This was really not much of a contest. In fact, I'm lucky to be able to get this blog done, because when I went to my dictating system, it said recognition aborted, so it took some time to get that fixed.
On Friday, my brother-in-law came over to play some chess, and cribbage. He also brought over a Lewis Black DVD for us to watch after the games. If you ever want to meet two people who knew nothing about how to play the DVD, we were definitely in a class by ourself and the word remedial comes to mind, and we were flunking that. We spent over a half hour trying to get this thing to work between the five clickers and who knows how many buttons. We were able to find out which was the DVD player and actually inserted the DVD. After a while we were able to get the audio but no picture. I think I pushed every button there was on all five clickers with no results. About a half-hour later my son Brad came through the door, and pushed one button and lo and behold there was a picture and sound. I swear I pushed that same button that he did at least 20 times. So by that time our wives got back from their lunch, so we never got to see the DVD.
The next day, I was on the computer and was going to clean outall the e-mails that I had sent over the last few years which was well over 1000. There were some important e-mails that I needed to save and they were hard to find because there was so many. So I had to individually check the boxes of the sent e-mails that I didn't want and delete them individually. However, when I hit the delete button, it deleted everything and not just the items that I had checked. This was important data for my accountant and attorney who both checked to see if we could recover the data through the computer, but unfortunately it was not possible. I also could not use the computer, until we were sure that we could not retrieve the data through this computer. I guess that stuff we watch TV is not always true. I've seen shows where the DVD gets blown up and they still seem to be able to get data out of it.
Hey I'm just getting started, on Sunday we had a total of 13 people here to watch the New Orleans and Minnesota playoff game only to find out that our AT&T U Verse decided to freeze up and or get a pixelated picture which was so bad that you could not make out anything. Considering everything was fine up to game time since I had no problem watching the earlier game before people came over. After being on the phone with them we finally saw a little bit of the fourth quarter and the overtime. Thank goodness we had a fun bunch of people because we certainly didn't see much of the game. I planned on having a Super Bowl party here to but after last weekend it may be tough to get people to show up.
And let's add one more thing, when I woke up this morning, if it's still dark out I always turn on the TV and guess what didn't work this morning. So I guess it's safe to say that the electronics easily won over me.
As far as what else is happening, I'm halfway through my second jigsaw puzzle, I won my first game of chess playing online against a friend. I think he took me a little too lightly for our first match, And I'm sure that this will be a tougher match which we just started on Monday.
Also, my son-in-law Jack will be going down to Miami to do a video on the Super Bowl. This will be the fourth of the high five series of videos that he does for the website Funny or Die, which he will have finished by the Friday before the Super Bowl. So if you wish to see this one, or any of the previous ones go to the website and see them, just don't ask me how to do it based on the above information.
POGO
Tuesday, January 26, 2010
Tuesday, January 19, 2010
bummer medical news
Sue and I went to the hospital on Monday morning to evaluate my nerves and muscles. Contrary to what I was told by the surgeon who's surgery caused the paralysis, they don't see anything which would make it any better than it presently is now. They basically gave no chance for the left arm, and not much chance for being able to walk without my quad cane. They were impressed with my strength and they still recommend that I just keep doing what I'm doing to stay strong, but no other treatment is recommended. But I am supposed to let them know if anything changes for the better or worse. My legs have been feeling lighter, which they say is a good sign. So my days of being the ultimate athlete are now over, and now I will become the ultimate supporter( I guess I will have to change my nickname to Jock). we both kind of expected this answer since it's been 8 months with not that much progress, but just learning the truth was like a quick kick in the nuts and was very emotional. So now it is just a matter of changing my lifestyle and interests which I'm sure I can handle, it'll just be different.
And always looking on the bright side, they told me a lot of people in my condition have a lot of pain and don't move around as well as I do, plus the cancer's been staying stable, and I'm still here, so I'm still better off than a lot of people out there. I will still be working hard, to strengthen my legs and my right arm, plus I still got my personality and sense of humor and as usual I will not let this get me down. And another good thing, the wheelchair is a very comfy chair.
