My last update mentioned that I would be receiving the results of my followup imaging on Monday and I wanted to start by apologizing for the delay, in being slow to provide the results. In this season of gratitude and thanks it is hard for me to type or speak the depths of feelings behind what has proven to be the first good news that I have received from medical personnel in probably over a year. In a visit where we were pretty certain to be recieving bad news just in case, and one of my dearest friends flew in from Norway at least partly to be there 'just in case', it was a bit of a relief when the doctor showed up with a smile.
It took a while to get through the medical terminology and phrasing but the oncologist is good and parsing downwards and wordsmithing. The final word was this... of all the spots which we know to currently be effected by the cancer, all are showing improvement and the cancer has degreed between 25 and 50% by diameter on the imaging. When you consider that 3D volume and area though it is even better. This is fabulous news indeed as it proves that the chemo regime I am currently on is proving effective.
There was much gulping of oxygen and deep sighs and relief and no small amount of tears I assure you.
The doctor did, however, go on to say that I can likely only tolerate a few more cycles of my 'hard' chemo. It has a high halflife expectancy in the human body and therefore there is a maximum volume they can realistically utilize. After that, I will likely continue on the 'soft' chemo which doesn't have the same problem and he may put me onto a secondary treatment as well. This will all be debated as we move forward and see how the hard chemo continues to effect me, to see how vicious of a hit my cellcounts continue to suffer and more.
But, in this season of thanks I wished to thank you, one and all, for the positive thoughts, the hopes, the prayers, the understanding and the patience that you have offered in these ever so chaotic days.
Wednesday, November 23, 2016
Friday, November 11, 2016
Blatherings from the Bilge
In the half light of the guildhall, a small contingent of forces make their way in from the entranceway, clearing each room and passageway carefully. As each member of the guild is encountered, fully half of the ranks of the assault force conjure sleep spells to reinforce the drugs that had stealthily been added into the alcohol stores of the the guild.
Once the facility is cleared, a second force appears, this group attired in robes bearing mystical, religious sigils and slogans. Together they lug a small, weakly squirming bundle which they deposit momentarily in the one partially cleared chair in the place, the tattered throne of the guildleader.
Struggling out of the confines of a reinforced gunnysack, a pale green head emerges, then arms, then a torso, before the form just collapses into the cushioning of the chair for a moment to gather his strength again.
Stepping from the crowd of assembled forces, an intimidatingly large man makes his way to Ghettoforce to dab up the drool from his chin. Slipping a small green tablet into GBoss' maw, the man steps back and waits for the demonic leader to regain consciousness.
The figure's loud voice echoes forth, "Behold, I am the High Seer Alone-Again, come to show you once more your disease riddled vermin of a guildie. As you can see, he still lives"
At this, the green mass struggles and opens its weary eyes to find the Bossguy. Weak nods seem to agree with the figure's words before the Seer continues.
"Just today a large number of my Healing staff's Seers have spent hours looking over, about and deeply within your scabrous, demented and plagued member. Their cleansings are now well into their fourth hour and are expected to continue through the night until they stop repeatedly muttering 'ew! ick! make it stop!'. Once they have completed their personal ablutions, they shall commence meeting to discuss what they have witnessed. This process shall be a lengthy one and yet is important in our struggles against the demonic forces besetting this... Alyxyn. We hope to have word on the progress of our struggles for his body and spirit sometime within the next two weeks."
At this all the members of the forces having brought Alyxyn into the fold, bellow forth in one language or another "So Say We All"
And then vanish as if they had been mist in the morning.
#################
From the player:
I know it isn't up to my historical writing standards but I had to give it a try at least. Just trying shows I am holding my own a bit, I hope.
Today was filled with CT scans and MRI recordings, with and without contrasts. This should, hopefully, give us an idea of how my body and my cancerous parasite are responding to the chemotherapy I am enduring. And enduring is about the best way I can describe it.
This week my chemotherapy received a 'nope' because my blood counts were too low and by 'too low' I mean the doctor almost performed a transfusion to get my white and red cell counts up to higher levels. This is the first time this has happened but.. if the chemo is to continue, I may expect it again in the future. The current type of chemo that I am enduring results in the cell production dropping drastically which causes the cell counts to bottom out very low before the body compensates and recuperates. However, when the cell counts drop, immunity is rather heavily compromised and it is terribly easy to get exhausted, as if severely anemic.
In the United States, despite the havoc of the recent elections, and Christmas seeming to have won the eternal struggle of holidays against Thanksgiving, we ARE entering the season for remembering everything we are thankful for.
I am thankful to have this opportunity to thank you all for offering such waves of fair thoughts, good hopes and positive emotions. I am thankful that here, despite difference senses of humor, we can come together to share thoughts and more ... together.
Alyxyn/Robert
ScumFlash: Scum iz the Bestest of the World!!! (Duh!)
Scum is the best of the whole damn world. But we already knew that ofcourse. We have been #1 on the Guild Hall of Fame for like as long as I can remember. Ok, I admit, my memory sucks monkeyballs. That is why I keep making these posts, so I can reread them later so I remember. Anyway, I think we will stay there for a while longer. At least, if you all keep checking in ofcourse.
But wait... there is more... Remember our cuddly Qball? You know... that round ball of meat that just keeps growing and growing and growing...? Well, he is not only the biggest thing in living memory on this world, being the first to beat all personal portals, but he has also been leading the #1 spot in Heroes Hall of Fame for a very long time indeed. And seeing he just cant say no, to a big bowl of The Good Wife's cooking. I'm pretty sure he will stay on top of that pile of maggots untill the end of times when he turns into a black hole (wich might be soon if he keeps growing as fast as he does...)
Is that all, you aks? Well ofcourse not. The Fortress Hall of Fame is dominated by Scum too. Seems like Grog69 (or Naughty Frog as i like to call him, if he is not listening) not only has performed the most scummy raids, but also the most upgrades. Although it seems like Vult is closing in there. Keep fighting the scummy fight Grog I guess you need some more soldiers :)
And finally... (finally, becasue we only have 4 Halls of Fame in this game... seems its about time we get more). Anyway, and Finally Pets Hall of Fame. Our newest ranking. It has been very hectic at the top, with lots of changes daily. But after the dust settled a bit, it starts to become clear that we have a new contender. Veriz, our own Scumpet, has taken the number 1 spot. And seeing she has two more rare pets than the rest of the field, it is safe to bet that she will stay there for as long as she keeps feeding her pets, and doestn't get screwed by the devs of RNG
There you have it. We need a new Hall of Fame to conquer.
But wait... there is more... Remember our cuddly Qball? You know... that round ball of meat that just keeps growing and growing and growing...? Well, he is not only the biggest thing in living memory on this world, being the first to beat all personal portals, but he has also been leading the #1 spot in Heroes Hall of Fame for a very long time indeed. And seeing he just cant say no, to a big bowl of The Good Wife's cooking. I'm pretty sure he will stay on top of that pile of maggots untill the end of times when he turns into a black hole (wich might be soon if he keeps growing as fast as he does...)
