Ahoy there, me hearties, it has been a while.  My apologies for not keepin' ya up to date, but it's been a busy couple of months.  In my last rant, I told you that on Sept 18th I was diagnosed with stage 3-B lung cancer.  Well, smoking for 35 years can have that affect on a body.

After 5 months of Radiation and Chemotherapy, I am happy to announce that not only is the cancer in remission, but my last PET scan shows that whatever cancer I had is gone!  Now, this does not get the Capn out of the woods, I'm told that the medical profession doesn't consider me cured until I go 5 years without this shit coming back.  What really sucks is that there is not really a pro-active preventative that I can do while I wait it out.  You would think that someone would come up with something besides wait-and-see.

I want to thank my Higher Power for getting me through this, and my wife for all her support.  My private support group, being my family and friends, my doctors, nurses, and clinicians for working so hard on me, and all my mates who have sent me prayers, positive karma, good mojo, healing energy, and kept me in their thoughts. 

Now that my hair and beard are growing back, it should be interesting to see what color it will be.  So far it has been blondish brown, with a bunch of silver and gray.  Maybe I'll keep it shaved for a season or two, but I gotta tell ya, it gets pretty cold.  You really don't know what you've got 'til it's gone.

Well, that's it fer now.  I'll update the site with our schedule as we get more confirmations for our bookings.  I'll also let you in on my health concerns, but I expect smooth sailings.  Take care.

Some of you may have heard about it as a rumor, or read about it as a thread on one of the Yahoo Groups, or heard about it directly from the horse's mouth (that would be me), that your humble narrator has cancer.  This would be true, though I wish it were not.  Allow me to get to the specifics.

On Sept. 18th I was feeling as though things were not as they should be.  My left calf felt as though it were bruised, my right kidney felt some discomfort, and the summer cold I was nursing had moved into my chest.  Individually these things would have been ignored, but collectively it was enough to warrent a visit to the doctor's office.  After my examination, my doctor concluded that I may be ready to pass a kidney stone, but sent me to the hospital for an ultrasound on my calf and a chest x-ray.  The resilts of the ultrasound revealed 3 serious blood clots in my leg, one of them being a deep vein thrombosis.  The chest x-ray revealed a tumor in my right lung.  A CAT-scan was performed, which showed about 50 Pulmonary Embolisms (Emboli?) were in my chest.  A bronchoscopy was performed and the biopsy concluded that the tumor was cancerous, being a non-small cell variety, probably at stage 3-B.  To eliminate any more blood clots going for a swim through my lungs I had a Greenfield filter installed in my Inferior Vena Cava and started on a blood thinner regimine.  A week later I was released from the hospital.

My loving wife sprang into action and arranged a visit to the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota.  A short 10 hour drive later we arrived at one of the most impressive hospitals I've ever seen in my life!  After talking to both a Chemo-oncologist and a Radiation-oncologist, the treatment program they came up with was a concurrent treatment of both Chemotherapy and Radiation therapy.  They concluded that I was not a candidate for surgery, due to the stage and growth.  We then went to visit the Cancer Center at U of M, this being much closer to home (only 1 1/2 hours).  We were told pretty much the same thing there, except that the facilities in my home town were every bit as good as anything they could offer me there.

Soooo, the beginning of November I started both Radiation treatment and Chemotherapy.  I handled this stuff like a champ, not really having any ill effects from the treatments.  A little sore throat from the radiation, a lessened degree of sensations from the Chemo (eyesight is a little poorer, ringing in my ears, eveything tastes salty), and I'm definately feeling fatigued, but for the most part I'm feeling pretty good.  I didn't even start losing my hair... until yesterday.  Now the stuff's coming out in handfulls.  And this is what is throwing me for a loop. 

Now, I am not a vain person, so I don't think my appearance is what's bothering me.  I think that after weathering out 25 days of poison and gamma rays I was feeling indestructable, and the hair loss is showing me that I'm mortal like everyone else.  Maybe my ego was so inflated that I was going to kick this thing's ass and the other stuff was there as back-up, that my will was so great that I could just make it go away because I told it to.  I mean, I know better, sometimes I have to be reminded that I'm not the one calling the shots.

Now, I did not write this to try to garner pity from any if you.  I've had my pity-party and it's time to move on   Anyhow, mates, that's the current chapter of my life.  My family, friends, crew, associates, and people I only know in passing have made a huge impact in my life.  Thanks to one and all.  I don't know what the future will bring, but if there's a little positive energy out there that can be channeled this way, it would be greatly appreciated.  I'll keep everyone who's interested in the loop.  'til then, keep the wind to yer backsides.