Okay, is that title a misprint or is it a play of words. Actually, it is an extremely accurate statement. As far as I go, I still feel very good physically and mentally. My left hand really hasn't improved much, but I am able to golf, play softball, and tennis. I also found out that if I take shorter strides, I can run faster and not fall down.
On May 5, I had an MRI done and was told of the results on May 8, by my chemotherapy doctor. The area where I had the surgery looked good, however the deeper areas where there were two smaller tumors had gotten significantly bigger. I guess this is a fine example of how much of our brain that we actually use, because I really haven't noticed the difference. Obviously, the doctor was concerned and I do have to admit that it didn't make my day but that certainly didn't change who I am, or my demeanor. I think everyone was a little surprised, because they said don't expect much change in the MRI as far as improvement, but didn't expect to see so much growth from the tumor, ergo the tumor is doing very well. He immediately called the other two doctors involved in the case and moved up the appointments. So it is extremely safe to say that Plan A, did not work and now we formulate Plan B.
I was able to see the radiation oncologists that same day. He wasn't quite as panicked as the chemo doctor. He mentioned that the tumor growth had a definite margin around it which is a good thing for his next plan of attack. Enter the Cyberknife. What a cool name that is, and it sounds invasive. What it actually is is a robotic real-time radiation device that sends a high dose of radiation to the tumor cells over a two-hour session and is accurate to within 2/10 of a millimeter. You can probably Google this procedure and get more info. We got the info packet and got to see it. I would literally be in and out of there in about two hours with no side effects. They are presently trying to expedient this process with my insurance company, so hopefully it will be done in the next few weeks.
On the following Tuesday, I saw the Neurosurgeon,, who I affectionately call Dr. Doom. I think he is an excellent surgeon, since the MRI looked good in the area he worked on, and I never had any postoperative pain, but he is no Knute Rockne. If you are up by three touchdowns going into halftime and he gave the big speech in the locker room, you would probably lose the game by 50 points. He is extremely pessimistic and literally gives me no hope. I think the only speech he ever memorized was a quality-of-life speech. If I hear that speech one more time, I am going to have to rent a gun and either shoot him or myself. Being a typical surgeon, he may think that if you can't cut it out, then it can't be cured. The good news is that I mostly deal with the other two doctors from now on.
If you noticed the delay between the dates of this news and when I actually did the blog was because I wanted to make sure I informed my kids so they didn't have to find out about it from the blog or from other people. I also didn't want to ruin Mother's Day, or my daughters wedding shower. They seemed to handle the news okay, and a lot it, hopefully had to do with my positive attitude and never changing personality.
POGO
PS I got a surprise e-mail last night, which I'm not going to mention at this time. But if it pans out, I will let everyone know as soon as possible. Just a little something to keep people guessing.
Monday, May 18, 2009
Friday, May 8, 2009
Happy belated 1st Birthday, Parker
On May 1, my one and only grandson, Parker, turned the big one-year-old. And what fun thing would you like to do on your birthday. How about going to the doctor for your first annual checkup and getting two shots. Does this kid know how to party or what. He did pass his physical with flying colors(hmmm-flying colors sounds a lot like me), and he tilted the scale at a whopping 23 pounds and is 29 3/4 inches tall. I don't think he's ready for the NBA just yet.
By the way, the belated first birthday is for the blog and not for his actual birthday. Seems like I'm always busy, but better late than never.
Saturday, May 2, was the official birthday party with about 60 friends and relatives. We went over the night before to help with the setup which was going very well until we put three adults in charge to put together this new Fisher-Price slide, which on the box set simple to assemble in 10 minutes. 45 minutes later after this 180 pound grandpa jumped up and down on the last piece of the slide for five minutes, it was together. No matter how many times we went over the instructions we never did see that 180 pound guy jumping up and down on that slide, but sometimes you have to improvise. Anyway the slide does work and obviously it's pretty sturdy. Well, with all that hard work, that put me in my ritualistic napping on the couch for about an hour and a half that evening. Boy, what a party guy I am.
Also the day before and the morning of the big party, Jack's mom literally relandscaped the whole backyard. It really looked nice and there were quite a few of us who would like her to fix up our yards. My idea of a green thumb is sticking my thumb up my nose.
We were lucky to have fairly nice weather for May 2. It was mostly sunny and in the 50s but a little breezy, so we're able to be outside most of the time. We were warned ahead of time that Parker is not a big fan of loud happy birthday singing, especially with 60 off key individuals. We tried to sing quietly, but you just can't hide bad singing. it starts with the pout and then follows up with the screaming, but who could blame him. Fortunately, the screaming and singing didn't last long. Thank goodness mom was there to open the presents for him, otherwise I think we'd still be there. Anyway, the food was great, there was plenty to drink, and good company. And what better way to end the day than my ritualistic 1 and 1/2 hour nap on the couch. Still the party animal.
