Saw the urologist today.
There definitely is a tumor hanging off the lower end of my right kidney it is kind of oval shaped and about an inch by an inch big.
Treatment can probably be done laprosocpically. It will either be frozen or killed with heat from a radio frequency device.
That's quite a relief. It was not too long ago when they just would have taken the kidney.
So I got that going for me.
I pretty much all done with the local guys. I am off to Columbus a week from Monday for an appointment with a surgeon who specializes in rectal cancer.
Friday, March 31, 2006
No news
Doc wants new slides of biopsy made to rule out any confusion with previous prostate cancer.
Won't have results until at least later today, more likely Monday.
I go to API Sunday night and won't be back home until Wednesday night.
A week from Monday I gto to James Cancer Hospital in Columbus for more opinions.
aargh.
Won't have results until at least later today, more likely Monday.
I go to API Sunday night and won't be back home until Wednesday night.
A week from Monday I gto to James Cancer Hospital in Columbus for more opinions.
aargh.
Thursday, March 30, 2006
Some news expected later today
Oncologist called me yesterday but I didn't get the message until after his office closed. They close on noon on Wednesday to go bowling or something.
I will post late tonight or early tomorrow.
Tomorrow I see urologist to get some thoughts on the kidney.
Then I am off to API conference in D.C.
I will get back to this mess next Thursday.
I will post late tonight or early tomorrow.
Tomorrow I see urologist to get some thoughts on the kidney.
Then I am off to API conference in D.C.
I will get back to this mess next Thursday.
Tuesday, March 28, 2006
Cancer stacks
My buddy Dave, the Avant Gardner (who I will always think of as the guy who rescued me from a ton of Italian marble) put together some rock stacks for us.
The rocks, he tells me, come from Quebec and New Zealand. The Snow Serpent was built near Blowing Rock, North Carolina.
Blowing Rock is a famous cancer place. It was while training there, that Lance Armstrong had his big breakthrough following his cancer battle. I still wear the Livestrong bracelet Ash gave me more than18 months ago.
He packed up the rocks (You really have to meet this guy) and moved them to Asheville where he built the second serpent down by the Swannanoa River in east Asheville.
The three humped serpent is facing you in this photo. The three humps are representative of the Graser family - The big hump, obviously, is me.
Click on these photos to enlarge them for full effect.
I didn't sleep too well last night. I ended up on the floor in the living room with the TV blaring -- the blather of the chowderheads on comedy central seems to quiet my brain and allows some sleep.
I have a hunch today is going to be a tough day - I have tons of work to do and I have to start planning for my leave. I am not sure how we are going to pull that off.
On the first hand, work doesn't seem that important right now. On the second hand I have a perverse sense of duty that will not allow me to feel like I feel on the first hand. On the third and most practical (therefore rarest and most atrophied) hand, it is work that is going to make it possible for us to pay for all the crap we are going to go through and come out on the other side with a future for Lucy.
So, I gotta start working on getting things arranged.
If you are asking the question: How does a relatively healthy male get three seperate and distinct cancers by the age of 47, when no one else in his family seems to be affected? Please get to the back of the line.
It kind of rules out genetics and environment at the same time. It is a total baffler that we will have to deal with when we get what is happening right now under control.
I know it means that Lucy faces a lifetime of pretty constant testing - if we are smart about it.
Other than that, just questions upon questions.
A fellow at work thinks I should blame it on Canadian beer. Maybe I will take a chapter out of the classic comedy "Strange Brew" and see if I can parlay this into a lifetime supply of Molson Canadian and back bacon.
I'll keep you posted.
The rocks, he tells me, come from Quebec and New Zealand. The Snow Serpent was built near Blowing Rock, North Carolina.
Blowing Rock is a famous cancer place. It was while training there, that Lance Armstrong had his big breakthrough following his cancer battle. I still wear the Livestrong bracelet Ash gave me more than18 months ago.
He packed up the rocks (You really have to meet this guy) and moved them to Asheville where he built the second serpent down by the Swannanoa River in east Asheville.
The three humped serpent is facing you in this photo. The three humps are representative of the Graser family - The big hump, obviously, is me.
Click on these photos to enlarge them for full effect.
I didn't sleep too well last night. I ended up on the floor in the living room with the TV blaring -- the blather of the chowderheads on comedy central seems to quiet my brain and allows some sleep.
I have a hunch today is going to be a tough day - I have tons of work to do and I have to start planning for my leave. I am not sure how we are going to pull that off.
On the first hand, work doesn't seem that important right now. On the second hand I have a perverse sense of duty that will not allow me to feel like I feel on the first hand. On the third and most practical (therefore rarest and most atrophied) hand, it is work that is going to make it possible for us to pay for all the crap we are going to go through and come out on the other side with a future for Lucy.
So, I gotta start working on getting things arranged.
If you are asking the question: How does a relatively healthy male get three seperate and distinct cancers by the age of 47, when no one else in his family seems to be affected? Please get to the back of the line.
It kind of rules out genetics and environment at the same time. It is a total baffler that we will have to deal with when we get what is happening right now under control.