Is that all, you aks? Well ofcourse not. The Fortress Hall of Fame is dominated by Scum too. Seems like Grog69 (or Naughty Frog as i like to call him, if he is not listening) not only has performed the most scummy raids, but also the most upgrades. Although it seems like Vult is closing in there. Keep fighting the scummy fight Grog I guess you need some more soldiers :)
And finally... (finally, becasue we only have 4 Halls of Fame in this game... seems its about time we get more). Anyway, and Finally Pets Hall of Fame. Our newest ranking. It has been very hectic at the top, with lots of changes daily. But after the dust settled a bit, it starts to become clear that we have a new contender. Veriz, our own Scumpet, has taken the number 1 spot. And seeing she has two more rare pets than the rest of the field, it is safe to bet that she will stay there for as long as she keeps feeding her pets, and doestn't get screwed by the devs of RNG
There you have it. We need a new Hall of Fame to conquer.
Wednesday, October 26, 2016
Blatherings from the Bilge
well a bunch of things for the update today.
Today was a day in which I had blood work, saw the doc and then had one of my easy days of chemotherapy.
The bloodwork went smoothly, the vampire took a smooth blood draw with little pain. All the numbers were within acceptable limits which was a very good thing. It was also expected after a week with no chemo at all.
Meeting with the doctor I let him know that Saturday night, while tired, I had serious tremors in my right hand, to the point where I could not hold anything. There was no pain but having your dominant hand and arm being spastic is seldom a good thing.
In addition I asked the doctor when we would be doing testing to see how the chemo is effecting the cancer in my body. He had a short answer but no solid time line. The answer was that we will be doing CT scans of my afflicted systems.. which basically means looking at CT scans from my hips all the way to my throat, with and without contrast. In addition, due to my right arm having had a spasm, he is also ordering up MRI of my brain to ensure that I am not experiencing a low probability side effect of a growth in my brain which could cause a localized seizure. The timing for this is in the next few weeks.
For the rest of this week, I finish out a week of my hard chemo timing - tomorrow is 5-7 hours of hard chemo and Friday is a rehydration.
Each of the following two weeks I get easy chemo weeks, then I get another week of no chemo. Unfortunately this will bring me up to the week of Thanksgiving. Due to holidays and such, on the week of Thanksgiving, I end up (barring bad blood test results) undergoing a hard chemo week which means that Monday I do soft chemo,Tuesday I get the hard chemo, Wednesday I get rehydration. Luckily, the antinausea meds that they include on the hard chemo days should still be active on Thursday's Turkey day with my family. :)
Will obviously let you know about the imaging when that is scheduled and the results of that
Today was a day in which I had blood work, saw the doc and then had one of my easy days of chemotherapy.
The bloodwork went smoothly, the vampire took a smooth blood draw with little pain. All the numbers were within acceptable limits which was a very good thing. It was also expected after a week with no chemo at all.
Meeting with the doctor I let him know that Saturday night, while tired, I had serious tremors in my right hand, to the point where I could not hold anything. There was no pain but having your dominant hand and arm being spastic is seldom a good thing.
In addition I asked the doctor when we would be doing testing to see how the chemo is effecting the cancer in my body. He had a short answer but no solid time line. The answer was that we will be doing CT scans of my afflicted systems.. which basically means looking at CT scans from my hips all the way to my throat, with and without contrast. In addition, due to my right arm having had a spasm, he is also ordering up MRI of my brain to ensure that I am not experiencing a low probability side effect of a growth in my brain which could cause a localized seizure. The timing for this is in the next few weeks.
For the rest of this week, I finish out a week of my hard chemo timing - tomorrow is 5-7 hours of hard chemo and Friday is a rehydration.
Each of the following two weeks I get easy chemo weeks, then I get another week of no chemo. Unfortunately this will bring me up to the week of Thanksgiving. Due to holidays and such, on the week of Thanksgiving, I end up (barring bad blood test results) undergoing a hard chemo week which means that Monday I do soft chemo,Tuesday I get the hard chemo, Wednesday I get rehydration. Luckily, the antinausea meds that they include on the hard chemo days should still be active on Thursday's Turkey day with my family. :)
Will obviously let you know about the imaging when that is scheduled and the results of that
Sunday, September 18, 2016
Blatherings from the Bilge
okay, so my wife was right. This week was not just the bloodwork but rather was bloodwork, doc visit and an 'easy drug' treatment. Well, that was what it was supposed to be at least.
My blood work showed my cell counts are as expected except for creatinine. The creatinine is ... lower than acceptable. This means that my kidneys are not terribly happy and are behaving suboptimally. So the doc had to cancel my chemo for next week.
But.. he also added a hydration to today so I only got home from my 8:30 am doc appointment around 3pm. *sigh*
So next week, there is going to be blood work and that will be followed the following week with a full three session chemo session over Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday... if my creatinine levels improve.
Must force fluids even if nauseous.. must force fluids even if nauseaus.
By the way, since I have received the question from several people, I asked the doctor 'academically, without treatment, how long would I realistically have?'
His answer was "I would say 3-6 months, closer to the 6. With treatment, it is anyone's guess though"
So, that question is answered....*sigh*
My blood work showed my cell counts are as expected except for creatinine. The creatinine is ... lower than acceptable. This means that my kidneys are not terribly happy and are behaving suboptimally. So the doc had to cancel my chemo for next week.
But.. he also added a hydration to today so I only got home from my 8:30 am doc appointment around 3pm. *sigh*
So next week, there is going to be blood work and that will be followed the following week with a full three session chemo session over Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday... if my creatinine levels improve.
Must force fluids even if nauseous.. must force fluids even if nauseaus.
By the way, since I have received the question from several people, I asked the doctor 'academically, without treatment, how long would I realistically have?'
His answer was "I would say 3-6 months, closer to the 6. With treatment, it is anyone's guess though"
So, that question is answered....*sigh*
Wednesday, September 14, 2016
Blatherings from the Bilge
Sorry about the delay. Last week and this has been filled with ... queasiness and dizziness. But, as per your request, I am here to give you an update on how my last week went. Last week was my first week of chemotherapy. The people at the Willamette Valley Cancer Institute are fun, caring, interesting and on the ball when you need help or have questions.
Wednesday was my first treatment, using the 'easy' drug. This only took a couple of hours and had no true side effects other than a bit of dizziness. It was the first use of my medical port however so it was very educational. Let me tell you, the port is a lot easier to use than an IV to apply the medicines. Just a slight pinch and I was good to go. The only odd part is that when they went to unplug the port from the medicines, they flush the lines and then inject heparine. Considering it is intravenous, it leaves a 'taste' like the smell of alcohol for quite some time.
Thursday was not so good but mostly because the chemo started at 7:30am. After the last months of my body getting up when it stopped being tired, this was a shock to my system. Though, I am not certain just how much sleep I was able to get due to the anxiousness. In any case, at 0 Dark 30, I showed up, was shown to a chair and then hooked up to my drugs. And hooked up I remained until around 2pm. Rehydration and lots of drugs were given including antinausea medications. This left me a little groggy and woozy but alright, until about 30 min after getting home when I started to hiccup. and hiccup.. and hiccup.. Due to the drugs I pretty much crashed again when I got home and slept despite the hiccupping but... every time I awakened, the hiccups were still there.
On Friday, I had another session with the Institute. This time I was just supposed to get rehydrated, a process of a bag of saline in about an hour. However, my hiccups had not let up. Initially the nurses had a bit of fun with me but when I asked if there is anything that can be done, they take it to the docs. Initially the docs prescribe an oral antianxiety/relaxation pill. When that doesn't take effect after 30 min, the doc comes in to administer the shot form of the same drug. This slows down the hiccupping but it doesn't actually go away until about 40 min after I am home that night. Talk about sore ribs from hiccupping for 24 hours. *wince*
Saturday when I got up, I was rather dizzy, groggy and a bit nauseated. Throughout the day, the nausea got worse so that sitting up became questionable even with antinausea medications. Carnation Instant Breakfast for the win even into Sunday.