PS My daughter put some photos on Facebook of the birthday party and I believe a photo or two from the dress like Pogo party. Hopefully you can find the pictures, just don't ask me how since I have a tough time just turning on the computer.
Looking forward to a lot more birthdays with my little buddy.
POGO
By the way, the belated first birthday is for the blog and not for his actual birthday. Seems like I'm always busy, but better late than never.
Saturday, May 2, was the official birthday party with about 60 friends and relatives. We went over the night before to help with the setup which was going very well until we put three adults in charge to put together this new Fisher-Price slide, which on the box set simple to assemble in 10 minutes. 45 minutes later after this 180 pound grandpa jumped up and down on the last piece of the slide for five minutes, it was together. No matter how many times we went over the instructions we never did see that 180 pound guy jumping up and down on that slide, but sometimes you have to improvise. Anyway the slide does work and obviously it's pretty sturdy. Well, with all that hard work, that put me in my ritualistic napping on the couch for about an hour and a half that evening. Boy, what a party guy I am.
Also the day before and the morning of the big party, Jack's mom literally relandscaped the whole backyard. It really looked nice and there were quite a few of us who would like her to fix up our yards. My idea of a green thumb is sticking my thumb up my nose.
We were lucky to have fairly nice weather for May 2. It was mostly sunny and in the 50s but a little breezy, so we're able to be outside most of the time. We were warned ahead of time that Parker is not a big fan of loud happy birthday singing, especially with 60 off key individuals. We tried to sing quietly, but you just can't hide bad singing. it starts with the pout and then follows up with the screaming, but who could blame him. Fortunately, the screaming and singing didn't last long. Thank goodness mom was there to open the presents for him, otherwise I think we'd still be there. Anyway, the food was great, there was plenty to drink, and good company. And what better way to end the day than my ritualistic 1 and 1/2 hour nap on the couch. Still the party animal.
PS My daughter put some photos on Facebook of the birthday party and I believe a photo or two from the dress like Pogo party. Hopefully you can find the pictures, just don't ask me how since I have a tough time just turning on the computer.
Looking forward to a lot more birthdays with my little buddy.
POGO
Tuesday, April 28, 2009
MONDO LUCHA
What the heck is MONDO LUCHA. After being there for 3 1/2 hours at the old Turner Hall in downtown Milwaukee, I can honestly say that I am not sure. I went there with my daughter and son-in-law and the Bayview gang. Even though I was the old man of our group, the range in age at this event was probably from 21 to 80 years old. There were probably about 500 people there, and the best way to describe this is that this was a mixture of wrestling, burlesque, pole dancing, comedy and music. Our seats were three rows from the wrestling ring and not too far from the stage where other parts of entertainment were being held. I think the only way I can describe this is to go through the entire night's event.
It started out with a loud modern band that had the bass cranked up and literally vibrated the chairs, which actually felt pretty good. Then came a three on three wrestling match which was as "realistic"as professional wrestling, but these guys were a lot smaller and most of them wore some type of mask, plus you weren't really sure who is supposed to be the good guys or the bad guys. But being close enough to the action made it easier to yell out the jokes and the obscenities, which made it more entertaining. I believe there are a total of five wrestling matches which were divided up throughout the evening. The second match was a one-on-one, the third match was doubles which included one team with spiked hair that would use that as a weapon. And to make things even more competitive, the next doubles match was two guys against two gals. I believe one guy was over 200 pounds and the other guy was like his promoter agent was about 150 pounds while their opponents was about a 75 pound gal and the other gal probably tipped the scale at 170 pounds .After about 10 minutes, the 200 pound guy flattened out the 75 pound girl for the victory. The final match of the evening was for the belt that was held by the Irish brothers who were pitted against the Sasquatch and the clown. You talk about cheesy looking outfits. Anyway, we got to witness the dethroning of the Irish brothers. Other wrestling mask and disguises were the Billy goat and the salamander and I'm sure there are others but my brain can't pick them up at this time.