So Sue and I will be looking for any outlets of different activity that gets us away from the dull routine and out into the public for some fun. If anybody has something fun going on, or ideas for fun things to do, please let us know. When summer rolls around, I'll be looking forward to watching the baseball and tennis teams and you can bet that there'll be some sharp tongued criticism and jabs at the participants. I am hoping that my son Brad will be able to play on the state tennis team this year if his schedule permits, that way I can live vicariously through him.
As far as my big accomplishment for the month, I finished my 1000 piece jigsaw puzzle and will shellac it so it can be saved.
So don't be a stranger out there, I am always up for company.
pogo
And always looking on the bright side, they told me a lot of people in my condition have a lot of pain and don't move around as well as I do, plus the cancer's been staying stable, and I'm still here, so I'm still better off than a lot of people out there. I will still be working hard, to strengthen my legs and my right arm, plus I still got my personality and sense of humor and as usual I will not let this get me down. And another good thing, the wheelchair is a very comfy chair.
So Sue and I will be looking for any outlets of different activity that gets us away from the dull routine and out into the public for some fun. If anybody has something fun going on, or ideas for fun things to do, please let us know. When summer rolls around, I'll be looking forward to watching the baseball and tennis teams and you can bet that there'll be some sharp tongued criticism and jabs at the participants. I am hoping that my son Brad will be able to play on the state tennis team this year if his schedule permits, that way I can live vicariously through him.
As far as my big accomplishment for the month, I finished my 1000 piece jigsaw puzzle and will shellac it so it can be saved.
So don't be a stranger out there, I am always up for company.
pogo
Monday, January 11, 2010
social life for the past month
Last week I updated you on my medical condition, this week is all about the exciting life of Pogo.
As far as the holidays went, like I mentioned in a previous blog, on Christmas Eve, my younger sister was in from out of town and her and my mom came over along with Lisa's family, and we played games that evening. Christmas morning we had our traditional Christmas which included all our kids and their families. Being the holidays, I got away from the diet for breakfast so I could have pancakes, scrambled eggs, and bacon. It was goooooooooood. After that we opened gifts. I got a few games, a couple decks of cards, and one of those card shufflers. In the afternoon, we went to Sue's brother's house in Richfield who have a beautiful home, and very roomy, so it didn't feel crowded with the 35 people and two dogs. We also did something different this year over there, instead of drawing names and exchanging gifts, we did a white elephant gift exchange. This was definitely a lot more fun and everybody did a pretty good job of picking out gifts. The general rules for this was everybody drew a number, whoever had number one got to pick any wrapped gift and then whoever was next in line got the choice to open up a wrapped gift, or steal any gift that was already opened. You could only steal twice as far as a gift went and not two times in a row. So there is an advantage to having a higher number, but as we found out you never know sometimes. I was number eight and ended up with this 50 pound crockpot which for some reason nobody wanted to steal, however the weight of the crockpot in the trunk helped on the way home because the roads were slippery.
Thank goodness for football season, I love professional football and fantasy football, unfortunately neither was a good year. Most of you out there probably know that I'm a Bear fan and have been one since 1963. I've seen every game this year and probably only miss one or two games a year. You got to support your team whether they are good or bad. I see a lot of potential for next year but that's been said before. I have a group of Bear fans that come over and watch the game with me, and when not televised locally, I go to Romines on 27 Street and the manager actually sets up my own private room which is close to the bathroom and the front door, plus I'm away from all the smoking. It's nice of him to do this for me since I really can't order any food from their or drinks.
As far as fantasy football goes, I ended up 7-7 and missed the playoffs. For the second year in a row I lost to the same guy twice because of the head coaches, which both years took me out to the playoffs. I do all that research and it came down to the head coaches. So much for superior drafting. I suppose drafting a head coach in the first-round would be an act of desperation.
