Checking In

 Hello all!  It looks like I'm cancer free for now.  I had a colonoscopy last week which had to be done twice.  If you already had cancer they want to get a real good look around on follow up exams. On the first try they stopped and said I wasn't clean enough even though I drank the Galvylite and followed the instructions. So, I had to go two days without eating and come back the next day. On the second try it came back completely clean. Yippie, not even a little polyp. I did the CEA test yesterday and it's also dropping.  Not that it was high to begin with.  Mine was well within the range of normal right from the beginning. It never got over two but still, a dropping number is encouraging regardless.

 The brain tumor which was what caused a lot of my "off" behavior especially over the last couple years is also gone. It took two very long operations to get it all. One in November last year and another this past February. I was told I was very lucky that it was even seen. It was found during a post treatment PET scan which normally doesn't look at the brain for colrectal cancer.  Since I was sitting so low on the table the machine caught just enough of it to make it known. The neurosurgeon said it will take the better part of a year to completely heal due to its size. It was a big one, roughly the size of a tennis ball.  It slowly grew over 20+ years and would have eventually taken me out via an aneurysm.  

 I was informed I'd notice gradual or in some cases punctuated changes in my personality during the next year or so. Nothing on speech or other physical impediments since I didn't have any to begin with which the doctors were very puzzled about.  I can't believe some of the things I did in the past.  A few were embarrassingly reckless financial decisions which I'll regret for a while and others were damaging to those around me. At least when it was discovered a lot of people said the same thing.  "That's why ...."  (fill in the blank.).  From what I read I got off light... again.  Most people have ongoing issues with coordination, speech, or halucinations even after their surgery. I didn't have any of that except some problems trying to maintain a train of thought while talking for a couple weeks after the operation. At this stage I'm pretty close to being my old self from a few decades back.  At least I think so but that's debatable, lol.   

 In closing, It's great to be alive!  Many people told me I've been given a second chance.  Question is, to do what?  I guess I'll wait to find out.  I hope everyone is doing better and getting to NED.