New country, new doctor, new protocol, new (to me) procedures, same old VERY GOOD result - ALL CLEAR now 14 years and counting!  This all happened a couple of weeks ago, and the process was unusual and anticlimactic and did not really feel "real" at the time. But now it does, and I'm pleased to have something unusual to report.From my last post you will have learned that we decided to retire and ..read more

The title is a poor rhyme, but apologies nevertheless to Jimmy Buffet. I mentioned in the sidebar last year that BIG changes were coming, and they have come.  I am a few months late in this update - bottom line: LIFE IS GOOD!  In 2019 we decided to shut down our retirement business and actually retire.  We had been exploring all over North America and even some in South America, and we finally ..read more

As many of you know, I was forced to skip my Cysto last year due to COVID-induced flight cancellation.  This year is much the same, so we drove over 2000 miles to chase down Dr. Hopkins and got the job done this year. Today is Wednesday, and we arrived in Medford, Oregon two days ago.  Monday (arrival day) saw blood work done.  The Asante Medical Group is very efficient, and a couple hours later ..read more

Is it possible that BCG treatments that we get to combat bladder cancer could help us to stave off or survive the Coronavirus?  The short answer is maybe so, but NOT for the reasons being reported in mainstream media. The long answer of why that good news may be true follows: BCG is a Tuberculosis (TB) vaccine that is made from deactivated (dead) bovine TB cells.  It is administered via skin ..read more

UPDATE! See UPDATE flag below for latest info!It was definitely not my plan to update this blog only once per year.  But it certainly seems to be progressing in that direction.  For the record I will update the blog at least annually, reporting the story of my checkups.  Beyond that, only something that will be useful and interesting to you all.  And now that the blog is old, I found that tons ..read more

We will begin with the bottom line.  Cystoscopy complete, now 11 years cancer-free! Now for the details...  I discovered last year that my doc had relocated from Salt Lake City to Medford, Oregon, and elected to hunt him down and have my annual exam, albeit a couple months late, as described in the previous post. My lifestyle for the past 5 years has been itinerant by choice, wintering over and ..read more

The news is finally out and it is very good news indeed! After chasing my urologist literally halfway across the country and pushing the schedule out a few months, I finally had my cysto on Thursday, August 2.  The news was welcome - "Your bladder looks fine."  ALL CLEAR, 10 years and 2 months after the last surgery. This is a good milestone for Bladder Cancer. The biggie is two years, and it ..read more

It has taken me a few months to write this post, mostly because I needed time to process it all and deal with it, letting events play out. And because it still pisses me off.  And because life has been busy and basically good these days! And now here is the story: On a particularly pleasant day in April I was wrapping up work with some HVAC contractors who had just completed installing a ..read more

I completed a series of 3 BCG Maintenance treatments in early May, and I have dawdled a bit on posting the results.  This behavior, as well as my very infrequent posting on the blog, are symptomatic of a very good thing.  Cancer is no longer a major factor in my day to day life. It's a nuisance, a pain, and a distraction. Somewhat like having to go in to the dentist for a root canal every once ..read more

Due to some complex travel plans, we are about 3 weeks earlier than last year for Judgment Day. The setting is the same, Spring in Utah, and the day is nice, if not as bright as last year - to be expected for April rather than May. Last year I did not even think about the cysto at all, not even the day it happened, working on business finances for month-end closing until about an hour before the ..read more