Just because the Bears did not make the playoffs doesn't mean that we didn't get together to watch a playoff game. So Sunday, we got together for an anti-Packer party, so we had a moral victory and it turned out to be a pretty exciting game. I'm sure most of you out there are mourning due to that overtime loss, but remember a little bit of joy in my life may be worth all the suffering you guys are going through right now. Talk about a cheap shot. Since the Packers are out of the playoffs, we had to go to plan B. for a theme to get together, so we are having an anti-Favre party instead.
I tested out the new handicapped rails leading upstairs. No problem getting up-and-down, in fact the getting up stairs, I haven't been that high since my college days. Just a joke, never did the evil weed, besides my nickname in Dental School was 'PABST", which is probably a better clue of my college life.
After getting up stairs, I tried to use the bowflex, but that ended up being too difficult a procedure, so I am going to plan B., which is getting some dumbbells, and I am talking about weights, not people.
I have also been working on a 1000 piece jigsaw puzzle for the past month which is really challenging when you're colorblind plus limited on access to the puzzle, but all I have left is the sky. My next decision will be what I would do with it when I'm done. I hate to go through a months worth of work and then take everything apart which would seem like a waste of a month and a half. Perhaps it can be framed or stored somehow. I've also had a lot of help working on the puzzle with the cats. For while there I spent the first half hour refixing the puzzle and searching for pieces under this server, the stove, and the refrigerator. They are a lot better now.
I am also playing chess online with one of the guys on my softball team, so it's been five days in and only five moves, but we have 30 days to finish the game and he seems to only do it when at work. Boy I must've picked the wrong profession, because this guy has the time to play chess and my son-in-law had time to watch movies and read books while at work, while I was lucky if I got a minute during a nine hour day.
This next part is not really social but it is a necessary and enjoyable part of my day, which is nap time. Now for those of you who don't want to hear about potty talk, you may want to close your eyes when your reading this. As some of you may know, especially the people I have golfed with, that I was blessed with a very strong pump, but a small storage tank, because I don't think there's a single golf course out there, or golf hole that I have not watered. So I have to take my nap just after my last pee, which may give me an hour and a half of a nap. This is what I call rush hour, or flush hour. Everyone knows to get out of the way when I get wheeling towards the little boys room. And if you consider that the only liquid I drink is at the beginning of the day when I drink my 18 to 24 ounces of peroxide and water, I must have one of those hidden springs in my body somewhere. So unlike Cinderella who was awakened by a kiss, I am the one who is awakened by a piss.
Another good thing that is happening is that I am making my diet more flexible and my wife has been finding all these food items that have between zero and 2 g of sugar, so it takes the pressure off of her of making these special diets. In fact yesterday she got back from the store and picked up special organic soups, frozen pizza, a type of noodle, Alfredo sauce, peanut butter, among other things. So it's more like eating normal food without the sugar. Every once in a while I will treat myself. A few days ago we ordered out pizza and had 2 slices, along with the six jalapenos, that came with the pizza.
I also want to give you an update on my kids. Presently, Jesse and Brad are both on semester break from MATC. Jesse is going back to school to become a nurse. Last semester she got straight A's and that was taking anatomy and physiology which are tough courses, but she's always been a hard studier. She had also lost her job at the end of the year, because they needed someone full-time. They liked her a lot there and in fact working part time there was an experiment while she was going to school . She just recently got another job working at Carabas on 76 Street, across the street from The Olive Garden as a waitress, which will give her the flexibility with her school schedule. So if you like good Italian food and are a good tipper then go there and ask for Jesse, if you are lousy tipper and like average Italian food, then go across the street.
Lisa and her family recently got back from their annual family trip to the Bahamas however this year Parker was not in the mood for a vacation. He cried bloody murder on the flights both ways, plus he cried at bedtime, he cried when they tried to go to the beach, he cried when they tried to go to the pool and he basically cried if Lisa wasn't with him. Otherwise, he had a good time. And talk about ironic, they had the same people in front of them both ways on the flight. That had to be one long flight. In fact the first thing that Lisa said when she got back from her trip, was that she needed a vacation.
