Merkel and Me

 Thursday February 26, 2026      Anniversary day. One year ago, I had my surgery to remove the cancer from my backside. I'm meeting with Dr. Tran next week, but she called me today to talk about the CT and PET scan (more on that in a minute).      My last post shared that Cathy and I were going to the Marriage Event at our church. Over 250 couples came and enjoyed a great dinner, a couple of fun games, and a fantastic message from Pastor Bobby on Malachi 2:14, "The Wife of your Youth." Saturday, we went to Las Brisas in Laguna Beach for Valentine's lunch. Not only is Las Brisas where we had our first date, but we also had our engagement date, and our first lunch as husband and wife there. It all started 21 years ago on March 6th.      I had 5 different doctor's appointments and/or procedures the past two weeks. It started with a blood test for my hematologist checking on my iron levels. It's better than last time so we are going to monit...

 Friday February 13, 2026     Friday the 13th but nothing scary going on here. I just received the results of my blood test, and it came back with another 0. Never any guarantees, but a year's worth of zeros I think means that my cancer was confined to the one spot and my surgeon, and the radiation, got it all. There are still tests to go and another year to monitor, but lots of reasons to feel confident and hopeful.      Now, on the other hand, my colonoscopy was another test/procedure that is going to lead to more tests and procedures.  I was more inflamed than two years ago (even though my condition has never been more under control) and there were polyps. Because of my situation, my GI wants me to see a specialist at UCI and undergo another colonoscopy in 3-6 months where he will check things out and remove anything that looks fishy. I'm not overly worried because there is no rush to get this taken care of. My GI said we will talk about it at my ap...

 Friday January 30, 2026     Today is the one-year anniversary of receiving the phone call. Last January 23rd I had visited the dermatologist's office to have a "cyst" removed. One week later, January 30, 2025, the dermatologist called to tell me that the pathology report had identified my "cyst" as Merkel cell carcinoma. And that started my year long journey through surgery, radiation, and regular check-ups and tests. One year later I am very grateful to say that it appears I am still cancer free and doing well.      I say appears because there will still be tests and check-ups to go for at least another year. The oncology surgeon told me to throw the first party at the two-year mark and then throw the big bash at the five-year mark. Between now and March 3rd I have a follow-up with the oncology radiologist, the surgical oncologist, a CT scan and a PET scan. I will also have the specialty blood test.  It was supposed to have happened this past week, b...

 Thursday January 15, 2026     So, it's been a week of doctor appointments and procedures, only one which was tangentially connected to my cancer. Tuesday, I had a blood draw for my hematologist checking my iron and ferritin levels and my iron saturation level. Because of my ulcerative colitis, I've had my blood checked on a regular basis for 20 years. I never had a problem until 2015. I started having trouble breathing, running out of breath just from talking. They did a blood test and I was anemic.  My blood count was only 7.2. My doctor wondered how I was still going to work every day. I had a blood transfusion and then started having regular iron infusions.  I hit another low point in 2017 (6.2) and had another blood transfusion. It was all from blood loss from the colitis. Thankfully, the new medication my doctor prescribed in 2019 has been the answer. I have basically been in remission for the past 5 years and I haven't needed to have an iron infusion for ...

 Thursday January 8, 2025 Romans 12:12... Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer. Today was my first day dealing with all of the insurance changes.  It wasn't too bad, but it wasn't a piece of cake, either. I have to switch all of my prescriptions from my current pharmacies to my new pharmacy under the Medicare plan. The phone call about my colitis drug from the specialty pharmacy went well and should transfer with no problems. My other medications, little more tricky.  I called the new pharmacy, and they said to contact the old pharmacy to have them switch all of the information.  When I called the old pharmacy, they said they couldn't do anything until the new pharmacy contacted them. So, back to the new pharmacy who contacted the old pharmacy... but they didn't answer, probably on lunch break. Hopefully I will hear from the new pharmacy tomorrow that everything has transferred.  I had phone calls with a couple of other doctor offices tod...

 Thursday January 1, 2026 Happy New Year!!! I don't have anything new to share about Merkel and me so today will truly be a "Thursday Thoughts" with a selection of random views and vignettes that I thought I'd share.  A new year means we are all getting another year older, at some point.  There are three things this year that are going to make me feel very old indeed. #3, I am now an official Medicare recipient as of today.  All three ID cards have come (Medicare card, insurance supplement card, and pharmacy RX card) and I will spend the next few months updating every one of my doctors about my insurance changes. #2, I will be turning 65 in 21 days and will be an official senior citizen, eligible for every senior discount available. #1, the thing that is going to make me feel the oldest, every student who was in my first sixth grade class in 1987-1988, at Ramona, will be turning 50 this year. OUCH!!!   I actually don't mind getting older. I believe I've sha...