I know it means that Lucy faces a lifetime of pretty constant testing - if we are smart about it.
Other than that, just questions upon questions.
A fellow at work thinks I should blame it on Canadian beer. Maybe I will take a chapter out of the classic comedy "Strange Brew" and see if I can parlay this into a lifetime supply of Molson Canadian and back bacon.
I'll keep you posted.
Monday, March 27, 2006
Good new and bad news
Good news is that the biopsy of the mass in my rectum came back positive for cancer.
So the colonoscopy was not for nothing.
That's the good news.
The bad news is that the subsequent catscan revealed another suspicious mass on my right kidney.
So now I have an appointment with an urologist (and I thought I was through with those guys).
I met with an oncologist today and he was pretty upbeat and positive about treatment. I still have an appointment at the James Cancer Center in Columbus that I am trying to move up.
Thanks again for all the kind words and thoughts and vibes and prayers.
It means a lot to all of us.
more later.
So the colonoscopy was not for nothing.
That's the good news.
The bad news is that the subsequent catscan revealed another suspicious mass on my right kidney.
So now I have an appointment with an urologist (and I thought I was through with those guys).
I met with an oncologist today and he was pretty upbeat and positive about treatment. I still have an appointment at the James Cancer Center in Columbus that I am trying to move up.
Thanks again for all the kind words and thoughts and vibes and prayers.
It means a lot to all of us.
more later.
Two docs today
I see two local doctors today - the guy who did the original exam and an oncologist.
In two weeks I have an appointment at the James Cancer Hospital at The Ohio State University in Columbus.
It was a long weekend. I actually had some fun. Watched some basketball Saturday night with some friends, smoked a pork roast, made some mad barbecue sauce with raisins and apples in it watched hours of "The Deadliest Catch."
I don't mind saying I woke up crying Saturday morning and I had a hard time motivating myself to do anything on Sunday, but I can see a day when this just becomes part of what I am doing and I move on.
I will let you know the results of my x-rays and blood tests later tonight or early tomorrow.
In two weeks I have an appointment at the James Cancer Hospital at The Ohio State University in Columbus.
It was a long weekend. I actually had some fun. Watched some basketball Saturday night with some friends, smoked a pork roast, made some mad barbecue sauce with raisins and apples in it watched hours of "The Deadliest Catch."
I don't mind saying I woke up crying Saturday morning and I had a hard time motivating myself to do anything on Sunday, but I can see a day when this just becomes part of what I am doing and I move on.
I will let you know the results of my x-rays and blood tests later tonight or early tomorrow.
Thursday, March 23, 2006
something new
I started this blog over a year ago because I was living in Marion, Ohio while all my friends and family were elsewhere. My family eventually joined me and the blog morphed into whatever it was that my daughter was up to at the moment.
Now, I think it is going to change a little.
Yesterday, March 22, I had a colonoscopy that turned up a little cancer in my rectum.
If you want to take a look at it click here.
I am keeping the photo off the blog for the benefit of the squeamish.
Not much to tell now. I have a couple of doctor visits lined up so my future is as unclear as ever. All I am assured of is a little drama. But then, aren't we all.
Now, I think it is going to change a little.
Yesterday, March 22, I had a colonoscopy that turned up a little cancer in my rectum.
If you want to take a look at it click here.
I am keeping the photo off the blog for the benefit of the squeamish.
Not much to tell now. I have a couple of doctor visits lined up so my future is as unclear as ever. All I am assured of is a little drama. But then, aren't we all.
Friday, March 17, 2006
Sunday, March 12, 2006
First Robotics competition in Cleveland
We went to cheer on the Liverpool High School Actic Warrior Robotics team in Cleveland on Saturday.
For folks wanting to visit us, we discovered that it takes exactly 2 hours to get to Jacobs Field, if you want to go to Indians games.
Liverpool is team 174. Lucy had no problem showing her allegience.
She didn't mind being behind the mask.
She wasn't too crazy about behing beside it.
The person behind the mask was Lucy's Cousin Ellen.
Her dad is very proud.
Lucy's Uncle Mike took her down to the floor to cheer on the robot.
There was some serious cheering going on.
Here is what the robot looks like
it shoots balls and stuff.
Here is what the playing field looks like
The game is sort of complicated.
We had as much fun as the Mascot -- I think.
Monday, March 06, 2006
Latest on Lucy
We spent the weekend talking about volcanos. Lucy has a hard time talking about something without spending at least a little time pretending that she is that something. Here are some photos of her as a Red-Headed Volcano.
She got a little tired after a while so we switched to drawing volcanos
Apparently an umbrella will protect you from molten lava.
She got a little tired after a while so we switched to drawing volcanos
Apparently an umbrella will protect you from molten lava.
Saturday, March 04, 2006
Lucy at School
Here's a rare photo of Lucy at school.
Lucy is the one in the back with the short hair, with her eyes on someone else's work.
Lucy is the one in the back with the short hair, with her eyes on someone else's work.
Wednesday, March 01, 2006
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