Tuesday I went out with Carrie, my wife, to pick up meds for our cat and I was able to eat an omelette without having too much trouble. At this point, as the docs say, whatever you can manage to eat, do.
This week is a blood test week to see how the treatment is effecting my red and white corpuscles.
They WILL bottom out due to the chemo but the question is, when and for how long. That will determine the timing of the rest of the treatments.
This week I have pretty much been dealing with nonstop nausea, which I have meds for, but the side effects of which are grogginess and sleepiness. :(
Robert
Wednesday was my first treatment, using the 'easy' drug. This only took a couple of hours and had no true side effects other than a bit of dizziness. It was the first use of my medical port however so it was very educational. Let me tell you, the port is a lot easier to use than an IV to apply the medicines. Just a slight pinch and I was good to go. The only odd part is that when they went to unplug the port from the medicines, they flush the lines and then inject heparine. Considering it is intravenous, it leaves a 'taste' like the smell of alcohol for quite some time.
Thursday was not so good but mostly because the chemo started at 7:30am. After the last months of my body getting up when it stopped being tired, this was a shock to my system. Though, I am not certain just how much sleep I was able to get due to the anxiousness. In any case, at 0 Dark 30, I showed up, was shown to a chair and then hooked up to my drugs. And hooked up I remained until around 2pm. Rehydration and lots of drugs were given including antinausea medications. This left me a little groggy and woozy but alright, until about 30 min after getting home when I started to hiccup. and hiccup.. and hiccup.. Due to the drugs I pretty much crashed again when I got home and slept despite the hiccupping but... every time I awakened, the hiccups were still there.
On Friday, I had another session with the Institute. This time I was just supposed to get rehydrated, a process of a bag of saline in about an hour. However, my hiccups had not let up. Initially the nurses had a bit of fun with me but when I asked if there is anything that can be done, they take it to the docs. Initially the docs prescribe an oral antianxiety/relaxation pill. When that doesn't take effect after 30 min, the doc comes in to administer the shot form of the same drug. This slows down the hiccupping but it doesn't actually go away until about 40 min after I am home that night. Talk about sore ribs from hiccupping for 24 hours. *wince*
Saturday when I got up, I was rather dizzy, groggy and a bit nauseated. Throughout the day, the nausea got worse so that sitting up became questionable even with antinausea medications. Carnation Instant Breakfast for the win even into Sunday.
Tuesday I went out with Carrie, my wife, to pick up meds for our cat and I was able to eat an omelette without having too much trouble. At this point, as the docs say, whatever you can manage to eat, do.
This week is a blood test week to see how the treatment is effecting my red and white corpuscles.
They WILL bottom out due to the chemo but the question is, when and for how long. That will determine the timing of the rest of the treatments.
This week I have pretty much been dealing with nonstop nausea, which I have meds for, but the side effects of which are grogginess and sleepiness. :(
Robert
Sunday, September 04, 2016
Blatherings from the Bilge
I am very sorry if my posts are being depressing or shocking or overly informative. I am trying my best to ensure that those that mean something to me hear the news of what is happening as it is occurring. I do not want them to suddenly be shocked and horrified at being left out and suddenly hearing of my condition or, even worse, only hearing after I have passed beyond the veil.
Alrighty now. So.. here is the latest update on my condition as of today:
1) stage 4 bladder cancer has been confirmed.
2) CT scans show it within my lymph nodes pretty much from my base to my neck.
3) Doc clearly has stated that chemotherapy is NOT a curative for me but may buy me additional time.
4) How long do I have? we don't know yet. That will depend on the effects of the chemotherapy upon my body and upon the cancer.
5) Chemotherapy starts this coming week. The chemotherapy determined by the doctor is GC which is actually sort of two different therapies that tend to get rolled into one. In my case, at least short term, they are going to both be used but at different times.
Basically here is what my week is going to look like:
Tuesday - see doc, get bloodwork to determine current levels of red and white blood cells
Wednesday - go in, get hydrated and get the 'easy' drug. This should take about an hour and is unlikely to have any side effects. Other than what would be expected of using a port in my chest to feed fluids into my jugular and down into my heart.
Thursday - go in really early, get antinauseau IV followed by the 'hard' drug. This should take about 5-7 hours depending on the flow rates they can achieve through my port. This is slated to start at really lame ass early and go through lunch time basically. This will have chance of resulting in nausea, vomitting, other side effects.
Friday - go in and get rehydrated since the 'hard drug' tends to dehydrate. This should only take 30-60 minutes
At the end of that, then additional appointments will be made. Depending on how I do with the easy drug, I may end up with multiple treatments of that one per hard drug treatment.. or I may end up with a longer dosage of the easy drug.
A lot of it is in the air depending on how my body responds and reacts.. and if the cancer 'works' with us.. or if it continues grabbing me by the throat and moves to the next target.. my heart and lungs.
Alrighty now. So.. here is the latest update on my condition as of today:
1) stage 4 bladder cancer has been confirmed.
2) CT scans show it within my lymph nodes pretty much from my base to my neck.
3) Doc clearly has stated that chemotherapy is NOT a curative for me but may buy me additional time.
4) How long do I have? we don't know yet. That will depend on the effects of the chemotherapy upon my body and upon the cancer.
5) Chemotherapy starts this coming week. The chemotherapy determined by the doctor is GC which is actually sort of two different therapies that tend to get rolled into one. In my case, at least short term, they are going to both be used but at different times.
Basically here is what my week is going to look like:
Tuesday - see doc, get bloodwork to determine current levels of red and white blood cells
Wednesday - go in, get hydrated and get the 'easy' drug. This should take about an hour and is unlikely to have any side effects. Other than what would be expected of using a port in my chest to feed fluids into my jugular and down into my heart.
Thursday - go in really early, get antinauseau IV followed by the 'hard' drug. This should take about 5-7 hours depending on the flow rates they can achieve through my port. This is slated to start at really lame ass early and go through lunch time basically. This will have chance of resulting in nausea, vomitting, other side effects.
Friday - go in and get rehydrated since the 'hard drug' tends to dehydrate. This should only take 30-60 minutes
At the end of that, then additional appointments will be made. Depending on how I do with the easy drug, I may end up with multiple treatments of that one per hard drug treatment.. or I may end up with a longer dosage of the easy drug.
A lot of it is in the air depending on how my body responds and reacts.. and if the cancer 'works' with us.. or if it continues grabbing me by the throat and moves to the next target.. my heart and lungs.
Tuesday, August 16, 2016
Blatherings from the Bilge
So, in my time off from work, I have been doing several things. For the most part playing MMO games just has not interested me at all. Civilization V with its really long play time and turn based play has been pretty fair though. Occassionally I will binge watch a program on NetFlix.
Currently I am working my way through the TV program West Wing. As I sit down to write this, I feel a lot like Sam or Tobey writing one of the speeches for either the President or the Press Secretary. I spend a lot of time weighing the information that I have and that I wish to pass on to others, evaluating how much to give, how it will likely effect people, the crafting of the wording. Even though I do it electronically at first to ensure that I can wrap my own mind around the subject matter and process it all, you would not believe the sheer number of drafts that can go into one of these updates. It is hard to convey how tiring the process is when the news to be relayed is so mind numbingly consuming even before I sit down to write this up for others even when the news is good.
