"Personal battles are won

in the heart of the person"

 Latest News for the Month of

May 2006

Good Golly Miss Molly it is past the middle of May and I haven't updated this site till now. I can lay the blame on being out of the country though and this is the first chance I have gotten to write an update so here we go. 

As most of you know we winged it over to Europe and visited Ally's " Dutch " family and I can say we had a great time. It was the first chance Ally has had to visit with her cousins and Uncle in nearly 20 years. It was a wonderful reunion and I truly have to thank all of them for making me feel so special with their hospitality, love and support. While there, Ally and her Mum and I also toured a little and visited France, Germany, Luxemburg and Belgium. I am going to create a separate page complete with details and photos from this trip. So be sure to check back soon.

On the home front things are still the same, we are currently parked in Bristol and are planning our next trip to Michigan in late June. I have my 30 year High School class reunion ( Dang that make's ya feel old ) coming up at Lansing Catholic Central and can't wait to see the old gang from my high school days. Ally will be coming along and she is looking forward to seeing my family, Godparents and friends there. I don't remember the last time she was back to MI but it's been a few years. After that we are coming back to Bristol and parking it for the summer so we can get this house straightened around and ready to put on the market in the future ( probably the spring of 2007 ).  In the meantime I believe Ally is going to go back to work part time for the summer in a temporary role as a phlebotomist at the Hospital. We will be making side trips during her off days to VA, NC and TN throughout the summer and spending time with the kid's in VA.

On the health front, the trip to Europe really took a heavy toll on me. I have felt like crap the entire time I have been back and thought maybe my blood was really messed up. I even went to the hospital May 15th for a phlebotomy thinking all the symptoms were related to high blood volumes but a blood test a few days later revealed near normal blood cell counts. I had a slide made of my blood for a path review and while it showed some morphing of the red cells ( tear dropped shaped and differing sizes ) it wasn't nearly as bad as in the past. So I guess this all leaves me to believe that any airline travel that requires long flights simply makes my systems crash. Brain wise I was really a mess when I got back as the different languages, travel, problems conversing with others took a toll on me. When I left Holland I didn't have but two brain cells left that were working. :)

 I believe I may have forgotten last month to post how my MRI test results were. The good news is that it appears there is no underlying degenerative brain disease that was the cause for the loss of some of my cognitive abilities. The damage to the brain was more then likely caused by the vast number of Transient Ischemic Attacks ( TIA's ) and CVA's ( strokes ). In other words I cooked some brain cells I obviously needed through to many mini and maxi strokes. :) Still I was happy to get the positive result's back on the test and the joke I had going with Dr. Brockmyre was " See Doc, I do have a brain ". I think a few times he was starting to wonder....

Some real great news is that we have a new internet service now. The City of Bristol ran a fiber optic cable in front of our house so I was able to get internet service through them. All I can say is WOW, is it fast. I was so frustrated with the cell phone dial up service that I nearly threw the whole mess into the street. Thankfully we are back online and enjoying the net at blazing speeds. Even better is our new in house wireless network my dear son Lindy set us up with. I can cruise the net on our desktop in the office while Ally does the same on the laptop sitting in front of the TV. :) Gawd I just love technology and thankfully I have a son who can help me with it.

As promised I will begin work on the page's from our trip to Europe and hopefully will have it online in a weeks time. I plan on including pictures as well as my own thoughts, through the eyes of an American, so stay Tuned.

The Bloody Rain Anyways....

We finally got our coach back from the dealer and was happy as two pigs in mud. It just felt as though we had something missing in our lives and we were glad to have Bella Mina parked out back again. Our first outing was scheduled this weekend but we decided to cancel since they forecast rain and thunderstorms all weekend long. It was a shame as we were looking at spending a nice weekend with Lindy, Kim and Ella but are now postponing our visit till next weekend.  I finished off the power washing of the deck last weekend and I must admit owning a power washer is great. I couldn't believe the difference between before and after. The deck was covered in dirt as well as a green and brown algae like material. It sure looks nice now. We are in the process of extending the deck across the back of the house so this was one project that needed to be done before we started construction. I will keep you all posted on the progress and will be sure to include some before and after photos.

My latest health news is that Dr. Brockmyre and I are going to begin our own drug trial using the new Pegasys drug which is a synthetic form of chemo. If successful it will replace the nasty Interferon I am currently taking.  I did start back on Interferon last Sunday so spent a miserable week fighting bad fevers, chills and the chemo flu. Dr. Brockmyre was gracious enough to allow me to experiment with this new drug while he overseen the medical end of things. As some of you were aware that I was trying to get into a trial on the same exact drug in Houston. By Dr. Brockmyre doing this himself it will save me from having to go to Houston every 3 months.  I visited the lab this week and of course had Jennifer, one of my favorite vampires do a CBC on my blood. She also had a path review ordered              ( examination of the blood on a slide by a Pathologist ) and the results were encouraging.  There was minor morphing of the cells and the cells themselves looked good. This was good news as morphing indicates the condition of my bone marrow in some cases.  Morphed cells indicates the marrow is under stress and is heading downhill. As far as how I feel ?  I am still out of energy by noon everyday and spend the evenings feeling rough, but overall I am not going to complain as I have experienced much worse. Allot of the sickness I am experiencing right now is coming from the chemo anyways. When injecting this stuff you expect to feel like crap. :)

In regards to the European pictures, I am still working on getting those pages put together. Check back soon and I should have them done. I didn't get as much done as I thought I would due to the start of chemo last Sunday but hopefully I can get the pictures and pages uploaded soon.

I did want to send out my very best to everyone on memorial day. I hope yours is a safe and happy holiday weekend. While we party, travel, camp and otherwise have fun this weekend, please do not forget the true meaning of this holiday which is to reflect, remember and pay our respects to those who have passed away. 

Till the next update - Be good, enjoy and be safe,

Chris

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