In between the wrestling there was various entertainment, with most of it being burlesque with the old striptease and the tassels. They did this about six times with half the time being a group of three, included singing while they were doing it plus they came in all shapes and sizes. And in the category of weird, the gal who went solo a few times involved her being dressed as an Indian and slaying a guy in a rabbit suit and then scalping said rabbit and using the scalp to cover her goodies while she danced around. Other entertainment included "Clownvis Presley", who is supposed to be the only Elvis Presley clown, magician, impersonator. The extent of his magic was pulling streamers out of his mouth each time he came into the ring, and as far as the clown part, he had a red clown nose and as far as his singing, it was the standard Elvis, but I don't think he finished any songs. Probably the most entertaining part for the crowd was when they brought this 10 foot pole on stage and these two rather large woman would do all these moves and gyrations on the pole. It was really quite amazing on how those large gals could defy gravity like that, but I can only imagine that they have to have a severe case of pole burn from some of those moves. There were no breaks or intermissions, so they kept it rolling and the good news was that the drinks were cheap. 16 ounce Pabst for only three dollars.
So the best way to describe this evening was that it was different. It was a good time and I'm glad I went but I think that going to this once was more than enough times.
POGO
It started out with a loud modern band that had the bass cranked up and literally vibrated the chairs, which actually felt pretty good. Then came a three on three wrestling match which was as "realistic"as professional wrestling, but these guys were a lot smaller and most of them wore some type of mask, plus you weren't really sure who is supposed to be the good guys or the bad guys. But being close enough to the action made it easier to yell out the jokes and the obscenities, which made it more entertaining. I believe there are a total of five wrestling matches which were divided up throughout the evening. The second match was a one-on-one, the third match was doubles which included one team with spiked hair that would use that as a weapon. And to make things even more competitive, the next doubles match was two guys against two gals. I believe one guy was over 200 pounds and the other guy was like his promoter agent was about 150 pounds while their opponents was about a 75 pound gal and the other gal probably tipped the scale at 170 pounds .After about 10 minutes, the 200 pound guy flattened out the 75 pound girl for the victory. The final match of the evening was for the belt that was held by the Irish brothers who were pitted against the Sasquatch and the clown. You talk about cheesy looking outfits. Anyway, we got to witness the dethroning of the Irish brothers. Other wrestling mask and disguises were the Billy goat and the salamander and I'm sure there are others but my brain can't pick them up at this time.
In between the wrestling there was various entertainment, with most of it being burlesque with the old striptease and the tassels. They did this about six times with half the time being a group of three, included singing while they were doing it plus they came in all shapes and sizes. And in the category of weird, the gal who went solo a few times involved her being dressed as an Indian and slaying a guy in a rabbit suit and then scalping said rabbit and using the scalp to cover her goodies while she danced around. Other entertainment included "Clownvis Presley", who is supposed to be the only Elvis Presley clown, magician, impersonator. The extent of his magic was pulling streamers out of his mouth each time he came into the ring, and as far as the clown part, he had a red clown nose and as far as his singing, it was the standard Elvis, but I don't think he finished any songs. Probably the most entertaining part for the crowd was when they brought this 10 foot pole on stage and these two rather large woman would do all these moves and gyrations on the pole. It was really quite amazing on how those large gals could defy gravity like that, but I can only imagine that they have to have a severe case of pole burn from some of those moves. There were no breaks or intermissions, so they kept it rolling and the good news was that the drinks were cheap. 16 ounce Pabst for only three dollars.
So the best way to describe this evening was that it was different. It was a good time and I'm glad I went but I think that going to this once was more than enough times.
POGO
Friday, April 24, 2009
Pogo, that social butterfly
Well that's slow moving Caterpillar who went into the cocoon stage for a while has finally broken out and taken wing. He is back about 50% physically, but 100% socially. It all started the previous week when I combined five straight days and evenings of social and physical activities.
I got to watch a little bit of the Wednesday tennis group that I was in. The boys looked pretty good(at tennis, that is-didn't want anyone to think I was getting weird), and I can see it's going to be a while before I get back to that level. However, the part after tennis, which includes fermented beverages needs no help at all. Thank goodness, I have a designated driver, because there is a rumor going on that alcohol and brain tumors don't mix well. But I've got quite a bit more testing to do on that.
So the next day, I tested that theory out again, but threw in a little physical activity and actually played some real games of tennis. The legs and the game appear to be improving tremendously, however, the legs are coming along a little more slowly than the tennis game. Oh by the way, the beer went down fine that night too.
On Friday, I finally got to test out my golf swing, way way way back in my backyard. I'm happy to report that I was able to hang on to the club, so no people or stray animals were hurt, plus I preserved the new windows that we had recently put in. I use the little plastic balls which took off in a variety of directions but after a while they seem to go straighter. Hopefully this weekend, I will be able to get to the driving range and put more people at risk.
