Saturday, 31 January 09
It was epic. It was 339 pages written in old English prose. It was The Pilgrim's Progress, Parts 1 and 2 combined into one book. John Bunyan's allegorical masterpiece from the 17th century has withstood the test of time. Is isn't often that one finds a collection of endorsements from the likes of C.S. Lewis, Jonathan Swift, Benjamin Franklin, Robert Louis Stevenson, George Elliot and George Bernard
Shaw compiled into the post amble of a volume. Reading this book was no quick and easy assignment, but a milestone I am therefore all
the more pleased to have reached.
Friday, 30 January 09
"I'm sorry, Mr. Kline, but you have a brain tumor." These dreadful words, spoken on this day five years ago, still resonate clearly in my mind. In 2004, fear was
the initial response. Today my reaction to those words are praise. Thanksgiving to the Lord for all he has done for me. It is my passion to be
a resource and an ambassador of hope to the brain tumor community.
Wednesday, 28 January 09
My first draft
of the book, An Unremarkable Man, has been completed. Many typos and issues are in need of attention. After this, I will
forward this Alpha edition of the book to the editorial staff for review and. I am in need of a graphic artist for the front cover design. A few
legal actions items remain (Library of Congress Number and Bar Code assignment, etc).
Tuesday, 27 January 09
Dinner in Mesa
Arizona with Len and Diane, co-labors in the war against brain tumors. Len denies the title of pastor, but I'm not buying it. I have heard him
preach. Len is a quiet, determined man of God, perfectly positioned to carry out God's purpose. Diane provides the support needed by all who face serious life issues. I look forward to our next meeting.
Sunday, 25 January 09
The start of what
promises to be a long business trip. The need is clear, the strength provided, the challenge accepted. I am more than pleased to be able to
take this trip - to support my company as any normal, healthy person would.
Monday, 12 January 09
The radiologist report has been received and I am clean! No need to perform a CBC check today since I have been off of chemo for 14 months. The peg test was accomplished in 17 seconds (left hand) and 19 seconds (right hand). I broke and tied my personal best. Anything less than 21 seconds is reviewed as 'good' in my book.
Saturday, 10 January 09
All Christmas decorations have been put away. Ornaments, the tree, outside lights and interior decorations have been stored for Christmas 2009. But I do not put away the truth of Christmas. Everyday is an opportunity to worship, honor and serve the One who was born and gave His life for me and you.
Friday, 09 January 09
MRI #33 was accomplished today. My review of the film suggests that I am clean; the radiologist's report will be received Monday morning. I do appreciate the encouraging words, prayers, pages and notes from the support community!
MRIs of late have been logistically complex. Three facilities over the past six months have added a measure of uncertainty to the whole affair. My scans were performed at ISI in Flower Mound for several years; same equipment, same radiologist, for the most part. Then ISI went out of business, so the September 2008 MRI was executed at a nearby Touchstone Imaging location. Touchstone purchased the bankrupt ISI, so getting a scan at the Touchstone facility in Lewisville made sense because Touchstone would have easy access to all of my medical records from ISI. The goal is to maintain continuity from scan to scan. The preferred scenario is the same facility, same MRI machine, same radiologist for each MRI. Moving to Touchstone provided a historical data bridge, but with different equipment, an opportunity for error was created. That is, changing MRI machines could yield results that are not truly indicative of a problem. The radiologist's thread was definitely broken when changing from ISI to Touchstone. The Doctor who had been reviewing my film at ISI did not read scans for Touchstone, so I took the film, plus older scans and studies (reports) to his office for an unofficial, informal report. The Touchstone radiologist provided the official MRI report, but my legacy radiologist supplied the previously mentioned informal report to preclude any over reaction should the Touchstone doctor identify an area of concern that we already knew was okay from past scans.
The MRI from November 2008 and the one today were performed at Blue Star in Irving. I remembered to bring my MRI films from July 08, Sep 08 and Nov 08 to Blue Star for use by their radiologist (to compare older scans to today's scan, looking for subtle changes), but I failed to bring copies of the MRI reports. I returned home to retrieve these important documents. But instead of driving back to Irving from Argyle, I scanned each report, created a pdf for each report and then emailed these files to Blue Star. My legacy radiologist does read film for Blue Star, and this company plans to open a new site in Flower Mound in February. If the new facility does indeed come on line, then my groove will have been restored, a process requiring more than six months (three bi-monthly MRI cycles). I will return to the same area (local) to get my MRIs at the same facility, using the same machine and the same radiologist. If my legacy radiologist does not sign a contract with Blue Star Flower Mound, I will transition to a radiologist who does work with Blue Star Flower Mound.
All of this illustrates an aspect of taking charge and retaining charge of your own medical care. Keep copies of your medical records; build your own data warehouse. If you see a gap, bridge it. If you find a hole, plug it. If something is missing, provide it. If you see a problem, fix it. Work with medical team around you, but lead the charge, rather than waiting for something to happen.
One interesting thing about being at the imaging facility used by the Dallas Cowboys is you hear familiar names spoken by the office staff as you wait for your scan. Charges associated with services performed by Blue Star for Marion Barber, Greg Ellis, Tony Romo, Jason Witten and DeMarcus Ware were mentioned as casually as an unremarkable name (e.g. mine).
Thursday, 08 January 09
My first major headache leading to a brain tumor diagnosis was sustained on this day in 2004. I retraced those diagnostic days of yesterday with a visit to Dr. Cadenhead today, the ENT specialist who was the first to let me know that I most likely had a brain tumor. This morning's visit was to reintroduce myself and to ask him to look at my right ear and nasal passages. The present ringing in my right ear, reminiscent of the days of radiation in the Spring of 2004, is being caused by a mild infection. Said ear was cleaned out and an antibiotic was applied to the ear canal. The removed material was green – I had anticipated a yellow hue of an ear wax plug. The clear/brownish/reddish scabs on the inside of my nose are caused by bacteria. The application of an OTC antibiotic ointment is the path forward
Monday, 05 January 09
The book An Unremarkable Man is under construction. I have completed about 60 unformatted pages; the first six months of the story! Most of the action is in that initial year. Major divisions that have naturally emerged are: (1) Onslaught: diagnosis, emotional wipe out, surgery, recovery (2) Treatments: short term follow up and the start of long term follow up. (3) The Recurrence will be perhaps 12 pages in length (6) The Life section will append eight more pages, covering topics such as staying in the game (continuing to do life), family activities, the Trans Am, Moldova (missions ‘no’ then ‘okay’ then ‘may I please participate'), P-51 Mustangs. Providing support to your loved one (also presented incrementally throughout the book)
This website and numerous emails, plus copies of doctor’s reports, ensure the proper presentation (time phasing of this volume). A group of editors will be required to clean up the prose, correct verb tense changes, trap the overuse of certain words or phrases, polish the writing style any other things, I am sure.
Sunday, 04 January 09
The 59th monthly anniversary of the removal of the beast. I will be 5 years post op in February.