Brad has been doing very well in school, he is into TV production. in fact, he's been working on his student ops project, which involves him doing a short feature film which will be televised in the springtime. He is the producer, the director, the writer, and the editor, plus he'll be screening numerous actors from the Milwaukee and Chicago area that have shown interest in wanting to be in his film. Considering this course doesn't start till next semester, he is already ahead of the game. He wrote the script over the semester break and today is getting together with the people in charge of the music. So there will be a musical background plus an original score for the show. The kid is really good at this and hopefully someday he'll be famous, and then I can say That's my boy.
POGO
As far as the holidays went, like I mentioned in a previous blog, on Christmas Eve, my younger sister was in from out of town and her and my mom came over along with Lisa's family, and we played games that evening. Christmas morning we had our traditional Christmas which included all our kids and their families. Being the holidays, I got away from the diet for breakfast so I could have pancakes, scrambled eggs, and bacon. It was goooooooooood. After that we opened gifts. I got a few games, a couple decks of cards, and one of those card shufflers. In the afternoon, we went to Sue's brother's house in Richfield who have a beautiful home, and very roomy, so it didn't feel crowded with the 35 people and two dogs. We also did something different this year over there, instead of drawing names and exchanging gifts, we did a white elephant gift exchange. This was definitely a lot more fun and everybody did a pretty good job of picking out gifts. The general rules for this was everybody drew a number, whoever had number one got to pick any wrapped gift and then whoever was next in line got the choice to open up a wrapped gift, or steal any gift that was already opened. You could only steal twice as far as a gift went and not two times in a row. So there is an advantage to having a higher number, but as we found out you never know sometimes. I was number eight and ended up with this 50 pound crockpot which for some reason nobody wanted to steal, however the weight of the crockpot in the trunk helped on the way home because the roads were slippery.
Thank goodness for football season, I love professional football and fantasy football, unfortunately neither was a good year. Most of you out there probably know that I'm a Bear fan and have been one since 1963. I've seen every game this year and probably only miss one or two games a year. You got to support your team whether they are good or bad. I see a lot of potential for next year but that's been said before. I have a group of Bear fans that come over and watch the game with me, and when not televised locally, I go to Romines on 27 Street and the manager actually sets up my own private room which is close to the bathroom and the front door, plus I'm away from all the smoking. It's nice of him to do this for me since I really can't order any food from their or drinks.
As far as fantasy football goes, I ended up 7-7 and missed the playoffs. For the second year in a row I lost to the same guy twice because of the head coaches, which both years took me out to the playoffs. I do all that research and it came down to the head coaches. So much for superior drafting. I suppose drafting a head coach in the first-round would be an act of desperation.
Just because the Bears did not make the playoffs doesn't mean that we didn't get together to watch a playoff game. So Sunday, we got together for an anti-Packer party, so we had a moral victory and it turned out to be a pretty exciting game. I'm sure most of you out there are mourning due to that overtime loss, but remember a little bit of joy in my life may be worth all the suffering you guys are going through right now. Talk about a cheap shot. Since the Packers are out of the playoffs, we had to go to plan B. for a theme to get together, so we are having an anti-Favre party instead.
I tested out the new handicapped rails leading upstairs. No problem getting up-and-down, in fact the getting up stairs, I haven't been that high since my college days. Just a joke, never did the evil weed, besides my nickname in Dental School was 'PABST", which is probably a better clue of my college life.
After getting up stairs, I tried to use the bowflex, but that ended up being too difficult a procedure, so I am going to plan B., which is getting some dumbbells, and I am talking about weights, not people.
I have also been working on a 1000 piece jigsaw puzzle for the past month which is really challenging when you're colorblind plus limited on access to the puzzle, but all I have left is the sky. My next decision will be what I would do with it when I'm done. I hate to go through a months worth of work and then take everything apart which would seem like a waste of a month and a half. Perhaps it can be framed or stored somehow. I've also had a lot of help working on the puzzle with the cats. For while there I spent the first half hour refixing the puzzle and searching for pieces under this server, the stove, and the refrigerator. They are a lot better now.