On Friday night, I did more research on the beer and brain theory. We had a makeup food tasting for my daughter's wedding. Not only did we finish the test foods, by the way which was mostly me, we followed that up with a fish fry, and it takes a lot of beer to wash down any stray fish bones.
On Saturday afternoon, we had our vintage baseball team meeting and practice. I am happy to report that I can still hit a baseball, not with quite the pop that I had in the past but a lot better than I expected. The fielding was a different story. Since we don't use gloves, catching with a dead left hand was a little difficult. However I did excel at waiting for the ball to stop rolling and then picking it up and throwing it back in. I think it's going to be tough for them to find a spot to hide me in the field, but on the bright side there's a lot of potential for some hilarious situations.
On Saturday night, we had our annual preseason Pogo softball party at my place. The theme for the night was "dress like Pogo". As you can imagine, it was a very colorful night. Most people came prepared, but just in case, I had our entire front window covered with the Pogo Hawiaan Collection. If I can figure out how to get those pictures on Facebook, I'll put in the team picture plus our version of Where's Waldo called Where's Pogo which is a photo of me standing in front of the window with all those shirts in the background. My daughter, who took the picture is still suffering from retina burn. As part of the entertainment that night we had photos over the past 30 years that were loaded onto a disk and played constantly on the big screen all evening. What is really amazing is how much hair everyone used to have and how much less fat was around the midsection. The only logical explanation is camera distortion. This night also happen to be the most comprehensive test to see if the fermented beverage and brain tumor don't mix. But I'm glad to say that I passed with flying colors( like butterfly wing's). How was that for a correlation. Now that I think of it, I have not had a headache from any source since I had the tumor removed. Maybe I just needed a little extra room up there.
Sunday was a little anti-climactic, but I did manage to squeeze in an hour and a half of tennis drills and a couple more fermented beverages. This was a good test for the summer. Looking forward to this weekend where I will be attending something downtown but I'm not sure what it is. I will report in the next blog on what that was all about.
For now, this is Pogo signing off, sober and out.
I got to watch a little bit of the Wednesday tennis group that I was in. The boys looked pretty good(at tennis, that is-didn't want anyone to think I was getting weird), and I can see it's going to be a while before I get back to that level. However, the part after tennis, which includes fermented beverages needs no help at all. Thank goodness, I have a designated driver, because there is a rumor going on that alcohol and brain tumors don't mix well. But I've got quite a bit more testing to do on that.
So the next day, I tested that theory out again, but threw in a little physical activity and actually played some real games of tennis. The legs and the game appear to be improving tremendously, however, the legs are coming along a little more slowly than the tennis game. Oh by the way, the beer went down fine that night too.
On Friday, I finally got to test out my golf swing, way way way back in my backyard. I'm happy to report that I was able to hang on to the club, so no people or stray animals were hurt, plus I preserved the new windows that we had recently put in. I use the little plastic balls which took off in a variety of directions but after a while they seem to go straighter. Hopefully this weekend, I will be able to get to the driving range and put more people at risk.
On Friday night, I did more research on the beer and brain theory. We had a makeup food tasting for my daughter's wedding. Not only did we finish the test foods, by the way which was mostly me, we followed that up with a fish fry, and it takes a lot of beer to wash down any stray fish bones.
On Saturday afternoon, we had our vintage baseball team meeting and practice. I am happy to report that I can still hit a baseball, not with quite the pop that I had in the past but a lot better than I expected. The fielding was a different story. Since we don't use gloves, catching with a dead left hand was a little difficult. However I did excel at waiting for the ball to stop rolling and then picking it up and throwing it back in. I think it's going to be tough for them to find a spot to hide me in the field, but on the bright side there's a lot of potential for some hilarious situations.
On Saturday night, we had our annual preseason Pogo softball party at my place. The theme for the night was "dress like Pogo". As you can imagine, it was a very colorful night. Most people came prepared, but just in case, I had our entire front window covered with the Pogo Hawiaan Collection. If I can figure out how to get those pictures on Facebook, I'll put in the team picture plus our version of Where's Waldo called Where's Pogo which is a photo of me standing in front of the window with all those shirts in the background. My daughter, who took the picture is still suffering from retina burn. As part of the entertainment that night we had photos over the past 30 years that were loaded onto a disk and played constantly on the big screen all evening. What is really amazing is how much hair everyone used to have and how much less fat was around the midsection. The only logical explanation is camera distortion. This night also happen to be the most comprehensive test to see if the fermented beverage and brain tumor don't mix. But I'm glad to say that I passed with flying colors( like butterfly wing's). How was that for a correlation. Now that I think of it, I have not had a headache from any source since I had the tumor removed. Maybe I just needed a little extra room up there.
