May 2, 1997
Yesterday was my birthday, and I was either 42 or 24, it is hard to tell. It has been a week of birthdays, for last Sunday I gave Brittany her long awaited birthday party to make up for me being too sick during her 5th and 6th birthdays. It was a perfect party, for we had a clown who did a magic act, painted faces, made balloon animals, and gave pony rides, along with a giant astro-jump castle for everyone of her 13 little friends to jump and scream in. It was perfect sunny weather, everyone ate a delicious 101 Dalmatian ice cream cake, and of course she got to open a lot of presents. Most importantly, it was a promise I got to keep!

Monday I had a bone marrow biopsy under sedation in the hospital. The drugs they used to get me "twilighty" were Versed and Demerol, and the nurse told me that I resisted so much that they had to give me an extra heavy dose. I guess that I am stubborn. The Versed drug has an amnesiac effect, so that means I knew what was going on during the process, but I can't remember it. I do remember asking Dr. Cooney some sort of question and him telling me that we would talk about it later. Who knows what I might have said, for I recall wanting to play some sort of joke on him before the biopsy. Anyway, I was happy when the nurse told me that Dr. Cooney said that I must have really strong bones, because he had to apply a lot of pressure to get through them. All my years bodybuilding have done some good!

Next week I have my two month check up at the hospital, and I think I will also go back to the support group. I just had to have a break from the hospital for a while, I did not want to even smell it. I will most likely get a blood test and a lymph node palpitation check, so it should be a breeze. I am actually looking forward to it, especially since I can walk in like a normal healthy person. I am one of their success stories, and that is something that even the doctors and nurses look up to!

May 7, 1997
Yesterday I had my first follow up check up with Dr. Hoppe. He came in smiling and told me that even though I was done with all my treatments, that he was not very far away and that I could call anytime with questions. He did not want me to feel abandoned after all my treatment, and that slightly impressed me that he understood that human element of a cancer survivor. So I preceded to ask him a bunch of questions, which he answered without a hurry in the world. Then he asked me a bunch of questions, gave me a physical exam, and told me that he was pleased with my recovery. He even told me that I was recovering faster than he would have expected, and that my healthy lifestyle probably had something to do with it. He said that my only real complaint, stomach problems, would likely disappear over time. Then he told me I looked great and said it was a pleasure seeing me again.

When I got home I called the hospital for my blood test results, and I knew that I would be pleased. My WBC was up at 4.2, my hemoglobin was slightly up at 10.6, my Hematocrit was also slightly up at 30.1, and my Platelets were up at 115. I can now take a bill spill at the rink and just get a bruise like other people, well a little bigger bruise. I told Dr. Hoppe that when I do pairs skating, that my partner always falls underneath me. He laughed.

Meanwhile I have added a new Chemo and Radiation Logs section to this site. I found it very useful and empowering to track the effects of my treatment along with various other pertinent information. So now my logs are available to those going through chemo and radiation. I also added a Healing Recipes section, one that I used during treatment and in the healthy lifestyle that is now insuring my survival status. I have the ability to be quite a healthy creature!

May 20, 1997
Dr. Cooney is almost done with all his post-HD treatment tests, and so far all the results show that there is no HD or any other form of cancer living in my body. My entire bout with HD seems like a long time ago, and I really don't feel the need to dwell on it. It is important for me to keep the perspective I got with HD, and use it to move on with my life in a focused direction. I am doing that!

One of my goals is to publish picture books, and I just submitted one to publishers yesterday. It is not a Blort story, and I have found that it is such a relief to write non-Blort stories. Writing a Blort story is like writing in Chinese with my left hand, while writing a not-Blort story is like writing in English with my computer. So it has been fun writing, and I have another non-Blort story that will be ready to send out in June. I like to experiment with different styles of writing, and that is mostly because I have a need for constant change. So all my books are very different, and hopefully one of them will find a publisher. It feels good to submit my work, instead of just writing and writing and hoping the publishing fairy will knock at my door.

Besides all that, we are going to Disneyland in 4 days! Brittany is so excited, she is counting down the days. I have been working up to the energy level that I will need while I am there, and I do believe that I may have more energy than the average Disneyland visitor. We will go early in the morning, rest during the heat of the day, and then return in the afternoon and stay late. The last time I was at Disneyland was 22 years ago, and I was only there for a day, and I was at Disney World 4 1/2 years ago and was there for only one day also. I have been deprived, and it is hard to believe that I have never met any of the characters in person. I have a lot of catching up to do! I will be a kid there!

Life goes on!

May 30, 1997
I just got back from Disneyland! The first 3 days were about as crowded as a place can get, and I was proud of myself for not getting too neurotic about all the potential germs flying about. Disneyland has a cleanup person for every 50 yards of the park, it was my kind of place - very clean. Even though it was crowded, we bypassed the crowded parking lot and entrance, because all we had to do was hop on the monorail that was right outside our hotel. We even got early admission, an hour and a half prior to the park opening, so during that time we went from ride to ride as fast as we could. I thought that I could keep going and going and going, until I realized that I had strained my esophagus by screaming nonstop on Space Mountain. I felt fine otherwise, but when I called Dr. Cooney's office with my sore esophagus story, I was told that I had to be on "complete voice rest." I had to stop talking and start writing everything down for the last few days there. I am just now able to talk and breathe without it feeling like I dropped a 45 lb barbell on my throat. The whole thing was rather amusing!

I just found out that Dr. Cooney is going to retire on June 30th. I know that he deserves to retire, but I hoped he never would. He has already picked out a new doctor to replace himself, one that he has spent a lot of time choosing. At least Dr. Cooney stuck around long enough to see me survive, and I am really lucky that he did not retire before he could diagnose me! I wish that there was a way to download his brain to some sort of database, so others could benefit from it. Oh well, I am going to believe that the new doctor is everything Dr. Cooney says he is!

Some good news is that I finally get to see the documentary that I am in, it is called "Tell Them You're Fine." I think that it opens with my head covered with shaving cream, and I can hardly wait to see my bald head again. The premiere is on the 15th, so I will have to be patient.