Wednesday, 30 January 08
'"I am sorry Mr. Kline, but you have a brain tumor." These words fell on me like a load of bricks four years ago. Dizzy, numb and dumbfounded, a feeling akin to panic swept over me like a tidal wave. But the Lord restored me and today the waters are calm and peaceful. I have no complaints - only thanksgiving. I look forward to the next four years...
Tuesday, 29 January 08
Checkout Andrew's smoking hot Mustang on mustangworld.com.
Monday, 28 January 08
I finished reading the book Three Cups of Tea, the story of Gregg Mortenson and his mission to promote peace, one school at a time. After failing to reach the top of a mountain "K2" Mortenson finds himself in a desperate situation, at the mercy of the elements. He stumbles into a small remote village in Pakistan's Northern district and is nursed back to health. Seeing the destitute conditions, and the total lack of opportunities for these people, Mortenson determines to build schools for the children of Korphe. Gregg's experiences and courage read like something out of the Indiana Jones series. Definitely recommended reading.
Saturday, 26 January 08
Are you as busy as I am? I say you are, because I have met just one person in my whole life who claimed to have free time on their hands. Given all of the action items on my plate, I strive for efficiency and focus, thinking of ways to get things done in less time. But sometimes hastes makes waste, and I end up doing things the hard way.
Friday, 18 January 08
I finally took down the Christmas Tree. I always dread this event, because manhandling the tree up the stairs into the tight confines of our attic is not something I savor. For years I have followed the same brute force routine, but this time, after pondering the situation in greater detail, I realized that I had been doing this the hard way all this time. Turns out the tree readily subdivides into three managable parts, and the embedded lights unplug from the main trunk in sections. So rather than charging headlong into a task, or delaying the commencement of the job due to the perceived labor that might be involved, I make this resolution to myself to be more reflective and studious of a problem! Other maintenance assignments were accomplished today.
Friday, 11 January 08
Routine
dental check up this afternoon. As usual, I took 600 mg of Clindamycin one hour before the appointment. I was quite pleased with the comments made by the dental hygienist, such as "I can tell you have been brushing" and "your gums look great" and "there doesn't seem to be much hard plaque at all, just a minimal amount of soft plaque which is easily removed." We then spoke about how my saliva has changed since I began taking chemo in March 2004. The small gaps between my lower front teeth, and the back side of these same teeth from the gum line to about half way up these teeth used to get completely filled in or encrusted with a mineral infested paste akin to concrete. Much effort was required to remove it each time I visited the dentist. There are evidently two major salivary glands located under the tongue, at the front of this organ. I speculate that something about the Temodar, or the Accutane or a ancillary effect has literally altered the functioning of these salivary glands, changing their output to be greatly depleted of minerals.
Another change that has been previously noted would be my toe nails. They used to be yellow, crusty, rough and cloudy, due to a fungus underneath the nails. There are meds available to treat the fungus, but they are thought or known to have potentially negative impacts on the liver, so I determined just to live with this condition, since it caused no pain or adverse condition, and since it did not bother me. But now most of the toe nails are mostly clear, so the Temodar and Accutane or whatever has killed the fungus or at least greatly depleted the fungus.
Monday, 07 January 08
Friday's MRI has been reviewed as clean! There no asterisks, footnotes, caveats or parentheticals - just a report noting no interval changes. My thanks to the Lord for His favor and my thanks to those praying - it is encouraging to know that people are standing with me in this battle. My platelets are still a bit low compared to counts from six months to one year ago, but I am advised that they are still strong, acceptable and likely to eventually fully recover to the level that I desire, which is 170,000 per microliter.
Saturday, 05 January 08
Aaron has made the Texas All State band! A major accomplishment, especially for a young man who aspires to be a music composer. We are so proud of Aaron, and look forward to the next competition in February to establish the specific ranking of Aaron among other high school clarinet players in the State of Texas, division 3A and smaller.
Friday, 04 January 08
A day of
medical happenings. A bi-monthly, routine MRI was performed this morning. Looks clean to me, but I'll find out officially Monday. I then visited Lewisville Dermatology for a nurse's review of my incision from the basal cell carcinoma that they removed from my face in November 2007. The plan here is to keep the scab soft with antibiotic ointment Polysporin to permit healing to proceed from the inside out, rather than the other way around (which could trap bacteria underneath the skin).
The 3rd medical development today was not pleasant. All of the puppies being carried by our Golden Retriever died in her womb. The vet had to clean her out and keep her overnight. We do not know what went wrong, as she had given birth to 10 healthy puppies three years ago...
Tuesday, 01 January 08
The
dawn of a new year, with my 4th anniversary about one month away. Looking forward to what the Lord has planned for our family in
2008.