Sunday was a little anti-climactic, but I did manage to squeeze in an hour and a half of tennis drills and a couple more fermented beverages. This was a good test for the summer. Looking forward to this weekend where I will be attending something downtown but I'm not sure what it is. I will report in the next blog on what that was all about.
For now, this is Pogo signing off, sober and out.
Monday, April 20, 2009
Latest medical update by the latest guy
Sorry about the lateness of this blog. There just doesn't seem to be enough time in the day to get to this. I think I'm busier now than I was before this all happened. I also want to make sure that I am not boring anybody to death, so the blogging may not be as frequent as in the past. Hopefully, two to three times per week.
Well, let's jump into the world of medicine. Last Tuesday, April 14, the day before D-Day , by the IRS standard, I finished my first round of radiation therapy and chemotherapy. I know the gals from radiation oncology are definitely going to miss me, since I would always brighten their day, which is what you expect if you wore the same attire that I do. They needed to be behind the lead wall more from what I was wearing than from the radiation itself. As of right now, there are no plans to continue the radiation. As far as a chemotherapy which I finished at the same time, I now have four weeks off for good behavior. In four weeks, we will have five days of chemo and two days off with a stronger dose for several weeks. The good news is that I had no side effects from either the chemotherapy and radiation therapy which is extremely rare, and not only that, but I kept getting stronger and feeling better as time went on. As usual, I follow the beat of a different drum and don't like to follow trends. Besides developing a third eye in the middle of my forehead and having a 12 inch dorsal fin grow out of my back, you never would have known that I was exposed to any radiation at all.. So both the chemo and radiation doctors are very optimistic that I will continue to improve and not have any side effects.
On May 5, I will have another MRI. I was told not to expect any dramatic changes in the size of the tumors, because it takes some time for this to show up. But I'll see if I can buck the trend again and mentally shrink those tumors. I do have appointments set up with all three doctors that are involved in my case after the MRI. They've all been telling me the same thing which is you are doing phenomenal and just let us know if there any changes.
More good news, is that they once again reduced the dose of the steroids to 4 mg per day which is a big jump from the original 18 mg per day. I did have some side effects from this evil drug, which included water retention, especially in the face and waist, and it also does wonders with the G.I. tract which is where the term "shitten bricks" comes from. Hopefully, I will be off this stuff completely in the next few months. Things have gotten a lot better over the last week and I think I'm done with these side effects.
Well that's it for the medical updates. Next up will be an update on the sports and social calendar.
Well, let's jump into the world of medicine. Last Tuesday, April 14, the day before D-Day , by the IRS standard, I finished my first round of radiation therapy and chemotherapy. I know the gals from radiation oncology are definitely going to miss me, since I would always brighten their day, which is what you expect if you wore the same attire that I do. They needed to be behind the lead wall more from what I was wearing than from the radiation itself. As of right now, there are no plans to continue the radiation. As far as a chemotherapy which I finished at the same time, I now have four weeks off for good behavior. In four weeks, we will have five days of chemo and two days off with a stronger dose for several weeks. The good news is that I had no side effects from either the chemotherapy and radiation therapy which is extremely rare, and not only that, but I kept getting stronger and feeling better as time went on. As usual, I follow the beat of a different drum and don't like to follow trends. Besides developing a third eye in the middle of my forehead and having a 12 inch dorsal fin grow out of my back, you never would have known that I was exposed to any radiation at all.. So both the chemo and radiation doctors are very optimistic that I will continue to improve and not have any side effects.
On May 5, I will have another MRI. I was told not to expect any dramatic changes in the size of the tumors, because it takes some time for this to show up. But I'll see if I can buck the trend again and mentally shrink those tumors. I do have appointments set up with all three doctors that are involved in my case after the MRI. They've all been telling me the same thing which is you are doing phenomenal and just let us know if there any changes.
More good news, is that they once again reduced the dose of the steroids to 4 mg per day which is a big jump from the original 18 mg per day. I did have some side effects from this evil drug, which included water retention, especially in the face and waist, and it also does wonders with the G.I. tract which is where the term "shitten bricks" comes from. Hopefully, I will be off this stuff completely in the next few months. Things have gotten a lot better over the last week and I think I'm done with these side effects.
Well that's it for the medical updates. Next up will be an update on the sports and social calendar.