I am also playing chess online with one of the guys on my softball team, so it's been five days in and only five moves, but we have 30 days to finish the game and he seems to only do it when at work. Boy I must've picked the wrong profession, because this guy has the time to play chess and my son-in-law had time to watch movies and read books while at work, while I was lucky if I got a minute during a nine hour day.
This next part is not really social but it is a necessary and enjoyable part of my day, which is nap time. Now for those of you who don't want to hear about potty talk, you may want to close your eyes when your reading this. As some of you may know, especially the people I have golfed with, that I was blessed with a very strong pump, but a small storage tank, because I don't think there's a single golf course out there, or golf hole that I have not watered. So I have to take my nap just after my last pee, which may give me an hour and a half of a nap. This is what I call rush hour, or flush hour. Everyone knows to get out of the way when I get wheeling towards the little boys room. And if you consider that the only liquid I drink is at the beginning of the day when I drink my 18 to 24 ounces of peroxide and water, I must have one of those hidden springs in my body somewhere. So unlike Cinderella who was awakened by a kiss, I am the one who is awakened by a piss.
Another good thing that is happening is that I am making my diet more flexible and my wife has been finding all these food items that have between zero and 2 g of sugar, so it takes the pressure off of her of making these special diets. In fact yesterday she got back from the store and picked up special organic soups, frozen pizza, a type of noodle, Alfredo sauce, peanut butter, among other things. So it's more like eating normal food without the sugar. Every once in a while I will treat myself. A few days ago we ordered out pizza and had 2 slices, along with the six jalapenos, that came with the pizza.
I also want to give you an update on my kids. Presently, Jesse and Brad are both on semester break from MATC. Jesse is going back to school to become a nurse. Last semester she got straight A's and that was taking anatomy and physiology which are tough courses, but she's always been a hard studier. She had also lost her job at the end of the year, because they needed someone full-time. They liked her a lot there and in fact working part time there was an experiment while she was going to school . She just recently got another job working at Carabas on 76 Street, across the street from The Olive Garden as a waitress, which will give her the flexibility with her school schedule. So if you like good Italian food and are a good tipper then go there and ask for Jesse, if you are lousy tipper and like average Italian food, then go across the street.
Lisa and her family recently got back from their annual family trip to the Bahamas however this year Parker was not in the mood for a vacation. He cried bloody murder on the flights both ways, plus he cried at bedtime, he cried when they tried to go to the beach, he cried when they tried to go to the pool and he basically cried if Lisa wasn't with him. Otherwise, he had a good time. And talk about ironic, they had the same people in front of them both ways on the flight. That had to be one long flight. In fact the first thing that Lisa said when she got back from her trip, was that she needed a vacation.
Brad has been doing very well in school, he is into TV production. in fact, he's been working on his student ops project, which involves him doing a short feature film which will be televised in the springtime. He is the producer, the director, the writer, and the editor, plus he'll be screening numerous actors from the Milwaukee and Chicago area that have shown interest in wanting to be in his film. Considering this course doesn't start till next semester, he is already ahead of the game. He wrote the script over the semester break and today is getting together with the people in charge of the music. So there will be a musical background plus an original score for the show. The kid is really good at this and hopefully someday he'll be famous, and then I can say That's my boy.