Unfortunately, the news today is far from good.
The word from the oncologist is this : Stage 4 bladder cancer is in my lymphatic system which is almost always fatal. The main variable now is how compromised my system is and how 'energetic' the infestation. At this point, he is unwilling to estimate until there is additional imaging done and initial rounds of chemotherapy have been started to test its effects.
The oncologist is going to work with the general surgeon to place a line into my system through which chemotherapy will be able to be administered. He is scheduling PET scan of pretty much my entire system and CT scans of it as well. This will not effect the chemo much other than the intensity. Until chemo is started, he won't know how long, how much or how effective it may be. He was very willing to say to my work that he can conservatively estimate at least 3-6 months of treatment. He is also signing me up for a once a week class on chemotherapy so that I can better understand effects and set my expectations but... he was very good at relaying the impression that since the bladder cancer has literally seized me by the throat, that I shouldn't have many expectations, that it is a matter of when, not if. He was able to legitimately state that if my cancer responds to treatment that I may be able to add a few years and return to work. However, even so, again, it is a matter of when, not if.
As you can imagine, this news hit myself hard and I can only believe that it likely is hitting those of my audience hard as well. I am sorry for that effect but I believe it is better to be up front than have people hearing this information obfuscated and altered in a game of word of mouth/telephone. As the last news took me several days to process before putting on the wire, I think I am doing better, adjusting to my new 'reality', since you are seeing this information in a much more timely manner. This doesn't mean I am finding the news easier to take I assure you. It is just that this news comes as the latest onslaught and I can only be shocked so long before I go numb which is pretty much where I am at now.
Currently I am working my way through the TV program West Wing. As I sit down to write this, I feel a lot like Sam or Tobey writing one of the speeches for either the President or the Press Secretary. I spend a lot of time weighing the information that I have and that I wish to pass on to others, evaluating how much to give, how it will likely effect people, the crafting of the wording. Even though I do it electronically at first to ensure that I can wrap my own mind around the subject matter and process it all, you would not believe the sheer number of drafts that can go into one of these updates. It is hard to convey how tiring the process is when the news to be relayed is so mind numbingly consuming even before I sit down to write this up for others even when the news is good.
Unfortunately, the news today is far from good.
The word from the oncologist is this : Stage 4 bladder cancer is in my lymphatic system which is almost always fatal. The main variable now is how compromised my system is and how 'energetic' the infestation. At this point, he is unwilling to estimate until there is additional imaging done and initial rounds of chemotherapy have been started to test its effects.
The oncologist is going to work with the general surgeon to place a line into my system through which chemotherapy will be able to be administered. He is scheduling PET scan of pretty much my entire system and CT scans of it as well. This will not effect the chemo much other than the intensity. Until chemo is started, he won't know how long, how much or how effective it may be. He was very willing to say to my work that he can conservatively estimate at least 3-6 months of treatment. He is also signing me up for a once a week class on chemotherapy so that I can better understand effects and set my expectations but... he was very good at relaying the impression that since the bladder cancer has literally seized me by the throat, that I shouldn't have many expectations, that it is a matter of when, not if. He was able to legitimately state that if my cancer responds to treatment that I may be able to add a few years and return to work. However, even so, again, it is a matter of when, not if.
As you can imagine, this news hit myself hard and I can only believe that it likely is hitting those of my audience hard as well. I am sorry for that effect but I believe it is better to be up front than have people hearing this information obfuscated and altered in a game of word of mouth/telephone. As the last news took me several days to process before putting on the wire, I think I am doing better, adjusting to my new 'reality', since you are seeing this information in a much more timely manner. This doesn't mean I am finding the news easier to take I assure you. It is just that this news comes as the latest onslaught and I can only be shocked so long before I go numb which is pretty much where I am at now.
Monday, August 01, 2016
Blatherings from the Bilge
results came in today. They were finally able to decide what the mass was that they removed... a lymphnode.. with metastatic carcinoma similar to the bladder cancer.
Now I have to wait to find out next moves but...from my understandings from the doctors previously, this is pretty much the worst news we could have expected.
Now I have to wait to find out next moves but...from my understandings from the doctors previously, this is pretty much the worst news we could have expected.
Tuesday, July 26, 2016
blatherings from the bilge
As several of you have seen, I am back online and working through thirst.
surgery only had a few hitches:
1) after four hours of being without fluids due to doctor's preop instructions.. they had a hard time finding veins for IVs to use. That was a 'fun' 25 minutes of poking and prodding. and they were less competent at it than several persons attempting to backstab GhettoForce.
2) once the surgery was over.. well.. I was still 'under' about 10-15 minutes longer than they had figured I would be... so they were kind of annoyed and poking at me to wake me up. Oh sure.. stab a guy repeatedly in the arm, cut into his neck and then expect him to be all light and cheery when you have to FORCE him awake? are you freakin mental?
*sigh*
throat hurts pretty nastily and coughing or sneezing makes me feel like my head will literally fly off. I am on a restricted diet (no Elf boots at all :( ) for several days now.
And you ask what the next step is? we wait of course. Wait for the labs to come back on the latest piece of the gobbo to be severed and submitted for testing. At least this time it is only about 2cm square.
Thanks for all the good thoughts and cheerful greetings from you :)
Robert/Alyxyn
surgery only had a few hitches:
1) after four hours of being without fluids due to doctor's preop instructions.. they had a hard time finding veins for IVs to use. That was a 'fun' 25 minutes of poking and prodding. and they were less competent at it than several persons attempting to backstab GhettoForce.
2) once the surgery was over.. well.. I was still 'under' about 10-15 minutes longer than they had figured I would be... so they were kind of annoyed and poking at me to wake me up. Oh sure.. stab a guy repeatedly in the arm, cut into his neck and then expect him to be all light and cheery when you have to FORCE him awake? are you freakin mental?
*sigh*
throat hurts pretty nastily and coughing or sneezing makes me feel like my head will literally fly off. I am on a restricted diet (no Elf boots at all :( ) for several days now.
And you ask what the next step is? we wait of course. Wait for the labs to come back on the latest piece of the gobbo to be severed and submitted for testing. At least this time it is only about 2cm square.
Thanks for all the good thoughts and cheerful greetings from you :)
Robert/Alyxyn
Wednesday, July 20, 2016
Blatherings from the Bilge
The little green menace has been pretty quiet for a while as he shuffles into the guildhall. Tired, bedraggled, looking to have lost weight and with a rather haunted look in his eyes, he drags his weapon across the floor of the guildhall to GBoss' chair. Taking out a knife, he uses it to stab a note into the back of the throne and pin it there before opening his hatch down into the bilge. Dropping through almost bonelessly, he closes the trapdoor after him with a loud BANG the reverbates through the halls.
When people come stumbling back from their missions, from their tortures, from their beds, there is a worn, stained and slightly damp note attached by that dagger into the throne. Upon it is scratched the following in what may just be guard blood:
"da damned quack healers haf let me kno dat it aint ovah yet. da sumtin in mah throats gotta com out. Ah seez a slab agin on July 26th, roundabouts two thutty pm Pacific. Ah hopes ta kip mah head when dey playz wit mah neck.