Saturday, April 11, 2009
Pogo's brain, diabolical or brilliant
Darwin had his theory on evolution. Sir Isaac Newton had his theory on a creamy fruit filling inside a cookie, or the less likely theory of gravity and motion. And like all great thinkers, and philosophers, Pogo has his theory on how a perfectly healthy individual, who never gets sick and has never missed a day of work in his life ends up with a grade four, malignant brain tumor. Boy, talk about the cerebral powers of the above three geniuses, or as some might say, two out of three of the above, but you'll have to guess which is the odd one out.
Let us set the stage. Pogo's lifestyle. "Full Speed Ahead Captain". Monday's through Thursdays were pretty much the same, I'd wake up around 6 AM, leave the house by 7 AM to head off to work and pretty much worked 10 hours straight at a fast pace with little or no breaks. From there, I would race off to some evening activity and usually get there just in time. I would then get home between 9 PM and 10 PM, grab something to eat and then go to bed. On weekends, I would catch up on the things that I didn't have time for during the week, but I had to occupy every minute of the day. I did not know the meaning of the word relaxation, it felt like I was wasting time. I think it's safe to say that my motor was constantly idling on high. Now since I never took time off from work, this was my life, week after week, month after month, year after year. The last one week vacation I had was between Christmas and New Year's of 1999. Does the term "rut" seem appropriate here. To me this was normal and as far as I was concerned this was the lifestyle I wanted.
Now my dental practice, or as I commonly call it, my prison, not because I don't like it there, or like what I do, it is just that I cannot afford to leave their since I've had some bad breaks in the past with previous landlords and investments that went bad, so I've never been financially secure. Plus I've always bent over backwards for my patients and a lot of times at my own expense. Translated, nice guys make lousy business decisions.
Based on the above, I saw no end in sight. It looked like I would lead this lifestyle for the rest of my life with no retirement. My ideal plan was to eventually bring in other doctors to work for me and I could semi-retire to work when I want. I was always envious of other doctors who had no cash flow problems and were able to take time off when they want to. For years, I've been consciously trying to figure out how to do this. My concerns were that the doctors that I would hire would not provide the same quality of care that I could, because I always wanted the best for my patients. I was also concerned about another mouth to feed. If I'm just getting by, how can I afford to pay another dentist. Among other things, there could be personality conflicts and numerous other things that my feeble little mind kept coming up with.
Obviously, with all the things going on above, there may have been a little bit of hidden stress. I know that my blood pressure was higher than it was supposed to be, and my back and neck muscles were always in a knot, but would I change what I was doing? Obviously not.
Okay folks, we are now closing in on the Pogo Theory. All of this time while I was consciously trying to figure out the above, my subconscious mind was hard at work developing a foolproof plan to get Pogo out of this dilemma. The subconscious mind started with some suttle little changes to see if it could get my attention. When I go back and think over the past 6 to 9 months I may have noticed some slight loss of strength or tactile sense in my hands but it was so minor that I paid no attention to it. Since I didn't catch on with this, the subconscious headed for the tennis courts. Let's hit him where it really hurts. Since early December, my tennis game was way off, but of course I just thought it was a little bit of a slump. So the subconscious tried again and decided to add some numbness to his left hand, but once again, Bozo, decided to call a hand specialist. It was time for the subconscious to make its bold move. Let's see if walking into walls and furniture finally gets his attention. Yes it did.
So the Pogo Theory is that my subconscious created the glioblastoma, which is a tumor that is supposed to have an unknown etiology. I'm sure there could have been some simpler ways to do this, but we needed something overly convincing to make sure that I could officially retire.The subconscious also took into account to affect the left hand only, so I could pretty much do what I want to do. And it also slowed down my legs a little bit just so I wouldn't overdo things. This will add more challenges to my life in the world of sports, which I look forward to, since everything has always come pretty easy. Between a right hand that works subconsciously and a left-hand that you have to consciously think about, plus to consciously think on how fast you can run before the legs give out, it should prove to be an interesting summer with all the sports that I plan on playing.
The subconscious also decided to go for the most aggressive and malignant type of brain tumor there was, because it knows that Pogo loves a challenge, so why dink around with some minor little sissy, benign tumor. It makes it all that much cooler when you defeat this minor inconvenience.
So did the subconscious plan work? I would have to give it a big yes. My blood pressure has dropped dramatically, and is in the normal range, bloodwork has been normal, and I no longer have tightness in my back or neck. I now have the free time that I've never had. In fact I had more free time in February than I had in the past 30 years. I found a wonderful, personable,and highly skilled dentist to work for me and I get the new experience of having the time to manage the practice which has been busier than ever. I'm never bored and I have time on my side to do new things. As an added bonus, I finally got to use my health insurance and disability insurance which I have paid for over the past 30 years without seeing any benefits. And by the way, I have no plans to use my life insurance for at least for another 50 years.
