Bon Voyage 2011! A Few Notes...

I can't believe that I allowed more than four months to elapse since my last posting -- which was, in fact, a mail-in'er since I wasn't feeling too well back in those times.

Sooo...

I'll use this opportunity to update y'all on matters of health and other factors that have affected your humble scribe since the mid-summer.

First and foremost, I want to thank everyone for their kind thoughts and best wishes as I worked myself through a rather extensive period of convalescence. As you may or may not know, I have been fighting a battle against non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma for over two years.

Chemotherapy over time put the NHL into full remission but the consequences of checking the cancer wracked havoc upon my body's bone marrow and its immune system. To put my situation in another way, my body presently lacks the abilities to fight off the "bugs" and germs that have little to no effect upon folks with healthier immune systems.

In this crazy, Whack-A-Mole World of Cancer, I can't even afford to nick myself when I shave due to the fact that my platelet levels are so low.

Dig it:

Back in early November, I suffered through a sinus infection ( directly related to what was finally diagnosed at Dartmouth as a fungal/mold lung invasion) that caused me to endure excessive sinus and nasal bleeding.

Platelets manufactured in the bone marrow would normally rush to the point of bleeding, but not in my case. I swear on a stack of Bibles that I must have lost two pints of blood through my nose.

My platelet count dropped from 28 to 12 in less than two weeks and it took four infusions of platelets to drive my levels back up into the high 20s. That number, by the way, is less than one-half the platelet count level within a person in good health.

Secondly, Carol and I decided to sell the Vermont property. Tropical Storm Irene taught the two of us that we are no longer Spring Chickens when it comes down to preparing mountainous terrain for an Alpaca Farm. I won't wear you out with the full details, but please know this: Irene Kicked My Ass so badly that I was hospitalized at Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center for 12 days after the storm hit.

Since Rochester Vermont was virtually isolated from the World for weeks after Irene struck, Carol and I went back to our place in Florida, ostensibly where I could find some peace and quiet and to rid myself of the elephant that seemed to be sitting on my chest.

The doctors in Vermont and Florida were convinced that my breathing problems were being caused by "Community Pneumonia", so they prescribed treatments as though I was fighting a viral infection.

But my medical team over at Dartmouth wasn't sold on this: they ordered up a few tests to extract mucous and other fluids from my longs, then sent the gooey stuff  off to the cytology lab for analysis / diagnosis.

Problem was: results wouldn't be known for six to eight weeks.

I guess my Dartmouth Docs decided to treat my condition as a fungal infection -- since the medications for viruses and bacteria prescribed by the Vermont and Florida docs weren't working anyway.

Two days into taking the meds designed to fight fungal infections, I felt significant improvement in my ability to breath.

Thirdly, Carol and I are now living in Unity, New Hampshire, pop: 619. We have a lovely 10-room house surrounded by by seven rolling and meadowed acres -- this is property that will be ideal for raising our alpacas.

We chose Unity because it's about 25 miles from the Dartmouth-Hitchcock / Norris Cotton Cancer Center. At this critical stage of my care and treatment, it made sense to relocate so that I can be closer to the best cancer treatment experts in the business.

If you'll recall, my care in being spear-headed by Dr. Elizabeth Bengston and her colleague, Dr. Trevor Bayless -- the Buckeye (Elizabeth) and the Eph (Trevor.) I am honored to report that Dr. Kenneth Meehan (Jesuit trained at Fairfield U. and Georgetown Medical) , one of the world's leading experts in bone marrow transplantation, has also taken me on as his patient in the likely event a marrow transplant becomes a viable option at some future point in time.

Finally, I will do my absolute best to deliver on my New Year's Day Promise of 2011 -- to compose the Ultimate Sarah Palin Joke.

Peace, Love, Good Health, Prosperity, and Much Happiness until next time!