My futures so bright I gotta wear shades

Wow. I guess Ive made a few friends here. Im humbled. Thanks so much to every one of you for the kind words and wishes. You guys and gal are a class act

I will most likely have my surgery at the Loma Linda VA. That said I wont know for sure until I talk with the surgeon on the 18th. I should have an update this Thursday. I have my CT scan tomorrow night and I have a sit down with my gastrointerologist on Thursday morning. Hopefully she will have the CT results so I will know what Im dealing with.

A bit of good news: Since I had the colonoscopy Ive felt pretty damn good. Not great but no cramping, very little bloating, little pain and no shits. Its as if that prep washed me clean. As if it washed away toxins or something. Its been 8 days since Ive had a bad day. And I'll tell ya when youre waiting around for weeks on end you really appreciate the good days.

Im still lifting but I cant run (hurts my stomach and just doesnt seem prudent) I can ride still as long as I dont get too far from a toilet LOL . And I havent swam in a month for obvious reasons .

I have a pump track in my yard and I get a workout on that. A pump track for those that dont know, looks like a bunch of whoops and you ride around it on your bicycle but you dont pedal. You Rock the bike. Its a hell of a workout

Regarding the afore mentioned pic of Glen Helen. If memory serves Bobby M, Pdub, Ivan, Duane, maybe Motodude, maybe Bauer, maybe Holeshot and a few others I cant think of were in the shot. Id bet Duane or maybe Pdub might have a copy.

Love you guys. And not in the Gay way, so dont get your hopes up

Update: Last night I went to the VA and got my CT scan. Today I had to go back for a sit down with my Gastrointerologist. This was a pain because its just over 100 mi round trip, and it was my second trip in 13 hrs ( yeah I know Im a whiner). At any rate I have an appointment at 8:15am. I get there at 8. The lobby on the GI lab already has 2 other guys waiting. I check in and sit down. I ask one guy if he's there to see the same Dr. He says yes and that his appt is for 8. Its now 8:15. Around 8:30 the receptionist tells us he just got an email from the dr. saying she was running late but would be in in a half hour. 9am comes and goes. Now Im starting to get frustrated. I ask the recept. if he's got an update on the docs ETA. "No" Im told. So I sit back down and start to stew. Finally at 9:25 the doc sticks her head thru the door and calls the first of the guys in front of me. Ok I figure with appts spread out 15 minutes I should be in by 10. At 10 she had yet to come out and get the next guy. Its at this point that I figure Im outtahere. So I tell the recept to have the dr call me. Which is what she should have done anyway as there was no reason for me to have to go to the hospital just to talk (Im guessing its a billing deal for her) So here I sit on what may turn out to be one of the most stressful days of my life and as Rodney Dangerfield would say "I cant get no respect" Oh and to top it off. After my colonoscopy I started feeling better. Lots better. Still a bit of pain but I was out doing things and functioning pretty much normal. That lasted for 8 days. Then yesterday I woke up with the pain, cramps and diarreha again...oh joy. Today wasnt any better and sitting in a waiting room staring at posters extolling the virtues of early detection of polyps as cancer is much more treatable in its early stages, knowing mine wasnt caught in its early stages, while my stomach is getting little shooting pains and my ass is puckerd up like a goose in cold water, and even my nutz hurt (ok probably TMI) didnt really give me a real positive attitude. I imagine she'll call later today and if she doesnt I'll get on the horn first thing in the morning.

Well the doc never called yesterday. So I got up this morning with a mad on and a hard on. I waited for the latter to dissipate and then called the GI lab at 8am. I got an automated answering machine. I wondered for a minute why they were not answering and then went about my day. I called back a couple of hours later, got the same recording and THEN IT DAWNED ON ME. What a dork. It was freaking Veterans day. Oh the irony. So now Im gonna have to wait until monday to get any news.

Today was one of the bad days. Pain, bloating. I swear if they dont cut me open and get rid of this thing and soon, that its gonna come out on its own. I keep having visions of that scene on the original "Alien" movie where the dude is lying on the table writhing in pain and all of a sudden his abdomen burst open and the creature pops out, looks around and scurrys off down the hallway.

Oh not to worry....yet Im hangin in there. Theres a Triathlon Ive done for the past 9 years. Its in June. I set a goal many years ago to do it for 10 yrs in a row. I may have to do it in a wheel chair but I plan on doing it.

Update: Had my CT scan last Thursday. Tried to get results today and finally got my doc on the phone late this afternoon. She said my case was going to be discussed at some sort of "board" I guess the docs get together an discuss cases and the best course of treatment and have a concensus on what stage your cancer is at. She said she'd call me with the results of that meeting sometime on Wednesday. I dont believe her LOL. But Ive got an appt with the surgeon the next morning (thur) So I should know "something" by then.

I recieved 2 calls this afternoon from the VA, 5 minutes apart. The first call was to remind me of my appointment on Friday with the Surgical Oncologist.

The second call was from a nurse practicioner representing my gastrointerologist. She told me that the Tumor Board met today to discuss my case. She said that the Oncologist, the Radiologist and the Surgon all agreed that I should be given something called the HIPEC cancer treatment. But it turns out they dont do this at the VA. They are going to see if they can get me into Loma Linda University Hospital. I asked if they had some sort of contract with them and was told no, that the VA would have to pay but not to worry, that they would take care of me. I was told that the HIPEC is a Hot Chemo deal where in surgery after the tumor is removed that they put something inside (chemo) and leave it in you and Im guessing it cooks away for some period of time. I asked how and why but she said she didnt know herself as its pretty new or something like that. She then said something about how my cancer had invaded or gotten into my abdominal cavity. I said from what Ive been able to garner that means I have Stage 2 right? She said "NO" you have Stage 4. "Im sorry to tell you that but I have to be honest with you" Then she added "but its not as bad as some Stage 4 as yours is (Locally Advanced) but also Metastic. Gee that makes me feel better LOL

So we decided there was no need to come in on Friday as all the surgeon would tell me was what she had just told me. Im now back in waiting mode. Im instructed to call her Monday morning if I dont hear from them before that. Weeeeeeeeeee Guess now I need to read up on HIPEC. dougie