-Alyxyn"
When people come stumbling back from their missions, from their tortures, from their beds, there is a worn, stained and slightly damp note attached by that dagger into the throne. Upon it is scratched the following in what may just be guard blood:
"da damned quack healers haf let me kno dat it aint ovah yet. da sumtin in mah throats gotta com out. Ah seez a slab agin on July 26th, roundabouts two thutty pm Pacific. Ah hopes ta kip mah head when dey playz wit mah neck.
-Alyxyn"
Tuesday, June 21, 2016
Update on Blatherings from the Bilge
Okay, it has been a while since the bards have visited with the goblinoid menace so you are probably getting tired of typing with your fingers crossed and the sheer number of candles that have been lit for him has long since passed into near epic quantities.
So, let us visit the latest information on that menace (currently mostly to himself) named Alyxyn.
As of three weeks ago, he sat up in bed as he was having trouble swallowing. He was rather surprised not to find either a small goblin, pet, or huge spider sitting on his next trying to end his life. Instead, what he found was that on the left side of his throat, there was a hard swelling between 1 and 2 inches in size. Before he could really think things through, it occurred to him that the town criers had lately been lamenting that the pollen counts in the air had reached largely uncountable levels, citing counts of 800+ when "dangerous" was barely 100. So.. He wasn't terribly worried, doubled his concoction to fight Mother Nature's assault upon him and went to sleep again.
However, when he awakened again, things had not gotten any better so the Menace sent some gold to a healer to reserve some time. Healer come and Healer go with no conclusion other than "yup, its something". Rituals were thrown and readings taken and again no conclusion could be derived. Finally further rituals and blood sacrifice was offered on another altar before the Priests could conclude that, while they still could not recognize the specific breed of 'whatever', that it was NOT good and that the swelling needed to be removed.
And now.. the waiting begins again. Now a special healer needs to be contracted to throw the Menace onto an altar and slice into his throat without removing his head.
When will this be? ..... sometime soon is all they can tell me currently.
So, let us visit the latest information on that menace (currently mostly to himself) named Alyxyn.
As of three weeks ago, he sat up in bed as he was having trouble swallowing. He was rather surprised not to find either a small goblin, pet, or huge spider sitting on his next trying to end his life. Instead, what he found was that on the left side of his throat, there was a hard swelling between 1 and 2 inches in size. Before he could really think things through, it occurred to him that the town criers had lately been lamenting that the pollen counts in the air had reached largely uncountable levels, citing counts of 800+ when "dangerous" was barely 100. So.. He wasn't terribly worried, doubled his concoction to fight Mother Nature's assault upon him and went to sleep again.
However, when he awakened again, things had not gotten any better so the Menace sent some gold to a healer to reserve some time. Healer come and Healer go with no conclusion other than "yup, its something". Rituals were thrown and readings taken and again no conclusion could be derived. Finally further rituals and blood sacrifice was offered on another altar before the Priests could conclude that, while they still could not recognize the specific breed of 'whatever', that it was NOT good and that the swelling needed to be removed.
And now.. the waiting begins again. Now a special healer needs to be contracted to throw the Menace onto an altar and slice into his throat without removing his head.
When will this be? ..... sometime soon is all they can tell me currently.
Sunday, May 22, 2016
Blatherings from the Bilge
I am continuing to write this ooc as currently I am finding it hard to write terribly humourously and haven't had much 'spare' energy to do so I fear. And Now for the update:
On May 5th, I checked into the hospital and entered into surgerical procedures early as the docs wanted to use an epidural to lessen my pain levels. The epidural procedure went smoothly and I was off into medicated lands easily. This first procedure went well and I was slipped into a room to recover which I did apparently smoothly, emerging without Bladder and prostateless but with 40 staples running from my sternum downward.
On May 5th, I checked into the hospital and entered into surgerical procedures early as the docs wanted to use an epidural to lessen my pain levels. The epidural procedure went smoothly and I was off into medicated lands easily. This first procedure went well and I was slipped into a room to recover which I did apparently smoothly, emerging without Bladder and prostateless but with 40 staples running from my sternum downward.
Until about 1am May 7th.
At that time, while being moved in my bed, I felt something 'give' and shred in my abdomen. Due to procedures, nursing staff isnt permitted to remove surgical binding so, from that time until my doc came in around 10am I had issues. I hiccupped agonizingly every few seconds until I would pass out. After passing out, of course, the nursing staff would have to wake me from the bliss of painless oblivion to begin hiccupping again. Come 10am the doctor was able to check my wound and determined that my fascia had torn, in essence the muscles of my abdomen walls had torn around the staples. Emergency surgery ensued and I awakened hours later with more tubes emerging from my body than an elaborate Halloween costume, 30 new individual stitches and several sutures securing my abdominal wall.
Since that time, recovery has been slow but systematic with some odd fits and starts.
May 14th was a delightful day in which I was cut loose from the hospital and permitted to return home. Settling into home I am relearning parts of how to live and expectations to have for myself. Home Health is entering my life to assist in changes that are being necessary. Currently, for instance, sitting up for long periods (more than 15 min or so) can be be painful due to the folding of my abdomen.
On May 17 I visited the docs and they removed my lengthy list of staples and sutures. My wounds continue to drain well and at a 'healthy rate' and I basically wear a tight tension binder about my abdomen and chest (sort of like a corset). The idea is that if I sneeze, cough, hiccup or make other 'rather expected and violent' reactions of my chest, the binder should keep my abdomen from reinjuring while it slowly heals.
However, as is normal in the chronicle that has become my life, "it just doesn't end". Last night my wife was driving myself and our housemate to a large store to get fresh wound dressing supplies. when, at a stop light, we were rearended by a large pickup truck.
Police ensued and the other driver ended up being arrested for Driving Under the Influence and I ended up going to the nearest hospital. Despite being on Oxycodone, my head and neck and shoulder were hurting and.. we pretty much all felt it important that I be looked over to ensure no complications to my abdominal wounds had occurred due to the jarring impact.
Three hours of examinations and Xrays later, I was back home with a seriously strained right trapezius muscle (the big triangular muscle that connects the neck to the point of shoulder and downwards). This morning as I type this, it is pretty much a solid mass. No additional damage was done to my existing wounds but 2 doctors, 4 ER nurses, 2 police officers and Lord knows how many other medical staff got one of their first chances to see an 'almost new' chest stoma and my other wounds. I have gotten accustomed to sort of feeling like an animal on display at a zoo to a degree.
So.. that is the latest word. Feel free to ask questions as you have them if you do.
Wednesday, May 04, 2016
Blatherings from the Bilge
Okay.. doing this out of character just because.. well.. it is a bit easier right now ;)
As of midnight last night I started an all liquid diet to prepare for the surgery.
At 5am Pacific tomorrow May 5th, I check in for surgery in sunglasses, sombrero and packing a bottle of Patron for the surgical team.
At 7:30am they knock me out to start the ball rolling and the scoop and toss begins in which they remove parts of my anatomy to get ahead of the cancer.
By 2:30pm Pacific, if everything goes well, I should be waking up, stoned on pain meds, in my hospital room.
From that point, I will be in the hospital 5-7 days before release.
After release, there is a 6 week recovery period with an ETA for returning to my work on June 23rd.
Sometimes during this ordeal I will be upgraded from liquid diet to 'low residue' diet.. and eventually back to normal eating. Docs aren't willing to estimate that progression however so all your boots are probably safe for now.