Boy that subconscious must have a lot of free time to come up with a plan like that.
POGO
Let us set the stage. Pogo's lifestyle. "Full Speed Ahead Captain". Monday's through Thursdays were pretty much the same, I'd wake up around 6 AM, leave the house by 7 AM to head off to work and pretty much worked 10 hours straight at a fast pace with little or no breaks. From there, I would race off to some evening activity and usually get there just in time. I would then get home between 9 PM and 10 PM, grab something to eat and then go to bed. On weekends, I would catch up on the things that I didn't have time for during the week, but I had to occupy every minute of the day. I did not know the meaning of the word relaxation, it felt like I was wasting time. I think it's safe to say that my motor was constantly idling on high. Now since I never took time off from work, this was my life, week after week, month after month, year after year. The last one week vacation I had was between Christmas and New Year's of 1999. Does the term "rut" seem appropriate here. To me this was normal and as far as I was concerned this was the lifestyle I wanted.
Now my dental practice, or as I commonly call it, my prison, not because I don't like it there, or like what I do, it is just that I cannot afford to leave their since I've had some bad breaks in the past with previous landlords and investments that went bad, so I've never been financially secure. Plus I've always bent over backwards for my patients and a lot of times at my own expense. Translated, nice guys make lousy business decisions.
Based on the above, I saw no end in sight. It looked like I would lead this lifestyle for the rest of my life with no retirement. My ideal plan was to eventually bring in other doctors to work for me and I could semi-retire to work when I want. I was always envious of other doctors who had no cash flow problems and were able to take time off when they want to. For years, I've been consciously trying to figure out how to do this. My concerns were that the doctors that I would hire would not provide the same quality of care that I could, because I always wanted the best for my patients. I was also concerned about another mouth to feed. If I'm just getting by, how can I afford to pay another dentist. Among other things, there could be personality conflicts and numerous other things that my feeble little mind kept coming up with.
Obviously, with all the things going on above, there may have been a little bit of hidden stress. I know that my blood pressure was higher than it was supposed to be, and my back and neck muscles were always in a knot, but would I change what I was doing? Obviously not.
Okay folks, we are now closing in on the Pogo Theory. All of this time while I was consciously trying to figure out the above, my subconscious mind was hard at work developing a foolproof plan to get Pogo out of this dilemma. The subconscious mind started with some suttle little changes to see if it could get my attention. When I go back and think over the past 6 to 9 months I may have noticed some slight loss of strength or tactile sense in my hands but it was so minor that I paid no attention to it. Since I didn't catch on with this, the subconscious headed for the tennis courts. Let's hit him where it really hurts. Since early December, my tennis game was way off, but of course I just thought it was a little bit of a slump. So the subconscious tried again and decided to add some numbness to his left hand, but once again, Bozo, decided to call a hand specialist. It was time for the subconscious to make its bold move. Let's see if walking into walls and furniture finally gets his attention. Yes it did.
So the Pogo Theory is that my subconscious created the glioblastoma, which is a tumor that is supposed to have an unknown etiology. I'm sure there could have been some simpler ways to do this, but we needed something overly convincing to make sure that I could officially retire.The subconscious also took into account to affect the left hand only, so I could pretty much do what I want to do. And it also slowed down my legs a little bit just so I wouldn't overdo things. This will add more challenges to my life in the world of sports, which I look forward to, since everything has always come pretty easy. Between a right hand that works subconsciously and a left-hand that you have to consciously think about, plus to consciously think on how fast you can run before the legs give out, it should prove to be an interesting summer with all the sports that I plan on playing.
The subconscious also decided to go for the most aggressive and malignant type of brain tumor there was, because it knows that Pogo loves a challenge, so why dink around with some minor little sissy, benign tumor. It makes it all that much cooler when you defeat this minor inconvenience.
So did the subconscious plan work? I would have to give it a big yes. My blood pressure has dropped dramatically, and is in the normal range, bloodwork has been normal, and I no longer have tightness in my back or neck. I now have the free time that I've never had. In fact I had more free time in February than I had in the past 30 years. I found a wonderful, personable,and highly skilled dentist to work for me and I get the new experience of having the time to manage the practice which has been busier than ever. I'm never bored and I have time on my side to do new things. As an added bonus, I finally got to use my health insurance and disability insurance which I have paid for over the past 30 years without seeing any benefits. And by the way, I have no plans to use my life insurance for at least for another 50 years.
Boy that subconscious must have a lot of free time to come up with a plan like that.
