As the title says this blog is one man’s effort to make sense out of his journey fighting melanoma. I have enjoyed reading some of my fellow melanoma warriors’ blogs and thought it might be an interesting way to share what this journey has been like for me. If you find this interesting great, if not that’s great also. Selfishly this is more about me getting this out and moving on from being a cancer patient to being a cancer survivor.

Let’s clear up a few things. Yes, I know how to use spell check and no I don’t always use it. I majored in accounting, not english. I have always been a below average writer, which is why I find the therapeutic value of doing this surprising. I think for this blog to make any sense you pretty much have to go to the archive and start from the beginning which is titled “Life Is Good”

I am not a doctor or medial professional of any type. My blog is not endorsed by any medical professional or facility mentioned in it. Every decision I have made about my care was done after careful consultation with my medical team. Decisions I have made were right for me but should not in any instance be considered right for anybody else. I don't recommend taking medical advice from an accountant.


Key West

Key West
Sunset

Thursday, May 19, 2011

Great News Today


First off and most importantly I wanted to share with everybody that my latest scan shows no signs of cancer anywhere so that is excellent news.  It was an extremely long week since I had my test done last Thursday and I was really disappointed in my oncologist this week.  For the most part he has always been very responsive and timely in sharing test results.  This week it went badly in my opinion.  I really should not have to wait 7 days for my test results when others are getting them within hours.   At some point I will have to do a post ranting about how hard it is to get test results and copies of my records.  I keep my own chart and have copies of most test I have had done.  Some places are really good about it and others are a pain in the ass.  I will be looking around before my next PET scan to find something better than the experience I had this time.  I won’t get started as I think that is a rant for another day.  I am still cancer free nearly 9 months after initial diagnosis and I don’t take that for granted.  Others are not as fortunate. 
May is a crazy month in my family.  All three of my children and one of my sisters were born in May.  This year we had the added bonus of two high school graduations, one for my daughter and one for my niece Erica.   On Sunday one of my nephews will be walking the hill (graduating) from the University Of Kansas.  In a true stroke of genius he immediately will enroll in grad school and somehow got a job in the athletic department and they will pay for his schooling.  I have offered numerous times over the last four years to switch jobs with him but so far he isn’t interested in my gig at all.   I am very proud of all of you and am excited for all your futures.  There will be lots of family around this weekend and I am looking forward to seeing everybody.  My son is still in town and I am looking forward to spend some more time with him before he heads back to Alaska.
I have what I like to call the stuck in Newark blues tonight.  My flight was scheduled to leave at 8:50 and has now been pushed back to 09:50.  This has been the trip from hell.  Flight canceled Sunday, along with the next two flights to Newark.  On Monday I couldn’t get here before 10:00 pm which with delays turned out to be midnight.   Now my flight home is going to be late.  So I will land about 1:00 am EST as it’s scheduled now.  I hope there are not many more delays or the Newark Marriott will have an extra guest tonight. 
That is my ex wife and my youngest daughter in the picture below and it was taken last week at her graduation. Her mother and I have had our issues over the years but when it came to raising our children we were always able to put whatever our issues were aside for what was best for our children.  Being a divorced parent is difficult, and I imagine being a child in a broken marriage is even more difficult.  We have successfully raised three great children and I think we both can take a certain amount of pride in that.  i can't believe in the fall I will be an empty nester. 
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2 comments:

  1. ChelseaMay 19, 2011 at 9:36 PM

    woo hoo! clear scans! I am SOOOOOO happy for you! Enjoy your family this week.

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  2. Rich McDonaldMay 21, 2011 at 8:36 AM

    Glad to hear the scan was clear. I think most doctors don't have a clue what it's like to be the patient waiting a week for results. And I'll confess that until I became a patient, I didn't understand how hard it'd been for my law practice clients to deal with delays and uncertainties in their legal matters. I hope it goes a little quicker next time.

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