Shortly, after I was diagnosed with a malignant brain tumor back in February, my sister-in-law, Lynn, said that she would like to do a fundraiser for me. Her daughter, Brenda has done a lot of work with the cancer society so it was something that they had knowledge of, and now it involved a family member which just happen to be me. I had actually forgotten all about it until I heard that they kept having these meetings over late summer for this fundraiser. The basic committee was Lynn, Brenda, my kids, Jesse, Lisa, and Brad, also my son in laws, Jack and Cory. And I'm sure I'm missing some people since I wasn't involved with this at all.
Didn't know what to expect. I was totally amazed and surprised by what they had done and all the hard work that they put into it. The hundreds of people that donated door prizes were very generous and the quality of the function was top notch. I've never seen such a well-run fundraiser, which kept you entertained for the entire five hours. My son-in-law, Jack, made a great MC, by spreading out the raffle overtime, plus his entertaining auctioning off of pies.Root River Lanes with generous to give us the hall for free, plus free bowling. We also had comedy sportz entertain us, and they also donated their time. I want to thank Dylan, Joel, Tim, Dave, and Dick Chudnow, who created comedy sportz for showing up and donating their time. I knew all of these people from workshops that I did there. So it was great to see these guys again since it's been a few years. Some of them actually had the official Pogo outfits. I got to help out in a game called Dr. know it all. It was great to be up on stage again, or in my case in front of stage. My daughter, Lisa, performed with them for all the other skits. She had done it in high school and also after high school. That is also where she ended up meeting her future husband, Jack, who is a perfect fit for our family because he is crazier than our family, and we are pretty nuts.
I was also amazed at the turnout, I'm estimating between 300 and 400 people. I had people show up that I have not seen since high school, plus a wide variety of people from various activities that I have done in the past. It is nice to know, that I have touched that many lives to get this big of a turnout. So I may have done something right over my lifetime. I wish I would have had more time to meet with everybody, however, by seeing so many people, I was able to set up some social activities for the future. In the grand scheme of life, my present medical condition does not compare to the love and caring of family and friends, and I am deeply grateful.
This wasn't the only big event that weekend. Our little baby boy, Brad, turned 20 years old on September 19. Where has the time gone. He is a great kid and we don't know what we would do without him, since he knows how to work the computers, TVs, and the phone systems. Brad is taking TV and video production at MATC and also does a lot of work with his brother-in-law Jack, plus he also works for Channel 10/36, so the couch is now free because he is so busy now. Brad, in keeping up with the family tradition and has really developed a weird sense of humor and is not the same quiet person that most people had known him as.
quick medical note. Had a doctors appointment with the radiation oncologist, who showed us the pictures of the MRI. When comparing from the previous MRI, there seemed to be no change in the growth of tumors, so we decided to go conservative with no treatment as far as chemo or radiation therapy, unless we see a change. The next MRI is scheduled in three months. There is still a lot of swelling which they feel is pressing on the nerve bundles which they say may be causing the paralysis. And it is related to the tumors being present, so they are still hopeful that when the swelling eventually goes down that things will start improving so I'm still going to rely on steroids, plus nutrition and some natural healing techniques to see if we can do it this way for the next three months. Cancer cells, hate oxygen, so I do special breathing plus I'm getting a special drinking water which has extra oxygen molecules attached to it. Cancer cells also hate high alkalinity so I have special drops to put in my water to keep my pH above eight. Cancer cells also hate spicy food so I apologize if I'm talking to you and I smell like garlic and red hot peppers which I pretty much put on everything I eat now. Cancer cells also hates laughter. Something that I was always good at. The real killer for me is that cancer cells love sugar, which is my Achilles heel, but I'm still working on that one. So we will see how things go over the next three months.
In the meantime, don't be a stranger, I am pretty busy most of the time, but I'm always up for company or if someone can give us rides so my wife gets a little break from me. After all, I am still The Pogo and that will never change. just give a call to check my schedule. Phone number 421-7845.
POGO
Sunday, September 27, 2009
Thursday, September 24, 2009
BACK BY POPULAR DEMAND
Like I said in my last blog that there wasn't much exciting going on and the fact that my talking thing for dictating blogs had not been working for about a month. So that is why there is a large gap between blogs.
on September 8, my wife and I celebrated our 30th wedding anniversary. It was slightly toned down from our original plan which was a week in Hawaii. I had made reservations back in November before all this happened. I guess that will teach me to finally try and take a vacation. Instead I had flowers sent, got her an anniversary card with a letter inside I wrote, and then we went out to dinner. Hopefully in the near future, we will get another crack at Hawaii.