I will have my tablet with me so you will see me in Shakes boobytrapping GBoss' throne to keep him honest and humble (yeah right.. I just like seeing him running around the guild with his pants on fire).
See you as I can!
Robert/Alyxyn
As of midnight last night I started an all liquid diet to prepare for the surgery.
At 5am Pacific tomorrow May 5th, I check in for surgery in sunglasses, sombrero and packing a bottle of Patron for the surgical team.
At 7:30am they knock me out to start the ball rolling and the scoop and toss begins in which they remove parts of my anatomy to get ahead of the cancer.
By 2:30pm Pacific, if everything goes well, I should be waking up, stoned on pain meds, in my hospital room.
From that point, I will be in the hospital 5-7 days before release.
After release, there is a 6 week recovery period with an ETA for returning to my work on June 23rd.
Sometimes during this ordeal I will be upgraded from liquid diet to 'low residue' diet.. and eventually back to normal eating. Docs aren't willing to estimate that progression however so all your boots are probably safe for now.
I will have my tablet with me so you will see me in Shakes boobytrapping GBoss' throne to keep him honest and humble (yeah right.. I just like seeing him running around the guild with his pants on fire).
See you as I can!
Robert/Alyxyn
Sunday, April 17, 2016
Blatherings from the Bilge
*the presenter walks into the auditorium slowly, quietly and makes his way to the podium. Standing for a moment in stage center, he takes and envelop from his vest pocket and takes out some papers that he lays on the stand before studying this audience.
Tapping the microphone once, twice, he looks against the glare of the lights out into the audience and clears his voice, causing massive feedback loops that tear through the auditorium before the sound crew wrangle it under control.
Clearing his voice again, the man addresses everyone, "good morning everyone and welcome to a status hearing on the wellbeing of the alternative reality being known as Alyxyn, aka,," and his lips curl in an obvious sneer of distaste "The Green Menace, aka The Two Foot Wonder, aka the Plotting Doom, aka The Retched Refuse".
Shuffling his paperwork a little, he continues "Official examination of the patient's anatomy has been performed by his Royal Highness, the ArchBishop Whodafuck and Pope Gunna Costia. These two personages and their staffs have determined that it shall indeed come to pass that the patient will need to lose some of his inner workings if the demonic infestation is to be purged. Amongst the organs to be lost is his bladder which had previously been blessed by Their Holy Touches as well as his prostate. Other organs may need to be Blessedly Delivered into His Light however Their Mutual Holinesses will have to determine that with direct observation..
Again shuffling his paperwork, he looks back to the auditorium into the lights and continues "currently His Holinesses have slated Their intervention work to begin at 5 am Pacific upon May 5th, that questionable 'holiday' of Mexican fame known as Cinco De Mayo. and work shall continue until either complete or the patient passes into The Light. Current expectations are that Their work shall be successful but be time consuming, taking Their morning and possibly afternoons."
"The Patie... erm.. Alyxyn.. shall remain in the facility of Their Holinesses for a period between 5 and 7 days, after which he shall be released to a care facility for a period approximating 6 weeks."
The presenter sets aside his notes and glares at his audience demandingly before he continues, "The Holinesses assure me that the patient WILL improve and get better. Of course if the Powers that Be dictate otherwise, it will come to pass as He wills it, as it Must Be."
With those words, the presenter adjusts his tie and steps back behind a curtain amidst an onslaught of shouted questions, camera flashes and one overly ripe tomato.
Now.. out of character
Yes, surgery is slated for May 5th. Check in is at 5am Pacific so I will be awake to ensure that I click in for fighting in the guild fight and in the portal before I am carried away.. Surgery won't likely start until after 7am or so however and is slated to take many hours. According to a friend of mine that had the same procedure performed on him, he didn't awaken until very late in the afternoon.
My family is going to be at the hospital with me, so you could say that a goblin horde will descend to lend some comfort, keeping in mind that the only one of the family (am one of four kids) that is shorter than six foot tall.. is my mother at barely five foot.. tall for goblins ;)
The hospital stay is expected to be five to seven days but I should have a tablet with me, though my current tablet decided to die dramatically last night. I will be hopped on pain killers but I should at least manage my checkins. After I am released from the hospital, recovery is expected to take 6 weeks before I can think about going back to work. During this time, my incisions will be healing and I will be learning how to use tubing to replicate what Nature had previously permitted me to perform.
I will be in pain, but medicated. I have been going through bouts of depression that are rather monsoonic (if that is a word) but I learned how to weather those years ago. Generally what I do is pull into myself until I can Center myself and return to functioning.
Before the May 5th surgery I have several appointments within the health care industry of the US, meeting with anesthesia personnel, talking to an ostomy specialist, etc. I also have to remember to get a bottle of Patron to give to the surgical staff so that they may celebrate the holiday once their day is over and I am tucked away in a recovery room.
Sorry it has been a few days since getting to this point but you can likely imagine it takes time to 'process' the loss of body parts, much less the ability to pee upon your own, but living is what is matter.. until one day it may not. Quality of Life matters more than Quantity to me but I am a solid Survivor.
Best thoughts and wishes to all my treasured Scum.
Tapping the microphone once, twice, he looks against the glare of the lights out into the audience and clears his voice, causing massive feedback loops that tear through the auditorium before the sound crew wrangle it under control.
Clearing his voice again, the man addresses everyone, "good morning everyone and welcome to a status hearing on the wellbeing of the alternative reality being known as Alyxyn, aka,," and his lips curl in an obvious sneer of distaste "The Green Menace, aka The Two Foot Wonder, aka the Plotting Doom, aka The Retched Refuse".
Shuffling his paperwork a little, he continues "Official examination of the patient's anatomy has been performed by his Royal Highness, the ArchBishop Whodafuck and Pope Gunna Costia. These two personages and their staffs have determined that it shall indeed come to pass that the patient will need to lose some of his inner workings if the demonic infestation is to be purged. Amongst the organs to be lost is his bladder which had previously been blessed by Their Holy Touches as well as his prostate. Other organs may need to be Blessedly Delivered into His Light however Their Mutual Holinesses will have to determine that with direct observation..
Again shuffling his paperwork, he looks back to the auditorium into the lights and continues "currently His Holinesses have slated Their intervention work to begin at 5 am Pacific upon May 5th, that questionable 'holiday' of Mexican fame known as Cinco De Mayo. and work shall continue until either complete or the patient passes into The Light. Current expectations are that Their work shall be successful but be time consuming, taking Their morning and possibly afternoons."
"The Patie... erm.. Alyxyn.. shall remain in the facility of Their Holinesses for a period between 5 and 7 days, after which he shall be released to a care facility for a period approximating 6 weeks."
The presenter sets aside his notes and glares at his audience demandingly before he continues, "The Holinesses assure me that the patient WILL improve and get better. Of course if the Powers that Be dictate otherwise, it will come to pass as He wills it, as it Must Be."
With those words, the presenter adjusts his tie and steps back behind a curtain amidst an onslaught of shouted questions, camera flashes and one overly ripe tomato.
Now.. out of character
Yes, surgery is slated for May 5th. Check in is at 5am Pacific so I will be awake to ensure that I click in for fighting in the guild fight and in the portal before I am carried away.. Surgery won't likely start until after 7am or so however and is slated to take many hours. According to a friend of mine that had the same procedure performed on him, he didn't awaken until very late in the afternoon.
