FUND RAISER

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