Meadowmufn

Try to keep your mind preoccupied with fun stuff. That was the best thing for me when I had cancer. Otherwise, yeah, it'll get to you mentally.

That's a good thing. They want to make sure they get it right.

I'll spring for a maid service. Found out my surgery didn't cost nearly as much as I thought it would.

Praying for you, buddy. I hope they figure it out soon and fix you up!

Did the rash at any point look like a bull's eye? That's very indicative of lyme. Read this on a website: Most humans are infected through the bites of immature ticks called nymphs. Nymphs are tiny (less than 2 mm) and difficult to see; they feed during the spring and summer months. So, it's entirely possible it was a tick bite, but you never saw the tick.

Oh yeah, we should spruce up the place for Waylon's birthday!

See if they'll do an anti-thyroid antibody test. Inability to control your body temp is often a thyroid problem. But based on what you've described so far, I'm thinking it's Lyme. Also, with symptoms like that, it's ok to be UNPOLITELY pushy. You need to take care of yourself.

There's a female or juvenile rose-breasted grosbeak in there, that might be one of your unknowns. The very last one looks like maybe a female Junco of some sort.

Doh! Flash! I hope you don't get a tummy ache, sweetheart. Graham crackers and marshmallows can't be good for you. We once had a dog that at a whole chocolate orange, sneaked it off the table, and didn't even get an upset stomach. Fortunately it was milk chocolate and not dark chocolate.

Hope you're feeling better soon, Roger. I've already been sick enough for all the rest of you this year, so nobody else is allowed to get sick. Ok?

So, I got the pathology report from my surgery. In addition to confirming they got all of the tumor, it also showed the tumor was a grade higher than the first biopsy back in March, meaning it had become more aggressive and faster growing. SO GLAD they got it all! I don't even want to think about what would have happened if I hadn't insisted on that endoscopy back in December.

I love the smell of a real wood fire. Most fireplaces are gas, nowadays. Did anybody bring fixin's to make s'mores?

You know how breast cancer has a pink ribbon and other cancers and diseases have other color ribbons? Well, neuroendocrine cancer is so rare, it shares a ribbon with other rare cancers and diseases. It is the zebra ribbon. It comes from the medical saying "when you hear hoof beats, think horses not zebras”. It means to look for a common diagnosis instead of rare one given a set of symptoms. Well, neuroendocrine cancer is certainly a zebra. There are only 12,000 cases diagnosed in the US every year and 170,000 people currently living with it. It accounts for only 0.5% of all cancer diagnoses. And of neuroendocrine cancer cases, only 2.6% occur where my tumor was located. That's a little over 300 cases like mine a year out of a population of 300+ million. So, my case was rare indeed. I am very fortunate and very blessed that I had a good outcome.

I want to say thank you to all of you for lifting my spirits and being here for me during this ordeal. I've been overwhelmed by the support I've gotten here and everywhere. It's true what they say that when you have cancer, your family and friends have it too. It touches everyone. But everyone rallied around and we're done with cancer.

Sorry I'm a little late folks. Wanted to make sure my sore throat was healed up before I tried some of that sh....water. That sh...water can burn your throat sometimes. LOL!