Its all been such a blur... walking, not walking, cancer, not cancer...?!

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It's all been such a blur...

I hardly know what to say or where to begin... This morning is the first time in close to a month my wits were with me enough to do a little bit of photo fun. I have a lot of catching up to do at Multiply and Facebook... bear with me please!

If you've written a post you'd like me to read, please drop me a personal mail... there's just no way I can go back through all the old posts both places any time soon. I have two months of my OWN life to catch up with, and (see below) we still don't know what's happening to me, nor why.

Thanks for all the love and support and comments... my ghost writer related the concern.

I've not even read back through what he posted yet, so for today, just a few facts / the timeline:

• Thursday Dec 17th- Spent most of the day in CT scans and bone density scan (with dye contrast, whole body)
• Before we'd even gotten our coats off, the doctor's office was calling with an appointment for the next day... whoa yeh... this is big! Scans don't usually even get to the docs that quickly unless techs and docs running them see a major problem.
• Friday Dec 18th- Orthopedic surgeon informs that my right femur is cracked through just below the ball joint, and that the bone density scan also revealed several other "hot spots" on ribs and orbital along with a general break down of the bone density several other places including the top part of my right femur which raised (increased?) cancer concern.
• Yeh- Pretty freaky, since I'd not had any fall or trauma to the bone before onset of pain.
• Emergency surgery scheduled first thing next morning at Community Hospital North.
• In the fullness of time, I will have a lot to say about the facility and staff there- in a word: EXEMPLARY.
• Saturday Dec 19th- A 1/4 in rod ("rebar") inserted into my right femur. Relatively new device designed to be able to take the place of degraded bone in load bearing. Hope to get more details about the device and procedure when I next see my doc.
• Samples taken during surgery for biopsy to investigate cancer concerns.
• Sunday Dec 20th- First consult with oncologist, abdomen CT scan ordered.
• Monday Dec 21st- the Day of Death Different oncologist informs us that CT scan revealed two 14mm masses in one of my kidneys. Speaking in general terms, suggests that the bone anomalies plus masses in kidney indicative of stage 4 cancer, either renal or bone. Will not answer questions about treatments. Biopsy had not been examined yet. Orders ultrasound of several areas of interest in my abdomen and CT of head.
• I'm nowhere close to being able to express what it was like for me, Tess, my family and friends for me/us to live with what amounted to a provisional death sentence for a day. When I speak of that, it will be carefully and clearly. Over all, the quality of care and the people at Community North were the highest I've ever seen, and by all accounts this doctor is as sharp as they come... I'm not going to lash out at, slander, or attack him. In fact, I'll be seeing him again in a week.
• Tuesday Dec 22- Ultrasound indicated that masses were benign cysts, not tumors. No evidence of cancer in any of the other scans.
• Discharged later that day.
• Thursday Dec 24- Biopsy from bone reveals NO evidence of cancer.

Next week

• Tuesday Jan 5th - Follow up with orthopedic surgeon. Staples removed (I hope) and we start all over from scratch figuring out why my bone broke, why others are weakened, etc.
• Thursday Jan 7th - Follow up with oncologist... I have no idea why.

Through it all, my friends and family along with the nurses and all other staff at Community North were EXEMPLARY... I have so many stories to tell, praises to sing... but this is all I'm up to now.

I will try to go back and read your comments and questions posted while I was out, but if you are eager to get them answered, posting them in response to this post will probably result in a quicker response.

FACEBOOK FOLK: Sorry, not ready to dive in there. This is the first day since early December I've been able to focus on a computer screen even this long, and this is pushing it.

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Mini tutorials

Paint.NET and PhotoFiltre

Its all been such a blur photo

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I used Paint.NET to create this perfectly evocative image. A picture really is worth 1,000 words... this one tells the story of what my life has been like for at least the last month better than I could ever hope to.

This is the original photo, FYI

The image below shows how

I created this using Paint.NET and the version #

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As for the version with the "?" and "!" I used the free version of Photofiltre. The text is Tahoma, the angles are 60, 120, -60, -120, outer bevel, default settings.

Click on the image below to see the full sized version, if it doesn't display automatically.

When I can do something with Photofiltre, I do. It isn't as powerful as paint.net, doesn't have layers, but that's precisely why its better for a "quick and dirty" mod like adding the punctuation to the picture.

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I have to again say what a blessing all my friends and family and the doctors and nurses have been... and you too. I could feel your love and prayers.

This is a pretty freaky situation, and its not over yet, but no one who's ever gone through such has received better care nor more love!

Comments and Graphics - Layouts - Photobucket