape to remove chest hairs. Anyway, the doctor wanted to make sure I didn't drive again so I was able to get my staff to drop me off at St. Francis Hospital. Now I'm sure it's a nice hospital but they've been doing some remodeling and that four hours of waiting in a makeshift waiting room with one magazine and the old TV that could only get the children station made for a long afternoon. They finally got me in late afternoon and of course they hooked up to EKG and ran their battery of tests. Initial diagnosis was a stroke. They ordered a CT scan and that is when they found the mass in my brain. The doctor also ordered an MRI, but I was told that the radiologists may not want to hang around and do that tonight. Shortly after that it was highly recommended that I be transferred to St. Luke's which was definitely reassuring. Now of course they are not going to let me drive there from a liability standpoint and they wouldn't even let my wife drive me there, so here comes the ambulence to drive me that half a mile to the other hospital. Now you have to realize while this is going on all day I am my usual self, cracking jokes and looking as good as ever. Before I could be transported to St. Luke's, we had to wait for an ICU room to open up. About one hour later the paramedics came in and of course they ripped off the EKGs and put on their own EKGs. They took one look at me and asked if I could look sicker since you were going to the neurological ICU. After having some laughs with these guys through that long trip to the other hospital, I am obliged them by sticking out my tongue and moaning when they brought me into the ICU unit. The fun doesn't stop here. They got me to my room, but there was no bed. About 15 minutes later, they brought in a bed, but there is something wrong with it and nobody could figure out how to fix it. It was acting like a teeter-tauter and was literally teetering about 30° from head to toe. Once they finally got a real bed, they ripped off the EKGs and put new ones on. My stay in the ICU was precautionary because of the tumor and they wanted to wake me up every hour to see how I was doing but not obviously to make sure I was sleeping okay. The next morning they kicked me of ICU because I look too damn good and they put me on the normal neurology floor where they again ripped off those damn EKG leads and placed new ones on. This was a little shorter than I thought it would be, so the coffee may still be warm.
To tie this all together with the movie Groundhog Day, it was a life-changing day. And like the movie, he had the time to make himself a better person and have a happy ending. This is also my plan. By the way, this is my new favorite movie.
POGO
To tie this all together with the movie Groundhog Day, it was a life-changing day. And like the movie, he had the time to make himself a better person and have a happy ending. This is also my plan. By the way, this is my new favorite movie.
POGO
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