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CONGRATULATIONS TO OUR NIECE,CHLOE, WHO WAS MARRIED ON AUGUST 9TH, 2008.
ALSO CONGRATULATIONS TO HER AND BOBBIE EXPECTING THEIR FIRST CHILD IN NOVEMBER 2011!
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Sunday, May 23 2010
As you may know 2009 was a tough year for me being diagnosed with colorectal cancer in February. However after radiation treatment, chemotherapy and surgery I was declared in remission in January 2010.
Unfortunately during a routine visit to my dentist he found a suspicious growth beneath my tongue and I immediately visited my doctor and a specialist who took a sample for a biopsy.
The results came back in about a week and they were positve for cancer.
After numerous x-rays, MRI's and a PET scan it was found that the cancer was localised in my mouth and with a partial glossectomy (tongue surgery) and a modified radical neck dissection (remove lymph nodes) there was a very good chance of a full recovery.
This surgery is scheduled for Tuesday May 25 at the Kaiser hospital in Walnut Creek and I hope to be reporting back here a couple of weeks later!
One of the byproducts of the surgery was that I had to shave off my beard which has graced my face for over 40 years! As you can imagine this was a big event and today we had the "Great Beard Removal Extravaganza and Barbeque" here at home. We were lucky to have good weather and virtually all the family turned out (with many volunteer barbers) and the beard came off! For those of you who haven't seen me without a beard I am showing a cleanshaven photo on the left. A poll was taken afterwards as to what the next step would be after surgery, remain clean shaven, have a full beard again,a goatee, a long moustache or a regular moustache. These can be seen in the other images. However the most important vote (Sharon's) was for a full beard so I guess I'm back to growing it again!!
June 1,2010
The surgery went well and I was released from the hospital May 31. Unfortunately I had to keep the feeding tube that went up my nose to my stomach as the swelling of my tongue and neck was still
pretty bad.
August 1, 2010
I am progressing very well and have been having radiation treatment for 3 weeks now, five days a week. I have 2 more weeks to go, and I will be glad when it is all over as my mouth is reacting to the radiation and eating and talking has become a chore. However there is a bright side, it is keeping my weight in check! I am feeling well otherwise, I have been out and played golf a couple of times and I am quietly confident everything will turn out well.
August 18, 2011
So much has happened in the last year, the latest episode being a ischiorectal hernia in way of my previous surgery. I had surgery for that July 27th but as is usual with me nothing comes easy and I developed a pelvic abcess which kept me in hospital until August 12th. Now however I am out and coming along nicely and hope to have the drain removed when i visit the surgeon next Tuesday. I have neglecte this page for quite some time but I am going to redo everything in the next month or so. Don't hold your breath but hopefully everything will be fresh and new by the end of September!
January 2012
Well I made through 2011 and here I am in 2012, full of vim and vigour and ready to face the new year. I have to say that I am feeling much better now than I have for quite some time
and I am quite optomistic that I can get through the coming year without any more health problems. I will keep you up to date but one of my first jobs is to update thsi page and especially the family pictures. They are quite out of date (especially our younger members) so watch for improvements!
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