As far as my office goes, Dr. K. is doing a fabulous job of taking care of my patients. Which really helps me out, so I can concentrate on getting better without worrying about the practice. I still am doing the accounts payable and payroll. After being five months behind I'm
starting to catch up. I usually go in for about five hours on weekends. For awhile my wife was coming with me, but with the big mess we had there it was more of a test to see how frustrating it can be in our relationship, so now that my head is more clear I can go down by myself which has definitely reduced a lot of stress. I still have five months of reconciliation to do which I have to line by line because their numerous people writing checks and everything in the past was done by computer, so I have to find missing checks,missing deposits, duplications,among other things. but I'm getting there. I just crank up the music and take my time.
As far as my mental state, which is always up for interpretation, I'm still in great spirits and still very positive despite all that's going on. The days still go by fast, which I guess would indicate that I am not bored.
As far as my physical state, I'm doing very well with the PT which is the lower half of my body, but unfortunately the OT is not doing much and they may be discontinuing since there hasn't been much progress. Of course I'm not giving up and we will see how it goes.
I started aqua therapy at the innovative fitness complex in Franklin. It really seems to help a lot. They have a very nice facility there and my trainer is superb. Because I am doing so well there, I get there a half hour before my appointment, and warm-up, so I'm actually getting an hours worth of therapy for a half hour price. They do this twice a week which is nice because I finally get to hit the showers instead of a sponge bath at the kitchen sink. Like anything, the first time you are there you don't have it down to a science yet. So the first time I was in the family bathroom it was like ice skating out of control. The floor was slippery and handrails were not in proper places and the seats are too low in the shower. Thank goodness I still have quick reactions and was able to grab onto something before I skidded out of control The first time in their It probably took over an hour and now we can do it within 15 minutes, unless I want to sit in the shower a little longer.
Another thing that I have been doing is natural healing. To learn more about this and the science behind it, I watched a DVD called the living matrix. It is kind of like the matrix movie but is a documentary that explains the healing process and it does not star Keanu Reeves. We happened to have someone in our support group who has been doing this for 30 years and working with doctors. He had developed liver cancer a couple years ago, and the cancer is completely gone by using these techniques. So he is helping me out and we are hoping that this will help with the paralysis and the tumor. He's also helping me with nutrition and the proper supplements to make sure we do all we can to destroy the cancer cells. Cancer cells hate high alkalinity which would be above a pH of eight, cancer cells also hate oxygen so when I get the chance I take deep breaths from the diaphragm. Cancer cells also hate spicy food which is good for me because I like spicy food. Also laughter is the best medicine in our support group last week, the nurse who is in charge of our support group and I got into one of those laughing modes where you couldn't stop the tears are running out of your eyes, and every time you look at each other and just laughed harder. I must've killed off 1 million cancer cells during that time.
Recently, one of the people in our cancer support group passed away. He had cancer for quite a while and developed a real high fever which did him in. He was a very nice gentleman from Greendale who did the most delicate woodwork I've ever seen. He would make these extremely thin Doves that you could probably snap with two fingers and this guy had the hands the size of a yeti. Why I'm bringing this up, is one, how close a group we are and the second is his death inspired me to get out of the wheelchair more often and pretty much walk whenever I go out now. So when we went to the funeral in a church in West Allis, I figured it would not be handicapped accessible, which I was correct, so I had no choice but to walk. His wife was very appreciative that I made it despite all the obstacles. The closest handicapped parking spot was two blocks away but fortunately my wife got a spot right across the street and to add insult to injury it was raining out, and my wife was ready to just head back home, but I didn't want to disappoint anyone. Of course there is broken down concrete steps to get up,old peeling metal rails, more steps inside and about 200 foot aisle to get to the front of the church by the casket. Then I had to make it back. I figure if I could do this than I could handle anything as far as getting places without the use of the wheelchair. Besides, sitting on my ass has never been my strong suit. It takes a lot longer and I certainly feel better walking over riding.