My family is going to be at the hospital with me, so you could say that a goblin horde will descend to lend some comfort, keeping in mind that the only one of the family (am one of four kids) that is shorter than six foot tall.. is my mother at barely five foot.. tall for goblins ;)
The hospital stay is expected to be five to seven days but I should have a tablet with me, though my current tablet decided to die dramatically last night. I will be hopped on pain killers but I should at least manage my checkins. After I am released from the hospital, recovery is expected to take 6 weeks before I can think about going back to work. During this time, my incisions will be healing and I will be learning how to use tubing to replicate what Nature had previously permitted me to perform.
I will be in pain, but medicated. I have been going through bouts of depression that are rather monsoonic (if that is a word) but I learned how to weather those years ago. Generally what I do is pull into myself until I can Center myself and return to functioning.
Before the May 5th surgery I have several appointments within the health care industry of the US, meeting with anesthesia personnel, talking to an ostomy specialist, etc. I also have to remember to get a bottle of Patron to give to the surgical staff so that they may celebrate the holiday once their day is over and I am tucked away in a recovery room.
Sorry it has been a few days since getting to this point but you can likely imagine it takes time to 'process' the loss of body parts, much less the ability to pee upon your own, but living is what is matter.. until one day it may not. Quality of Life matters more than Quantity to me but I am a solid Survivor.
Best thoughts and wishes to all my treasured Scum.
Thursday, April 07, 2016
Blatherings from the Bilge
Well I don't have the energy to add this information into my IC version of my story of my cancer so I will just post here what I have posted to my family and to my work teams.
well got back from the doctor and here is what he has to say..
1) the cancer is back (this we knew)
2) the cancer is just as aggressive as before (this we knew)
3) the cancer that they are able to see not only is in some of the areas that were previously resected but also in some of the pristine areas that had not yet been touched by it.
4) no lymph nodes currently involved (yay) so no PET necessary (yay) but that means no glowing in the dark (pout)
so here is what everyone has been waiting for.. next steps:
1) it is possible to re-resect my bladder and run me through another set of BCG treatments like they had but...
but.. chances are good that if they did that, the cancer would outgrow their ability to contain it so...
2) bladder has to go
3) placement of cancer is such that bladder AND prostate will need to go (I will let you all look up THOSE side effects as I don't want to dwell on them right now in particular)
4) with those organs gone, they will reroute the ureters that connect the kidneys to the bladder so that they will run into a small 'rerouting' that would use a section of my colon that they would have to create. This would basically lead outward to a spout on my lower abdomen so that my urine would flow down and out into a bag.
ETA.. roughly 3 weeks after I give the docs the go-ahead to schedule things
end result.. roughly a week in the hospital followed by approximately 6 weeks of downtime healing around home before I would 'feel up to moving about a lot'.
So.. time for me to process, mourn, and whatever else and however else this is going to hit me with in the next little bit.. but.. not really up to talking a whole lot as you can likely imagine.
well got back from the doctor and here is what he has to say..
1) the cancer is back (this we knew)
2) the cancer is just as aggressive as before (this we knew)
3) the cancer that they are able to see not only is in some of the areas that were previously resected but also in some of the pristine areas that had not yet been touched by it.
4) no lymph nodes currently involved (yay) so no PET necessary (yay) but that means no glowing in the dark (pout)
so here is what everyone has been waiting for.. next steps:
1) it is possible to re-resect my bladder and run me through another set of BCG treatments like they had but...
but.. chances are good that if they did that, the cancer would outgrow their ability to contain it so...
2) bladder has to go
3) placement of cancer is such that bladder AND prostate will need to go (I will let you all look up THOSE side effects as I don't want to dwell on them right now in particular)
4) with those organs gone, they will reroute the ureters that connect the kidneys to the bladder so that they will run into a small 'rerouting' that would use a section of my colon that they would have to create. This would basically lead outward to a spout on my lower abdomen so that my urine would flow down and out into a bag.
ETA.. roughly 3 weeks after I give the docs the go-ahead to schedule things
end result.. roughly a week in the hospital followed by approximately 6 weeks of downtime healing around home before I would 'feel up to moving about a lot'.
So.. time for me to process, mourn, and whatever else and however else this is going to hit me with in the next little bit.. but.. not really up to talking a whole lot as you can likely imagine.
Wednesday, March 23, 2016
Blatherings from the Bilge
Groggily did the Green Menace arise from the warmth of his bed. Grumpily he stumbled from the Bilge and into the guildhall to the kitchens.. before the strictures of the Acolytes slapped him just a little more subtly than that of Their Holy Rubber Mallet. "No Food or Drink before the Ritual". The despair of the goblin could be heard throughout the guild hall as his hand slipped from the mug containing his morning brew.
Trying hard not to want to cleanse the gene pool of the world's supply of stupid in one morning, the goblin confined himself to his Bilges for a few hours before he could catch a wagon to the Temple. Prying his eyes as wide as he could without the blessings of Caffeine, he tolerated the drivel of the coachman and only slew two of the pedestrians who threatened to delay his passage.
When finally he arrived at the Temple steps and was ushered into the Antechambers, Alyxyn was met by an acolyte bearing a strange look upon his face, who whispered shamefacedly "The Ritual has been denied".
As it turns out, the vendors at the bank where Alyxyn holds his funds were unwilling, at this time, to permit the High Priest to do as His God was dictating.
Hmmmm best to switch ooc at this point I think.
Yes, the PET scan and other imaging was denied by the insurance company about 20 minutes before I arrived at the imaging center. So, yesterday was filled with phone calls, apologies, promises, rescheduling and recommitment to get these tests by the Doctors, the Doctors' staff, the insurance specialists at the Doctors' offices and the imaging center. BUT.. we still have no idea WHY the insurance company is denying the imaging.
By the end of the day, a new appointment was made for Monday for the same tests and the imaging center and doctor's offices will be calling me Friday to reassure me.. or better explain, the next steps. This gives them more time to 'work' with the insurance company to ensure everyone has the paperwork they need and that the insurance company ends up understanding the time critical nature of this entire series of tests.
At one point I thought the doctors were going to have a stroke from screaming loudly and forcefully of THEIR frustration in dealing with the insurance. That is the level of care and support I am getting from my doctors who very much understand that this truly is a quality of life, even potentially life and death, matter.
Trying hard not to want to cleanse the gene pool of the world's supply of stupid in one morning, the goblin confined himself to his Bilges for a few hours before he could catch a wagon to the Temple. Prying his eyes as wide as he could without the blessings of Caffeine, he tolerated the drivel of the coachman and only slew two of the pedestrians who threatened to delay his passage.
When finally he arrived at the Temple steps and was ushered into the Antechambers, Alyxyn was met by an acolyte bearing a strange look upon his face, who whispered shamefacedly "The Ritual has been denied".
As it turns out, the vendors at the bank where Alyxyn holds his funds were unwilling, at this time, to permit the High Priest to do as His God was dictating.
Hmmmm best to switch ooc at this point I think.
Yes, the PET scan and other imaging was denied by the insurance company about 20 minutes before I arrived at the imaging center. So, yesterday was filled with phone calls, apologies, promises, rescheduling and recommitment to get these tests by the Doctors, the Doctors' staff, the insurance specialists at the Doctors' offices and the imaging center. BUT.. we still have no idea WHY the insurance company is denying the imaging.
