Thursday 20 November 2008

Scans Looking Good

Sorry about the delay.  Lots of things been happening, but more of that later.
I just had to get on and say that after 3 months without treatment the latest MRI shows Tumour hasn't really changed and the fluid and scar tissue, although it looks a bit different (technical term), is looking OK too. So I get another 3 months reprieve, and can look forward to a treatment free Christmas and new year.

Carol and I are driving to the UK tomorrow (well I'm driving, Carol's riding) for a week of family and shopping. 

One of the reasons we are going back is to visit my dad. He is suffering from late stages Alzheimer's and I feel bad about not visiting him for a while.  He doesn't normally recognise anybody from the family any more and that is quite a painful experience. I hope it is less painful for him, but who knows what goes through his mind nowadays.

I doubt you'll hear from me until I get back but then I'll fill you in on all kinds of stuff.

Wednesday 5 November 2008

Playing the waiting game

I can't believe that it is Three months ago that I got my reprieve from Chemo and other poisons, but the start of the check up cycle shows that it is.

Today I went to get the Creatine levels in my blood checked in preparation for the MRI at the end of next week. If you remember (now pay attention) the contrast agent used to get those cool MRI pictures can increase the creatine levels in the blood with consequential danger to the Kidneys, so I need a normal level (of less than 100umol/l) before they can do my MRI. Unfortunately today it was 106umol/l so I had to check with the hospital to see if it would be OK, thankfully it is.

After putting the phone down I wondered if my higher levels of Creatine was due to a couple of days of increased exercise as Creatine is used by the body to supply energy to muscle cells (hence its use by athletes as a performance enhancer). A quick look around the web seems to suggest it might a little but normally after prolonged exercise. I must check with my doctors if it makes sense to hold of the exercise before MRIs in future (any excuse).

So next weeks MRI is on and then a week later I get the results.
Again the waiting game.

Tuesday 4 November 2008

Vote for the US President

Want to make your "unofficial" vote for the US president.
Check out www.iftheworldcouldvote.com and look at how the rest of the world think.

Thanks for the link Ruedi
p.s. blogspot has blocked the url for some reason so you will have to cut and paste.