yesterday... all my troubles seemed so damn close

Sorry if my last post seemed a little downbeat, but hey, that’s the way I was feeling. I know a lot of people may be blaming themselves for the whole mole thing or, at the very least, shaking their heads with a “I told him to get that checked out.”

It’s not your fault. If it’s anyone’s fault it’s mine, but I’m not really blaming myself either. ‘Shoulda, woulda, coulda’ doesn’t change the past, present or the future, so let’s move on. I am going to beat this crap by hook or by crook, come hell or high water, etc., and am not against improving my chances.

The Military Hospital was 98% convinced that my brain tumor was a glioblastoma. Dr. Klener told me 80% and was saying 50/50 to his colleagues. That, along with his golden-handed reputation, made me choose Homolka over the Military Hospital. And I’m very, very glad I did. But, I digress. More on that later...

So, thanks to everyone who posted links to clinical trials and alternative treatments. I’m looking into a lot of them. When looking for clinical trials and treatment options, please avoid anything that says 'phase 1' - where they're only testing for toxicity, ‘randomized’,
‘double-blind’, ‘control group’, or ‘placebo'. If I wanted to play Russian Roulette with my life, I would buy a gun and spin the cylinder :-)

I had a pretty busy day yesterday, it being my first business day out of the hospital since January 14th. I went to the embassy. I had everything filled out and ready, but my pre-op pictures were too small. So this will be my passport photo for the next ten years:

I then had to go back to Homolka to get my RTG, MRI, and CT scans on CD to put on my server and share with other doctors and the public at large. I’m only missing the PET scan at this point. I also got a ton of papers from Pavlina at the Foreign Visitor’s Office with all my other tests, blood work, etc.

But I first went to visit Vlad’a, whom I found in great spirits and smoking on the balcony. He said he felt “reborn” and is very much looking forward to going back to Karvina by ambulance tomorrow. His new, soon to be former, roommate, Zdeněk has played Carnegie Hall. Vlad’a was not impressed, as he had never heard of it. He did, however, love the framed portrait of himself that I did.

Mom and I had lunch at the cafeteria for old time’s sake and the fact that I was late with my pills. I had two large salads with my nealko. Then it was off to Apolinářská to see Bo, Johnny and little Vinny Ceccarelli:
While we were there, Bo (who looks great BTW) got the news that she was coming home today. We were all ecstatic. Spoke to Mirek, who after a miraculous recovery at Homolka, suffered a setback where he is now, but was doing much better already. I’ll go see him tomorrow. Ah, hell, I can’t resist, yeah, I held the baby:

So, I’m out of the hospital, Ivan’s out, and Bo, Vlad’a tomorrow, and Mirek in about a week. How do I feel? Pretty good. Great, actually. I met with Dr. Nováková this morning. She gave me a full neurological exam and I passed with flying colors.

I’m sleeping better, getting much needed exercise, and back to eating more than my share. Shiner’s fading and arms are healing. Even my hair is coming back fast. So don’t jump the gun and get a sympathy cut like Vrat:

who would have done anything to get his picture on the blog :-)