By the end of the day, a new appointment was made for Monday for the same tests and the imaging center and doctor's offices will be calling me Friday to reassure me.. or better explain, the next steps. This gives them more time to 'work' with the insurance company to ensure everyone has the paperwork they need and that the insurance company ends up understanding the time critical nature of this entire series of tests.
At one point I thought the doctors were going to have a stroke from screaming loudly and forcefully of THEIR frustration in dealing with the insurance. That is the level of care and support I am getting from my doctors who very much understand that this truly is a quality of life, even potentially life and death, matter.
Friday, March 18, 2016
Blatherings from the Bilge
And thus, on day 17 of the third month of the year of our Scumminess Two Thousand Sixteen, did the altarboy of the High Priest call upon the Green Menace in the dark depths of the bilge of the guild vessel. Lo unto the Afflicted came word that soon his ordeal would continue.
For on Tuesday next, day 22, would the tiny goblin be carried forth unto a minor altar again. There would the acolytes administer strange glowing dyes into his body from which the High Holiness would seek to better track the extent of the unholiest of afflictions of the goblin rogue. Truly did the green monstrosity tremble at the thought for he would need to remain quiet and still for hours without the invocation of the blessings of the Holy Rubber Mallet.
Once the dyes were applied and the artists properly rendered his afflictions, then would the High Holiness decide what invocations remain, what rituals applied and what sacrifices would be necessary in the quest to send the diabolic affliction back into the ether, far from the Green Menace.
ooc:
March 22 I go in for PET scanning which will involve a radioactive tracer be injected throughout my system. It is estimated to take 2-3 hours total. From this and with the results of the labs, the docs will determine next steps.
Alyxyn
For on Tuesday next, day 22, would the tiny goblin be carried forth unto a minor altar again. There would the acolytes administer strange glowing dyes into his body from which the High Holiness would seek to better track the extent of the unholiest of afflictions of the goblin rogue. Truly did the green monstrosity tremble at the thought for he would need to remain quiet and still for hours without the invocation of the blessings of the Holy Rubber Mallet.
Once the dyes were applied and the artists properly rendered his afflictions, then would the High Holiness decide what invocations remain, what rituals applied and what sacrifices would be necessary in the quest to send the diabolic affliction back into the ether, far from the Green Menace.
ooc:
March 22 I go in for PET scanning which will involve a radioactive tracer be injected throughout my system. It is estimated to take 2-3 hours total. From this and with the results of the labs, the docs will determine next steps.
Alyxyn
Monday, March 14, 2016
Bilgewater Blatherings or "how badly f*cked is the greenie?"
and now for the latest in the chronicles of the tiny green menace.
Months have now passed since the removal of the demonically foul abomination from within our Green Menace. This time has been filled with days of Masses by the Healers, sacrifices of livestock, imbibing of Holy Potions and other such rituals required towards the banishing of the affliction.
Finally, it became time for the High Priest to again lay on of hands and invoke the holiest of relics to determine the success of the Pantheon in its struggles. The tiny gobbo accompanied by his tribe travelled to the church and Alyxyn was cleansed, purified and dressed in appropriate robes. Once the acolytes were sufficiently pleased, the goblin sneak was quietly led with solemnity into the altar and laid forth for the rite.
At which point his forehead was smote by a large rubber mallet and darkness embraced the greenskinned archer.
Weird dreams carried the ravenous munchkin through the rituals which were likely filled with volumes of chanting of holy words, retching of humans in the proximity of goblins and enslavements of acolytes to the stone altar to ensure they would remain. However all passed without notice by Alyxyn as he had a long chat with the voices that accompany him.
Eventually the chanting tapered off and the rubber mallet was set aside and Alyxyn was permitted to awaken from the ministrations of the High Priest. With the opening of his orange eyes into the darkness of the shrine, the green menace was presented with the cowled face of the High Priest. Sagely and Wise was the image and troubled. Such a fierce look was bore by the priest as to chill the blood of the most wild opponent, such sadness as to slay legions of drug addled mimes.
Soft was the voice of the healer as he broke the news "the abomination is not gone. Indeed, it is striking back with a vengeance" and thus did the heart of a gobbo break.
Out of Character now as I can only write like that so long in my current state of mind.
The procedure Friday was what I am terming a peek and poke. They ran a camera up my urethra into my bladder to take a look around. Keeping in mind that amount of material was resected from my bladder walls in November, there is a lot of 'good' regrowth and healing. However, there is equal sign of regrowth of the cancer. In the terms of the doctor "with a vengeance".
Biopsies were taken and we have to await on the lab results to know exactly how "bad" it is however that last biopsies showed a greater than 90% growth rate. We can only hope that that has slackened back to more 'normal' rates of 75% or less so it is "only" considered aggressive. More scans are going to be slated as soon as the docs can but they believe it has likely spread now outside of the bladder and the most 'reasonable' expectations are that the next procedures will remove the loss of body parts in an attempt to get ahead of the cancer's growth.
What are the chances? noone is hazarding a guess at this time. What is the time frame? we don't know yet.
Months have now passed since the removal of the demonically foul abomination from within our Green Menace. This time has been filled with days of Masses by the Healers, sacrifices of livestock, imbibing of Holy Potions and other such rituals required towards the banishing of the affliction.
Finally, it became time for the High Priest to again lay on of hands and invoke the holiest of relics to determine the success of the Pantheon in its struggles. The tiny gobbo accompanied by his tribe travelled to the church and Alyxyn was cleansed, purified and dressed in appropriate robes. Once the acolytes were sufficiently pleased, the goblin sneak was quietly led with solemnity into the altar and laid forth for the rite.
At which point his forehead was smote by a large rubber mallet and darkness embraced the greenskinned archer.
Weird dreams carried the ravenous munchkin through the rituals which were likely filled with volumes of chanting of holy words, retching of humans in the proximity of goblins and enslavements of acolytes to the stone altar to ensure they would remain. However all passed without notice by Alyxyn as he had a long chat with the voices that accompany him.
Eventually the chanting tapered off and the rubber mallet was set aside and Alyxyn was permitted to awaken from the ministrations of the High Priest. With the opening of his orange eyes into the darkness of the shrine, the green menace was presented with the cowled face of the High Priest. Sagely and Wise was the image and troubled. Such a fierce look was bore by the priest as to chill the blood of the most wild opponent, such sadness as to slay legions of drug addled mimes.
Soft was the voice of the healer as he broke the news "the abomination is not gone. Indeed, it is striking back with a vengeance" and thus did the heart of a gobbo break.
Out of Character now as I can only write like that so long in my current state of mind.
The procedure Friday was what I am terming a peek and poke. They ran a camera up my urethra into my bladder to take a look around. Keeping in mind that amount of material was resected from my bladder walls in November, there is a lot of 'good' regrowth and healing. However, there is equal sign of regrowth of the cancer. In the terms of the doctor "with a vengeance".
Biopsies were taken and we have to await on the lab results to know exactly how "bad" it is however that last biopsies showed a greater than 90% growth rate. We can only hope that that has slackened back to more 'normal' rates of 75% or less so it is "only" considered aggressive. More scans are going to be slated as soon as the docs can but they believe it has likely spread now outside of the bladder and the most 'reasonable' expectations are that the next procedures will remove the loss of body parts in an attempt to get ahead of the cancer's growth.
What are the chances? noone is hazarding a guess at this time. What is the time frame? we don't know yet.
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