POGO
Tuesday, April 7, 2009
ZZ TOP; I've got legs, I got to learn how to use them
Well, after a brief hiatus, I am back. Been a little busy again but got some new stuff. After talking about that brief little tumble from last week, which the doctor said was from the steroids, I found out different from the physical therapist. Similar to my left hand, I am missing some sensory innervation to my legs. Now this isn't anything new since I first got the symptoms before I went into the hospital. Basically what's happening is that the motor nerves and muscles strength is a lot faster than my sensory nerves. So if I try to sprint, my legs turn to rubber and I fall down and go boom. So I can only run as fast as my sensory nerves will allow. When I was taking those long walks, this sensory nerves can keep up.and when I was taking those long bike rides including hill training, there is very little sensery needed since I'm just peddling and not actually touching pavement.
Speaking of sports. I played tennis again last Sunday and there was a noticeable improvement. First of all, since I learned from above, I did not fall down. I also found out, that if I keep jumping up and down between points it seems to help my sensory perception in my legs and may give me that slight amount of extra speed. Energy is not a problem, speed is. I seem to have hit the ball better and may have worked myself up to a 3.5 level. So there is hope.
Speaking of sports again, I participated in a cancer fundraiser and got to bowl two games. And once again I did not fall down and go boom. It was a nine pin tap and I managed to get a 187 and a 197. It was a good time but I forgot to bring my iron lung( cough cough)
Speaking of sports once again, I swung by golf galaxy to check on what they can do with my left hand. The person I talked to said that he had quite a few people that had the same thing and recommended a wide grip and a good glove. Holding the golf club felt natural but I didn't want to swing a club until I made sure that no one was in striking distance or that there were breakable objects within range and I wanted to make sure that my liability insurance was paid up.
And last but not least, our government in action. I designated last Saturday, as the day that I would complete the form for disability benefits for Social Security. It took me about six hours on Saturday, and with little computer problem on Sunday another two hours, plus another two hours on Monday at the Social Security office. I spent about an hour and a half with this young gentleman going over everything in the application and making sure that everything was legitimate and help make sure that I would qualify for disability benefits. When we finally got to the end he asked me if I did anything at the office at all. And my reply was that I just write the checks out so the business can keep working. Guess what that means. If you can sign your name, you are not considered disabled, and therefore you do not qualify for benefits. Fortunately for me, after hearing this he didn't want to redo the whole form and asked if there is someone else who could sign the checks. My wife was listed as a cosigner, so I brought a bunch of checks home for her to sign, and now we should be legitimate and we saved that young lad an hour and a half of time by not redoing the whole form. I think from now on, I will wear a disguise when I go to the office so no one will recognize me. After all.we don't want to take any chances.
POGO
Speaking of sports. I played tennis again last Sunday and there was a noticeable improvement. First of all, since I learned from above, I did not fall down. I also found out, that if I keep jumping up and down between points it seems to help my sensory perception in my legs and may give me that slight amount of extra speed. Energy is not a problem, speed is. I seem to have hit the ball better and may have worked myself up to a 3.5 level. So there is hope.
Speaking of sports again, I participated in a cancer fundraiser and got to bowl two games. And once again I did not fall down and go boom. It was a nine pin tap and I managed to get a 187 and a 197. It was a good time but I forgot to bring my iron lung( cough cough)
Speaking of sports once again, I swung by golf galaxy to check on what they can do with my left hand. The person I talked to said that he had quite a few people that had the same thing and recommended a wide grip and a good glove. Holding the golf club felt natural but I didn't want to swing a club until I made sure that no one was in striking distance or that there were breakable objects within range and I wanted to make sure that my liability insurance was paid up.
And last but not least, our government in action. I designated last Saturday, as the day that I would complete the form for disability benefits for Social Security. It took me about six hours on Saturday, and with little computer problem on Sunday another two hours, plus another two hours on Monday at the Social Security office. I spent about an hour and a half with this young gentleman going over everything in the application and making sure that everything was legitimate and help make sure that I would qualify for disability benefits. When we finally got to the end he asked me if I did anything at the office at all. And my reply was that I just write the checks out so the business can keep working. Guess what that means. If you can sign your name, you are not considered disabled, and therefore you do not qualify for benefits. Fortunately for me, after hearing this he didn't want to redo the whole form and asked if there is someone else who could sign the checks. My wife was listed as a cosigner, so I brought a bunch of checks home for her to sign, and now we should be legitimate and we saved that young lad an hour and a half of time by not redoing the whole form. I think from now on, I will wear a disguise when I go to the office so no one will recognize me. After all.we don't want to take any chances.
POGO
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
