Well I considered invading the U.(undeveloped) S.(outhern) A. (rea) just as a test of the defence system. I had a bone scan on Friday, and they scan you, stick radioactive dye into your blood, send you away, and you come back for an hour, which turned into 4. Some doctor sat in another room and wanted continual higher res pictures of certain areas and that took a lot of extra time. After they gave me a wallet card saying that if I crossed a border I was treated with radioactive agent X and I might set off alarms. It was signed by a radiation doctor with a 24 hour call number. I wanted to go to Port Huron just to see them scramble jets and blackhawks, but alas, didn't seem up to the mischief. The nuclear medicine department has 4 great huge machines and there was a steady stream of people in that area on Friday, it's one of the last areas on the old site where the hospital was when I was born, all the rest of the departments have moved to a huge ultra modern regional centre and the nuclear medicine department was moving on the weekend, so it was the last day there. All 5 kids in my family were born in that location...and I remember like yesterday my brothers and I all having our tonsils out in the children's hospital across the road connected by an underground tunnel. You went through the tunnel to the OR and I'd be 8 or so and we went in a convoy in 'cribs' and I was pretty upset at being in a cage at that age. I remember the popsicles after and wanting to kill my youngest brother who cried all the time.

The growth in my neck 5 weeks ago a pea is now a full fledged baseball. It's really starting to affect the carotid artery which looks like my fat index finger sticking below it, and I have to drop in daily to make sure the blood flow is ok. They talked about putting in an 'open incision' to allow the tumour to move out, and let the nerves and blood vessels work, but I have a 5 hour chemo and then radiation on Tuesday so they hope that shrinks it by 20 percent in the next week.

After Tuesday it's radiation every day for 7 weeks, and chemo every Tuesday. I have prescriptions out the ying yang, special Aloe cream for Radiation Burns, non alcoholic mouthwash (according to my doc using Scope 5 times a day (sometimes more for me) is the same in cancer terms as having 5 drinks per day, and they think this is causing oral cancer...NICE. I got 200 percocets, just take them as you wish. Heck when you were well and broke 3 toes getting an asprin out them was like a major deal, get cancer and if you want take morphine home and shoot up, kid you not.

So I'm down 40 pounds, bought an AKAI EWI4000s which I'm learning to play. Like learning anything the fingering has been slow, I make mistakes and figure them out when sleeping. Sounds good through the Ketron...

I'm up early I have a great huge filet mignon about 5 pounds. There was a lot of fat, and if you know yer butchering it the roast has 3 muscles, with silver and some fat between them. I took it apart and cut off the silver and fat, put it back together with rosemary, peppercorns, bay leaves, herb de province, and flaked Austrian sea-salt, and olive oil, trussed it with butcher's twine, with the fat on the top to drip on it, and plan to sear it with a mustard crust and then slow roast it. Mother's Day, probably her last, she's 83.

So this is the week, and I hoped for some nice weather but it's +1C and it was so windy trees were falling for the last 3 days. I could use with some nice summer like days.

That's about it, I'm crossing my fingers this didn't spread to my bones, I do have a very bad case of osteoporosis and it' possible some cramping lead to cracks in bones, it's happened before.

DON: now I've have to dig around, coffee thickened with boost is OK but #2 Amber maple syrup, about a teaspoon in your coffee makes it really really good. My bottle is just about out, I might have to drive somewhere and get some more, producers often sell the #2 dark or amber to high end restaurants, it's got a LOT of flavour.
Hope you are still getting treated like a king....a little pampering is a good thing.

I just got 5 Nevil Shute books, read them as a kid, and Amazon is so efficient. I might get a kindle so I can read, I don't have the energy to cut the grass, but I am frigging around on the keyboard still.

Take Care......

John Conley
Musica est vita