POGO
on September 8, my wife and I celebrated our 30th wedding anniversary. It was slightly toned down from our original plan which was a week in Hawaii. I had made reservations back in November before all this happened. I guess that will teach me to finally try and take a vacation. Instead I had flowers sent, got her an anniversary card with a letter inside I wrote, and then we went out to dinner. Hopefully in the near future, we will get another crack at Hawaii.
As far as my office goes, Dr. K. is doing a fabulous job of taking care of my patients. Which really helps me out, so I can concentrate on getting better without worrying about the practice. I still am doing the accounts payable and payroll. After being five months behind I'm
starting to catch up. I usually go in for about five hours on weekends. For awhile my wife was coming with me, but with the big mess we had there it was more of a test to see how frustrating it can be in our relationship, so now that my head is more clear I can go down by myself which has definitely reduced a lot of stress. I still have five months of reconciliation to do which I have to line by line because their numerous people writing checks and everything in the past was done by computer, so I have to find missing checks,missing deposits, duplications,among other things. but I'm getting there. I just crank up the music and take my time.
As far as my mental state, which is always up for interpretation, I'm still in great spirits and still very positive despite all that's going on. The days still go by fast, which I guess would indicate that I am not bored.
As far as my physical state, I'm doing very well with the PT which is the lower half of my body, but unfortunately the OT is not doing much and they may be discontinuing since there hasn't been much progress. Of course I'm not giving up and we will see how it goes.
I started aqua therapy at the innovative fitness complex in Franklin. It really seems to help a lot. They have a very nice facility there and my trainer is superb. Because I am doing so well there, I get there a half hour before my appointment, and warm-up, so I'm actually getting an hours worth of therapy for a half hour price. They do this twice a week which is nice because I finally get to hit the showers instead of a sponge bath at the kitchen sink. Like anything, the first time you are there you don't have it down to a science yet. So the first time I was in the family bathroom it was like ice skating out of control. The floor was slippery and handrails were not in proper places and the seats are too low in the shower. Thank goodness I still have quick reactions and was able to grab onto something before I skidded out of control The first time in their It probably took over an hour and now we can do it within 15 minutes, unless I want to sit in the shower a little longer.
Another thing that I have been doing is natural healing. To learn more about this and the science behind it, I watched a DVD called the living matrix. It is kind of like the matrix movie but is a documentary that explains the healing process and it does not star Keanu Reeves. We happened to have someone in our support group who has been doing this for 30 years and working with doctors. He had developed liver cancer a couple years ago, and the cancer is completely gone by using these techniques. So he is helping me out and we are hoping that this will help with the paralysis and the tumor. He's also helping me with nutrition and the proper supplements to make sure we do all we can to destroy the cancer cells. Cancer cells hate high alkalinity which would be above a pH of eight, cancer cells also hate oxygen so when I get the chance I take deep breaths from the diaphragm. Cancer cells also hate spicy food which is good for me because I like spicy food. Also laughter is the best medicine in our support group last week, the nurse who is in charge of our support group and I got into one of those laughing modes where you couldn't stop the tears are running out of your eyes, and every time you look at each other and just laughed harder. I must've killed off 1 million cancer cells during that time.
Recently, one of the people in our cancer support group passed away. He had cancer for quite a while and developed a real high fever which did him in. He was a very nice gentleman from Greendale who did the most delicate woodwork I've ever seen. He would make these extremely thin Doves that you could probably snap with two fingers and this guy had the hands the size of a yeti. Why I'm bringing this up, is one, how close a group we are and the second is his death inspired me to get out of the wheelchair more often and pretty much walk whenever I go out now. So when we went to the funeral in a church in West Allis, I figured it would not be handicapped accessible, which I was correct, so I had no choice but to walk. His wife was very appreciative that I made it despite all the obstacles. The closest handicapped parking spot was two blocks away but fortunately my wife got a spot right across the street and to add insult to injury it was raining out, and my wife was ready to just head back home, but I didn't want to disappoint anyone. Of course there is broken down concrete steps to get up,old peeling metal rails, more steps inside and about 200 foot aisle to get to the front of the church by the casket. Then I had to make it back. I figure if I could do this than I could handle anything as far as getting places without the use of the wheelchair. Besides, sitting on my ass has never been my strong suit. It takes a lot longer and I certainly feel better walking over riding.
POGO
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