Charity begins in Florida

This has been a difficult but rewarding year and it's time to think of the less fortunate.

Save the Chimps is a charity I support that helps Chimps who have been used and abused in medical experiments. It's based in Florida and tries to provide open land and healthy life styles to my fellow brothers and sisters apes.

I've Been Deported

On Wednesday I went to have my port removed. YEAH!!!

P.A. Thor is shown here, ripping it out of my chest. Actually he did a very neat job of it.

We chatted thru the whole procedure. I could feel what he was doing...it just didn't hurt at all.

I was fond of my port; it was so easy to get my blood drawn and have injections. But it was time for it to go.

PET SCAN Results

I went to see Dr. Illyass, my oncologist, on Monday to get the results of the Pet Scan. I wasn't nervous or worried. I figured the treatments had been successful.

Well, the good news is that the scan didn't show any activity, except left over burning in the areas where the cancer had been. HOORAY!!!!

Maybe not ALL good news. They do want to do a CAT scan of my lungs in 3 months.

It seems there were a few pesky nodules that they will have to check out and make sure they are nothing.

Otherwise: HAPPY THANKSGIVING TO ALL.

PET SCAN, Part 2

Yesterday, I had my second PET scan. This is the one that will tell me if there is any cancer leftovers from the treatment.

First I was given some radioactive injections, the syringe sheathed in a protective metal sleeve. Then I drank some nasty 'berry' flavored liquid. I think that's the glucose that they monitor thru the scan. And lastly I got another weird injection that made me feel all hot.

After that I was scanned to bits.

Later, I got radioactive cramps and couldn't go to my dance class. BooHoo.

Awaiting the results next week. Stay tuned.

Poo-Tine

I just got back from a trip to Canada. I had to fine tune my diet carefully. It seems the Canadians put cheese on everything....even snails!

But I did find what should be the official food for Anal Cancer. What else but...POUTINE.

It's a mixture of french fries, brown gravy and, of course, cheese. They use Cheese curd. I'm not sure why except it's as tasty as cheese but doesn't glue the fries all together.

As for my diet while I was there, I got into the habit of eating prunes everyday. Plus my sister brought along an interesting product: chia seeds. The kind you put on the head of your chia pet. When soaked in water for about a minute they formed a mucilaginous blob. It didn't taste bad and it did the trick.

What trick is that you ask? Well, I'll leave it to your imagination.

Ditto

Hi there, Remember me? Everything has been going hunky dory for quite a while. But soon things will be heating up: visits to the surgeon, Pet scans, Port removal (hopefully)

Speaking of Ports, I went back to the oncologist to have my port flushed. We discussed the rash I got last time. So everyone was EXTRA careful.

The results? Well, you can see from the picture that the rash has returned. Itchy, red and ugly. Grrrrrr.

NO NEWS IS GOOD NEWS....Until....

I've had nothing to report for weeks. Which is a good thing. Many people thought it meant disaster had struck. But disaster would have been interesting to write about. So I've been quietly, unwritingly, healing and enjoying life.

Then I went to the chemo doctor last week. A routine visit. The nurse drew blood thru my port, as she always does. But over the weekend, for reasons unknown, an ugly rash began to form around my port.

I paid another visit to the chemo doc yesterday so he could check out if my port was infected or I had shingles. He said the rash didn't look like either of those things and told me to use some over the counter creams for the itch. He did tell me to get back to him about it.

Today I woke up and the rash was worse. I'll wait till this afternoon or tomorrow morning to call him again. I have a feeling I'll be making another visit.