POGO
Wednesday, January 6, 2010
summary of medical condition for new people to the blog
Since there may be a lot of people out there who have not been to the site before or it's been a long time, this first one will be a recap of what happened since that fateful day on February 2, 2009. It all started at my office on Monday morning when I started getting some numbness in my left hand and started dropping instruments, which isn't a good thing when your a dentist. Within an hour of that I started walking into things, like walls and desks. I ended up at the hospital, where they took some scans of my head and found three masses, the largest was a size of a golf ball which was just under the skull, and a medium and a small one deeper within the brain. I had surgery on February 6, to remove the mass just under the skull, which went very well, but unfortunately, conventional surgery could not reach the other two without causing severe brain damage, which probably no one would know the difference based on me being me. Also the diagnosis could not have been worse, it is the most deadliest brain cancer and was at the most advanced stages. The surgeon gave me 12 to 18 months, but my response was bull shit, you can't get rid of made that easy. He obviously didn't know who he was dealing with. The guy was an excellent surgeon, but never gave me any hope, which is why I nicknamed him Dr. Doom and have not seen him since, because he could suck the energy out of your body with his comments.
I was still able to walk after getting out of hospital but my left arm was little weak, but you couldn't tell that anything was wrong. In March and April, I had chemotherapy and radiation therapy which actually did not help at all, in fact the two deeper tumors got larger. In the meantime I was in constant contact with a hospital in Cleveland that had a new study on a surgical procedure that could get to the deeper tumors in my brain, but I had to meet certain qualifications. When I finally met the qualifications, I found out that the study was closed. I thought I got a good break when they called me back and said someone backed out so so I was in. This was supposed to be a very safe procedure with little side effects, but of course I screwed that up by becoming totally paralyzed on my left side even though it was less than a 5% chance of anything like this happening. They are still not sure what happened, but the surgeon thought that everything would come back within two months, obviously he was wrong.
I was going through physical therapy and occupational therapy until the end of October, but they have stopped that because they said there was no progress. So as far as I go, I do what I can to stay strong on my own with my own exercise program and aqua therapy. I try to walk as often as possible with the aid of a cane, since I'm not a big fan of sitting in a wheelchair, even though it is a pretty comfy chair.
As far as the cancer goes, it has been stable since April, which according to the radiation oncologist is extremely rare for the type of cancer I have and the stage it was in. He said if you can get by three months without any growth that that is pretty good, and I've gone nine months and that's without any chemotherapy or radiation therapy. Just relying on willpower, diet and vitamins.
As usual, I'm always in good spirits, and personality wise, and sense of humor have not changed a bit, it is just a temporary lifestyle change.
So this is the first of my weekly blogs for 2010, look for the next one within seven days. If you want more details and stories, please check the archives, and if you have any comments, I'd like to hear them or in this case, read them.
pogo
I was still able to walk after getting out of hospital but my left arm was little weak, but you couldn't tell that anything was wrong. In March and April, I had chemotherapy and radiation therapy which actually did not help at all, in fact the two deeper tumors got larger. In the meantime I was in constant contact with a hospital in Cleveland that had a new study on a surgical procedure that could get to the deeper tumors in my brain, but I had to meet certain qualifications. When I finally met the qualifications, I found out that the study was closed. I thought I got a good break when they called me back and said someone backed out so so I was in. This was supposed to be a very safe procedure with little side effects, but of course I screwed that up by becoming totally paralyzed on my left side even though it was less than a 5% chance of anything like this happening. They are still not sure what happened, but the surgeon thought that everything would come back within two months, obviously he was wrong.
I was going through physical therapy and occupational therapy until the end of October, but they have stopped that because they said there was no progress. So as far as I go, I do what I can to stay strong on my own with my own exercise program and aqua therapy. I try to walk as often as possible with the aid of a cane, since I'm not a big fan of sitting in a wheelchair, even though it is a pretty comfy chair.
As far as the cancer goes, it has been stable since April, which according to the radiation oncologist is extremely rare for the type of cancer I have and the stage it was in. He said if you can get by three months without any growth that that is pretty good, and I've gone nine months and that's without any chemotherapy or radiation therapy. Just relying on willpower, diet and vitamins.
As usual, I'm always in good spirits, and personality wise, and sense of humor have not changed a bit, it is just a temporary lifestyle change.
So this is the first of my weekly blogs for 2010, look for the next one within seven days. If you want more details and stories, please check the archives, and if you have any comments, I'd like to hear them or in this case, read them.
pogo
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